I blame my dad in part - he had a big vinyl collection (including some heavy stuff eg Deep Purple, Slade, Suzi Q etc) and somehow Alice Cooper's 'Welcome to My Nightmare" became fav of mine when I was 5-6yo. He and I watched the 'Welcome' Musical Concert on TV one NYE with Alice getting his head chopped off under the guillotine, spending half the concert in a straight jacket etc. Incredible for a little kid. So then one day not long after he walked in with KISS Alive II double gatefold LP for me - said he thought I might like it?? That was the first music I ever got. Gene Simmons with blood all over him singing God of Thunder. Had an incredible impact on a little kid at primary school.
Fast forward a few years and I saw Motley Crue on the cover of Circus magazine at Doncaster newsagency and that was like a whole new world to me..all these bands blew me away visually. I had no idea what they sounded like - wasn't so easy back in the day with no internet - but I grabbed their stuff as I could. The Crue, LA Guns, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Queensryche, Lizzy Borden, Savatage and W.A.S.P. Spent most of my late high school years 'Shouting at the Devil"...and loving all things Sunset Strip. Thrash was too heavy for me early on - yet for some strange reason a couple of mates and I loved early Celtic Frost, Venom, Destruction and Mercyful Fate. I remember when a mate bought Possessed "Seven Churches" and wow that was taking heavy to a whole new level. We are in about year 8...
Hated Death & Black metal for the longest time and maybe mid 90's it was the 'Gothenburg-sound' that provided a gateway to more extreme sounds. Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, At the Gates...very early Soilwork, and Insomnium. And the mighty Carcass (sorry D'eveo but Heartwork is 10/10 in my book). Around then I also fell in love with Paradise Lost, Sentenced, Anathema etc and I guess that pushed me to explore the Gothic/Death/Doom sound that I love so much now.
Was thinking what the hell got me to open up my eyes (ears) to Black Metal and I am certain it was Naglfar's 12th Rising demo (not the album version) off a compilation cd I bought. A stunning masterpiece this song..I can get lost in its magnificence even to this day.
Funny thing is now its my dad who is borrowing my music ha ha.He's not a metal guy by any stretch but regularly spins Sabbath (he still has his original LPs), loves the Heaven & Hell album from a few years back, loves Iron Maiden & early AC/DC and for some reason he seems to be all over Within Temptation. Odd unit sometimes the old man.