10 Incredible New Pioneers Of Old-School Metal

Ever since the halcyon days of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer and Steppenwolf, extreme music has been a force to be reckoned with, driven by aggression, machismo and, above all else, unadulterated volume!

Nowadays, the acts at the very top of the mountain are nostalgia groups: predominately, they're bands that peaked in the '80s or '90s, and are continuing to headline massive festivals, as well as regularly tour all over the world to this very day. This includes the likes of Metallica, System of a Down, Slayer, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Sepultura, Tool and Megadeth.

And this, in turn, begs a question:

What happens when, inevitably, these older acts at the very pinnacle of metal's popularity call it quits?

Some have been going for thirty-plus years and, as horrid as it is to fathom, their performing days are definitely numbered.

In fear of this eventuality, I'm going to put forth some possible replacements: new bands that channel old-school heavy genres from the '80s and '90s (like thrash, black, death and progressive metal), and will carry them brilliantly into the future.

To clarify, a band is classified as "new" if it has: a) existed for less than five years, and b) released a maximum of one full-length studio album. That way, hopefully this article introduces you all to as many new, up-and-coming acts as possible.

Doom is arguably one of the oldest forms of metal, with roots dating all the way back to Black Sabbath's 1969 self-titled debut. And, since then, it has become a more and more complex affair, crafting longer and longer songs with slower and slower musicianship, to the point where only the most patient of metalheads can love some of what modern doom metal is providing.

However, British upstarts Wretch are bringing their genre back to its roots, inclining more to the good ol' days of Sabbath, Pentagram and Saint Vitus. Because of this, frontman Karl Simon and co. have created a truly underrated slice of gorgeous, emotive, depressive rock with their self-titled debut album (2016).

A big part of Wretch's immensely dark aura can be attributed to the real-life tragedy that went into the band's formation, as Simon was reeling from the death of close-friend-turned-bandmate Jason McCash, who passed away in 2014. Because of this, Wretch adds a genuinely emotional and raw element to the doom metal realm: one that it has been very sorely lacking for a very long while.

The Wretch album is a story of loss and remembrance that feels as heavily tonally as it does musically. And such is the key to crafting truly perfect, despondent doom.