Proto-Metal

Proto-Metal identifies rock records that anticipated parts of heavy Metal before the name became a stable genre classification. In the late 1960s, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly and early Led Zeppelin emphasized amplified blues-rock riffs, distortion and long, heavy instrumental passages. Those groups came from overlapping but different rock traditions, not from a self-described proto-metal movement.

The guitar could be abrasive and enormous while the songs still followed blues or psychedelic forms. The relevant relationship to later Heavy Metal is one of historical influence: Proto-Metal cannot be a strict descendant of a genre that had not yet emerged in its later form.

IDIOTEQ Explore genre story · last updated 31 October 2026