Doing interviews with bands both via email and live face-to-face for Metal-Rules.com, going to concerts and write about them, writing demo/album reviews and trying to find sponsors for Metal-Rules.com that would be willing to advertise via Metal-Rules.com as hosting the site must cost a little fortune for our editor-in-chief EvilG. In fact, to find a reliable sponsor is tougher than I originally thought in the first place. Unfortunately most often all you get for your hard efforts is nothing, but a bunch of empty promises which is a pity.LENGHT OF TIME WITH METAL-RULES.COM:I started in the staff of Metal-Rules.com in January 2001 and this is my 4rd year to be a part of the nice and hard-working people here in the staff of M-R.com – and hopefully there´s even a couple of more years ahead of me in the staff of this fine site. However, keep in mind that the future may be unpredictable, you just never know... ;)BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HOW I CAME TO METAL-RULES.COM:Previously I was doing interviews/reviews for another Canadian metal-orientated webmagazine called Soundscape Webmagazine (Hi Stéphane Bélanger!!!). As Stéph became busy with his real work, he was unfortunately forced to put the site down as he didn´t have any time for running it any longer. I had just recently done a couple of killer interviews for Soundscape (with Matt Harvey of Dekapitator and Trey Azathoth of Morbid Angel that were) that were originally supposed to come out through Soundscape, but since Soundscape ceased to exist and I wanted to get them published very badly at that time, I contacted EvilG and explained the whole situation to him. The rest is history...Feel free to check out a couple of my interviews I did for Soundscape webmagazine by clicking the following two links:Juan Garcia / Agent Steel: http://pages.infinit.net/smcanada/9agent_steel.htmlHenrik Ohlsson / Mutant + Theory In Practice: http://pages.infinit.net/smcanada/9mutant_tip.htmlBEST THING ABOUT WORKING FOR METAL-RULES.COM:Meeting bands in a real life and seeing a little bit what kind of tiny ´secrets´ they all have behind the curtains (heh!); getting in for concerts for free, having an opportunity to drink free beers every now and then that someone else has paid for me (now that´s life!); receiving a bunch of free albums in the mail from time to time; seeing new faces and making new friends occasionally by going to places in general.WORST THING ABOUT WORKING FOR METAL-RULES.COM:Sometimes it´s tough and somewhat difficult to find enough time to get everything done for Metal-Rules.com inside of some certain time frame even if you would have tried to push yourself as hard as possible with some certain things in order to get something released within a reasonable time. Also, I have noticed that when you do and interview with someone face-to-face, it takes lots of time to transcribe the interview from a tape into a written format. This thing requires some nerves and a load of patience - that´s for sure, I can tell.
Music:
MY FAVORITE METAL GENRE(S):My heart has been left to the ´80s metal, most definitely!! That´s the golden era for metal music for me anyway. The best Speed Metal albums were made in the ´80s (f.ex. Agent Steel “Skeptic Apocalypseâ€, Griffin “Flight of the Griffinâ€, Exciter “Long Live the Loudâ€, Iron Angel “Hellish Crossfireâ€, Cyclone “Brutal Destructionâ€, Blessed Death “Kill or Be Killedâ€, etc. etc.); the best Thrash Metal albums were released in the ´80s as well (Angel Dust “Into the Dark Pastâ€, Vio-lence “Eternal Nightmareâ€, Slayer “Hell Awaitsâ€, Sadus “Illusionsâ€, Exodus “Bonded by Bloodâ€, Infernäl Mäjesty “None Shall Defyâ€, Sepultura “Schizophreniaâ€, Sacred Reich “Ignoranceâ€, Onslaught “The Forceâ€, Testament “The Legacyâ€, Dark Angel “Darkness Descendsâ€, Anthrax “Among the Livingâ€, etc. etc. – just to name only a few!!); the best traditional Metal albums were put out in the ´80s (Iron Maiden “The Number of the Bestâ€, Judas Priest “Screaming for Vengeanceâ€, Black Sabbath “Mob Rulesâ€, Saxon “Crusaderâ€, Dio “Holy Diverâ€, etc. etc.); the best Death Metal albums were unleashed in the eighties (Morbid Angel “Altars of Madnessâ€, Entombed “Left Hand Pathâ€, Pestilence “Consuming Impulseâ€, Atheist “Piece of Timeâ€, Atrocity “Hallucinationsâ€, Death “Leprosyâ€, Autopsy “Severed Survivalâ€, etc. etc. - and HELL...!!!, even some of the best Doom Metal albums saw the light of darkness at that period of Metal (Candlemass “Nightfallâ€, Cathedral “Ethereal Mirrorâ€, Winter “Into Darknessâ€, Paradise Lost “Gothic†and so on... So kind of in summa summarum, the listed genres of the 80´s Metal (= Speed,- Thrash,- Traditional,- Death – and Doom Metal) were the ones that I could consider my personal favorite genres of metal ever!!! The ´80s metal has always a privileged, a very special place in my heart, there´s just no doubts about that.LEAST FAVORITE METAL GENRE(S):In general Power Metal, Progressive Metal and Black Metal due to a number of different reasons... I simply don´t wanna waste either my or your precious time to list every reason a detailed way why I don´t dig these three particular metal genres that much as much as I dig some other genres of Metal (i.e. Speed – and Thrash Metal in comparison, for example!!). However, keep in mind that every genre has a few cool bands in my opinion - even for a ´picky bastard´ that I am, ha!FIRST METAL CD THAT I EVER GO..UGHT:First off, I wanna tell you that I didn´t have a CD player for a long time as I always wanted to enjoy my metal straight out from vinyls. Then I started to receive a few promo-CDs in my mail from some record labels one day and one of those compact discs was Morbid Angel´s “Altars of Madness†even if I cannot remember any longer whether it was the first ever CD that I got?! But it surely was one of the few metal albums I had in a CD –format back then – and the amount of my CD –collection has been increasing very drastically from those days up to this very day. After receiving a bunch of CDs in my mail in 1989, without having a CD –player back then, I was eventually forced to buy my first CD –player for myself. Anyway, I gotta tell that CDs never replaced vinyls completely for me as I never stopped buying vinyls either. Metal served through vinyls still rules though!!MY FIRST METAL CONCERT:It probably was W.A.S.P.´s 1st visit ever in Finland in 1984. I saw them in a very small town called Lauttakylä (basically located in the middle of nowhere) for the first time back in the day and it was simply a breath-taking experience for me, I can tell!! I just never forget that... NEVER!!! :o)BAND OR OTHER MUSIC EXPERIENCE:I´ve been working for Old School Metal Records for well over a year by now under title "European and North American Talent Search (Thrash and Death Metal)" and found bands like Jumalation (from Finland; old school Thrash Metal), Nerlich (from Finland; old school Death Metal) and Suicidal Angels (from Greece; old school Thrash ála Slayer, kreator and the likes) for the OSM Records´ roster. So far it´s all been a good experience for me as I love to check new, talented bands out constantly.FAVORITE BANDS/ARTISTS:Here´s a list of bunch of bands that I have given some spinning at some point in my life... So, let´s get the name dropping started... ;o)Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Dark Angel, Vio-lence, Morbid Angel, Sentenced, Exodus, Candlemass, Deceased, Tarot, Demigod, Death, Possessed, Emperor, Infernäl Mäjesty, Obliveon, Sepultura (up to "Chaos A.D." album only!), Iced Earth, Dark Funeral, Entombed, Hobbs Angel of Death, Domination Black, Suicidal Angels, Agent Steel, Necromancer, Protected Illusion, Necrophagia L.A., Sindrome, Sadus, Death Angel, Metal Church, Immolation, Order From Chaos, Wrath of Killenstein, Demolition Hammer, Pestilence, Forbidden, Hatesphere, Dimmu Borgir, Exhorder, Caligula, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Stone, Atheist, Deicide, Nuclear Assault, A.R.G., Oppression, Sadistic Intent, Saxon, Sacrifice, Savage Grace, At the Gates, The Haunted, Testament, Dismember, Heathen, Amorphis, Protector, Destruction, Kreator, Sodom, Cyclone, Oz, Chakal, Rainbow, Unanimated, Psychotic Waltz, Demonic Resurrection, Mortem, Angel Corpse, Hobbs Angel of Death, Melechesh, Necrodeath, Deströyer 666, Thy Serpent, Fatal, Vital Remains, Suffocation, Darth Vadar´s Church, Rapture, Skyclad, Sacred Crucifix, Luciferion, Sacrilege B.C., Timeghoul, Exmortis, Hellwitch, Morbid Saints, Diabolic Masquerade, King´s Evil, Exciter, Razor, Devastation, Carnage, Voivod, Bloodbath, Vader, Hazael, Violent Dirge, Chaosbreed, Moonsorrow, Sorcerer, Venom, Nasty Savage, Poison (Ger), Theory In Practice, Zyklon, Liars In Wait, Bathory, Deathchain, Dissection, Sacrilege (Eng & Swe), Grave, Murder Squad, Pandemonic, Dr. Shrinker, Overkill, Accept, Cynic, Arch Enemy, Exmortis, Blessed Death, Cathedral, Autopsy, Bruce Dickinson, Hypocrisy, Liege Lord, Abyssals, Carcass, Jumalation, Sentinel Beast, Therion, Krisiun, Satanic Slaughter, Exumer, Assassin, Invocator, Artillery, Jag Panzer, Halford, Behemoth, Infestdead, Nocturnus, Incubus, Furbowl, Xysma, Funebre, Demilich, Krux, Kalmah, Ensiferum, Erosion, Pavor, Atrocity (Ger), Machine Men, Ram-zet, Malevolent Creation, Pavor, Destructor, False Prophet/Infernal Heirarchy, Gamma Ray, Annihilator, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. ...LEAST FAVORITE BANDS/ARTISTS:All these mainstream “Nu-metal/mallcore†acts that you are unfortunately able to see almost daily in MTV where people call them generally as “metal bands†which is simply misleading and just so damn pathetic!! You surely know what bands I´m talking about here, don´t you?! Very Korny, Limbo Shit-Kid, The Dorkness, etc. etc. I just to name these in order to give you an idea...MOST OVERRATED BANDS/ARTISTS:See my previous answer... also feel free to add Finland´s H.I.M. and Sub-Urban Tribe to that same pile as well! Oh, but wait... they are NOT metal, so fuck, never mind...MOST UNDERRATED BANDS/ARTISTS:From the top of my head, bands like Agent Steel, Necromancer, Oppression, Sacred Crucifix, Sadistic Intent, Ares Kingdom, Cyclone, Demigod, Jumalation, Malicious Death, Timeghoul and Ram-zet should (have) deserve(-d) more recognition than they have/had gained for themselves thus far.FAVORITE ALBUM COVER: Judas Priest – SAD WINGS OF DESTINY10 FAVORITE METAL ALBUMS (IN AN ALPHAPHETICAL DISORDER):1. Slayer – HELL AWAITS
2. Iron Maiden – PIECE OF MIND
3. Judas Priest – SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE
4. Death – LEPROSY
5. Sacrifice – FORWARD TO TERMINATION
6. Morbid Angel – ALTARS OF MADNESS
7. Entombed – LEFT HAND PATH
8. Dissection – STORM OF THE LIGHT´S BANE
9. Sentenced – NORTH FROM HERE
10. Atheist – PIECE OF TIMECDS/LPS I HATE TO ADMIT TO BE A PART OF MY COLLECTION:I guess only some Finns are able to understand the irony of this, but it´s definitely: Pirkka-Pekka Petelius – PICCOLISSIMA SERENATA CD-single (Thanks to Ewo from King Foo Entertainment for providing me a free copy... very much appreciated! Ha!)
