Rock and metal didn’t just appear out of nowhere one rainy Tuesday afternoon while somebody was queuing outside Greggs.
Every enormous riff, screaming guitar solo, thunderous breakdown and festival-sized chorus can usually be traced back to another band who kicked open the door first.
Music evolves. Bands borrow ideas, twist them into new shapes, turn the amps up louder and pass the torch to the next generation of noisy little troublemakers.
That is exactly what this brilliant Influence Chain graphic attempts to show — fifteen musical family trees connecting pioneering legends with the bands they inspired and the modern artists who carried those sounds forward.
Some connections feel absolutely bang-on. Others are guaranteed to start arguments in pub beer gardens, festival campsites and Facebook comment sections for approximately the next 400 years.
So, grab a drink, turn the speakers up and let’s follow the riffs through the generations. 🎤⚡
1. The Beatles ➜ Queen ➜ Muse 🎹👑
Few bands changed popular music as dramatically as The Beatles.
They didn’t simply write catchy songs. They transformed studio recording, experimented with different sounds and helped establish the album as something more ambitious than a collection of singles.
Then came Queen, taking that sense of experimentation and making everything bigger, louder and considerably more theatrical.
Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon created music packed with gigantic harmonies, unexpected arrangements and choruses designed to shake entire stadiums.
That ambition can clearly be heard in Muse.
Matt Bellamy and company have spent their career mixing alternative rock, classical influences, electronics and enormous stage production. Their music often carries the same glorious belief that there is no such thing as “too much”.
More guitars? Absolutely.
More lights? Go on then.
A massive robot wandering around the stage? Why not, mun?
2. Black Sabbath ➜ Metallica ➜ Avenged Sevenfold 🔥🦇
Without Black Sabbath, the heavy metal family tree would look considerably emptier.
Tony Iommi’s dark, crushing guitar riffs gave heavy music its blueprint, while Ozzy Osbourne’s haunting voice helped turn songs like Black Sabbath, War Pigs and Iron Man into sacred metal texts.
That heaviness eventually helped inspire Metallica, who combined the power of classic metal with the speed and aggression of punk.
Metallica became one of the biggest bands on the planet, proving that heavy music could fill stadiums without sanding down its sharp edges.
Their influence can be heard throughout the work of Avenged Sevenfold, particularly in the band’s mixture of thrash-inspired guitar work, melodic songwriting and huge arena-ready ambition.
From Birmingham gloom to Californian stadium metal, that is one mighty chain.
3. Led Zeppelin ➜ Guns N’ Roses ➜ Velvet Revolver 🎸🌹
Led Zeppelin brought blues, hard rock, mystery and swagger together in one thunderous package.
Jimmy Page’s riffs, Robert Plant’s voice, John Paul Jones’ musicianship and John Bonham’s gigantic drumming helped create the template for countless hard rock bands.
Years later, Guns N’ Roses arrived sounding dangerous, unpredictable and gloriously out of control.
They had the bluesy foundations, the larger-than-life frontman, the guitar hero and enough chaos to make every hotel manager in the world nervous.
Velvet Revolver completed the chain by bringing together former members of Guns N’ Roses with Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland.
The result was slicker and more modern, but still packed with that same sleazy hard rock attitude.
4. Deep Purple ➜ Iron Maiden ➜ Helloween ⚡🇬🇧
Deep Purple helped lay the foundations for heavy metal with their technical musicianship, powerful organs, screaming vocals and legendary guitar riffs.
You cannot discuss the birth of heavy music without mentioning Smoke on the Water, even though every guitar shop employee has probably heard the opening riff enough times to last several lifetimes.
Their influence travelled directly into the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, where Iron Maiden became one of the genre’s defining bands.
Maiden brought twin-guitar melodies, galloping bass lines, historical lyrics, huge choruses and a massive undead mascot named Eddie.
German metal heroes Helloween then took the speed, melody and fantasy elements of bands like Maiden and helped establish power metal as a major genre.
This particular chain is basically three generations of guitarists standing on mountains while dramatically pointing swords at the sky.
Lovely stuff.
5. Judas Priest ➜ Pantera ➜ Lamb of God 🤘💥
Judas Priest sharpened heavy metal into something faster, cleaner and more aggressive.
Rob Halford’s vocals became the gold standard for metal singers, while Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing turned twin-guitar attacks into an art form.
Then Pantera arrived and changed the shape of metal during the 1990s.
Their groove-heavy riffs, brutal rhythm section and confrontational attitude offered an alternative to both glam metal and traditional thrash.
That groove-driven heaviness carried into bands such as Lamb of God, whose combination of thrash, groove and modern metal helped them become one of the defining heavy acts of the 21st century.
That is less an influence chain and more a three-stage demolition project.
6. Motörhead ➜ Metallica ➜ Machine Head ♠️🔥
Was Motörhead a rock band? A metal band? A punk band?
Lemmy would probably have told you they simply played rock ’n’ roll.
Whatever label you choose, Motörhead’s speed, dirt and attitude inspired an enormous number of musicians.
Metallica have always been open about their love for Lemmy and company, even recording a collection of Motörhead covers known as The Lemmy’s, complete with wigs and fake facial hair.
Metallica’s own impact can then be heard in Machine Head, who mixed thrash, groove and modern heaviness to create records such as Burn My Eyes and The Blackening.
Fast, loud and completely allergic to subtlety. Proper job.
7. Ramones ➜ Green Day ➜ blink-182 🎤💚
The Ramones proved that punk didn’t need complicated musicianship or twenty-minute keyboard solos.
It needed speed, attitude, leather jackets and songs that got to the point before your chips went cold.
Their simple, melodic approach inspired generations of punk bands, including Green Day, who helped bring punk rock back into the mainstream during the 1990s.
Green Day mixed political frustration, teenage boredom and ridiculously catchy hooks into global success.
Then came blink-182, adding pop melodies, toilet humour and songs about growing up without ever feeling particularly grown-up.
Together, these bands helped punk move from sweaty clubs to enormous arenas while keeping its scruffy trainers firmly planted in rebellion.
8. The Clash ➜ Rancid ➜ Rise Against 🚨✊
The Clash proved punk could be intelligent, political and musically adventurous.
They mixed punk with reggae, ska, rockabilly and countless other influences while writing about class, conflict and social injustice.
Rancid carried that street-level punk spirit into the 1990s, combining catchy songs with rough vocals and strong ska influences.
Then Rise Against brought melodic hardcore and politically charged lyrics to a new generation.
All three bands understood that punk could make you move while also making you think.
Not bad for a genre occasionally dismissed as three chords and shouting.
9. Nirvana ➜ Foo Fighters ➜ Royal Blood 🖤🎸
Nirvana didn’t invent grunge, but they changed alternative rock forever.
Their sudden rise helped sweep aside the excesses of the late 1980s and bring raw, emotionally honest guitar music into the mainstream.
After Kurt Cobain’s death, drummer Dave Grohl stepped forward and created Foo Fighters.
What began as a personal studio project became one of the world’s biggest rock bands, filled with massive choruses, emotional songwriting and enough festival anthems to soundtrack an entire summer.
The graphic then connects Foo Fighters with Royal Blood, whose stripped-down bass-and-drums attack produces a sound far larger than two musicians should reasonably be allowed to make.
It is modern rock with fuzz, swagger and riffs thick enough to spread on toast.
10. Alice in Chains ➜ Godsmack ➜ Breaking Benjamin 🌑🔥
Alice in Chains brought a darker and heavier edge to the Seattle scene.
Jerry Cantrell’s riffs and the haunting vocal harmonies between Cantrell and Layne Staley gave the band a sound that was instantly recognisable.
That brooding heaviness clearly influenced Godsmack, whose early material carried a similarly dark and muscular atmosphere.
Breaking Benjamin then took elements of post-grunge and alternative metal, adding emotional lyrics and gigantic radio-friendly choruses.
This chain is basically rain, distortion and several years of unresolved feelings turned into guitar music.
11. Slayer ➜ Slipknot ➜ Knocked Loose 😈💀
Slayer helped push thrash metal into more extreme territory.
Their music was faster, darker and more aggressive than almost anything around them, while albums like Reign in Blood became essential listening for generations of heavy musicians.
Slipknot took that aggression and transformed it into complete sensory warfare.
Nine members, terrifying masks, percussionists hitting metal barrels and crowds losing their minds — Slipknot turned extreme music into a stadium spectacle.
The chain then reaches Knocked Loose, whose brutally heavy mixture of hardcore and metal has made them one of the most talked-about bands in modern heavy music.
When vocalist Bryan Garris screams, somewhere a garden shed collapses.
12. Venom ➜ Mayhem ➜ Behemoth 🕯️🐐
Newcastle’s Venom helped shape extreme metal with their filthy production, satanic imagery and gloriously chaotic sound.
Their 1982 album Black Metal even gave the genre its name.
Norwegian band Mayhem pushed that darkness further, becoming one of the most notorious and influential names in black metal history.
Polish giants Behemoth later combined black metal atmosphere with the power and precision of death metal.
Their performances feel less like gigs and more like someone has accidentally opened a portal beneath the main stage.
13. Bathory ➜ Emperor ➜ Dimmu Borgir 🌲⚔️
Sweden’s Bathory played a crucial role in the development of both black metal and Viking metal.
The early records were raw and savage, while later albums became increasingly epic and atmospheric.
Norway’s Emperor took black metal into more complex and symphonic territory, creating music that was fierce but also grand and deeply layered.
Dimmu Borgir then expanded the orchestral side of the genre, bringing choirs, keyboards and cinematic arrangements into their music.
This chain starts in a dark basement and ends with a full orchestra apparently performing during the apocalypse.
14. Dream Theater ➜ Symphony X ➜ Haken 🎼🧠
Progressive metal is where musicians go when playing normally simply isn’t complicated enough.
Dream Theater became the benchmark for technical progressive metal, combining long compositions, complex time signatures and astonishing musicianship.
Symphony X added a stronger neoclassical and power metal flavour, delivering intricate music with plenty of melody and drama.
British band Haken have carried progressive metal into the modern era with playful arrangements, ambitious concepts and songs that frequently make musicians stare at their instruments in confusion.
Somewhere in this chain, a drummer has definitely counted to seventeen.
15. Korn ➜ Linkin Park ➜ Bring Me the Horizon 🔥🎧
Korn helped create the sound that became known as nu-metal.
Their low-tuned guitars, hip-hop-inspired rhythms and emotionally raw lyrics opened the door for countless bands during the late 1990s.
Linkin Park took those ingredients and created something enormous.
They blended metal, rap, electronic music and deeply personal songwriting into a sound that connected with millions of listeners around the world.
Then came Bring Me the Horizon.
Starting as a brutally heavy deathcore band, Bring Me the Horizon constantly evolved, moving through metalcore, alternative rock, pop, electronics and experimental music.
Much like Linkin Park before them, they have refused to accept that heavy bands must stay trapped inside one genre.
Are Influence Chains Really This Simple? 🤔
Of course not.
Musical influence is rarely a straight line.
Bands absorb ideas from hundreds of places: records, concerts, producers, local scenes, friendships and sometimes a dodgy cassette passed around in school.
Metallica were influenced by Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Diamond Head, Misfits, Thin Lizzy and plenty more.
Bring Me the Horizon may have been influenced by Linkin Park, but they also draw from metalcore, deathcore, pop, electronic music and alternative culture.
These chains are not definitive history lessons. They are conversation starters.
And judging by rock fans’ legendary ability to argue about absolutely anything, they should keep everyone busy for a while.
The Riff Never Dies 🤘🔥
The most important thing about this graphic is the reminder that rock and metal are constantly evolving.
The bands we worship today were once young musicians learning riffs from their heroes. Tomorrow’s headliners are currently standing in bedrooms, garages and rehearsal rooms doing exactly the same thing.
One generation inspires the next.
The sound changes. The clothes change. The production becomes cleaner, heavier or occasionally much stranger.
But the spirit remains.
Turn it up. Question the rules. Write something honest. Start a band. Make enough noise to annoy the neighbours.
That influence chain will keep growing for as long as somebody plugs a guitar into an amplifier and thinks:
“Yeah… but what happens if I make it louder?” 🎸⚡
Which Chain Is the Strongest?
Do you agree with these fifteen influence chains?
Which connection is completely spot-on — and which one has made you spit your tea across the room?
Perhaps we need:
Thin Lizzy ➜ Iron Maiden ➜ Avenged Sevenfold
AC/DC ➜ Airbourne ➜ Massive Wagons
Pink Floyd ➜ Porcupine Tree ➜ Sleep Token
Misfits ➜ AFI ➜ Creeper
Drop your own musical family tree into the comments, butt. Let the friendly arguments begin! 🤘🔥
