Heavy Metal & Hard Rock thread

[kpic]

Reading the 'Old People thread' and the posts by Stryker & Dark Horse got me thinking that we need an official Heavy Metal thread (we can also add in 'Hard Rock' in here as there may be some crossing-over) - Depending on your age, I suppose some Punk cross-over would apply and though it's not really my thing, the Metal variations like Death\Black Metal and Glam if you like...

My introduction to Heavy Metal was through my older sister who took me to my first concert at some point around 1976 (Alice Cooper), I have no memory of the actual music other than being on peoples shoulders so I could watch (I would have been about 8) but I definitely remember the 'show'!

I got more into the music by 1982\1983 when I discovered Manowar, Judas Priest & Iron Maiden, thinking back I suppose that year (1982-1983) was a huge push for Metal with pivotal albums (yes I had the albums) by those bands, throw in Venom that had some wild Punk-Metal cross-over thing happening called 'Black Metal' and some 'new' sound from a band called Metallica.

Thanks to my sister and her friends I had a wide exposure to concert going, later on I had friends more around my age and more importantly driving age so we were able to hit numerous concerts.

I suppose it was helpful that we were in the central NJ area with so many venues around us...

We had NYC for a long haul if needed; L'Amour, Ritz\Studio54 & MSG (I went to CBGB but not for a concert), but Philly & NJ was our main-stay.

In Philly you had the Spectrum for the big shows, the Tower Theater for the mid-range shows\bands and then clubs like The Empire, Theater of the Living Arts (TLA) on South Street (still open!) and some others that I can't recall.

In NJ it was all clubs; the Satellite club was near us so that was our regular spot, City Gardens was in Trenton so not too far away, it was mostly a Punk club but had Metal there at times as well and though at that time there was a clear spilt from Punk to Metal music I had friends in both camps so I didn't care who I went with and who we saw (though oddly the only real Punk band I can recall seeing live was the Cro-Mags) I can't remember any of the others. The thing about City Gardens is that it was smack deep in an African-American neighborhood, the Metal crowd was a bit more subdued but when going with the Punk crowd, they were definitely more confrontational and I can remember several big fights in the parking lot with the locals, after it was over everyone would just go back to what they were doing and we'd head into the club! Oh yeah there was a club in Asbury Park as well but I can't remember what it was called.

Thinking back when I thought about writing this I went through my head thinking about the shows I've seen and yeah, it's a lot but here are some of my favorite memories;

These would be in no particular order but I suppose these first three are my favorite bands given I've seen them most often;

#1 is Manowar - I saw them for the Fighting the World tour, twice for the Kings of Metal tour and twice for the Triumph of Steel tour, but my best memory is during the KOM tour and in Philly (I think it was the Empire club), me and my friends got there early and on the billboard was 'Man-O-War', we saw a guy outside and told him about how it should just be one word and he thanks us and tells us the band is inside rehearsing why don't you just go in early and hang a bit - didn't have to tell us again - we head in and sure enough they are up on stage rehearsing and just some people milling around, afterwards it was very casual and so we went up and talked to Scott & Ross, they were way cool! Joey and Eric were doing their own thing so I never got to meet them but I was a member of their fan-club and on night Joey and Eric called me out of the blue just to say 'hey' and we talked for about 15 minutes, I told them about that story, they thought it was funny but they said they were more interested if I had any pictures of my girlfriend naked that I could mail them. So that connection there will always keep them #1 to me - As far as them being the 'loudest band in the world', yeah they definitely were in my book, I mean we're talking about 2-3 days after the concerts of just hearing a low hum. Now days when my wife when she tells me that my hearing is going bad, I just remind her how many Metal shows I've been to and five of those were Manowar, so yeah, of course it's bad!

#2 is Iron Maiden - Hearing Number of the Beast & Piece of Mind albums back to back (1982\1983), I mean they were just on another level! I saw them first for Piece of Mind tour, then again for Powerslave (this tour became the Live After Death album), Somewhere in Time, No Prayer for Dying and then there were a few co-headlining tours. These were all at the Spectum as expected for a band of their stature except for the last time I saw them in 2005 (maybe 2006?) was in Camden NJ at the Camden Waterfront.

#3 is Judas Priest - British Steel\POE was ok to me (I didn't like any of their earlier rock stuff) but Screaming for Vengeance was like a hit to the head! I wasn't able to see them on that tour but I did see them for Defenders of the Faith, Turbo (and yes I absolutely loved this album I don't care what anyone said at the time), Ram it Down & Painkiller twice + a later tour they were co-headlining with Alice Cooper. As with Maiden these were all at the Spectrum\NYC (MSG) as expected of a band their stature.

The rest of the bands I've seen & enjoyed (there are some I like and I am probably forgetting a lot I saw and not mentioning as I wasn't really there to see them but they were 'there')

Helloween, Armored Saint, Megadeth, Doro, WASP, Metal Church, King Diamond, The Mentors (uh, absolutely hilarious and totally offensive!), oh yeah GWAR too, though I remember more of the show than of the music

Motorhead - Oddly I likely have seen them a lot as they opened for a lot of the bands I listed.

Metallica - I saw them open - yes open - for Raven on the "Kill Em' All for One" tour in 1983 (I was there to see Raven LOL!) but yeah Metallica were noticeably on another level. Never saw them live again (though I did end up seeing Raven again as an opener at a later concert!), I liked RTL and MOP a lot but the next one (And Justice??) I thought lost a lot of the sound I liked on the earlier stuff.

Slayer - Saw them a few times as opener\mid-cards and though I can't say it's really my taste, I do like a few early songs, I will say the crowd was wild for them and they shred for sure!

Venom - I liked their raw cross-over sound (though probably the least talented group on this list) they were outstanding live though, saw them twice in NYC (the Ritz\Studio 54) and once again later in 1990 in Philly with the revamped band line-up.

Hellion - Regrettably I only saw them once, I suppose as they were more an LA band - but my goodness, not only did I like them musically but Ann Boleyn was a total smoke-show, I'll never forget being right up against the stage looking up at her the whole time as she's singing, that's literally the only thing I remember about that night, I was completely ga-ga over her.

A couple I never saw but really wished I had; Exciter (sad, sad face on this one, though shockingly they still tour occasionally so who knows) & Accept\UDO!

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

Draconian is an amazing mix of beautifully haunting clean vocals and brutal vocals.

I dig it.

I feel like stoner/doom can really transcend the spectrum of vocal styles.

I'm a huge Windhand fan and I perceive Dorthia's vocals as being just as "heavy" as the most gutteral growl within the context of their sound. They align perfectly with the tone and sonic environment

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I dig it.

I feel like stoner/doom can really transcend the spectrum of vocal styles.

I'm a huge Windhand fan and I perceive Dorthia's vocals as being just as "heavy" as the most gutteral growl within the context of their sound. They align perfectly with the tone and sonic environment

I listened to that album a while back and had forgotten about it. It is amazing. Glad to have been reminded of it!

[lawrenceRaider]

More Doom goodness.

[lawrenceRaider]

This popped up after the Windhand album finished playing.

Blood Incarnation.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

This popped up after the Windhand album finished playing.

Blood Incarnation.

Yours truly rocking a Blood Incantation shirt while waiting to be discharged from the hospital after having my right femur bolted back together.

I saw them on 12/5/21 in Chicago. It was a weekend matinee show which are the greatest thing ever to old married dudes like me. Nearly two months to the day later I broke my leg while wearing the shirt.

Its since been retired.

[KCUnited]

Also my wife sent me this trying to be funny

[KCUnited]

One last thing

Last year Blood Incantation released a 100% ambient album called Timewave Zero which is a pretty good time if you're in that headspace

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

One last thing

Last year Blood Incantation released a 100% ambient album called Timewave Zero which is a pretty good time if you're in that headspace

Checking it out now. Ambient while working is usually a good combo.

[lawrenceRaider]

Listening to Timewave Zero lead me to this one.

[htismaqe]

I don't know how much you guys like hardcore/metalcore music. Most of it is pretty formulaic and blah but there's a few gems out there and plus, my youngest daughter loves it so it gives us something to bond over.

We're going to see Ice Nine Kills together this summer. Will be the 2nd time we've seen them live.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I don't know how much you guys like hardcore/metalcore music. Most of it is pretty formulaic and blah but there's a few gems out there and plus, my youngest daughter loves it so it gives us something to bond over.

We're going to see Ice Nine Kills together this summer. Will be the 2nd time we've seen them live.

That's great that you're able to bond with your daughter over something she's into.

I'd say what I consider styles that fall under the hardcore genre is what I primarily listen to.

I admittedly have a soft spot for the formulaic, super cheesy toxic masculine stuff that has a little "street" and metal mixed in.

What I believe the kids are calling Beatdown these days.

I don't even pretend its of good quality, but thats kind of its point, and its a non-guilty pleasure of mine whenever I'm in the mood.

I'd even say that metal has found its way into hardcore without getting the metalcore label the way I think of the first wave of metalcore bands. It just seems like much more of a hybrid of aggressive styles.

I won't post a bunch of vids because I don't consider it metal but newer-ish bands in this genre that I like are:

Piss Ant
Tsunami
Omen (OKC)
10 Sluggz
Sector (Chicago)
Kruelty (Japan)

[Stryker]

Airbourne live @ Wacken 2011

[Stryker]

ACCEPT - Staying a Life

[Stryker]

DORO - Ronnie James Dio tribute - Egypt (The Chains Are On)

[Stryker]

RAVEN - Take Control