New Wave of American Heavy Metal

New Wave of American Heavy Metal
Stylistic origins	Heavy metal, groove metal, nu metal, alternative metal, metalcore, thrash metal, death metal, progressive metal
Cultural origins	Mid-1990s, United States
Typical instruments	Vocals - Electric guitar - Bass guitar - Drums
Mainstream popularity	High in 2000s to present

The New Wave of American Heavy Metal (NWOAHM) is a movement in that originated in the United States during the early to mid 1990s^[1][2][3] and has expanded most in the recent 2000s. Some of the bands considered part of the movement had formed as early as the late 1980s, but did not become influential or reach popular standing until the following decade.^[1][3][4] The term NWOAHM is a later reference to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement of the late 1970s.^[1][3][4]

Although the term is used by the media with increasing frequency, the definition has not been finished completely.^[4] This is due in part to the growing addition of bands that assimilate to common styles in NWOAHM (as defined below), yet have not differentiated greatly enough as to garner a new genre moniker.^[5] One descriptor by longtime metal author Garry Sharpe-Young helps classify the NWOAHM as a "marriage of European-style riffing and throaty vocals".^[6] Several of the bands within the NWOAHM are credited with bringing heavy metal back into the mainstream.^[3][7]

History

The New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement has its origins in a group of groove metal and hardcore acts from the 1990s such as Pantera, Biohazard and Machine Head that brought heavy metal "back to its core brutality and drawing not from the traditional blues formula but from NYHC, thrash metal and punk."^[4] Garry Sharpe-Young wrote in his book Metal: A Definitive Guide that the NWOAHM saw a distinct uprising in the early 2000s following the over-saturation of nu-metal in the mainstream. He writes "a fresh audience was ushered in, who wanted the same degree of aggression but laced with more finesse. ... Breakdowns had been replaced by well-engineered riffs; where once there was an annoying turntable scratch, the space was filled by the long-overdue return of the guitar solo."^[8]

Producers behind the 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey write of the NWOAHM: "In essence, NWOAHM can embody the seething aggression of the 'hardcore' hormone, but play a type of acrobatic, precise, technical thrash/death metal synthesis regularly touched by the melody of traditional metal, but often just briefly. Vocally, these bands huddle around Pantera-derived roar, leaning toward a death metal bark, but often with 'clean' or 'sung' vocals as ear candy, sometimes from a member of the band who is not the front man."^[9] The producers also reference Unearth, Shadows Fall, and Lamb of God as "leaders of the pack".^[9] In the book New Wave of American Heavy Metal, when listing the waves most popular contributors, Garry Sharpe-Young "included some of the older bands that show the real roots of metalcore, like Agnostic Front and the whole NYHC, plus the groups that broke the metal scene into new territory after grunge — Pantera, Biohazard, and Machine Head. From there it gets really diverse, crossing the spectrum from melodic death metal to progressive metal and everything in between."^[1] The movement encompasses a number of different styles including metalcore, groove metal, melodic death metal, alternative metal, hardcore punk, and progressive metal.^{[1][4][7][10][11]}

List of key NWOAHM artists

A list of notable bands who emerged during the NWOAHM era of music:

Agnostic Front[1] All That Remains[12] Atreyu[1] Avenged Sevenfold[1] Becoming the Archetype[4] Biohazard[1][4][11] Bury Your Dead[1] Byzantine[1][13] Chimaira[5][13][14][15][16] Common Dead[17][18] Damageplan[1] Darkest Hour[1] Demon Hunter[1]

DevilDriver[1] Disturbed[1] Down[1] God Forbid[19] Godsmack[2] Hatebreed[5][20] High on Fire[1] Killswitch Engage[16][21][22][23][24][5][25] Lamb of God[3][16][23] Life of Agony[1][11] Machine Head[1][4][11][14] Mastodon[3][7]

Otep[1] Poison the Well[1] Prong[1][11] Shadows Fall[3][16][23][24][26][27] Slipknot[1] Superjoint Ritual[1] The Agony Scene[1] The Red Chord[1] Throwdown[1] Trivium[28][29] Unearth[1] War of Ages[1]

Further reading

• Sharpe-Young, Garry (2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. New Plymouth: Zonda Books Limited. ISBN 0958268401 
• Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). Metal: A Definitive Guide. New Plymouth: Jawbone. ISBN 1906002010 

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad} "'New Wave Of American Heavy Metal' Book Documents Over 600 Bands". Blabbermouth.net. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=44955. Retrieved April 27, 2008.  "The book features over 600 bands, including: 3 Inches of Blood, A Life Once Lost, Alkaline Trio, All That Remains, As I Lay Dying, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Between the Buried and Me, Biohazard, Black Label Society, Bleeding Through, Bury the Dead, Byzantine, Cannae, Candiria, Cave In, Chimaira, Cky, Coalesce, Converge, Crisis, Damageplan, Darkest Hour, Devildriver, Diecast, Down, Drowning Pool, Eighteen Visions, Every Time I Die, From a Second Story Window, Glassjaw, God Forbid, Hatebreed, High on Fire, If Hope Dies, Ion Dissonance, Killswitch Engage, Kittie, Lamb of God, Machine Head, Martyr A.D., Mastodon, Misery Signals, Most Precious Blood, Neurosis, Norma Jean, Otep, Overcast, Pantera, Poison the Well, Premonitions of War, Pro-Pain, Rise Against, Remembering Never, Shadows Fall, Slipknot, Society 1, Still Remains, Strapping Young Lad, Stuck Mojo, Superjoint Ritual, Terror, The Acacia Strain, The Blamed, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Red Chord, Throwdown, Trivium, Unearth, Winter Solstice, Zao and many, many more."
2. ^ ^{a b} (link)
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} James Edward. "The Ghosts of Glam Metal Past". Lamentations of the Flame Princess. http://www.lotfp.com/content.php?editorialid=64. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Garry Sharpe-Young, (link)
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). Metal: A Definitive Guide. New Plymouth: Jawbone. ISBN 1906002010 
6. ^ Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). Metal: A Definitive Guide, Page 462. New Plymouth: Jawbone. ISBN 1906002010 
7. ^ ^{a b c} Adrien Begrand. "BLOOD AND THUNDER: Regeneration". Popmatters. http://www.popmatters.com/columns/begrand/051014.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
8. ^ Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). Metal: A Definitive Guide, page 462. New Plymouth: Jawbone. ISBN 1906002010 
9. ^ ^{a b} Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005, Director: Sam Dunn), Disc Two: "Metal Genealogy Chart"
10. ^ "NWOAHM - New Frontier Or Well Worn Path?". Maximum Metal. http://www.maximummetal.com/columns/tales/37.asp. Retrieved 2008-05-18. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d e} "New Wave of American Heavy Metal". Zondabooks. http://www.zondabooks.com/titles/nwoahm/. Retrieved 2006-05-06. 
12. ^ Terry, Nick. "The Fall of Ideals review". Decibelmagazine.com. http://www.decibelmagazine.com/reviews/aug2006/allthatremains.aspx. Retrieved April 27, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
13. ^ ^{a b} "NWOAHM bands (9)". Rockdetector. http://www.rockdetector.com/genrelocationsearch.do?genre=NWoAHM. Retrieved 2008-08-02. ^{[dead link]}
14. ^ ^{a b} SHOEGAZER ROSS. "LAMB OF GOD - Burn The Priest". Metal Express Radio. http://www.metalexpressradio.com/menu.php?main=reviews&id=1013. Retrieved 2008-05-06. 
15. ^ Bansal, Vik. "The Impossibility Of Reason review". MusicOMH. http://www.musicomh.com/albums/chimaira.htm. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
16. ^ ^{a b c d} Fong, Erik. "Rock of Lamb". Metroactive.com. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/07.20.05/lamb-0529.html. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
17. ^ http://www.metal-rules.com/review/viewreview.php?month=February&year=2010&pos=10
18. ^ http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/1876/86/
19. ^ Terry, Nick (October 2010). "IV: Constitution of Treason review". Decibelmagazine.link. http://www.decibelmagazine.com/reviews/oct2005/godforbid.aspx. 
20. ^ Armin. "Interview with Mike Chlasciak". metalglory.de. http://www.metalglory.de/interviews.php?nr=253. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
21. ^ Terry, Nick. "As Daylight Dies review". Decibelmagazine.com. http://www.decibelmagazine.com/reviews/dec2006/killswitchengage.aspx. Retrieved April 27, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
22. ^ Bansal, Vik. "Killswitch Engage - Metal To The Core". MusicOMH. http://www.musicomh.com/interviews/killswitch-engage.htm. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
23. ^ ^{a b c} Lee, Cosmo. "Sacrament review". Stylusmagazine.com. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/lamb-of-god/sacrament.htm. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
24. ^ ^{a b} "THROWDOWN Prepare To Record New Album". Blabbermouth. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=31533. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
25. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Killswitch Engage [2000"]. AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/album/killswitch-engage-2000-r489940/review. Retrieved 2011-2-19. 
26. ^ Bansal, Vik. "The War Within review". MusicOMH. http://www.musicomh.com/albums/shadows-fall.htm. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
27. ^ Terry, Nick. "The War Within review". Decibelmagazine.com. http://www.decibelmagazine.com/reviews/oct2004/shadows_fall.aspx. Retrieved April 27, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
28. ^ Bansal, Vik. "Ascendancy review". MusicOMH. http://www.musicomh.com/albums/trivium.htm. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
29. ^ Terry, Nick. "Ascendancy review". Decibelmagazine.com. http://www.decibelmagazine.com/reviews/may2005/trivium.aspx. Retrieved April 27, 2008. ^{[dead link]}