A Heavy Metal Education

When I was a kid of around twelve or thirteen, talk among the guys in the schoolyard was often about the band Kiss. That was in the mid-to-late 70's, so it was absolutely relevant at the time. That was the beginning of my fixation with heavy rock. Sadly, I didn't really have anyone to look to for guidance in this area. None of my friends or acquaintances said much about anything besides Pink Floyd, Queen or Supertramp.

But through my first FM rock radio exposure and some blind-buys at the record store, I discovered stuff like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Angel. Most of my heavy metal (and very heavy rock, I guess) education came via Q107, the primo radio station out of Toronto, Canada at the time. Here, I kindled a love of musical things dark and loud... the New Wave of British Heavy Metal brought Motorhead, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Venom (just to name a few of the biggest bands of that movement). Ozzy put his personal footprint upon the metal landscape when he moved on from Sabbath and produced some landmark albums. Dio, who replaced Mr. Osborne, brought his own style and image to the Sab camp, reviving the floundering giant. I was and still am a huge fan of the Dio/Sabbath collaborations.

Judas Priest had been tearing a hole in the metal scene for a while, and by the time I was hip to this stuff, I was fastened to the radio as their Stained Class and British Steel albums made waves in the genre. And of course, Screaming For Vengeance was their answer to the NWOBHM that threatened the old guard. Priest survived and thrived accordingly. 

While radio continued to fuel my passion for heavy music, I began to collect the monthly rock music magazines Circus, and Hit Parader. Those publications became valuable sources of information for new and old metal, since I was the only kid in my crowd who liked heavy music so much. As I messed around on a guitar for the first time, I found that the guitar-related magazines were a big help, too. Guitar Player and Guitar For The Practicing Musician were my favourites during the 80's, and it was through these mags that I discovered less commercially known artists like Fates Warning, Joe Satriani, and Malmsteen.

And from the European continent (Germany, to be specific), came Scorpions and Accept, both exciting and influential groups who set the world on fire for a while. I was a huge fan of the Scorps for much of the 80's, and only knew the odd tune by Accept, though I more recently added a fine compilation of their Kraut Metal to my collection... all hail lead guitarist extraordinaire Wolf Hoffmann! And those Udo years really were the best. 

Naturally, being a Canadian lad, I became attached to the prog-metal of Rush (as far back as the late 70's) and even the slightly lighter rock fare of Triumph (my very first arena concert) and Max Webster (first "concert" ever... at my high school). During the 80's, we Canucks got a shot of catchy radio metal from upstarts Coney Hatch, Santers, and Killer Dwarfs. Helix, Kickaxe, Anvil, and Voivod were among the next wave of of rowdy homegrown rockers. I saw some of those guys at gigs.... great times. I found a lot of info on a lot of bands, old and new, here on our continent and across the pond, through the new-ish Kerrang magazine. 

Of the glam metal acts, only Van Halen endured for me. Right from their not-so-humble late-70's beginnings, I was hooked on their party tunes forged from Roth's exuberant call-to-arms and Eddie's searing fretboard mastery.

Interestingly, as a teen and young man, I found myself the "teacher" as I influenced the musical choices of my peers. Whenever I discovered something new, I'd share that music with friends. I wasn't always successful, but at least I opened up some minds to more extreme music. I remember how the gang would rock out on AC/DC but showed no interest in my taste for Iron Maiden, Motorhead, and Scorpions. Def Leppard was about as far as they'd go... and though Lep did fine work on their early albums, they were lightweights. 

As we neared the end of the 80's, I enjoyed the heavy-prog of Joe Satriani and found something to like about those new thrash bands called Metallica and Megadeth, who were near and dear to me for years. Enter the 90's, and I'd discovered the Sabbath-like dirges of Alice in Chains... some of my fave stuff from that era. I also dabbled in the prog-metal of Dream Theater, Queensryche, and Fates Warning. Good at the time but my interest was temporary. Thankfully, the radio and the guitar magazines kept me informed, as well as a new, somewhat like-minded metalhead friend. Plus there was this new thing called the Internet, which allowed me to search out new music and to discuss my interests with like-minded fans in metal discussion groups.

It took me a little longer to get into Savatage and Slayer, though I remember their music videos from back in the day. Savatage's Hall of the Mountain King album was on my radar for years (I saw the video for the title song way back), and when I finally heard that entire album, I quickly dug into their hefty catalogue of great music. And when I got around to Slayer, I checked out all their albums, and quickly decided that they weren't entirely to my taste, though they had some great songs here and there on their earlier recordings (Hell Awaits, Angel of Death, Raining Blood, South of Heaven, and War Ensemble, just to name a few). Sodom, the German counterpart to Slayer, was similarly good, if spotty.

I kind of let metal alone for the late 90's and early 2000's, probably not missing much, and when I came back to it, I was turned onto the black metal artists Carpathian Forest and Satyricon, plus the excellent Swedish proggy band Opeth. Oh, and the early albums (especially #3) of the very cool Danzig, who has found a happy place on my CD shelf.  

I guess the newest music I've heard that I love is that of Swedish band Ghost. Their three studio albums and one EP are in constant rotation on my player. Great melodic modern metal with a nice nod to their influences, Kiss and King Diamond. Who else? Oh, Havok is reviving the oldschool thrash style with a lot of fanfare. And I sort of like Airbourne, who actually do the AC/DC shtick better than the original Aussie boys themselves. At least Havok are a lot younger and can do the sweaty, shirtless look without shame.

The learning never ends. There is so much metal, old and new, that I'll spend a lifetime unearthing new bands and albums every day - and that's where the internet comes into play. So the fun never ends. Party on, Garth.