10 Rock Bands That Made Metal Songs

As much as people wouldn't want to accept it, the roots of metal go back a lot further than the likes of Black Sabbath. Before Tony Iommi had even started to tune down his instruments, acts like Screamin Jay Hawkins were already putting different dark imagery into their songs, and the Rolling Stones had started to be on the rougher side of rock and roll in the '60s as well. For all metal though, it all comes back to the blues, and by the time of their 4th album, Led Zeppelin were masters at it.

While there's still a debate among the band themselves of whether they actually embrace the heavy metal pioneers label that they're fixed with, When the Levee Breaks was the closest that they've come to all out destruction, capping off Led Zeppelin IV with a punch in the gut. Coming off of the heels of the folksy Going to California, you know that we're in for something big when Bonzo's drums kick in, with a huge echo-ed sound that feels like it's coming from off in the distance.

Depicting the scene of a flood tearing through a city, the crying sound of Jimmy Page's guitar along with Robert Plant's vocal makes the song a tour de force, taking the building blocks of the blues and turning it into one of the most horrifying songs that they would ever create. Many more heavy songs were bound to follow, but from the minute that you hit the outro and hear Robert talking about how he's going down, you don't know whether it's because of the flood or that he's bound for the underworld.