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Forums > All other metal related talk..

How Did You Get Into Metal?

ThomasThrash
Wed, 10/06/2020 - 21:17

There may already be a forum topic for this but here goes.

How did you get into metal? When did you first here it and like it?

I'll start:

When I was as young as 2 I was often out in the garage working with my dad. He'd always be playing Metallica. New, old, all Metallica. I always loved it. I also got some Led Zeppelin CDs when I was around 4. At the time I enjoyed Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and a lot of classic rock. I remember one time at Costco, I think I was 5. I asked my dad about other metal bands. He told me about the "big 4" and that there were these 3 other bands that came up around the same time as Metallica. (Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth.)

To me at the time I felt like I had unlocked this whole new chunk of metal. It was awesome. However I didn't listen to those bands for a while.

By the time I was seven I was listening to more metal. But mostly alternative metal, grunge, still cool, but I hadn't found out about all this thrash. Around that time I discovered Suicidal Tendencoes when copying some music to my dad's IPod. (Around 2013, yes, an IPod lol) I listened to "Lost Again" off of "Lights, Camera, Revolution!" a bunch.

And that's pretty much how I got into metal. \m/


Kofuv6's picture

My dad loves punk/speed/thrash so he just played it whenever mom wasn't around, both me and my brother enjoyed it but he quit listening to metal due to tinnitus (he blames metal for it idk why) but he can still somewhat enjoy some bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden (dad isn't a big fan of maiden). I kept going and now I'm here

Hliðskialf's picture

To kick off the weekend, my dad used to blast Judas Priest every Saturday morning (especially Ram It Down and Turbo albums) when I was a kid.

Antichrist-Germany's picture

Very nice Story of You Thomas! For me it started when I was 10 and got my first turntable as a present from my mother with the 7'' of STATUS QUO "What You're proposing" together with the LP of THE POLICE "Ghost in the Machine"... this took me into the Rock genre as I did like STATUS QUO straight from the first time I listened to this 7 Inch. When I was around 12 my cousin, who I was always visiting once a Week to get a Tape Mix with new Music from him (remember it was Cassettes at that time lol)... was listening a lot to PINK FLOYD, STATUS QUO, MARILLION, URIAH HEEP and also AC/DC. The "Back in Black" Album from AC/DC was immediately drawing my attention and this took me more into the Heavy Rock genre. Then in school my best friend started listening to Anthrax & Suicidal Tendencies and another friend was in contact with UDO from ACCEPT. It then all started with real Heavy Metal, Speed Metal and Thrash Metal when I discovered the first SODOM Album :-) In the upcoming years of School we were the Outsiders, who were listening to Megadeth, Metallica (remember when listened to their first Demo Tapes, which were brilliant), Destruction, Wehrmacht, Violent Force, Exumer, Vendetta, Metal Church, Anthrax, ST and all the others... and we always wanted faster Thrash Stuff :-) KREATOR, DESTRUCTION and SODOM became my favourite bands... and SODOM was my first concert then in 1988.

Mastercutor's picture

TBH, I started listening to heavy metal even before I was born. My dad was listening to it all the time.
It was considerably hard to get original records around here, when he was younger, but he found his ways ;)
Accept, U.D.O., Vanize, Judas Priest, Manowar, Metallica, Helloween, Gamma Ray, some local bands and many more. That stuck with me for some time and then I became the one who started to introduce new bands to my father. For example Primal Fear.

There are even some funny stories when I was growing up and other kids used to sing popular/radio/folk songs. I was like "What?! Haven't heard it. - Nope, I'm not lying! - And I don't even like it!".
I was totally out of touch with "reality", so to say. Outside my "normal" music, which was anything ranging from Thin Lizzy to Alice Cooper, I was clueless. For quite some time I wasn't even aware that there's anything else in existence. I didn't even know what other genres were out there. I didn't even care, I was too comfortable in the metal zone. It was a long way to actually get outside of it.
Needless to say that I don't even remember not having long hair, since I always wanted to be like my father, who also sported long hair for as long as an entire family remembers.
___________________________

Representing the proud second generation over here. Who else is also a part of this SECOND GEN. as I like to call it?

oldmate's picture

When I was 10 to 12 years old all the older kids in the neighborhood were metalheads. Being little and looking up to them I wanted to know what metal was all about. Some metal heads from my street were cool and gave me a dubbed tape of Master of Puppets and State of Euphoria and some Kreator... and that was me hooked

Power Thrashing Debt's picture

My family has always been big SoaD and RATM fans, I grew up hearing them all the time. My mom also listens to a lot alt rock stuff in general. Best described as late 90s high schooler music. So I've been into more rock orientated genres than anything else. Then in middle school a friend showed me Slipknot and the rest is nothing special. Went through my Slipknot phase and now I'm a hardcore thrash and death fanatic

Grimlord's picture

I've never had any friends or family members who were into Metal or even Rock in general. I had to find everything myself. my dad died when I was 11 so all my energy went into music since then. a few years before that my mom bought a cassette tape at a local second hand store. it happened to be a Metal Hammer magazine compilation with Accept, Alice Cooper, Scorpions, Krokus, Helloween on it - which I listened to every day after school. a few months later (probably 1993) I went into a mall and they had CDs. I was always fascinated by monsters and evil pictures so I grabbed a few albums with those covers and asked the clerk to play them on the headphone sample station in the store. needless to say I had to buy those AC/DC Double Live, Motörhead - Bastards and Iron Maiden - a Real Live/Dead One CDs.

MorticiA's picture

The Radio for me, and it was essentially Thrash Metal like Metallica and Megadeth (heck, I didn't even know the difference between them, pretty thought they were the same band.) That and a few Alice and Chains songs. Some Nu Metal at the time got me started as well, that and Rob Zombies Hellbilly Deluxe and the music he did for the Quake 2 game; no joke, it was pretty much a music album in its' self! Loads of songs too. I recall a few Korn songs being influencial, Powerman 5000, lots of early Disturbed, early Kitty, Tool... 'Can't quite remember the rest.

I made the great leap with Metallica and was an instant huge-fan to th epoint where I was a bit of a fanatic and judged every other band in their shadow. My buddy at the time though several years younger than me was pretty much into harder shit and ended becoming and MASSIVE influence. He was into Neorsis, Skinlab (now there's a name rarely heard,) Metallica of course, and the allmighty Slayer. He discoverd Dimmu Borgirs' and their Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and Napalm Death (late 90's & 2000s era [back then I wasn't into it,) as well as Iron Maiden; and later on Immortal (Sons of Northern Darkness.) Dimmu waas an instant hit with me and for a few years became a staple and my introduction to Black Metal, that and Immortal.

But, Metallicas' Garage Inc ended up being a catalyst for me as it introduced me to MANY other bands, like the Misfits, Diamond Head, Motor Head, Mercyful Fate to name a few, and a whole bunch of other bands (let's face it, the first 3/4 of Disc 2 is solid GOLD.) Then, I picked up the book "Sound of the Beast, complete headbanging history of HEAVY METAL" (https://www.abebooks.com/Sound-Beast-Complete-Headbanging-History-Heavy/... naa&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxuHX68b96QIVEE2GCh3bQwcbEAQYBCABEgJ7ffD_BwE) and it gave me a fairly clear understanding of the genre and all the "dents in time." It also turned me onto many other bands across many sub-genres and countries. The book may not be perfect, and I'm sure some parts are incorrect in the Black Metal section but for what it was it was a fantastic introduction to the culture and immersed me further in it's world of music.

I think another big influence was this Fighting game for the Playstation 2 called Guilty Gear X & X2, my same buddy mentioned above was also into it (I saw it being played at the Rec-Room in college, and bought it used along-side with a Manowar album [ahhhhh memories,]) but the game ended up having an original sound track that was really awesome across both versions. But the REAL tipping point in the game was that a TON of the moves and characters were LITERALLY named after Metal bands! It got me into bands like Grave Digger, Testament, and even Napalm Death was mentioned as an Insta-Kill move. I ended up playing these games regularly for well over 6 years straight and even became a nightly habit.

The only other earlier influence is my cousin who's several years older than me, he was into Metallica in the 80's and even was sporting the infamous Lady of Justice/Dorris shirt (which shocked and terrified me as a kid [heheheh, now I fukken LOVE IT, and Pushead was a massive influence in the 2000s for me.])

So yea, I think these are the big steps forward in Metal for me, since then it's been a staple in my life. And I had always wnated a Battle Jacket in the 2000s, but I never got around to it fully. I DID end up painting cool vines on my black Hoodie on the arms, head, shoulders and back, as well as a Deer Skull framed by a short sword, and I had a few patches but they where Skatboard companies like Independant Truck Company and Black Label (one was a Pentagram.) Heh, I was babysitting one time and took the kids out playtime at the Park and a little girl came up to me and asked if I was a Police Officer: Me: No, why? Kid: Because you have a Star on your shoulder." Sweet isn't it?... I had also made a few other patches from a gutted T-shirt and white fabric paint, like a Biohazard symbol, and a massive Operation Ivy patch (which is now on my Leather Jacket.) Whenever I get my stuff out of my storage crate I'll upload my old Hoodie. Heh, back then in college I definitely looked like a Skateboard-Metaler (cause I was.)

craiccore's picture

I just happened to hear Seek and Destroy on my parents stereo as a toddler and danced like crazy whenever they put it on. I then became a guitar prodigy. When I used to see these crazy motorcyclists on choppers on the Autobahn in Germany when I was like 5 years old I thought they were sexy. I was always looking for the look.

MetalBrewer's picture

No-one is my immediate family likes heavy metal/rock, so I never got that upbringing as a kid.
Nu-Metal was in full swing when my friends and I started getting interested in music/instruments, etc..
Then it all changed for me when I heard Judas Priest - 'Rapid Fire.'
It all started from there for me I think!

Antonio's picture

Dad was a big fan of Sinatra, Mum used to listen to famous 60's & 70's pop/folk/commercial italian singers/songwriters/musician.....quite boring for me so, back in 1980, during the summer holidays with my parents in the adriatic seaside, AC/DC Back In Black on cassette got my attention, my curiosity; I bought it and rest is history......

VoodooChild's picture

As a child I had two obsessions: Horror stuff (zombies, vampires etc) and WWII. And when I joined my father when he wanted to buy some records in the summer of 2006 (I was 11 back then) Iron maiden just released A Matter Of Life And Death. And so all around me I saw posters with a group of undead in WWII clothing on a tank. And I was like. "Thats a combi of everything I love!" so I didn't care what the music was like I just needed to have that. My father was like "don't buy an album blindly" but he knew the band and had a best off album and a live album of em at home. So I listened to those and I loved it. From there he recommended me other bands he knew etc and it grew.

Dan's picture

Have an older cousin who fed me casettes.
Started out with Poison, Guns 'n Roses, Metallica, Slayer, Carcass, Entombed Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Obituary, Asphyx and..Bolt Thrower etc and all the late eighties and early nineties shit.
Came into a highschool identitycrisis, threw away all my shirts, my jackets with patches that are über rare nowadays and still regret doing that.
Did other music for a couple of years but came back under the fold when I grew tired of the normal shit.

Also, Bolt Thrower and the Realm of Chaos LP got me obsessed !I was instantly in love with the LP album cover by Games Workshop, only to find oud later in highschool it was a proper tabletop game, classmate and his brothers played and got me hooked on the fluff 'n artwork of that stuff too, and still am.

Over the course of the years taste has changed a bit, waving between Black and Deathmetal, most recently swinging back to Deathmetal more since I'm getting old I guess ;)

ThomasThrash's picture

Great story dude, too bad you threw your merch out, but an awesome story!

Dan's picture

Yeah good old times :)

Thane's picture

My Dad would play shitloads of classic rock and country. The country even from a very early age just ground my gears. I'd wake up on weekends to Boston, Foreigner, Van Halen, Styx, Bon Jovi, Planet P Project, Kansas, Journey, etc. I remember being into that stuff as soon as I heard it. Eventually I heard "Enter Sandman" on the radio and asked my Dad who it was, and something about that heavier sound just rocked me to my core. Ever since then, I've been going heavier and heavier, except for a brief period in high school where for some reason I was opposed to anything with growls or screams. My buddy would play death metal/deathcore all the time and I'd be constantly trying to get him into stuff like Megadeth, Iced Earth, Primus, Dream Theater, etc. After serving a shitty 2 year mission for the mormon church, ironically, I came back home, went to college, and dove head first into any and all extreme metal I could find.

Lord Cthulhu's picture

Back in 1979 (god, I'm old...) my best friend Anthony got me into metal when we were together at school. He had older brothers who were into Quo, which got Ant into rock, and it went from there. We shared (on tape) the Axe Attack and Heavy Duty compilations, plus a great tape from Tommy Vance's old Friday Rock Show on Radio 1 called Metal Explosion. That got me into the NWOBHM and from there Iron Maiden - I can remember their debut album coming out, and then the fuss caused when I asked my mum to buy Killers in 1981 and she saw the cover...

My 11th birthday present was the very first issue of Kerrang! which I still have :o)

Was into many of the classic bands of the time (Deep Purple, Gillan, Rainbow, Budgie, Motorhead etc.) and then on a family holiday in the early 80's saw my first battle-jacket and then started to collect patches to have one of my own. Wish I still had it now. Listened to Maiden into secondary school alongside Priest, then another friend introduced me to the newly released Metallica's Ride The Lightning album and my tastes expanded into thrash.

At some point stumbled across Sabbat, then followed Martin Walkyier into Skyclad, then university, grunge and a non-metal inclined girlfriend happened and I lost interest in music for a few years until a fateful trip to London put me into the HMV and Tower Megastores where I discovered Skyclad were still going and releasing shit, so I bought some and off it all went again! Girlfriend long gone, metal lives on!

ThomasThrash's picture

That’s a damn good story man! Glad to hear you still have that Kerrang! issue. 🤘

Lord Cthulhu's picture

Thanks man, kind of you to say. It's funny to look back on now, as most of my friends at the time were into the 'new' stuff like Gary Numan and OMD. Could've been a very different path for me...!

CCraun's picture

I was born a country boy and was raised listening to old country and western music, which I still enjoy, but my dad was a Metallica fan when he was in high school, so of course I always knew their top songs (Sandman, For Whom the Bells Toll, Master of Puppets). Even though I didn't know that much about the genre for a long time, I was always listening to darker and heavier music. Stuff like Johnny Cash's A Boy Named Sue and Folsom Prison Blues, or some of Chuck Berry's catalog.

When I got into high school my family had some issues with shit and I became a pissed off young man and my way of venting it was through Metallica. I thought that Harvester of Sorrow was some of the heaviest shit that you could come across lol. I was just a Metallica fan for a couple years, until I started getting worn out on listening to Metallica all the time, and I started reaching into Pantera. After that, my interest in metal fucking blew up. I started looking into a lot of Phil Anselmo's side projects and that really introduced me to a lot of different genres, mostly hardcore punk and death metal though.

My Junior year of high school I had a bunch of shit go wrong so I kept looking for heavier stuff to get into to vent, and then I started listening to Slipknot and a lot of other Nu Metal stuff. Senior year came and I met a girl who got me listening to grunge and pop punk. Wasn't really a fan, but girls right?

Fast forward three months, turns out she was a piece of shit and she cheated on me with a drug dealer. I told the dude he was fucked and that I would "slit his throat and fuck the wound" in the honorable style of the Knot. I left school and wrecked my car trying to fuck off into the afterlife. I got removed from school and put in a mental institution for a month. Found out I had a bunch of shit wrong with my brain. During that time I really got into death metal subgenres, deathcore, goregrind, all that good stuff. Completely changed what kind of person I am. I always dressed like a nerdy kid, you know, tuck your shirt in, real skinny quiet kid with glasses. After that point I started buying metal merch and wearing it around, just started out with Slipknot shirts and stuff, I got my first jacket that I still maintain now (the one with long sleeves). I got a tattoo and started lifting all the time. I got to come back to school for a month and a half before graduation a completely different person. The guy that fucked my ex girlfriend was and is still scared shitless of me.

I didn't mean to turn this thread into a therapy session but I think my story is interesting and can really show how powerful metal music can be to people and you know metal is the only genre that I can find that really can express what I'm feeling sometimes. I never would have been able to make it in that institution without Suicide Silence, Cattle Decap, Travail, and Pantera.

ThomasThrash's picture

Damn, thank you so much for sharing. The fact that you told that piece of shit that you’d slit his throat and fuck the wound is (badass? Not sure the right word)

I’m glad you’re in a better place now bro, and that metal music helped/is how you got there.

Thank you again for sharing, I really appreciate it

Power Thrashing Debt's picture

That is tragically badass dude

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