Ok, I'll set the scene - you're at your local music retailer, you've stormed through the entrance and barged past every innocent bystander with one intention in mind - the Metal section. Finally you reach it, a myriad of musical prowess stands nonchalantly before you. But, no quicker than you arrived, a sudden cognizance passes over you and the dreaded question creeps into your head, "what do I buy?"

Are you the type of person who fully researches their next musical endeavor before taking the plunge? Maybe you're like me and pick albums out on so little as liking a cover, song title or band name without any prior knowledge?

Whatever you do, it would be interesting to see how different people go about buying new music. So, what say you?

There is a local record store that I normally go to to order CDs, but while I'm there I always look through the metal section. I've occasionally just bought CDs on a whim, but I usually don't buy anything without some prior knowledge.

When going to the local store i generally have an idea of what i want to look for. either it is a very specific new release, or just from my wishlist here on MS (i've actually cheated on my crackberry and visited the site while in the store to make sure i don't forget a band).

even if there for a specific release, i.e. new Slayer, i'll slowly examine the racks of disks seeing if they have anything that else that jumps out. it's not uncommon for me to spend 30+ minutes at a time there. i'll also pore over the non-metal section as you never know what you will find (case in point, i found Ulver's "Bergtatt", used, but in great condition, for $5.99 in the regular music section) ...

sometimes i'll find rare gems ("Bergtatt"), albums i wasn't expecting to find in store, (Esoteric, Drudkh come to mind), heavily discounted oldies (classic Judas Priest disks, new, for $9.99), or occasionally just buy a "filler" cd - one i kinda have wanted for my collection for a long while, but that has never really been a priority.

having purchased so many mediocre tapes/cd's in the past, it is extremely rare that i will buy anything at all without either having checked it out online first or hearing heavy praise from a Metalstormer whose opinion i trust.

the only example i can think of offhand would be Steve Von Till (Neurosis) side project, Harvestman... didn't know it was SVT, but bought it because it was on the Neurot label, and that is one a trust to have a high degree of musical integrity.

Written by BitterCOld on 08.01.2010 at 19:09

having purchased so many mediocre tapes/cd's in the past, it is extremely rare that i will buy anything at all without either having checked it out online first or hearing heavy praise from a Metalstormer whose opinion i trust.

Yeah, I'm the same as you - after years of just picking up cds on so little as a whim I've managed to accumulate a larage quantity of crap. And, of course, there's nothing more infuriating than running home with what looks like a hidden gem and finding out it's quite the opposite. I guess I really should start changing my ways soon if I want to compile a half decent collection of Metal!

I do a little research usually and thats why I joined this site in the first place. Mainly because I would buy cd's on a whim and they would all be crap I wasnt into and I really cant afford that. I still haven't found bands I absolutely love but I hope you guys can change that. I like damn near everything except new death and new goth metal. I LOVE thrash and anything thats meant to be funny any good suggestions would be helpful.

Written by jollygreen on 10.01.2010 at 07:28

I LOVE thrash and anything thats meant to be funny any good suggestions would be helpful.

A good place to start (if you haven't already) is the 'Top 100 albums' because they're the albums that any self-respecting metalhead should have in their collection! Once you find albums you like from there you can look for similar bands and then you're off!

It depends how much money I have. If I'm short on money, I go with something I know, and won't be disappointed by. If I've got a good amount of cash I usually buy something I know, as well as something off a whim (either from recommendation, or just because I thought the album artwork looked cool).

My buying habits these days mostly revolve around recommendations. I'm quite active on a couple of websites and there are a bunch of people I know that have the same taste as I do (online). Whenever they mention something, and the description sounds interesting, I'll search for the label that it was released on, or the distro that stocks it at the best price. Then, I'll check their website more thoroughly for some other albums, as buying one album is usually a bit pricey due to the shipping costs and all.

I occasionally check out a sample of a band I don't know. Sometimes I buy an album without ever having heard the music. Sometimes I buy an album based on a review alone, or even cover art. Hell, I've even ordered 3 cds by the same band without having heard a single song by them. I like surprises.

I ran into some of my favourite albums by chance. Best example is probably "The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand". It stands firmly in my top-5 favourites of all time. Someone mentioned them as his favourite album for '07, said it was soulcrushing and beautiful or something like that, I thought: why the heck not. Great decision that was.

Written by Immortal on 08.01.2010 at 14:18

Whatever you do, it would be interesting to see how different people go about buying new music. So, what say you?

There are some bands that I like and trust to buy on sight. Other bands stuff, I might get on a trusted recommendation. Here of late, I check out the band and/or album on u-tube or at they're MySpace site before ordering on-line or going to the music store.

Unfortunately, all the music stores in my area don't have a metal section. So, I have to sift through the pop-crap when I go to the store. I buy the majority of CD's on-line after a least a little research. I have been burnt to0 many times.

It depends... When I go to a store I have some sort of idea of what I want. If I don't have too much money I just buy what I've heard before or have in my computer so I can have it for real this time. If I have lots of money I usually don't buy in store but online. And it can be cds from bands I jsut checked out recently, like just their myspace or songs from youtube. Then I buy the album that interest me the most... Sometimes just because it's the cheapest one or the one with the coolest artwork. It works fine.

I just now ordered 5 cds and only one of the is from a band who I know quite well, the others are mostly recommendations and reviews posted here or another sites.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 10.01.2010 at 18:59

I just now ordered 5 cds and only one of the is from a band who I know quite well, the others are mostly recommendations and reviews posted here or another sites.

Which ones?

Written by Lucas on 10.01.2010 at 19:10

Which ones?

Boris - Amplifier Worship
- Because I just wanted to check the band for a long time ago and never did.

Lurker Of Chalice - s/t
Friggin finally... I'm tired of just listening to their myspace

Virgin Black - Elegant... And Dying
The only band I know well enough.

Bloody Panda - Summon
Because of your review, I actually wanted to buy the debut first so I wouldn't compare it to the second cd [which appears to be much better] and make the debut sound bad. But I thought "Ok... Both have the same price but the second cd is longer AND has a DVD... yeah, get that one"

Nadja - Body Cage
Because it was fairly cheap and I wanted to buy something from them since forever and I'm not really sure about this... But I searched for information of the cd and it seems [like I said, I'm not sure] that it is a cd limited to 500 copies. But even if it isn't, it was cheap and I like them, so nothing to lose.
____

This is how I started 2010... Seems like it's gonna be a good year for my collection!

Written by X-Ray Rod on 10.01.2010 at 19:37

Bloody Panda - Summon
Because of your review, I actually wanted to buy the debut first so I wouldn't compare it to the second cd [which appears to be much better] and make the debut sound bad. But I thought "Ok... Both have the same price but the second cd is longer AND has a DVD... yeah, get that one"

Nice one. I don't really listen to it a lot, but I don't know why. Lack of time and more focus on Esoteric & Evil Death metal, I suppose. But it's a great album.

Written by Lucas on 10.01.2010 at 19:58

Lack of time and more focus on Esoteric.

Same here, specially since I wrote some sort of article in my blog for my non-metal friends so they can listen to what metal can sound like [because most of them think about metallica when they hear "Metal"] and I'm having perfect results so far in corrupting people.

I'm also very focused on Kent because I'm still not done with the box I bought, have like 4 cds to listen to.

And I haven't even started with the review!! argh.. fuck.

oooh 666 post, evil post.

EDIT:

Another way to discover great stuff is by looking at other people's collection... Well, people I trust when it comes to music anyway. So I thank you once again because I just checked MurkRat's review as I saw it in your collection. It sounds great so far!

My dad usually suggests to go to the local metal parlor if we have a little money. Without really knowing what we are gonna buy we pop in and go straight to the death metal section after that we go to the bargains, where I found Anthrax' State Of Euphoria for only 7.50 euros! Like Doc Godin said, if I am almost broke and have just 15 euros in my pocket i'll pick a record I know from a band I'm familiar with. (like the last time when I bought Akeldama by The Faceless).I'll never again buy a cd from a band I don't know without listening to it. I once bought something from a band called "Arsebreed" and thought that if the name was kinda funny the music musta been good, NOT. Judging a record by its cover may often work. That way I discovered Fenriz-approved-epic-metal-band Cirith Ungol, who had the most awesome coverart for their debut Frost And Fire.
Sometimes I look at the reviews here on MS, and then buy a record but that occurs rarely...

I buy most of CDs & vinyls online for the last few years now so there is loads of research before I click on 'Pay Now'. However, I still love the feeling of browsing through racks of dusty CDs at my local record stores.... I have a pretty big want list.... which gets bigger and bigger day by day Many factors can influence my buying decision on a physical store (if I do not now the band or the album): cover art, the record label, the year it was released (usually the older it is, the better) and the general vibe I might get........

For me I usually know something about the band before i actually buy the cd. There was only one occasion where i bought the cd because it looked cool. That was Doomsword's self-titled album. It has a pretty sweet cd box.. case.... thing.... But i wasn't disappointed by the cd which was great.

It seems a common occurrence that people will purchase an album by only judging the album art! I guess if you know you're making crappy music you can hope by having an awesome album artist that your CD will sell to an unsupecting metalhead lol

I started by wasting half my salary into albums, blind purchases most of them, and that is how I got a some really, REALLY, crappy albums, however I have gotten some good ones too.

However, I want to get what I'm paying for; reading reviews, recommendations, maybe hearing a YouTube samle (which I don't often do... I hate spoiling the surprise factor) and that is how I have been checking some really good bands. I have been in love with Bolt Thrower for some months now.

I have a few sources and when something interesting pops up I will check it out myspace/youtube etc. If I like it beyond that I will buy an album. In buying albums; I will just go by overall reviews and remember the overall vibe of the album through that. It usually doesn't fail.

Here's the deal. I always plan before hand what I should buy when going on my shopping sprees. And most of the times I never come home with what I intended to buy.
If I'm short on cash I usually buy something I know will be worth it, unless I find something rare because then I just must have it. If I'm allowed to spend a little more I usually buy something I know, something I need but isn't necessarily good and then something I have never heard before. I might have heard of the band and want to check them out or the album cover just looks really cool.

When buying cd's I prepare and plan very precisely: I even make a list on MS Word and print it out when I wander around into cd stores. Problem is I only do that when i got to Europe because local cd stores here are SHIT. Two weeks ago when I was in the UK i had all my stuff printed out before I went into HMV in London...problem is I didnt have enough cash!! Only ended up buying Abigail Williams (deluxe Edition of latest album) for myself and a friend.

So yeah I dont just buy for the fuck of it...its a perfectly orchestrated operation which I try to make as efficient and effective as possible Either that or I just buy whatever I want on Amazon lol I never buy on impulse, I have in the past and im still regretting it today...I might buy something if I forgot to put it on my list and see it in the shop if nothing else worthwhile is there.

When I go to the music store looking for new tunes. Ill usally pase around and check out album art. The place I got to has thoes scanners that let you listen to the CD before you buy it. I found alot of cool bands doing that

More recently, I've been listening to Pandora at work, so it throws a lot of random new artists my way when i create a station based off like "Iced Earth" or "Primal Fear" or something like that, and will usually throw a few of their songs into rotation to check out, so I just get randomly introduced to these bands, and can therefore "plan my next purchase" hahahaa.

I Listen to the hole thing first before I buy it. That's how I don't end up with crap and I buy from mail orders which have way better selections rather than going to a shop

Written by SerratedSyringe on 08.01.2010 at 16:42

There is a local record store that I normally go to to order CDs, but while I'm there I always look through the metal section. I've occasionally just bought CDs on a whim, but I usually don't buy anything without some prior knowledge.

Pretty much what I do.

I tend to do most of my music shopping online now. Mainly because metal sections in record stores have become increasingly smaller or nearby stores no longer exist at all. I usually keep a list on my computer of the albums I want to purchase, so I know what I'm looking for when I do go out. I hardly ever just pick up an album anymore that I'm not at least somewhat familiar with. When I shop online, I look for specials. A lot of the distros will have sales or promo codes that can cheapen your purchase. For example, I just bought the new Woods Of Ypres album for 70% off using a promo code. Other than that, I search for used and in good condition copies of the albums I want on sites like Amazon and eBay. I really do miss the rush of finding a bargain in store though. The economy has crapped on music stores though and so online I go.

Written by Guest on 31.03.2012 at 23:39
I will buy the new Dragonforce album at Best Buy.
I will only buy the very best albums.

Oxymoron much.

Written by Doc G. on 10.01.2010 at 10:01

just because I thought the album artwork looked cool.

I do this a lot, especially on Bandcamp.

I shop for hours looking at Cd's. I almost buy everything on a whim. Most of the time it pays off with something good. sometimes not so much *cough* Canifex *cough*
I ocaisionally go in to buy something that I have had my eye one, but I usually just browse until I find something that would appeal to me.

I am researcher. To the core.

I usually download a sampler track, look into the band members, see what forms they have released their media in...I guess it comes with being a music-psychopath.

Then I go out hunting for it on vinyl if I really love it, otherwise I'll just order it from a distro.