I was there. This was not the 1980s 'poofter poodle' metal (Poison, Ratt) of MTV but the real, down to earth, in your face heavy metal. Ace Koden was a ground breaking band at the time from Victoria. While shunned by the mainstream media, the quietly scheming metal and punk acts had their own events, their own fan base and bootleg recording distribution networks. Watching bands like Black Flag and playing gigs with the Dayglows and No Means No at the FOE in Victoria were commonplace. This is when music had real heart - we were social rejects and we wanted everyone to know it. This was embraced in the way we dressed, the way we talked and our clothing. That is me on the right hand side. I was a metal head and proud of it!
Not to be too big a stickler, but I kinda doubt any of the acts listed would consider themselves "heavy metal" - hardcore/punk seems closer to the mark.
ReplyDeleteThe prototyp of Heavy Metal in that time was Manowar I think. Slayer was later? How about Black Sabbath?
ReplyDeleteNeat, your post brings back some of my "metal" memories.
ReplyDelete;-)
I won't disagree with the hardcore punk label but there was a brief period in the 1980's when the genres truly crossed over. I went to Brian's (a.k.a. Jesus Bonehead) house party once and was blown away by a massive sea of punk rockers moshing to Motorhead. We must have played the Live Album a dozen times that night including several times on a higher speed (45 RPM instead of 33). LOL - those were the days!
ReplyDeleteSlayer are massively great. Black Sabath are gods. I never really got into Manowar but loved Anthrax, Testament, Priest, DOA, Accept (even though they posed a bit too much), Annihilator (my roommates played in the band), Maiden, Metallica, MegaDeath, Sepultura, Dio, Ozzy, Overkill and Yngwie.
ReplyDeleteOn the punk side, the Dead Boys, sonic Youth, Black Flag, DK's, Agnostic Front, NMN and Fugazi.
Crossover: Motorhead, Suicidal Tendencies, Agnostic Front, DOA (Randy later sang for Annihilator and I am in a band with him called Stress Factor 9 today) and the dayglows.