In a new interview with Poland’s MetalSide, iconic rock drummer Carmine Appice reiterated his belief that Metallica should be credited as the first genuine heavy metal band, arguing that all preceding acts belong strictly to the hard rock genre.
According to the veteran musician, the defining distinction of heavy metal lies entirely in specific guitar tones and rhythmic production techniques rather than just sheer volume.
When discussing the evolutionary line between the two genres, Appice laid out his criteria for what constitutes true metal.
“I consider heavy metal starting with Metallica. Before all that, it was hard rock. The crunchy guitars, the buzztone guitar and the double bass following guitar, that’s what started heavy metal. Everything else before that — Mötley Crüe and Van Halen, Blue Murder — everything’s hard rock. Heavy hard rock. But metal comes from the guitar for me,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
This is not the first time the drummer has credited Metallica with founding the genre. Appice initially voiced this perspective during a 2020 conversation with Pete Pardo of Sea Of Tranquility.
In that interview, the two discussed how the sudden explosion of the Pacific Northwest grunge movement in the early 1990s, led by groups like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam, effectively marginalized established rock acts. The industry shift caused a severe decline in venue sizes and record sales for legendary artists. Appice recalled performing in 500-seat clubs with Edgar Winter at the time, noting that Dio, featuring his brother Vinny Appice on drums, was playing the same small circuits while prominent figures like Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, and Ozzy Osbourne experienced a similar drop in popularity.
During that period, Appice noted that Metallica uniquely managed to maintain their massive commercial momentum and stadium-level crowds because their foundational sound separated them entirely from the traditional hard rock field.
“Metallica was not like all these other bands. Metallica I consider the band that really created what you’d call heavy metal. All these other bands — Mötley Crüe, Blue Murder… It’s hard rock — that’s not heavy metal. That Metallica sound, that sounds like scratching guitars, that, to me, is what heavy metal is, which turned into death metal and speed metal and every other metal. But Ozzy‘s first album was hard rock. Mötley Crüe was hard rock. Whitesnake — it’s hard rock. King Kobra was hard rock. It was all hard rock. Blue Murder, they detuned a little bit and it was heavy, but it wasn’t what I consider heavy metal. Heavy metal was that really scratchy guitar sound,” he explained at the time.
Appice commands a significant legacy within the rock community as the original drummer for Vanilla Fudge, a group he still records and tours with today. Throughout his extensive career, he has also performed as a member of Cactus and Beck, Bogert & Appice, alongside notable touring and recording stints with Ozzy Osbourne and Rod Stewart. Notably, he co-wrote Stewart‘s 1978 hit single “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?“. His influential playing style and longevity earned him the number 28 spot on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the greatest drummers of all time.
