Ask anyone what makes heavy metal an unique genre of rock and they'll list off some key components- dark imagery, hard drumming, intense vocals and guitar distortion.
So it follows that removing one or more of these elements would essentially rip the heart out of that distinctive heavy metal sound, but how bad could a minor change be?
As this video from Paranormal Guitar Channel shows taking the distortion out of heavy metal guitar isn't so bad after all- because it becomes surf rock from hell.
-Via eBaum's World