Your way in
Speed metal 1981
NWOBHM with the throttle down, but the vocals still melodic. The missing link between heavy metal and thrash.
- Heaviness
- 7
- Speed
- 9
- Melody
- 8
- Where from
- Germany / USA
- Tempo
- 180-230 bpm
- Song length
- 3.5-5 min
- Written about
- Speed itself, Metal as a subject, Nuclear anxiety, Defiance
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | Speed metal | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singing When someone is singing, what should come out? | clean | 100% | ×3 |
| Heavy. I want to feel it. How much weight do you want behind it? | 7 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| The beginnings Does it matter when it was made? | 1981 | 52% | ×1 |
| The inside of a head What should the words be about? | Speed itself, Metal as a subject, Nuclear anxiety, Defiance | 100% | ×1 |
| Yes. A proper melody. Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? | 8 out of 10 | 80% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 89% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, era 1, about 1, melody 1 out of 8. Speed metal leads the next by 3 points. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1The one to put on first
Motörhead, Motörhead 1977
Motörhead - Ace of Spades. Thirty-five minutes, constant speed, zero compromise.
- 2Then
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is Speed metal's own entry point. After it come Speed metal's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Art rock 84%
Rock made by art-school graduates: concept, image and experiment ahead of formula. It overlaps with prog but cares far less about virtuosity.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 4 steps from Speed metal.
The way into Art rock -
Glam rock 82%
Rock in glitter, platform boots and calculated ambiguity. The spectacle is half the music.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 6 steps from Speed metal.
The way into Glam rock
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- Singing put 54 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Black metal, Death metal, Post-hardcore. Worth 3 of 8.
- The beginnings put 67 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Folk metal, Metalcore, Nu metal. Worth 1 of 8.
- The inside of a head put 88 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Black metal. Worth 1 of 8.
- Yes. A proper melody. put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Grindcore, Brutal death metal, Cybergrind. Worth 1 of 8.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.