A lot of the basic rhythms and tempos (aside from the ones directly taken from west African music via American blues) were mimicking locomotives / steam engines

A lot of the basic rhythms and tempos (aside from the ones directly taken from west African music via American blues) were mimicking locomotives / steam engines. Personally I think distortion does a good job of conveying emotion / passion as it intuitively gives you a sense of “wow they are really pushing stuff beyond it’s intended limit”.