We love our history here at Nihilist, and music history is even better. A not very frequently explored part of that history are the early days of heavy music. I maintain my conviction that live music played on electric instruments sent through speakers under thousands of watts of power is often heavy by definition, but I'm gonna stick to the style of music here.
Despite how it looks at a casual glance, it wasn't just Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple who are to blame for such a lovely tradition of music, there are a handful of names that were big in their time but posterity has forgotten. I won't go into the bands too much and let the music speak for itself. The first, who are gaining a little recognition now are Blue Cheer. Here they are in 1968.
There is an unconfirmed story that the last two tracks recorded for their Inside Outside album were recorded at the bottom of Pier 57 in New York because they were kicked out of the studio for being far too loud.
Next up is a proper rock 'n' roll mess from the little known English band Edgar Broughton Band from 1970.
Next is another American band, Sir Lord Baltimore, with a savage mix of Hendrixesque psychedelia and quite modern sounding lead work. From the 1970 album Kingdom Come.
Next one is from the now reformed Scottish band Iron Claw, and if you were beginning to think that these last few tracks simply haven't been heavy enough, check this brutal fucker!
Finally we have one of the more recognised bands, Pentagram. Arguably the crucial Sabbath influence would have had a little time to settle in by 1972, but have a listen to this for some old-school Evil!
There are a huge range of names that I could mention but I think the few I have chosen are nicely representative.
Keep it free and heavy! Edward...
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