Heavy metal music
Critics disagree over who can be thought of as the first heavy metal band. Most credit either Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, with American commentators tending to favour Led Zeppelin and British commentators tending to favour Black Sabbath, though many give equal credit to both. A few commentators—mainly American—argue for other groups including Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf or Blue Cheer. Deep Purple, the third band in what is sometimes considered the "unholy trinity" of heavy metal (Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple), despite being slightly older than Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, fluctuated between many rock styles until late 1969 when they took a heavy metal direction.
Patrick Pentland
Pentland's first group was a hard rock band, Prosecutor, which came together in the fall of 1984. They covered Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, plus a few originals influenced by those bands. The intended band name was actually Persecutor. Prosecutor played two shows, both in the spring of 1985—one in the local recreation centre that they rehearsed in, and the second on the lawn outside a local music store. By this time, however, Pentland had moved away from the hard rock sound of the band, becoming more interested in harder metal, having discovered bands like Motorhead, Venom, and the first two Metallica records.