For me, 2 words... IRON MAIDEN

Well the first metal bands I listened to was System Of A Down with their album Toxicity when I was 11-12 years old. It was because of two of my sister's class mate. They wanted to introduce her to metal, but instead, it was me who got serioulsly envovled in the subject.

I first started with bands like SOAD, POD, Linkin Park, Metallica. I also had a CD with various nu metal bands that I couldn't figure out theire names then, but now I know they were Pudle of Mudd, Disturbed, Rob Zombie, Nirvana, and DevilDriver or Coal Chamber I think. That was fucking awesome. I realy liked them.

Then some two years after, I met the another metalhead in my town, a real one, the most brutal guy in the city. He introduced me to some bands like Soulfly, Sepultura, Slayer, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu borger, Mushroomhead, Slipknot, KoRn, Iron Maiden, Evanesence. He didn't introduce me to real death and black metal. I think because he considered me too young or something as he was 21 years while I was 14 only.

After that we got internet connexion and I was finnaly free to discover bands all by myself. So I started to look for heavier, more brutal, groovy distorsed bands. This led me to what I am now, a fan of extreme metal, but also to darker style like doom metal.

I'm another old geezer around here! I started Listening to Rush and Billy Idol when I was 10 or so. When MTV came on the air I quickly discovered Motley Crue, Kiss, Quiet Riot. Then WASP, Razor Venom and my taste for extreme music became a lifelong obsession. We couldn't afford MTV but you could still hear it, so I used to record it by placing a crappy old tape recorder next to the TV speaker. I loved having these homemade tapes. Funny thing is, you can hear me yelling at my brothers and sisters to be quiet on many of them!

Discovered 1985's Live after Death, by Iron Maiden. That did it for me. After that, nothing else by Iron Maiden themselves was good enough, intense enough, alive enough.

After that, when I was around 11 years old, a friend introduced me to Rhapsody's early songs. People may superficially state how cheesy this band is. But to me they are more authentic than any other power metal band. Also, they really create the right atmosphere with engaging and "deep" songwriting.

That was followed by two blind purchases, one was Yngwie Malmsteen's Trial by Fire - Live in Leningrad, and the other one was Dream Theater's Train of Thought.

These would dictate my taste in the following years, combined with an earlier and constant influence my dad had on me with Classical music and 70's Prog Rock (Yes, Genesis, EL&P, King Crimson, etc).

The three gateway bands which launched me into the extreme metal I now love were Opeth and Arch Enemy at 19 years of age. Finally Death was my gateway band into Death Metal, at 21.

At 25, I don't think much of those three bands besides the fact that they were important as intermediaries in my discovery of deeper music. I appreciate extreme metal from its sense of contemplation and philosophy, and not only because of its raw aspect. I certainly do not subscribe to the moronic idea of listening to extreme metal just for its brutality and bass sound...

...Since i am almost 40 years old (no streaming no cds,dvds..), things where like this: When i was about 13 i was having company with a girl that visited my area fior summer time with her brother. One day we where all the 3 together at the place that they lived and her brother put a tape of Scorpions to play. From the 1st moment i realized that this moment was special for me. After that the 1st time i got money in my hands i rushed to buy a tape of Scorpions... That was the beginning back in 1987....

First I started when I was about 10yrs old listening to Korn and other bands of the type. Then when I was around 14yrs old I heard Dimmu Borgir and Aborted on some dvd that I had and I was hooked. Had to wait through the credits to know what bands they were. But ever since I've been hooked on all types of metal.

I started really getting into metal after a ton of years in the punk scene. listening to powerviolence and crust and fuzzed out japanese noise bands really just naturally led me to look back at death metal and black metal. honestly there is a slim difference between poorly recorded crust bands and early black metal sound wise. i have really gotten into the more atmospheric/doom bands lately though. Beersoaked days go well with stoner metal jamz for sure.

I got started to get into metal when some workmates started to play system of a down's Toxicity at work. I really liked that album I started to ask them about them and metal music in general. They lent me some of their other albums they had there. bands like Soulfly, Nile, more System, Hatebreed (just to name a few). I fell in love with them all. I told my mates that I used to listen to ac/dc, iron maiden, pantera back in me day. They thought it was cool they lent me some more music. I went out and brought every album they lent me. I knew that I love metal and still do \m/

My love for this music began when i was 10 years old, a friend of mine introduced me to KISS and my life was changed forever. When i heard Hotter than Hell that was it for me, then when i was 16 there was Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Saxon and the list goes on. I loved it then as i love it now, it will stay with me for life.

I started when I was 14 in 1990. Metal 's first album I heard was Master Of Puppets by Metallica. I remember like it was yesterday, after the acoustic guitar arpeggio in the song Battery, when I heard the intro chords distorted and the captivating riffs, I lost all knowledge of space and time and went into the fourth dimension, which today I still find, and from which I can see all the crap and lies of the world.
In that same year I started playing Metal on drums and I do it till today.
I owe so much to the music, but I owe my life to Metal .
Metal is not just a music genre, or a fashion trend, as many believe (for these people there is the law of natural selection... fortunately for us), Metal is Culture with capital "C". Metal is a movement.
Today I am 37 years old and I have a 3 year old child which, since now, I'm starting to make him understand that music should not just be nice to see, that not only count the beautiful young faces and appearance of pussy (as abound in the pop music videoclip), but I'm teaching him that music must be true to listen to, so be it if it is violent.
Metal forever, but not for everyone!