ACCEPT.

Accept plays metal with a steel rhythm and a chorus that wants to come back immediately. The sound is heavy and straight to the point, but the riffs are carefully constructed for the moment when the whole band kicks in.

The melodic guitar lines give the riffs a direction that goes beyond pure power. A recurring motif makes the song recognizable, even when drums and vocals sharpen the focus. On LP, that alternation between attack and melody works across an entire side of the record. Turn the music down a little and follow just the accents: you will hear how carefully the solid exterior is constructed.

Balls To The Wall is a logical first stop. Metal Heart allows more melody into the violence; The Rise Of Chaos shows how that recognizable approach continued to work later on.

Alongside their own trajectory, the Artist Story of Metallica helps to follow the broader metal narrative. Through heavy metal and hard rock, you hear how various bands extracted tension from guitars.

Try Metallica for sharper acceleration, Black Sabbath for the dark origins, and AC/DC for pure rhythm. Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses open two very different paths from the same guitar energy.