MY PERSONAL POGROM: MIKE GITTER ON HIS DESCENT INTO THE WORLD OF METAL
Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Mike Gitter
So what was your entre into the world where denim, leather n’ demonology reign supreme? Where you adore the goat and sway to the symphony of deee-struction? Every man (or woman) has a tale to tell. Here’s mine. You’re gonna hear a lot of names you might be unfamiliar with, especially if you’re a member of Attack Attack! (Or just plain anyone under 23!) You’re gonna be thinking, “Damn, this fucker is old!” Yeah, well just remember that I’ve seen seen stuff that would make you shit Perrier with jealousy. I’m definitely old enough to have seen Minor Threat, Cliff Burton-era Metallica… the list goes on… before most of you were a tadpole in yer pappy’s population paste.
Let’s start at Discharge. I could go back and trace the whole history of early 80’s hardcore for you, but neither of us have the time or attention span. Let’s just say, the minute I heard these Stroke-on-Trent monsters of the nuclear reactor riff on the monstrous Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing album, I nearly pissed my pants. It was the gateway to something far heavier than I had ever heard on a scratchy 7” from the new record store that had opened in Boston called Newbury Comics.
Now I forget if the song “State Violence State Control” was on the vinyl version of the record or if I simply had the single version, but regardless, there was nothing accommodating about the way guitarist Bones riffed like no one else I had heard up to that point or vocalist Cal howled with an urgency about what was really happening over in Jolly old England. It made the politics of the Clash records I had already heard seem positively cheery by comparison. Let’s put it this way: there was not one single trace of color to be found on any of Discharge’s record sleeves. That fit the music perfectly.
My first immersion in the works of Discharge – most of whose records were recorded by a young metal uber-producer-to-be Colin Richardson – was that brilliant moment where music takes you beyond your surroundings. Sure, they would later slow down and adopt more of a trad-metal style on some later singles and the fairly awful Grave New World album, but discovering Discharge whilst in high school was a revelation. An inspiration. Those early records still sound as fresh today, and I will go down as stating that the early single “Fight Back” is hardcore’s finest 1:21 bar none.
Yes, the more in-the-know types out there will understand exactly what I’m talking about; Discharge have spawned a near-genre of bands whose name includes the “Dis” prefix. They also spawned what folks like to refer to as the “D-Beat”, a rat-a-tat at full-tilt. Tomas Lindberg’s (At The Gates, everybody else) Disfear is the best of the bunch. You’d be a damn fool to let your life go on without their Live The Storm LP.
I would be remiss to not mention GBH (Grevious Bodily Harm for the unaware). Fellow earslaughterers with Discharge on the mighty Clay label. A little more punk in the traditional sense (never stopped Burton or Hetfield from donning the shirts), GBH had near the same guitar whallop with vocalist Colin – oft referred to as the Billy Idol of Brit-punk’s second wave – shouting about necrophilia, rats eating unsuspecting children, and sundry unpleasantries from Thatcher-era Grey Britain.
Now, this was just a view from the opposite side of the fence. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was already in full swing by the time I was getting blasted by these apocalyptic visions. I had heard a thing or two about Maiden and Def Leppard, but the real bands that were being mentioned in fanzines (the equivalent of today’s websites, blogs, what have you…) like Tesco Vee’s Touch & Go (soon to be re-issued in its entirety by Bazillion Points) and Boston’s Forced Exposure.
Motorhead came first. A copy of Iron Fist purchased at the Salem Record Exchange sold me forever. I had read about Lemmy’s merry bunch as “the band that would kill your lawn… and your pets” with sheer volume, should they move down the street. First off, the cover was bitchin’… like one of those liquor ads you’d see in Heavy Metal magazine. An iron fist. The title track was just as heavy as anything punk and hardcore had to offer. The power. The glory. The warts.
What came next I wasn’t prepared for. VENOM. Can I say it again? Fucking VENOM! My bud Al Quint (of Suburban Voice zine). First off, the mighty “Die Hard” single was like nothing else I had heard circa 1984. “Satan, father, help me from this grave Demons, warriors, forever be my slaves!” intoned one Cronos. Not only were these guys (Cronos, Mantas and Abbadon) the real fucking deal, hard-living, Satan-worshipping badasses than definitely got the nastiest poontang out there, but when Venom got down to business, they were just better than any hardcore band out there. Noisier, heavier and more shrouded in mystique than any band I ever heard.
Shit, you could tell who they were by just a look at the smiling ibex on the cover of Venom’s first two albums: Welcome To Hell and the genre-defining Black Metal.
You got the feeling that when Venom threw down live, it wasn’t a mere gig – they did call a British tour they did once the “Seven Dates In Hell,” after all. It was an invocation. Led Zeppelin, Negative Approach and Alice Cooper couldn’t hold a candle to this…
The gates had just opened. I gladly stepped into metal’s mighty maw.
-MG
Most recently Sr. Director of A&R at Roadrunner Records, Mike Gitter has signed and worked with bands including Opeth, Megadeth, Killswitch Engage and Bad Religion.
Another old man metal rant
Not to be a supernerd, but I’ve heard the argument that Diamond Head actually “spawned” the D-beat with “Helpless”.
…..Teacher caught me masturbating underneath the desk
I’m 16 and I’ve heard of all those bands.
Do I get a prize?
a life.
no
Wow that’s a lot of words.
Didn’t bother to read the article. I just wanted to say, that photo is awesome.
agreed
I was jamming Vulgar Display of Power when I was six. :)
In high school I was big into Zeppelin, Yes, and King Crimson. I rediscovered Pantera (which Mom shut down as soon as she discovered I was listening to it) and then went on a search to see if I could find a band that was progressive like Yes but heavy and more modernly relevant like Pantera. I discovered Opeth, and it was all over.
Three songs got me into metal. One by Metallica, Anti-social by Anthrax and the kicker, 5 Minutes Alone by Pantera. It wasn’t til I discovered Sepultura that I abandoned everything non-metal (ish).
To this day, fave 3 bands Clutch, Pantera, Sepultura. (’93-’95 was huge for me)
Its “STOKE on Trent” not stRoke :)
I was just gonna say that, what a fucking moron
I’m hiring you as a proof reader.
I’ve mentioned it before on here, but my true introduction to metal was a bit odd… I was raised in a pretty religious home, and so in my younger years I wasn’t really allowed to listen to anything other than Christian music. I started with wussy, standard Christian rock, but wanted something more. I then discovered Circle Of Dust, Argyle Park, and Chatterbox (all projects involving Klayton, the man behind Celldweller these days), which are all industrial but were unlike anything I had ever heard. I also discovered Mortification, and my love of metal started there.
Eventually, once I hit high school, my buddy Ray and I went to a local Meijer (similar to Wal-Mart) and bought Metallica’s black album and Master of Puppets on cassette, and pretty much wore them out. I remember my mom’s reaction when she found out I was listening to Metallica… she wasn’t happy. Of course, by then, it was too late. She eventually learned to deal with it.
Still, I go back and listen to Circle Of Dust and Argyle Park all the time… incredible stuff.
I really didn’t start listening to metal until I was about 16. Growing up in small towns in the midwest, I rarely listened to music, much less rock, and most definitely not metal. Once we moved to a city with a decent hard rock radio station, I really started getting into music.
I basically listened to anything they played on the radio, and it’s probably the least kvlt thing to say, but I only got into metal once my dad got satellite radio. Not that I wanna give any of the over-inflated egos over at Sirius any props for anything, but I wouldn’t have even known about this site if it hadn’t been for Sirius 27 Hard Attack.
Once I hit 18, I just started looking for as much stuff that I liked as possible over the internet. There aren’t very many local bands, of any kind, that I could get behind, and living in SD means that 9 out of 10 metal shows won’t even come to surrounding states. I could drive to Minneapolis every time I wanted to see a decent metal show, but fucking hell. Is it that big of a drag to come through the Dakotas?
I wish I had a cooler story, but that is about the lamest story imaginable besides “i herd it on myspace lol”
Damn, to have grown up when you did!
Newbury Comics!!! That was the store of my youth; so many metal cds bought there, so many lazy afternoons blasting a boombox on the crackslab of Newbury street…
I was a script-kiddie and first heard metal when booting up a program called Havok. The splash screen played the intro to Holy Wars, and that was it for me, I was hooked. Perhaps that’s even lamer than hearing bands on myspace, but fuck it it worked for me. And yet another metal nerd was born.
Since I am just a whippersnapper at 19 compared to you guys, my stories a bit newer. I, like nearly 100% of my metal listening generation, was introduced to metal by Nu-Metal. Granted, I didn’t listen to Korn or Limp Bizkit (Even I knew they sucked back then) but Linkin Park was HUGE for me, as was early Lostprophets. But the kicker was of course, Mudvanye. I soon grew to dislike them and eventually became a big big metalcore fan (still am one now). Of course I now have expanded my musical tastes even more, back towards the gothenburg style of metals, OLD In Flames, At The Gates, and OLD Dark Tranquility. Hell, in the last few weeks, I’ve even grown to like Mastodon. Well, would you look at that.
I think my official intro was Sepultura’s ‘Schizophrenia’ and maybe Morbid Angel’s ‘Altars Of Madness’. Good stuff. In terms of hardcore punk, it was definitely Minor Threat and Black Fucking Flag.
My story (short version) goes something like this:
Twisted Sister- abandoned for: Iron Maiden, followed by “the big 4″-era trash, of which 2 1/2 are still on my stereos; that, in success, drove me to search for even darker, faster stuff.. enter death metal, Sunlight & Morrissound time, during which i also discovered a bunch of Brazilian guys who had released an LP called Morbid Visions. The craving for even more kept growing though, and i veered into Mayhem’s Deathcrush and Impaled Nazarene’s Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz.. the most evil stuff i had ever heard.
And so it goes on. The interest in discovering bands is still very much alive.
Nowadays there is only one term that spans my musical taste, and its ‘Metal’. It shaped my life.
Power, Black, Death, Speed, Trash, Hardcore, Punk, Melodeath, Doom, Stoner, NWOBHM, .. name it.
For the record, i hated nu-metal then, i hate nu-metal now, and i will always and forever hate nu-metal.
Nu-metal is the appendix of metal, it’s useless and will at some point inflame and have to be surgically removed before it causes more harm.
i got discharge’s hear nothing see nothing say nothing last year. man what a fuck you tour de force of riffs and sheer energy. Yea the songs may be similar but damn are they awesome. Meanwhile is a jam of mine of late. Big fan of early hardcore like Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Minor Threat, and MDC to name a few. (Btw Plastic Surgery Disasters is underrated as hell).
Love Venom and the darkness it provides but the extreme taste in metal was really provided to me via Slayer’s Reign In Blood before that i hated the really extreme wouldn’t even fathom death metal (as a matter of fact i made fun of it quite a bit). Scream Bloody Gore changed that and put me in my place. But at 22 i guess i missed quite a bit of glory but i’m here for the ride now as long as it may be. \m/ throw em up as Chuck Billy of Testament says i dunno about 40 times a show (i love him too no hate but seriously i saw them open the Metal Masters Tour they played a 30 min show and i heard it at least 10 times).
But before all of that when i was a wee child i listened to Pantera and Metallica in my brother’s room. When i was 19 i got Blood Mountain by Mastodon and it started me back to metal since then the phases i’ve got through were NWOBHM, big 4 thrash in this order Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, then Megadeth. Then death metal with Death, Morbid Angel, Carcass, among others (btw Pestilence’s Consuming Impulse is a fuckin beast, buy it. Also Martin van Drunen is a beast on the new Asphyx). Since then i got into prog metal (Queensryche, Mastodon, Opeth, to start), early grind (Napalm Death, Cryptic Slaughter, Carcass) and black metal i like grind a bit better but currentlly Emperor is kicking my ass.
Well that is the long and short of it
I blame my parents for me getting into metal. I grew up listening to Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Eventually, I got older and wanted heavier music, so I started raiding my dad’s old records and got into Thrash metal. Which I still love dearly, buuut once again I wanted to hear something even heavier. So I started listening to Death Metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Death, Carcass, Behemoth and Deicide. And that about leads to now. I’m still going strong, constantly expanding my views on metal and music in general.
It’s actually kind of nice having metalhead parents, I get to go to some pretty good shows with them, and get pretty awesome birthday gifts. :)
So, Mr. Gitter – I have to ask since you brought it up: Do you like Attack Attack?
I think I’ve heard half a song and that was enough.
Mr. Gitter –
I totally agree – I heard perhaps 30 seconds of Stick Stickley and was completely hooked. For a band that utilizes auto-tune and the like, I must say their composition skills and musicianship are unmatched in this New Wave of American Metal. You should check out I See Stars as well; I think you’d enjoy them too. Stay well!
Back when I was a full-time metalhead, Mike Gitter’s articles and reviews in RIP magazine really stood out, and made me check out truly great and original metal and not-quite-metal bands, like Voivod, Die Kreuzen, Einstürzende Neubauten, and others, ultimately providing a gateway into even deeper musical weirdness. So, sincerely, many many thanks for that, Mr. Gitter!
fuck I guess that means I am old.
First metal band I remember rocking out to at a very young age: Judas Priest. There was hard rock all around me too, but Priest was as metal as it got in my little world. Then I got older, dove head-first into the old school Metallica. Pantera was another HUGE band in my world. Then there was Slayer soon after. I will never forget having my 70 year old grandfather buy me “Reign in Blood.” I wish everyone could have seen the cashier’s face when he brought that up to the counter. Haha! Then, it just kind of went from there and I never looked back and only dug deeper.