The purpose (You mean there has to be a purpose?!) of this blog is to share some stories, photos, music and even some metal artifacts that have been dug up along the way. I don't claim to be an expert, I don't have many contacts and I don't care about trends in metal. I am just a geek that has been listening to metal since 1984 and I want to share some of my own personal stories and reflections with other people who may have grown up similar. Or perhaps you are younger and you are interested in the ramblings of a middle aged man about growing up a metal head. There is so much pretentiousness on the online metal scene today, everyone is more "metal" than the next guy and blah, blah, blah. I just want to offer an honest and more personal side.
By the way, on a related note. Anyone else notice how in 1987, there was maybe two-three guys in the entire town who liked bands like Sodom, Kreator, Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, yet today everyone was a huge fan since day one. Though my friends and I were a little young to catch the first wave of bands like Priest, Maiden and NWOBHM they still were the first bands we were exposed to. However, we really found our place with the more extreme next wave of metal very early. Bands like Sodom, Kreator, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Destruction were all introduced to us via Banzai records and inspired us to form our own bands.
Anyway, let's get started!
The year was 1984 and I was in grade 4. I bought a Twisted Sister tape, and by the time I discovered Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Metallica a few months later that Twisted Sister tape became passe. Motley Crue you cringe? Poser you say? Maybe, but remember, I was probably metal before you and I still think Too Fast For Love and Shout at the Devil are great rock'n' roll records. I guess my generation was the second wave of bangers, at the time it wasn't cool to be into metal, you were into metal because you were a misfit and a geek. We were hated by jocks, punks, parents and even normal people. Funny thing is by the time we got into the more extreme forms of metal, we were probably more punk than the punks because we really didn't belong anywhere, even the other metal guys hated us! Oh wait, I forgot... everyone into metal appreciated Hellhammer and Sodom back then!! Of course we realized that we had a lot in common with the punks later, but more on that another time.
After seeing the video for Aces High on local much music, I realized that there were people out there that I seemed to have more in common with, someone other than my pink wearing, Corey Hart and Platinum Blonde listening classmates. I did not realize what a life altering moment it would turn out to be when I begged my mom to buy me a shirt the next day. Thanks mom! You can see by the photograph below that I had clearly not discovered Hellhammer yet though, as I still looked like a happy young lad here. Anyway, I did not realize when I got this shirt that my life was to change forever. It became a war everyday and it was Us vs Them. I don't want to sound like a self righteous old fart wallowing in my own nostalgic glory, but kids today really don't fucking know.
Circa 1984: I might be a geek, but I was probably metal before 90% of the "true" crowd
and I was just a kid
and I was just a kid
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