Although their fanbases are notably separate, punk and heavy metal are kindred spirits as the two main genres on the heavier end of rock music. Punk, as represented by Sex Pistols and Ramones, was a style and aesthetic that valued simple chord progressions and disregarded melody and societal expectations. Meanwhile, as pioneered by Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, heavy metal brought chugging pace and macabre intensity while maintaining a degree of instrumental dexterity.
If we trace punk and metal back to the 1960s, both arrived as a result of innovations in amplification techniques and instrumental approaches. Dave Davies, guitarist of The Kinks, claims to have stumbled upon the distorted sound that influenced punk and metal when attacking his amplifier in a moment of teenage rage in 1964.
The Kinks’ early producer, Shel Talmy, helped create a proto-punk sound in the early hit single ‘You Really Got Me’ in 1964 and produced a similar sound in The Who’s ‘My Generation’ the following year. Just a year thereafter, John Entwistle wrote ‘Boris the Spider’ for The Who’s second album, A Quick One. Although the bassist described the song as a joke, it became popular among hard rock fans, many of whom consider it the first metal song.
Punk, as a cultural phenomenon, began in 1974 and was led by Ramones in New York City. However, its direct genealogy spanned back to the late 1960s and early ’70s in bands like The Stooges and New York Dolls. At this point, British bands Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple unofficially formed the Unholy Trinity of heavy metal. As the 1970s progressed, a gulf widened between metal and punk.
As a fast-paced yet melodic style, often including intricate guitar solos, metal is generally a more complex form of music. Led Zeppelin maintained strong ties to the prog-rock movement thanks to its wealth of instrumental talent. When the UK punk scene arrived, Robert Plant and Page were initially dubious but came to appreciate the London group The Damned. “It had substance, and it also had a melody,” Plant once said of the band’s 1977 debut album. “It had so much drive about it. That was where things needed to go.”
