Iron Maiden

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath - 2014 Remaster1970

Black Sabbath's 1970 debut came before Iron Maiden's arrival ten years later, establishing the heavy metal blueprint that bands like Maiden would follow. Formed in Birmingham in 1968 by Tony Iomli, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Osbourne, they adopted the Black Sabbath name in 1969 and immediately set themselves apart with down-tuned guitars and horror-inspired lyrics rooted in occult themes. This self-titled album, along with Paranoid and Master of Reality (1971), became the founding stones of heavy metal itself. The sound here directly influenced Deep Purple's Highway Star from 1972, as both bands pushed distortion and speed to new extremes. Black Sabbath's raw aggression defined what metal would become—a lineage that MTV later recognized by naming them the greatest metal band of all time.

Yes

Roundabout - 2008 Remaster1971

"Roundabout" bridges the gap between Motörhead's raw 1979 power and Saxon's galloping metal energy. Yes, formed in London in 1968 by bassist Chris Squire and singer Jon Anderson, built their 1971 classic on complex arrangements and technical skill. This track shows progressive rock's insistence on longer forms, layered instrumentation, and ambitious song structures—everything metal bands would later strip down for speed and aggression. By 1979, Motörhead had rejected prog's complexity entirely; by 2010, Saxon's remaster kept metal's directness while honoring its debt to rock's theatrical roots. "Roundabout" represents the moment when rock bands decided songs could be more than three minutes, and it still sounds fresh on the 2008 remaster.

Deep Purple

Highway Star1972

Where Black Sabbath's 1970 blueprint established heavy metal's dark foundation, Deep Purple cranked up the speed and technical skill. Formed in Hertford in 1968, the UK group took hard rock's raw energy and layered it with Jon Lord's organ work and Ritchie Blackmore's lightning-fast guitar lines. "Highway Star" shows how their blend of hard rock and blues rock could be both crushing and virtuosic—a template Judas Priest would sharpen into pure metal speed. Ian Gillan's vocal power over Ian Paice's driving drums and Roger Glover's locked-in bass proved that heavy music didn't have to choose between muscle and musicianship. This track sits perfectly between Sabbath's sludge and Priest's precision.

Judas Priest

Dissident Aggressor1977

"Dissident Aggressor" builds directly on Deep Purple's raw power, but strips away the blues foundation for pure metal aggression. Released April 23, 1977 on the *Sin After Sin* album, this track showcases Judas Priest's blueprint for speed metal—Rob Halford's piercing vocals paired with K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton's twin guitar attack, recorded at Ramport Studios under producer Roger Glover's direction. The Birmingham band, formed in 1969, tightened the formula that would define the new wave of British heavy metal. Where "Highway Star" showed metal could move fast, "Dissident Aggressor" proved it could move *mean*. This track's relentless energy and technical precision directly paved the way for Motörhead's maximalist assault with "Overkill" just two years later.

Motörhead

Overkill1979

Motörhead took the aggression Judas Priest introduced in "Dissident Aggressor" and stripped it down to pure velocity and rawness. Released February 16, 1979, with Eddie Clarke's guitar and Phil Taylor's drums locked tight behind Lemmy Kilmister's growl, *Overkill* announced that speed metal didn't need prog complexity—just relentless power. Lemmy founded Motörhead in London in 1975 and remained its only constant member, steering them toward something that blended heavy metal with punk's no-frills attitude. The album helped establish Motörhead as precursors to the new wave of British heavy metal, proving you could hit harder and faster than the blues-based bands before them. This rawer approach would influence decades of metal and hard rock to come.

★ Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden1980

This is the song that starts the lineage, feeding directly into Black Sabbath's 1970 debut — a reminder that Iron Maiden were students of everything Sabbath built a decade earlier. Written by bassist Steve Harris, the self-titled track appeared on the band's 1980 debut album, released on EMI Records with Paul Di'Anno on vocals before Bruce Dickinson took over the mic. Produced by Wil Malone, it carries the raw, galloping bass lines Harris became known for, and the whole thing feels like a band announcing itself without apology. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was in full swing, and Iron Maiden weren't chasing it — they were helping define it.

Venom

In League with Satan (7" Version)1981

Where Saxon stuck to muscular hard rock, Venom pushed the New Wave of British Heavy Metal into darker territory. Released as a 7" single in 1981, "In League with Satan" took the speed and aggression of NWOBHM and amplified it with occult imagery and rawer production. Venom's blend of thrash and speed metal here influenced the emerging black metal sound—bands would later cite them as a key bridge between traditional metal and the genre's blasphemous aesthetics. The track's rapid-fire riffs and demonic vocals showed that British metal could get heavier and weirder than its American counterparts. This same year, Girlschool proved the NWOBHM scene had room for female voices, but Venom's willingness to embrace metal's shadowy underbelly set them apart as true innovators within the movement.

Girlschool

C'mon Let's Go1981

While Venom's black metal experiments pushed extremity in 1981, Girlschool brought raw, direct heavy metal energy from the same London scene with "C'mon Let's Go." Released on their *Hit and Run* album and produced by Vic Maile, the track showcased Kelly Johnson and Kim McAuliffe's no-nonsense approach to hard rock—tight riffs without the occult theatrics. Formed in 1978, Girlschool proved women could deliver the same grit as their male counterparts in NWOBHM, holding their ground alongside Venom and other genre pillars. This 1981 release sits perfectly between Venom's satanic shock tactics and Witchfinder General's military-themed metal, showing the movement's range—from shock to straightforward metal muscle.

Witchfinder General

Soviet Invasion1982

Where Girlschool proved women could deliver raw, street-level metal energy in 1981, Witchfinder General took the NWOBHM blueprint and dragged it into darker, slower territory. "Soviet Invasion" strips away the speed and polish of their peers, replacing it with crushing doom riffs written by Zeeb Parkes and Philip John Cope. Released on Heavy Metal Records in 1982, the track foreshadows the heavier directions metal would explore. By the time Sepultura emerged five years later with "Meaningless Movements," this kind of downtuned, oppressive heaviness had become the foundation for thrash and doom's growing influence. Witchfinder General's refusal to stay within NWOBHM's faster boundaries helped legitimate metal's low-end possibilities.

Sepultura

Meaningless Movements1987

Building on Witchfinder General's raw proto-metal assault, Sepultura's "Meaningless Movements" from their 1991 album *Arise* showcased the Brazilian band's mastery of thrash metal's technical precision. Formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984, Sepultura fused the genre's speed and aggression with grooved rhythms that influenced a generation of metal musicians. The track features Max Cavalera's visceral vocals paired with Andreas Kisser's sharp guitar work, recorded by Scott Burns at his legendary studio. This song's mechanical fury would set the template for extreme metal's evolution throughout the 1990s, bridging the gap between thrash's anarchic energy and the calculated brutality that bands like DragonForce would later amplify with virtuosic precision.

Saxon

Wheels Of Steel - Remastered2010

Saxon's "Wheels of Steel" bridges the progressive rock ambition of Yes with the raw aggression that Venom would push into extreme territory. Formed in Barnsley in 1976, Saxon emerged as front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, replacing Yes's complex arrangements with driving riffs and anthemic choruses. Between 1980 and 1987, they established themselves as one of Europe's biggest metal acts, securing eight UK Top 40 albums including four Top 10 entries. This remaster preserves the band's early punch—the galloping rhythms and soaring vocals that influenced later thrash acts like Metallica and Megadeth. Saxon's approach stripped progressive rock down to its essentials: power and momentum, pointing directly toward the satanic aggression Venom would embrace in the black metal underground.

DragonForce

Power of the Saber Blade2023

DragonForce's 2023 single pushes the extreme power metal sound the London band has refined since 1999. While Sepultura's thrash riffing in 1987 built metal's raw speed, DragonForce channels that aggression through fantasy-game aesthetics and technical guitar mastery. Herman Li and Sam Totman deliver the long, complex solos the band is known for, while Marc Hudson's vocals cut through the wall of sound. Released December 11, 2023, this four-minute track reinforces DragonForce's commitment to the video game-influenced power metal style they've made their signature. Where earlier thrash metal was about raw force, DragonForce applies that same velocity to melodic, high-skill instrumentation that appeals to players and fantasy fans alike.