Inspired by punk’s energy, the new wave of British heavy metal helped put the ‘snot and piss’ back into rock music. Forty years on, its leading players tell the story
Joe Elliott (singer, Def Leppard): The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was a phrase invented by Sounds magazine [in May 1979]. It’s an easy hook for many bands that came out around 1979, at a time when nightclubs were starting to let bands play again after disco had shut it all down.
Cronos (singer/bassist, Venom): Everybody said heavy rock was over. They said punk killed rock. That was the way everybody was talking.
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