Re: How your musical journey led you to metal

by strangerhoncho Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:51 am

Growing up in NC in the mid-late 80s, glam metal and hard rock was all over the radio so everybody was listening to Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Winger, GnR, etc. I liked all that, and Christian bands like Whitecross, Guardian, Saint, Barren Cross, and Messiah Prophet that my youth pastor turned me on to. Then a kid on my school bus in 6th or 7th grade said "listen to this," and put his headphones on my head. It was "Master of Puppets." It was like going from weed to heroin; I was hooked. Metallica was almost all I listened to every day for about two years, then trying to find Christian alternatives led me to Believer, Deliverance, Tourniquet, Vengeance Rising, Mortification, Living Sacrifice, etc and the rest was history. Mostly listened to Christian metal & punk until late high school, then got into any and all metal and punk again. That classic thrash is still the best sound to my ears, but now I have favorite bands in every hard genre. Probably listen to death metal the most.

by Throne of thorns Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:43 am

This feels like an AA Meeting.

by TheDoctor394 Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:46 am

But do any of us want to give these things up? Smile

by StarFire Sat Apr 04, 2015 7:44 am

TheDoctor394 wrote:But do any of us want to give these things up?

by MetalGospel Sun Apr 12, 2015 3:26 pm

The first piece of music I ever heard was Elvis Greatest Hits on 8-Track tape.
*Yeah, I said 8-Track tape.*   I was only 1 year old at the time.

I already knew Jailhouse Rock, Don't Be Cruel, and Good Luck Charm songs from Elvis before I even started Preschool.

In Kindergarten, I was listening to simple Sesame Street songs.

In 1st Grade was the first time I ever heard any Rock and Roll at all.

Duran Duran had just came out, and I picked up on it right away. Yes I was a Duarine growing up.

First band I ever really got into. *I still go back from time to time to listen to Duran Duran's greatest hits CD.* I think it was Rio title song that got me into them.

I also listened to early Prince, and this is when MTV had just came on for the first time. So, I was listening to a lot of New Wave Pop and simple Rock and Roll at the time.

It stayed that way from 1st Grade through 2nd Grade.

In 2nd Grade back in 1983, my parents and I went to my grandma's house out of town. My cousin came over that weekend to my grandma's house, and he had just got a massive full sized 80's Jambox. He also just got Ozzy - Bark at the Moon original white tape.

He popped that tape in the jambox, and I heard Metal for the first time in my whole life.

I immediately picked up on it when Jake E. Lee's guitar playing started.   It was like it just came naturally to me like second nature.

I picked up on it immediately as if I had been listening to it for years and years, even though the tape had just came out at the time.

I thought the cover to the tape was weird at the time, but I didn't pay too much attention to it really. A guy dressed up as a werewolf going through the woods at midnight in the dark.   But the music on there was amazing. I listened to the whole tape all the way through.

In 3rd Grade, I saw Ratt - Round and Round video for the first time. I really liked it, and I still do.

I took to that without thinking twice about it. Even though it was more Hard Rock than Metal.

*I had not heard the heavier songs like Lack of Communication or The Morning After songs on the Out of the Cellar tape yet. I would in 8th Grade a few years later.*

I took to Ratt immediately.   I listened to Round and Round song constantly and Back for More song from them too.

In 4th Grade, I listened to anything that was played on the radio. I was still listening to Ratt at the time too.

In 5th Grade, I found out about Iron Maiden for the first time back in September of 1986 when a certain tape came out from Iron Maiden called Somewhere in Time. I got it the day it came out. Been a devoted Maiden fan ever since to this day. I saw them twice in concert ever since then.

That's another story for another day.

by StarFire Sun Apr 19, 2015 11:26 am

Friendlypirahna wrote: and I found a compilation CD that had Vengeance Rising on it, and that kind of laid dormant for a while until I found...Dragonforce. Yes, just like OP it was Dragonforce that catapulted me into a tailspin of metal. Just european power metal bands at first. And then Tourniquet happened to say "hi." And then a few years later I found Deliverance and that was it for me, I became metal obsessed.

It's amazing that my tastes in metal have opened up from only liking melodic power metal, to liking just about every metal subgenre I hear. Except for black metal, I just haven't found any bands I absolutely love. But anyways a few bands that really influenced my taste in metal are: Whitecross, Vengeance Rising, Tourniquet, Deliverance, Dragonforce, Running Wild, and Accept. These are the bands that really made me stick around for the ride.

\m/ \m/

Yep. You sound a lot like me. Very Happy

Along with Dragonforce, the bands most influential into getting me in metal would be Bon Jovi, Stryper and Metallica.

by StarFire Sun Apr 19, 2015 12:10 pm

T wrote: Listening to the song "Black Sabbath" remains one of the most defining moments of my music listening life.
From there, I got further into the band, and then there was Iron Maiden, and I also started trying thrash, like Megadeth and Metallica... But it was not until towards the end of that decade when I came across what the OP has fallen in love with.
Power metal! Here it was! The melody of 80s pop that I'd always loved, with the power of metal! I actually found it through Wikipedia and reading up on various metal genres, which led me to YouTube and listening to a few sample songs, and I was This kind of music exists?? It has choirs! And orchestras! And operatic singers!
So I became obsessed with power metal, and yet I continue to go looking back, fascinated by the history of the genre (and its various subs), and wanting to discover more. This is as well as other genres, particularly 80s synth pop and also progressive rock.
So that's a brief overview of my "how I got where I am now" in regards to my metal love, in all its rather boring glory.

No more boring than mine. Smile

I think that was also what draw me to power metal was the 80s like choruses. Around the time I was introduced to Dragonforce and Power metal was also the same time I was trying to find 80s hard rock/metal bands. I've always liked a lot of melody in my music.

And yes, Black Sabbath is a very cool song.

by Hardcore Christian Sun Apr 19, 2015 2:44 pm

My parents were and still are metal fans most of my older stuff like Morti and Tourniquet my dad already owned, he is into metalcore and stuff so thats what I got into then a couple years ago I found a album called Primitive Rhythm Machine sitting in our CD shelves and I got hooked on thrash, death and then went farther back into Glam, and power

by TheDoctor394 Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:02 pm

StarFire wrote:
T wrote: Listening to the song "Black Sabbath" remains one of the most defining moments of my music listening life.
From there, I got further into the band, and then there was Iron Maiden, and I also started trying thrash, like Megadeth and Metallica... But it was not until towards the end of that decade when I came across what the OP has fallen in love with.
Power metal! Here it was! The melody of 80s pop that I'd always loved, with the power of metal! I actually found it through Wikipedia and reading up on various metal genres, which led me to YouTube and listening to a few sample songs, and I was This kind of music exists?? It has choirs! And orchestras! And operatic singers!
So I became obsessed with power metal, and yet I continue to go looking back, fascinated by the history of the genre (and its various subs), and wanting to discover more. This is as well as other genres, particularly 80s synth pop and also progressive rock.
So that's a brief overview of my "how I got where I am now" in regards to my metal love, in all its rather boring glory.
No more boring than mine.

I think that was also what draw me to power metal was the 80s like choruses. Around the time I was introduced to Dragonforce and Power metal was also the same time I was trying to find 80s hard rock/metal bands. I've always liked a lot of melody in my music.

And yes, Black Sabbath is a very cool song.

I'll never understand why melody is frowned upon by so many rock fans, not just melody in metal, but in any popular music. It seems to be one of the reasons so many hate eighties music so much. Music = melody. Kind of makes sense to me.

by StarFire Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:51 pm

TheDoctor394 wrote:
StarFire wrote:
T wrote: [url=#]Listening[/url] to the song "Black Sabbath" remains one of the most defining moments of my music listening life.
From there, I got further into the band, and then there was Iron Maiden, and I also started trying thrash, like Megadeth and Metallica... But it was not until towards the end of that decade when I came across what the OP has fallen in love with.
Power metal! Here it was! The melody of 80s pop that I'd always loved, with the power of metal! I actually found it through Wikipedia and reading up on various metal genres, which led me to YouTube and listening to a few [url=#]sample[/url] songs, and I was This kind of music [url=#]exists[/url]?? It has choirs! And orchestras! And operatic singers!
So I became obsessed with power metal, and yet I [url=#]continue[/url] to go looking back, fascinated by the history of the genre (and its various subs), and wanting to discover more. This is as well as other genres, particularly 80s synth pop and also progressive rock.
So that's a brief [url=#]overview[/url] of my "how I got where I am now" in regards to my metal love, in all its rather boring glory.
No more boring than mine.

I think that was also what draw me to power metal was the 80s like choruses. Around the time I was introduced to Dragonforce and Power metal was also the same time I was trying to find 80s hard rock/metal bands. I've always liked a lot of melody in my music.

And yes, Black Sabbath is a very cool [url=#]song[/url].
I'll never understand why melody is frowned upon by so many rock fans, not just melody in metal, but in any popular music. It seems to be one of the reasons so many hate eighties music so much. Music = melody. Kind of makes sense to me.

Same here. And I think its that way moreso in the U.S. Most of the modern melodic bands I find are from some place like Sweden.

by TheDoctor394 Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:53 pm

StarFire wrote:
TheDoctor394 wrote:
StarFire wrote:
T wrote: [url=#]Listening[/url] to the song "Black Sabbath" remains one of the most defining moments of my music listening life.
From there, I got further into the band, and then there was Iron Maiden, and I also started trying thrash, like Megadeth and Metallica... But it was not until towards the end of that decade when I came across what the OP has fallen in love with.
Power metal! Here it was! The melody of 80s pop that I'd always loved, with the power of metal! I actually found it through Wikipedia and reading up on various metal genres, which led me to YouTube and listening to a few [url=#]sample[/url] songs, and I was This kind of music [url=#]exists[/url]?? It has choirs! And orchestras! And operatic singers!
So I became obsessed with power metal, and yet I [url=#]continue[/url] to go looking back, fascinated by the history of the genre (and its various subs), and wanting to discover more. This is as well as other genres, particularly 80s synth pop and also progressive rock.
So that's a brief [url=#]overview[/url] of my "how I got where I am now" in regards to my metal love, in all its rather boring glory.
No more boring than mine.

I think that was also what draw me to power metal was the 80s like choruses. Around the time I was introduced to Dragonforce and Power metal was also the same time I was trying to find 80s hard rock/metal bands. I've always liked a lot of melody in my music.

And yes, Black Sabbath is a very cool [url=#]song[/url].
I'll never understand why melody is frowned upon by so many rock fans, not just melody in metal, but in any popular music. It seems to be one of the reasons so many hate eighties music so much. Music = melody. Kind of makes sense to me.
Same here. And I think its that way moreso in the U.S. Most of the modern melodic bands I find are from some place like Sweden.

Or Germany or Finland or Italy. Very curious...

by ThomasEversole Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:44 am

I listened to kid music and contemporary Christian music in grade school - which I went to a private school. The heaviest thing I'd ever heard was DC Talk's "Jesus Freak" when it came out. "Lights Out" by Newsboys was also extremely heavy.

In high school I discovered Tooth and Nail and then came along bands like MXPX and Klank. When I was a sophomore, my brother accidentally introduced me to death metal with a Rowe Productions "The Raise The Dead" compilation he bought at a Christian bookstore.

Metanoia was a personal favorite. I found other bands like Crimson Thorn, Mortification, Paramaecium. I listened exclusively to Christian death metal until Kekal was my first taste of "unblack" metal 3 years later and I've never looked back.

I grew up playing guitar and piano, later drums and wanted to make my own Christian black metal.

That was 15 years ago and nothing "lighter" really ever interested me too much, with a few exceptions. Totally bypassed Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Slayer, etc. like what my metalhead friends listened to.

It wasn't Christian enough before, or heavy enough later.

I haven't listened to Christian music for the better part of 13 years. I absolutely have kept my faith this whole time, but the quality, ease of access, volume, variety, etc. of secular black/death metal is like comparing a mom and pop shop to a super Walmart.
...unfortunately.

The biggest plague in Christian extreme metal is that many bands are "spiritually convicted" to listen to anything secular. ...so they listen to each other.
...and in turn, sound like each other. Its not bad by all means, but its certainly average.

My current music project is not Christian in origin - nor are my influences from a stagnant pool. I've figured out over the years that especially with death/black metal that selling Christian music to that secular scene is like trying to sell steaks to a vegetarian.

I've had much more success witnessing to people with my life after they hear my cool metal music and fictional story lyrics.
...than trying to witness to them with Christian lyrics.

by Believer12 Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:23 am

When I was a kid the Pointer Sisters were metal to me until one day my cousin comes in I was listening to Jump by The Pointer Sisters on a 45 and he grabs it out of the player smashes it and throws Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent at me and told me to grow up. Lol. Fun times. I hated that album. But it led me to more guitar oriented stuff and eventually to Yngwie Malmsteens Rising Force cd. His song Black Star sold it for me. The melody is amazing even to this day.

by TheDoctor394 Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:33 am

Believer12 wrote:When I was a kid the Pointer Sisters were metal to me until one day my cousin comes in I was listening to Jump by The Pointer Sisters on a 45 and he grabs it out of the player smashes it and throws Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent at me and told me to grow up. Lol. Fun times. I hated that album. But it led me to more guitar oriented stuff and eventually to Yngwie Malmsteens Rising Force cd. His song Black Star sold it for me. The melody is amazing even to this day.

I'm sure if you'd watched their videos for long enough, you'd have seen June Pointer head banging.

by StarFire Fri Apr 24, 2015 8:57 pm

That's really cool man! Same here. Although I love bands with a Christian message as well, actions will always speak louder than words when it comes to witnessing and winning people over for Christ.

God bless you and your ministry

by Believer12 Fri May 01, 2015 3:13 am

TheDoctor394 wrote:
Believer12 wrote:When I was a kid the Pointer Sisters were metal to me until one day my cousin comes in I was listening to Jump by The Pointer Sisters on a 45 and he grabs it out of the player smashes it and throws Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent at me and told me to grow up. Lol. Fun times. I hated that album. But it led me to more guitar oriented stuff and eventually to Yngwie Malmsteens Rising Force cd. His song Black Star sold it for me. The melody is amazing even to this day.
I'm sure if you'd watched their videos for long enough, you'd have seen June Pointer head banging.

LMAO! That made my day thanx bro!

by Sponsored content