How did you first encounter this music? - The Pit Edition
Tell us about your first encounters with the Thrash Metal, Groove Metal & Speed Metal subgenres. How did you lose your Pit virginity?
Thrash metal - I first heard Metallica's "...And Justice For All" from a ripped copy a school mate gave me in late 1988. I'd been asking about it after recognizing the band's name in the Australian ARIA Top 50 charts. It completely changed my life.
Groove metal - I first heard tracks from Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" album on late-night metal radio program in late 1990 & was instantly attracted to the band's sound.
Speed metal - I first heard tracks from Helloween's first couple of releases on a late-night metal radio program some time around 1989. I didn't like what I heard much but thankfully those records aren't representative of the common garden variety of speed metal & it wouldn't be long before I found other bands that were more to my taste.
Thrash Metal - Yep, it was ...And Justice for All for me too. The same cassette that got you into thrash metal too. At first I think I laughed at how stupidly heavy and fast it was, but I found myself drawn back to it over and over again. I soon found myself listening to every album that Daniel brought into our home and a lifelong obsession was formed. I owe so much to Metallica!
Groove Metal - It was Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power for me, but Cowboys from Hell followed it quickly. We saw Pantera and Sepultura within a couple of months of each other in 1994, and they were my very first big metal concerts. I can't say I enjoyed much of Pantera's output after Vulgar, but boy did I love that album!
Speed Metal - I don't think I really appreciated speed metal until we started covering bands like Savage Grace, Agent Steel and Iron Angel for the podcast. Prior to that, my experience was limited to the likes of Exciter and Venom, both of which I've always felt somewhat lukewarm about.
Thrash/Groove/Speed: All of these subgenres were nonexistent to me for a very long time. I never sought out Thrash Metal or was exposed to Pantera or Sepultura until much later. Through rhythm games, radio, and some friends I knew who Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Metallica were, but I never listened to full albums or even deep cuts for years. I remember thinking "Raining Blood" and "Master of Puppets" were awesome songs, but it never went much further than that. The first Thrash band I remember being instantly attracted to was Megadeth after hearing Rust In Peace in its entirety, but that was well after being exposed to multiple other Thrash bands.
My first real taste of metal period was hearing Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls on my dad's "Greatest Air Guitar" album. I fell in love with the apocalyptic vibe I got from it and the vivid imagery it conjured in my head.
I had a birthday not long after, and my grandmother of all people got me the Master of Puppets album (she'd been told I wanted it by my parents, but I still love that my first metal album came from my granny). I listened to that, and other Metallica albums, over and over again.
I bought RtL in 1984 because I liked the artwork!
I played Doom, haha. I loved the music, actually downloaded the soundtrack, and come to find many of the tracks were inspired by bands like Slayer, Metallica, and Pantera, who I promptly downloaded as well. That was my gateway into all of metal, but it started with Thrash and it's still one of my favorite subgenres.
Thrash: I'm pretty sure Piledriver "Metal Inquisition" and Venom "Possessed" (perhaps not considered thrash) were my gateway to Thrash. That would've been around 1985. I was blown away. I did a seven hour radio show at the time that was strictly metal and hard rock. Once I was bitten by the Thrash bug, it became a huge part of my radio programming up through the early 90's.
Groove: I suppose Pantera might be the first example of this style that I can recall hearing. "Cowboys From Hell" blew me away when it exploded onto the metal scene but to me that was firmly rooted in thrash. I think the follow-up began the slow evolution towards the band's 100% groove metal approach. I slowly lost interest. I'm still not a huge fan of the genre.
Speed: I think I discovered this genre in the early 80's, mostly from the slew of comps Metal Blade were releasing at the time. Some early discoveries for me were Savage Grace, Raven and Exciter.