I mean, in effect British Steel might as well have been part of the NWOBHM along with Ace of Spades, but they didn't come from any scene that produced any of those bands.

They were British. And played Heavy Metal. During the second wave of British Heavy Metal. That's close enough for this metalhead.

But they weren't New. Bitch.

Fuck.

I mean, there were plenty of British metal bands in the early-mid 70s, like Priest, Budgie, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, etc. But that doesn't mean they should be considered NWOBHM just cause a couple of them were still relevant in 1980. The NWOBHM was different cause it was a new take on metal, where it was finally breaking away from hard rock to become a genre unto itself (metal).

Judas Priest and Motorhead were instrumental in that evolution, and were not only relevant, but vibrant in that time period, but they were more like godfathers of the genre than actual members. Especially when you accept that the NWOBHM wasn't so much a genre as a loose scene.

Judas Priest broke away from Hard Rock and started making Heavy Metal right as everyone else in the wave started doing the same thing. Their evolution coincides perfectly with the wave.

Though Judas Priest technically existed in '69, they were a completely different band, similar only in name to the band we all know and love. They didn't even have Halford yet. And they didn't start making Metal until the NWOBHM. Saying that they are a godfather of Metal isn't really true, since they weren't part of the first wave. It wasn't until the late seventies that they made anything even approaching the heaviness of first wave bands like May Blitz, Led Zep, Stray, The Edgar Broughton Band, Black Sabbath, etc., and by then the second wave was culminating.

If you don't think "The Ripper" and "Sinner" were pure metal then I feel bad for you, son.

Those songs came out in '76 and '77 respectively. According to wiki, the formative years of the NWOBHM came after the British Recession that lasted from '73-'75. So I'd say Judas Priest still fits into the mold of the NWOBHM just fine. They started getting into Heavy Metal right around when everyone else in the wave did.

That's when the early NWOBHM bands started, but they never released any albums till around 1980. Priest's origin v. first album was about the same as the early NWOBHM bands' origins v. first albums.

So you agree that priest started making true Heavy Metal around the same time that NWOBHM bands started forming and making Heavy Metal, but your problem is that the powers that be refuse to acknowledge any band as NWOBHM if they made any albums pre-1980?