Thematically, most of heavy metal's great lyrical obsessions are not only here, they're all crammed onto side one. 'Black Sabbath,' 'The Wizard,' 'Behind the Wall of Sleep,' and 'N.I.B.' evoke visions of evil, paganism, and the occult as filtered through horror films and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, and Dennis Wheatley" (Huey 2013). Black Sabbath's utilization of heavy guitar tone, slow rhythmic guitar riffs, and intricate guitar solos coupled with dark thematics lyrics with a fascination for the occult set the bar for heavy metal music, and many bands following them would look to follow that example.
Following the influence and example set by not only Black Sabbath, but other bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, heavy metal gained massive popularity in the United Kingdom, with the rise of what is now dubbed "The New Wave of British Heavy Metal." What set this subgenre apart was its use of melodic instrumentals, and more fantasy-like lyrical themes, as showcased by bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. At the same time as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was gaining traction, the subgenre of hardcore punk, another countercultural musical movement was emerging in the United Kingdom. Hardcore punk gained traction as it was ironically perceived that punk music at that time was becoming too mainstream, and broke off as it own subgenre and subculture, in a direct response to the direction of punk, as well as the socially conservative political climate that dominated the 1980s in both the United Kingdom and the United States (Hebdige 1979, 224-5). The emergence of both the NWOBHM and hardcore punk in the United Kingdom would make its way across the Atlantic and gain popularity in the United States, once again changing the dynamic of heavy metal.
With the rise of heavy metal into the 1970s, and the concurrent growth of both subgenres of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the hardcore punk genre, both would draw inspiration to American bands in the 1980s.
