CARMINE APPICE Doubles Down On His Claim That METALLICA Was First True Heavy Metal Band: 'Before All That, It Was Hard Rock'

In a new interview with Poland's MetalSide, legendary rock drummer Carmine Appice doubled down on his claim that METALLICA was the first true heavy metal band. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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."

Carmine previously made the claim that METALLICA started heavy metal in a 2020 interview with Pete Pardo of Sea Of Tranquility. Speaking about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting, Carmine said: "Those days, nobody would touch us, because we were all dinosaurs. All the NIRVANAs and stuff — grunge was in, [and] nobody wanted to touch us, all the bands. Ted Nugent, DIO… I was playing with Edgar Winter in '91, '92 while doing MOTHER'S ARMY, and I was playing clubs with Edgar Winter — like 500-seat clubs. DIO was playing the same clubs, with my brother [Vinny Appice on drums]. Everybody was [experiencing a drop in popularity]. BLACK SABBATH wasn't happening. Ozzy [Osbourne] really wasn't happening. Nobody was happening except NIRVANA and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and PEARL JAM and all those guys."

When Pardo pointed out to Appice that METALLICA was still selling a lot of records and playing to huge crowds in the early 1990s, Carmine said: "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."

Appice is the original drummer of VANILLA FUDGE, with whom he still records and performs today. He has also played with CACTUS and BECK, BOGERT & APPICE, in addition to spending stints in the bands of Ozzy Osbourne and Rod Stewart, co-writing the latter's No. 1 hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Carmine was named the 28th greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

Appice is widely considered to be one of the most accomplished showmen in rock and is the recipient of numerous awards, including dozens of gold- and platinum-selling records. Carmine has broken new ground in every aspect of his career as a performer, as a teacher, and as a writer, and he continues to inspire drummers and listeners throughout the world with his originality and his unwavering dedication to the art of drumming.

Carmine's autobiography, "Stick It!: My Life Of Sex, Drums, And Rock 'N' Roll", was released in May 2016 by Chicago Review Press.