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As far as I remember, my interest in music began in the early 80's. I remember waiting anxiously to tape a Olivia Newton-John radio special. There was a couple of songs from Blondie that I liked. Yes, there is a pattern here for a young teenager isn't it? Before that, I was not much of a music fan although I was listening to the vinyls and tapes that my parent had now and then, especially my father. He was into Elvis Presley, Nazareth, Roy Orbison and others in the same league.
Probably in early 83 I started to get into heavier stuff. I was introduced to hard rock bands like OFFENBACH and DEF LEPPARD for example. I remember being a big fan of DEF LEPPARD 'Pyromania' when it came out. In 1984 I discovered FASTWAY, RAVEN, IRON MAIDEN and SAXON. My favorite albums were SAXON 'Crusader' and RAVEN 'All For One'. At the time, some of my friends got into ANTHRAX, METALLICA and SLAYER. I was quite put off by the offensive aspect of the covers of 'Fistful Of Metal', 'Kill 'Em All' and 'Show No Mercy'. The music was also way too aggressive for me. Therefore, I resisted listening to those bands. However, WASP first album came to my attention and, despite having a distasteful cover, it appealed to me.
In February 1985, I attended my first concert in La Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec City. WASP was headlining and the opening acts were ARMORED SAINT and METALLICA. I was going to see WASP, not the other two bands. I didn't know ARMORED SAINT and didn't care for METALLICA. ARMORED SAINT opened and I was favorably pleased with what I heard. No frills heavy metal delivered flawlessly. I thought this was a band to check out. METALLICA then took the stage. The lights were shut down. The acoustic guitar intro was heard and then mayhem was unleashed under the name 'Fight Fire With Fire'. I was floored. I couldn't believe how intense and powerful the music delivered by those four unknown (to me) guys wearing black jeans was. I was conquered. When WASP did their set, I found that their music was lacking something all of a sudden. It didn't sound as good as I wished. Also, their theatrics turned me off completely. By that I mean rubbing posters between their buttcheeks and throwing them into the crowd. The thing is, they were wearing leather pants without bottom! Ugh. After that concert I stopped listening to WASP. My interest in speed/thrash metal has its root in that cold February night.
The next breakthrough for me was being able to listen to a heavy metal radio show from CHOM-FM in Montreal on cable in Quebec City. The show was called THE METAL FILES. Each Friday evening, from 11PM to midnight, a new albums was featured. I remember having heard ANTHRAX, HELLHAMMER, ARMORDED SAINT & EXODUS amongst others. The songs from the EXODUS album "Bonded By Blood" that I heard on that show prompted me to take the bus the next morning and go to Econo Disc to purchase it. Unfortunately, it was already sold out. However, a new batch was already ordered and I made sure to reserve a copy. The following I purchased my first heavy metal album: EXODUS "Bonded By Blood". An import for the insane price, at the time, of $12.99+TX.
Another breakthrough was discovering the British metal magazine METAL FORCES . Its importance was two-fold. It allowed me to read English on a monthly basis while learning about new releases and bands. For many years this magazine was almost the only source of metallic information for me, despite that there was a few interesting French magazines. METAL FORCES was the best.
I continued listening and purchasing LPs for many years. At some point, three friends and I got the idea to each buy one album per month each different week in order to be able to get our hands to as much metal music as possible. So one would buy an album and the three others would copy it on tape. "File sharing" is nothing new! Of course, now and then I cheated. I could not resist buying more than one album after reading a glowing review by Mike Exley or Rob Clymo in METAL FORCES. Those two writers and I shared similar tastes and I don't remember they betrayed me in their reviews!
I also did two radio shows and participated in another one. My first show was on the CKIA-FM radio station on the indian reserve of Village Huron on the outskirts of Quebec City. After that I hook up with a friend and got some air time in a more mainstream radio station. We would have 10min to discuss metal and present an album or a few songs. After that my friend Denis and I started our most sophisticated show called CONFUSION. It aired each Friday evening for two hours. We would review new albums, new demo-tapes, concerts, present a cover song and the original one after the other and also do the metal news segment. There was so much information that people would call us to tell us to shut-up and play more music!
Then... the dark ages of heavy metal. Majors started having a interest in this form of music while in the Northwest a new sound was gaining popularity: grunge. METAL FORCES disappeared. At first getting the metal LPs and CDs to large music retail chains appeared beneficial. The music was more easily available and the prices lower. However, this had the effect of killing the small shops specializing in heavy metal who could not compete. First Econo Disque, then Metal Rock. Therefore, when major labels lost interest in metal as it didn't proved lucrative enough, apart from the METALLICA, MEGADETH and SLAYER for example, metal almost disappeared from the music stores. And those stores were not geared toward ordering imports. I lost interest in metal music around that time, ie, approximately in 91-92 I would say. Only now and then I would purchase a new album like a new FLOTSAM & JETSAN and new SACRED REICH. Yet the underground metal scene was still alive and kicking. However, there was no means I was aware of of getting the information and the music.
For a few years I barely followed the metal scene. Then, in 1996 I found out that it was possible to sample songs online. I has been aware of the internet through a friend but only for checking information and reading newsgroups. However I did not have an account myself. However, at our university library there were a few computers that were connected to the net and one had speakers. Using a backdoor I was able to circumvent the computer security and install RealAudio Player. This allowed me to discover AMORPHIS "Elegy" and THE GATHERING "Mandylion" that I purchased almost immediately. This was a new beginning for me with regards to heavy metal.
I started going to a shop in Quebec City called Metal Disk that replaced Metal Rock. I also started getting in touch with people across the world, most notably John Frank and Richard Stuart . I would get information from webzines and newsgroups. I could sample new albums online, buy from online shops from all around the world and trade CDs with other people. My CD collection went from around 300 in 1998 to 2100 in 2006.
Even though metal music has been, for more than 20 years, a daily presence in my life I again started drifting away from it.
Work and a new interest go in the way: mountain biking! A few years ago I decided that I needed to improve my overall fitness level while having fun outside. I started hiking, walking, snowshoeing and decided to get a new bike. In 2004 I settled for a mountain bike as the streets around here are similar to the ones you can find in war zones. However, I got bored rapidly riding in the streets. So I started investigating the trail network around my place. It was dismal. So I went online and found trails a bit further away from home. And the same website had a forum where people could organize group rides. I registered when a "beginners" ride was organized. I was a bit shy at first but was able to hold my own during that outing. I was hooked to mountain biking!
So here I am, 2006 fading away, and winter closing in, stranded at home with a broken fibula due to a moutain biking accident. Yet, I am yearning to get back on one of my bikes to discover new trails and improve my technical skills.
Sylvain
November 08 2006
