Explorations in the Extreme, On the Fringes of Music: The First Wave of Black Metal
Hellhammer We all, or at least everyone that likes black metal, knows that the current sound of black metal is mostly influenced by what is called the second wave which started somewhere around the mid 80s in Norway with the formation of Mayhem. But before that there was another wave of bands starting to emerge in the late 70s and early 80s that are now known as the first wave of black metal. When talking about the first wave of black metal there are usually two questions being asked, who was the first black metal band and is most of the first wave even black metal (mostly, not really). A number of bands are usually mentioned when talking about the first wave, most notably of course Venom and Bathory. Other bands include King Diamond, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, and some Teutonic thrash metal bands that were an influence on black metal's early development like Kreator, Sodom, particularly In the Sign of Evil , and Destruction. The Wikipedia article also mentions Death and Posse...
