Speed Metal

Evolving from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and hardcore punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s, speed metal is a subgenre defined by its accelerated tempos and virtuosic musicality. It emphasizes aggressively fast, palm-muted guitar riffs, intricate and melodic twin-guitar solos, and often high-pitched, clean, or raspy vocals. As a crucial transitional form, it directly informed the development of thrash metal, with bands like early *Slayer* and *Megadeth* blurring the line between them. While its commercial peak was brief before morphing into thrash, its blueprint of velocity and technical precision remains a foundational element across the extreme metal spectrum.