August 9, 2009, a day I eagerly wait for. On this day, I get to witness two of my all time favorite heavy metal bands, Slayer and Cannibal Corpse on the same day at an open air event. It’s been about 10 years since I started listening to this form of music and I got to tell you, it’s been one hell of a great ride.
In 1999, when owning original tapes was the big thing, I saved every last rupee (of the scams I used to run even in high school) to buy Cannibal Corpse’s Vile. Prior to that I had heard good old heavy metal, grunge and classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden and Soundgarden. Playing Vile, the doors opened to some of the most brutal, gory music I had ever heard. I’ve always been a fan of horror movies, slasher films and off course, B-grade Zombie movies. This album was just a combination of all my favorite things i.e. loud and fast drums, highly technical guitar riffs and vocals growling out gore. Those were the days when Hip-Hop was on the rise and boybands on the decline and none of that stuff appealed to me and so I felt like this was something new in my life, something that’ll stick with me for life.
Ten years down the line and I still play the Vile album regularly (off course CDs and mp3s have replaced the old tapes). Check out the charts here: http://www.last.fm/user/insert_my_msnID_here The other band Slayer has been very influential in me taking up heavy metal guitar. Being a trained classical pianist, I was always in for improvisation and somehow, blues, jazz and heavy metal were the avenue for just that. Within a few days of religious 8 hour practice sessions, I could play several Slayer songs as well as improvise and make them mine. Yes, that’s the reason I don’t take stupid requests for “Hotel California”, “Summer of 69” etc. The beauty of the genre is the several sub-genres within. Themes range from history, politics, religion and philosophy, fantasy, gore, marijuana and some wholly dedicated to providing the perfect atmostphere for depression. There’s always something for just about anyone.
The sub-culture associated with the music is interesting. You’ll usually find metal fans clad in black, some adorned in weird body jewelry and military/biker related gear, long hair and tattoos. A lot of them make some interesting and intelligent conversations. I myself own several black tees and I’m a big fan of Dr.Martens.
So yeah, that’s my random rambling this weekend. Given an opportunity, I’ll gladly take up a project in a band and give up engineering as soon as possible. Until then, Rock Hard, Ride Free
Helter Skelter 