First metal album

[aquarius]

The first ‘real’ album for me was Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky. Before that I had some Deicide and middle era Emperor which had only residual elements of what I was after. I remember thinking A Blaze was so raw and pure that it almost seemed like an ancient language (as it turns out Black Metal was chronologically younger than Death Metal). The riffs, the drumming, the production seemed like a big mess and yet it flowed so naturally. The energy was overwhelming.

Its allure was such that I didn’t listen to much else for the next month or so, as nothing even came close. Plus I now needed to work up some pocket money for more albums 

[Tralfamadorian]

I was probably about 12, over at my friend's house, a guitar player. This kid listened mostly to ska and punk rock, but for some reason he was playing the opening riff to Metallica - One. I was enthralled by it. Soon after, I bought ...And Justice for All. At first I thought it was boring and the only song I liked was One for its simple soft-hard songwriting. But seeing as it was the only CD I had, I kept listening to it, and it started to grow on me. I liked how epic and serious it sounded, and the climactic solos sent shivers down my spine. Looking back now, the album is very overwritten and the production is shit, but as a kid the nuances of song structure were well beyond my intellectual ken and I had no point of reference as to what a good production consisted of; all I could do was enjoy it, and enjoy it I did.

[Humanicide]

Mine was Megadeth's "Rust In Peace". Before that I had several scattered songs I'd downloaded from sites or got on CDs from friends,  of Megadeth and other bands, but RIP was the first proper album I got. Followed shortly after by "Reign In Blood".

I know Megadeth get a lot of flak here (and rightfully so nowadays given what an asshat Mustaine has become), but "Rust" will always be one of the top speed/thrash albums that I go to.

[Invisible Sandwich]

My first full metal album was Ride the Lightning by Metallica; I'd heard bits and pieces before of others, but not enough to really understand metal as something that existed. I still think it's the high point of their discography in execution; their next two are naturally more ambitious, but even on Master of Puppets, the band is beginning to strain their compositional limits.

Soon after I listened to it, I was cut off from my music library for a few weeks due to computer trouble, and that lead to me receiving metal indoctrination, mostly in the form of the tamer speed-thrash bands at first.

[Jim Necroslaughter]

The Black Sabbath compilation "We Sold our Soul for Rock'n'Roll."

When I was in grade school and early middle school all I really listened to was the oldies radio station that my parents listened to.  "Paranoid" was in the rotation but that isn't what made Sabbath click for me.

I loved football and played football.  The college football team from my state had a pretty awesome marching band.  I remember watching a game and the band had worked in the Iron Man riff into their repertoire.  I didn't know what it was, but I loved it - just the main riff is all they played over and over.  I was at football practice the next day and I asked my friends if they heard it and what it was?  Black Sabbath - Iron Man said my buddy.  That was all she wrote.

Thinking back on it, the Iron Man riff conveyed more than just "coolness."  It was more like an event, something was at stake, you were meeting your fate, etc.

I remember my buddies' older brothers listening to Deicide, Morbid Angel, Slayer, and Seputura - but that stuff scared the shit out of me back then!    Sabbath I could handle!

A few years later I somehow ended up with Amorphis - Tale from a Thousand Lakes and Sepultura - Beneath the Remains.  Those are the earliest albums that I can recall that are reviewed on DLA.

But I find it interesting and appropriate that what hooked me on metal was metal being played by a marching band and it had nothing to do with the "aesthetics" of metal.

[fallot]

But I find it interesting and appropriate that what hooked me on metal was metal being played by a marching band and it had nothing to do with the "aesthetics" of metal.

I guess I would be the opposite. I've always harboured a fascination for the dark and occult, the evil and violent. My first contact with metal that actually made me sit up and notice was hearing Cradle of Filth on a local radio station. Here was something that (finally) defied expectation, an expression of a side of life I felt kinship to, no matter what shortcomings eventually became apparent.

First metal album was Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, but Iron Maiden was so mainstream it didn't really clue me in to metal music. First "real" album would be In The Nightside Eclipse, which upon discovering it and then, on a whim, searching for other material by the band on the internet led me to ANUS. But there was no sea change, rather gradual attrition.

[Tralfamadorian]

Fallot, IIRC you told me in the old ANUS chatroom you were a Muslim. How do you reconcile your fascination with evil and the occult with your religion? Or were you trolling?

[Perennial_Man]

Fun thread.

I think Metallica turned a head for most people. Kill 'em All and half of Master of Puppets really made me tune in. The rest of faux Metal washed over me from countless sources. I mainly forced my way through bands that close friends liked. Disturbed stuck around pretending to compete, but it always ended boring me, plus they looked like fags. Glamtera sorry to say had one or two songs which I enjoyed repeating the lyrics as they blasted their load.

It wasn't until a year or so afterwards I first absorbed Metal as Slayer. Reign in Blood, competing among the clicks and clacks of my friend's obsession, Guitar NerdHero, fucking blew me away. Something so minimalist and powerful, becoming my favorite single out of a collection of Megadeth and Metallica which survived the faux shit storm.

[fallot]

Fallot, IIRC you told me in the old ANUS chatroom you were a Muslim. How do you reconcile your fascination with evil and the occult with your religion? Or were you trolling?

I wasn't trolling, I am an observant muslim. I don't see any incongruence in this fascination, these things are as much a part of the world as anything else. It is through the human lens that they gain subjective shades of meaning. Perhaps I should have said "evil"? Death is evil to men, as is war. Even the night. This is what I appreciate about Nihilism, seeing the world just as-is without ascribing arbitrary value. My God is Al-Jabbar and Al-Qahhar (roughly, the Terrible, the Tyrant) and promises eternal torment to all but a fraction of us. As I became more invested in my religion I found that it satisfied that part of me completely, rather it was my contemporaries who could not reconcile their religion with their true beliefs. As an example, I'm sure you know the shariah penalty for stealing is to lose a hand. This seems incredibly harsh and cruel to the young, westernized, liberalized muslim even if he considers himself religious. I have no such qualms.

I think Metallica turned a head for most people. Kill 'em All and half of Master of Puppets really made me tune in.

Yeah I think the early Metallica albums are the most important gateway drug to worthwhile metal in terms of the number of people influenced. I don't know if that's a shame or a positive.

[Gefechtsgruppe10]

I was probably about 12, over at my friend's house, a guitar player. This kid listened mostly to ska and punk rock, but for some reason he was playing the opening riff to Metallica - One. I was enthralled by it. Soon after, I bought ...And Justice for All. At first I thought it was boring and the only song I liked was One for its simple soft-hard songwriting. But seeing as it was the only CD I had, I kept listening to it, and it started to grow on me. I liked how epic and serious it sounded, and the climactic solos sent shivers down my spine. Looking back now, the album is very overwritten and the production is shit, but as a kid the nuances of song structure were well beyond my intellectual ken and I had no point of reference as to what a good production consisted of; all I could do was enjoy it, and enjoy it I did.

I actually liked the production on ..And Justice.  The guitars sound great, very cold, and their faggit lead-guitarist does some nice soloing on songs like "Shortest Straw."  However, no man in his right mind would put Ulrich's godawful drumming THAT much  to the front of the mix.  He is just terrible.  If I had a nickle for every misplaced accent with a splash/crash by Mr. Lars, I'd be a millionaire.  That being said, Metallica maxed-out their composational skills with "Four Horsemen" and the subsequent albums were just the technical skill of mastering the studio-craft. 

My first metal album was listening to my parents' copy of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" by Black Sabbath.  The record was in poor shape and I was listening to it on my Grandma's old 1930's grammaphone, but it was nonetheless badass.  Heavy, technical-ish, lyrics  that weren't whiney or about love.  I rapidly acquired "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid" and soon owned the entire Ozzy-years albums.  Not that I like Ozzy, it was just obvious the band was falling apart on "We Sold Our Souls...."

[Somnambulist]

Not that I like Ozzy, it was just obvious the band was falling apart on "We Sold Our Souls...."

??

We Sold our Souls for Rock and Roll is a compilation of the first 4 Sabbath albums.

[scourge]

I first had a Sab bootleg of Live Evil on cassette and the rest followed from that. The cherry busting precedent of the time prior to that was pretty much just AC/DC and Sabbath for us.

[Parasite]

...And Justice For All was also my first metal album.  I remember watching a live version of the title track over and over again, fascinated by it.  While most of my friends were still into the more hardrock stuff like Godsmack at the time, i was constantly searching for the next best thing.  Even though now I probably give Godsmack's first album more spins than And Justice.... it was just an album that gave me the hunger for the heaviest music i could find.  Good times.  I try and convert most "rockers" with that album because they all associate Metallica with Enter Sandman.  And Justice For All was a good album for sure.

[Gefechtsgruppe10]

Not that I like Ozzy, it was just obvious the band was falling apart on "We Sold Our Souls...."

??

We Sold our Souls for Rock and Roll is a compilation of the first 4 Sabbath albums.

Yeah, my mistake.  By "Sabatoge' it was obvious the band was coming apart at the seams.

[Leperchaun]

Manowar - Warriors of the World, the cutting edge of metal back in 2003.