It was on February 13, 1970 that the genre of heavy metal was officially born. While its blueprints had already been laid down by the likes of Zeppelin, Blue Cheer and Coven venturing further into the heavier underbelly of rock'n'roll, Black Sabbath crystallised the sound and feel of metal into something tangible - something terrifying and altogether heavier than anything we'd heard before.
Over five decades later and metal remains as fearless, boundary pushing and feared/revered as ever, its journey taking on all manner of twists and turns with Sabbath's debut, through the NWOBHM, thrash, the extreme outer limits of death and black metal and the nu metal explosion that followed some years later. From metal’s original earthquaking anthems to the modern classics that are pushing things forward, this is the soundtrack to a musical revolution that has lasted 50 years and counting, courtesy of the 100 songs that changed the genre forever.
