Prologue
by Marcelo Silveyra
Heavy metal is one of the most misunderstood genres of music in our day. Rather unfortunately, this is often a result of brazen ignorance about the subject, brought about by certain sectors of the media, society, and listeners themselves. Instead of blindly backlashing against those responsible for the defamation of heavy metal, I decided to write a history of the aforementioned music, in hopes of providing yet another source of information for those who wish to learn about its development.
In no way is this a heavy metal band list or an attempt to include every detail, important or not, within the genre's history, but I believe it is a fairly comprehensive guide. I have included bands that have been influential, prominent, representative, or successful throughout their careers, and in the process omitted several others that would prevent any conciseness. I have also made the attempt of remaining as objective as possible (although words like "well-deserved" will appear throughout the text), and therefore have also included bands that I do not enjoy listening to or whose general visual image I do not respect. After all, heavy metal is something of an acquired taste. With no further comments, I leave you to read my take on the history of heavy metal. I hope you will enjoy it and maybe learn a little from it (and with any luck, you won't find it boring at all).
