Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham in 1968, and with their self-titled 1970 debut essentially invented heavy metal. Tony Iommi's downtuned, heavily distorted guitar — adapted after a factory accident severed two fingertips — created a sound of unprecedented heaviness. Paired with Geezer Butler's rumbling bass, Bill Ward's jazz-influenced drumming, and Ozzy Osbourne's desperate vocals, Sabbath crafted music that was darker and heavier than anything that came before. Albums like Paranoid, Master of Reality, and Vol. 4 established the template that metal would follow for decades. Iommi's use of tritone intervals, power chords, and slow, crushing tempos defined the doom metal aesthetic. The band's influence radiates through every subgenre of heavy music, from thrash to sludge to stoner rock. Their raw, working-class approach to heaviness remains unmatched in its visceral impact.