When I was a little kid I was always trying to be popular. So at first I listened to all the hip hop rap stuff. I finally realized when I was in 7th grade that all the popular kids were a bunch of douchebags. So I wanted to be pretty much opposite of them. So I stared listening to a lot of the really heavy stuff. Eventually I winded down to just general metal stuff like metallica.

My oldest brother listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Grand Funk (bot not Sabbath for some reason), so the hard rock had always been around. Then, in 1982, a different brother brought home a copy of Judas Priest's Screamin' for Vengeance. Since I was 11, I began to believe I was indeed the devil's child. Then I discovered Iron Maiden, which led to Metallica, which led to Megadeth, which led to Sacrfice, which led to Death...

Amusingly enough, it was a tape distributed at church with some speaker warning of the dangers of wicked rock music ... it had plenty of short audio samples of Sabbath and the like that got me interested in metal.

Judas Priest's video for "You Got Another Thing Coming" also helped get me into the music, loved the video, particularly where the dude blows up at the end. that left an impression on me.

Anthrax, Megadeth, and Maiden in HS... wasn't a metal head. listened to alternative (Cure, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Depeche Mode) and punk, which had by that point started crossing over a bit as well as Ministry helped me along.

finding Napalm Death's "Harmony Corruption" on tape at the base exchange in 1990 sealed it.

The first metal band I got into was Rammstein, it sounded like the heaviest thing ever for me. Then I got into extreme metal, like Behemoth and then classic metal like Manowar and Judas Priest which totally redefined what "heavy" and "metal" meant for me. But I still love it all.

It all started with Hammerfall actually, during my first year of high school. And before them, I listened to rock bands like Bon Jovi and Evanescence.

Later on, I switched to Korn and the rest is history.

For me it started with the <alternative rock> scene of the 90s like Disturbed,Drowning Pool and Limp Bizkit.I thought it was the craziest music ive heard until my friend brought me to my first concert: Iron Maiden+Dio+Motorhead.My love for Metal grew every day ever since that show.It was EPIC

I started with a bunch of hard rock, nu metal, and metalcore; but kept wanting something heavier. Some of my favorite band back in the day were System Of A Down, Ill Nino, Spineshank, Disturbed, Korn, etc. Eventually I moved on to what I listen to now and realized most of that nu metal and metalcore shit sucks.

The first metal band that I liked was godsmack(not counting soad as nu metal,i consider them as hard rock),but didn't get involved in metal seriously...then came bullet for my valentine which started my headbanging journey

Seems like +{Jho'nass}+ and I have the same thing going on...
@BloodTears: Didn't think someone responded to my whole spiel hahaha...
@Roro: Is that really a good reason to become a metal head?

I started with Korn and the new release of Metallica at the time, ReLoad... then I discovered a radio station dedicated to rock, there I found stratovarius, angra and In Flames, what turned me to metal is the energy and the loudness of the music

Written by [user id=2084] on 20.04.2010 at 01:28

Seems like +{Jho'nass}+ and I have the same thing going on...

Rocker parents FTW, dude.

Slayer

When I was about 6 or 7 (around 1982), my uncle bought Iron Maiden's "Killers" album. When I saw the cover I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, then he put it on... Been hooked on metal ever since.

Written by Sepulchre on 19.04.2010 at 19:41

I started with a bunch of hard rock, nu metal, and metalcore; but kept wanting something heavier. Some of my favorite band back in the day were System Of A Down, Ill Nino, Spineshank, Disturbed, Korn, etc. Eventually I moved on to what I listen to now and realized most of that nu metal and metalcore shit sucks.

Same here for the most part. I grew up listening to classic rock, hard rock, and classic metal. When I was 11, my aunt took me to see Metallica...and they've been my favorite band since. After that, I got into all the nu-metal crap in 7th grade - end of 10th grade. I did want something heavier like you said but had no clue where to look. I had Metallica and early heavy metal but never even heard of death metal or black metal. I've heard of some thrash stuff though. When I was 16, right after 10th grade ended, I heard some death metal on the radio. (wierd, isn't it? They were playing Death, Obituary and stuff like that, not gay stuff. It was a local metal show.) I ditched the nu-metal faggotry and it was history from there!

Written by [user id=104505] on 04.04.2010 at 23:36

Written by TheBigRossowski on 29.03.2010 at 16:07

...Satan. *sips wine*

This Devil and Ghaal welcome you in their club.

I cracked up so hard when I saw that interview in Metal: A Headbanger's Journey.

Ewww an easy one!

I saw Iron Maiden's "Piece of Mind" in a record store 25 years ago. I bought it because of the cover art...

My parents and whole my family members are aggressive metal heads
Generation after Generation haha!

When I was just a kid about 6, 7 I had no idea what metal music is. I had neighbours. Two Brothers. Long hair brothers. Very nice persons, beautiful room full of Posters, guitars, Hi-Fi, video. books .... And they teached me what is the real music. And now I am glad that I know everything about metal music. Thanx Brothers :-)

It felt right for me...

The fact that the musicianship and the intensity you really can't find anywhere else in music helped a lot. It also helped to "keep me in one piece" during bad times worked for me too. I like other stuff outside the genre but all in all 2/3rds of the music I have and about 80% of the music I go hunting for is metal. In my opinion noting really has this much brilliance in shape and form.

I actually never liked music during a time. Barely knew about bands and didn't care, however I did have exposure to bands like AC/DC. Then I discovered music.download.com and downloaded some underground death metal songs. Been hooked since.

Hanging out with my older cousins who listened to Black Sabbath and Kiss.

For a while i really prided myself at being able to listen to such diverse range of music, from rock to classical, to indie and jazz... but now im mainly a metalhead who occasionally listens to other types of music.

I went from listening to Grunge and whatever MTV was playing that was on the 'harder' side. I discovered Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams" video which led me to a new group of people in Jr High and High school who had tapes of Napalm Death, Obituary and Morgoth - Morgoth being what sealed it for me.

My cousin gave me Brave New World by Iron Maiden and I immediately fell in love with it. Iron Maiden were my whole world for some time (I didn't have internet or money to buy CDs), Then I listened to bunch of punk/alt. rock bands, but Eluveitie, Nightwish and Sonic Syndicate converted me to metal nad I listened to it ever since then

Never liked music as a kid, but my dad played a mix CD once with Bob Dylan, Led Zepplin, and Rammstein. After hearing it I got home and looked up bands related to Zepplin and Rammstein and I started to progress to new genres and bands. Now I like all types of music genres because of that mix CD lol.

Bought Iron Maiden's Brave New World when it came out and I was about 12...I bought it because of the Cover Artwork.
I simply loved it! Although I didn't really know that it was heavy metal lol then all the others came, Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, In Flames... well yeah that got me where I am right now - 24/7 metalhead and guitarist

When I was around 7-8 I heard Whitesnake and after that I craved the crunch of metal. Metallica was the next band I really got into. Now I have been a musician for 13 years and have a massive metal CD/vinyl collection.

Written by Saitenhexerin on 03.06.2010 at 10:37

Bought Iron Maiden's Brave New World when it came out and I was about 12...I bought it because of the Cover Artwork.
I simply loved it! Although I didn't really know that it was heavy metal lol then all the others came, Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, In Flames... well yeah that got me where I am right now - 24/7 metalhead and guitarist

That was a nice coincidence then! I remeber when i was a kid that i knew about maiden cuz they were one of the heavy music bands and because it was classified as a satanic band along side with metallica, acdc, kiss, pantera and sepultura, hehehe but i didnt never pay attention to maiden till many. many years later, cuz heavy metal was one of the lates metal styles i got into... I remember those bands sounded too heavy in those times

I bought Avenged Sevenfold's "City Of Evil" and Iron Maiden's "A Matter Of Life And Death" and it went from there.

For a couple of years I was only really listening to the popular metal bands..Machine Head,Slipknot,Metallica...etc.I think that's just what you do when you're starting out.One day I stumbled upon one of my all time favourite bands: Kamelot.Upon finding them, I thought "how are these guys not that popular?","How much music am I missing out on?".

2 years later...and here I am.Wouldn't have it any other way either. *Blasts Absu from stereo*

Ha ha it was a natural thing for me! I was even into metal before I knew it!

*I just noticed how long this post has become... oh well*

Before I discovered metal, I pretty much listened to whatever the mainstream fed me through radio, TV, and the like. I remember making mix tapes with my ghetto blaster from random songs that I liked on the radio. Sure there was some heavy in there, Much Music used to play alot of music videos instead of whatever bullshit shows they play now (they might as well call it MTV). But nothing had really caught my attention...

Until I heard Master of Puppets. Everything Changed.

I listened to Metallica religiously for a year. Specifically, the first four albums (like many others). At the time I couldn't imagine another band being as cool, as heavy, as metal, as Metallica. I knew about some of the other big metal names, but none of them gave me quite the same satisfaction.

So a year of obsession passes... One day, a buddy who had similar tastes to mine told me in a very exited way that he had heard this new band that was possibly even better than Metallica. I didn't believe him. How could I? The band's name was Dream Theater. That didn't sound very metal at all. Finally we go over to his place and listen to some tunes from their new album (at the time) Scenes From a Memory. I only had to hear Home, and was sold.

My entire perspective on music was changed, for a second time. It wasn't only about being metal, or heavy, or cool anymore (just look at Labrie, I lol'd the first time I saw him). It was about the music, in the purest sense of the word.

I went through all of DT's catalog, and it lasted me a while, but I still wanted more. At this point I started actively looking for new shit, and realized there was a world of awesome music out there that I had no idea existed.

The rest as they say is history... And now I realize that musical tastes don't change, they grow, evolve. These days I listen to all kinds of stuff, from metal to lounge to jazz to flamenco back to metal. In any given day I can be listening to Buckethead, Camel, throw in some Hiromi Uehara... and follow it up with Strapping Young Lad.

One thing is certain. A lot's changed in my life since the days of Metallica, but I've never outgrown metal. Nor do I think I ever will.

Long live metal \m/