I had my first band in the 4th year of secondary school, about 3 months after I'd started playing. It was actually a friend of mine, Stewart, who suggested we get a band together. He had a mate who could play either the bass or drums for us, and so in the school concourse a few days later he introduced me to Dean. Dean was shorter than me with a sure, almost stubborn manner. He didn't make much eye contact when he spoke, which gave me the impression that wasn't doing his social cred any good by talking with us. I would later find out the reason for this though. Anyway, he was into his metal and up for playing. So the three of us started hanging out at lunch time in the music block, mainly chatting and listening to music at first. Stewart was quite into Van Halen and Whitesnake at the time, and wanted the band to be blues based. Dean was also into Van Halen, but was listening to some Metallica as well: a little too heavy for Stewart. But by this time I was getting into more extreme stuff, having discovered the intense beauty of thrash and death metal. Before that I'd been on a musical diet of bands like Extreme, Motley Crüe, Guns 'n Roses and Queensryche, thanks to my cousin Jeff. But seeing a little kid wearing a Guns 'n Roses t-shirt changed all that. I needed something different, something more obscure and underground.
On my way to school each morning, as I walked down Penge High Street to the bus stop, I'd see an older girl walking ahead of me. She had died black hair, black jeans, black boots, and a leather jacket. Well, she actually had a few leather jackets, because on the back of each one was (what I later found out to be) a death metal album cover. The first one I saw was Slowly We Rot by Obituary. The artwork looked like something you'd see on the cover of a horror film VHS: a corpse left to rot by a drain in a littered street with a rat gnawing at its feet, the album title Slowly We Rot written in oozing green slime, and the name of the band in sharp, blood dripping silver letters. I'd never seen any kid wearing t-shirts like that! Each time I saw her I'd make sure I was close enough to get a decent look at the back of her jackets. On one was the cover of Deicide's first album and on another was Morbid Angel's Abomination of Desolation. Something about the horror-style artwork and evil sounding band names inspired a great sense of awe and mystery in me - especially as a 14 year old. This was definitely amplified by the fact that I never saw the girl's face: to me she was just as mysterious as bands depicted on her leather jackets. How influential this girl was, and she never even knew! I just had to find out about these bands.
Back then there was no Internet, so I couldn't just whack these names into Google and read about them, nor did I know anyone who was into any of this stuff. Also, the only magazines I new about dealt mostly with bands like Skid Row, G 'N R and Metallica, who were very popular at the time. But as fate would have it, fairly soon after I started to see this girl, I found a magazine called Rock Power in my local newsagent, which had a death and thrash metal supplement. With a quickening heart beat, I grabbed the magazine from the display and went straight to the supplement. They they all were: Obituary, Morbid Angel, Deicide and some other band called Death (some other band??! Yeah, I know... but I was only a beginner!!). I instantly recognised the logos from the girls jackets! I bought the magazine straight way, took it home, and started reading about these great bands.
As well as biog for each band, their discographies were also listed, and I couldn't wait to dive in. Flicking through the pages of the magazine I found an advert for a mail order company called Metal Gear, which sold this stuff. So I wrote out my order for Obituary's Slowly We Rot, and along with a cheque for about 8 quid, I posted it off. I had to go for that one - it was the first of the leather jackets I'd seen! Anyway, after an anxious week or so, on a Saturday morning when I was about to leave for work at the garden centre, a little package came through the letter box. I slammed my bowl of cereal down and ran to the door. It had arrived! I took it into my room, ripped open the package, took out the cassette, whacked it in the little tape player I had on the desk of my cabin bed, and pressed play. I had no idea what to expect, and sat there in silent anticipation. Then it began...the fade in of a dark, sinister drone; the deep inhale and exhale of some awakening horror; the sound of distant, heavy doors, slowly opening from an ancient crypt...a brief silence, a short drum fill and then ..."rrrlllleeeeuuuuuggghhh!"
I laughed out loud! Not that there was anything funny about what I'd heard. It was the same kind of laughter that comes when you meet up with an old friend you haven't seen in years. I loved it instantly. It was exactly what I hoped it would be. Dark, heavy, atmospheric, amazing hypnotic guitar solos, crushing riffs, incredible drumming and the most ungodly vocals I had ever heard. I had found death metal.
Soundtrack -
Obituary - Internal Bleeding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MISUO_PCodw
Morbid Angel - Visions from the Dark Side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc45xIbolFw
Death - Together as One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ1S_YWfLyo
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