Hometown to members of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, Birmingham played a pivotal role in the history of heavy metal, helping not only nurture those bands in the early days of the genre, but also shaped how metal would evolve thanks to later groups like Napalm Death and even punks GBH who would later be one of the leading groups in UK82, the hardcore punk scene that would give birth to thrash and extreme metal.
With heavy metal officially coming home to Birmingham on July 5 for the massive Back To The Beginning gig by Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, we thought it high time to celebrate some of the city's best metal bands from across the decades.
