Proto-Metal.
 

I'm hoping there are some interest in this type music here. There are some fairly well known bands that fit right into this genre. Deep Purple, Sir Lord Baltimore, Flower Travellin' Band, and so own. Anyway, while I really like this bands I'm more interested in the lesser known bands of these types.

I use this term to describe bands that have that certain mix of progressive rock, heavy psych, or hard blues. The normal era in which these bands can be found are late sixties on into the mid seventies and I'm sure later.

Well known bands;
Blue Oyster Cult
Sir Lord Baltimore
Deep Purple
Uriah Heep
Wishbone Ash
Led Zeppelin (arguable)
UFO ^
Flower Travellin' Band
Iron Butterfly

Lesser known bands;
Argus
Buffalo
Blues Creation
Dies Irae
Iron Claw
Leaf Hound
Lucifer's Friend
Lucifer Was
Speed, Glue, and Shinki
Supernaut
Wicked Lady
Sorcery
Yesterday's Children
Atomic Rooster
Icecross
Toad
Night Sun

Anyway, anyone dig this early metal type stuff?

Also, I understand this thread may not be appropriate so lock it or move it or whatever.

This looks a good thread to me - and there's plenty of stuff here you might want to get your teeth into, pity it took me so long to notice this!

Meanwhile, I gotta check out some of the names on your list that I'm unfamiliar with, and you might want to check out Dust, whose second album from 1972 contains some mind blowing proto/actual metal.

Nightsun and Buffalo are amazing, BTW - good list.

Blue Cheer for me.

King Crimson's Red

Atomic Rooster are pretty amazing.

Haha Blue Cheer or Uriah Heep for me. I love those guys.

Second! But do not make the mistake of dismissing the self-titled either, very much like a polished Sir Lord Baltimore (which you also should check out). The second, "Hard attack" is a minor masterpiece though. The first three tracks rule.

The aforementioned Lucifer's Friend is worth a second mention also. Their first album is the most metal-like and probably the most obvious candidate here. I'd like to bang the drum for "Banquet" as well, not a glimpse of hard rock but surprisingly profound jazz-fusion prog rock, and Lawton has got one of the most powerful voices ever.

Blue Cheer I agree with.

Parts of Crimson's debut are equal with Red in my book for this thread.

Hard Stuff's album Bulletproof (1972) is well worth a listen:

Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath (surprised nobody has mentioned them yet).

Probably because they're metal not proto-metal.