Oddbean new post about login | logout @4d2facee I'd understood the etymology was linked to the phrase 'heavy metal thunder' in Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf in 1968, but I don't know if that's ever been proven.
@36f46f8c @4d2facee and tied to Iron Butterfly as the first heavy metal band for it's metal name and the heavy sound of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. But all that could have been verbal use circa 1968 with Cream magazine solidifying its use as a formal category in print in 1970 reviewing this band that I've never heard of before or since.