The Ways We USED To Find New Metal Artists

[metaltrenches]

What was your favorite way to discover new music?

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Back in my day, we used to walk 10 miles uphill both ways to the record store.

 

[metaltrenches]

Back in my day, we used to walk 10 miles uphill both ways to the record store.

XD

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

for me personally it was record stores(where i made a lot of purchases based on album covers and band names, which sometimes backfired on me ) and word of mouth from a few of my older cousins who were big metalheads. They'd also let me borrow a bunch of their tapes/cd's, and sometimes even make sure i listened to them lol

My main shop was this one spot in Hollywood called Eastside Records(which is chinese food spot now ). In the mid 90's one of buddies got a computer and was the first(and only) dude we knew who had the internet and that opened us up to a lot of other stuff to via message boards where people would trade tapes and CD's.

 

[Slayed Necros]

Browsing the second-hand sections of record shops throughout the country was the best. I miss that the most. I remember a place near Wellington called Wonderland Records that always had a wealth of out of print death metal dirt cheap, picked up some great blind buys there. Used to have a filthy little hole in my town called Missing Link with tons and tons of old thrash and heavy metal vinyl covering the walls but I was mostly too young to appreciate all the cool shit they had.

 

[CiG]

My old spots were 78 Records and Dada Records both in the city of Perth, used to hit them up every weekend while out skating. It was great fun because I was very new to metal at the time so everything was fresh and fun. My first 3 metal albums I ever purchased with my own cash were Scream Bloody Gore, Under a Funeral Moon and Eaten Back to Life, all from 78 Records.

Since then 78 Records downsized multiple times, moved multiple times and last time I went there a couple of years ago they had a totally dogshit selection and all the cool metalhead staff members had left. Dada Records still rules though, tad overpriced but a really good secondhand vinyl and CD selection. Back in the day I got secondhand copies of the two Morgoth EPs and Severed Survival, all on vinyl. Great times, and the owner is a fucking legend, looks like a very very old John Lennon but with the personality of Clint Eastwood.



There he is, probably saying something sarcastic to the dude in stripes.

There's also a halfway decent secondhand music store in a shithole suburb near me with a cool selection of stuff, called Replay Records. The owner runs a vinyl auction on the side every 12 months, mails out a huge book listing all his random rarities. Haven't bid on anything in at least 5 years but I scored a few Aussie 70's hard rock LPs from him, like Buffalo's Volcanic Rock gatefold. His son usually staffs the shop these days and he's an obvious smackhead so that's always fun, friendly but a complete tweaker.

 

[Bourbon]

I grew up in a small town in middle of no where Georgia and didn't have any music shops to go to as a kid, so my first exposure to metal was my older brother and Beavis and Butt-Head. Leaving private school and starting to attend public school also opened me up to shit I didn't even know existed. Getting the internet in '98 helped as well. I'll never forget the first time I went to Cannibal Corpse's website after being told about them by one of the first dudes I befriended in public school. He also got me into nu-metal for a couple of years though, so fuck him (and me) for that, but he was still a cool dude who opened me up to a world of good music.

First metal CD I bought with my own money was Metallica's ...And Justice for All. Second and third were Megadeth's Peace Sells and Rust in Peace, iirc. Don't have any of those CDs anymore because someone stole my CD book from my car back in '04 or '05.

 

[Allfader]

My older brother was a metalhead on very early 80's and I got my first cassettes from him (KEA, RTL, a Sabbath/Priest compilation, Piece of Mind). I still have the tapes btw.

Around the time MoP was released, I got to hear it from a friend, who made a copy for me. The rest was the usual: get stuff from the local store (the cooler the artwork/bandname/logo the better) and tape trading. I purchased my first CD's on mid 90s . They were fairly expensive back then but the sound quality was supreme.

 

[Sedition and Pockets]

for me personally it was record stores(where i made a lot of purchases based on album covers and band names, which sometimes backfired on me ) and word of mouth from a few of my older cousins who were big metalheads. They'd also let me borrow a bunch of their tapes/cd's, and sometimes even make sure i listened to them lol.

I feel this bit about spec buying on the basis of album art/names/logos/labels etc. Yeah there were some misses in there, but the thrill of discovery when you hit is pretty ace.

 

[Slammed]

In Melbourne in the 80's we had records shops scattered all around the suburbs and many of them were dedicated to not selling mainstream music. We had maybe 15 or so different record shops we could get metal in and the local scene for hard rock and heavier was thriving with different bands playing every night. But while that was all happening it was very localised. There was very few international bands touring and the scene supported itself a lot. Since then some of those bands have found some international success, but many more didn't and remain fondly in the hearts of those who got out and saw them in pubs and dingy little shit holes.

We found new music by doing record shop crawls every few weekends. By the end of the 80's and into the 90's radio shows took over as a source of finding out about new bands, but unless promos came through many of the less known o/s bands were still difficult to get and if they weren't on local release they took 6-8 weeks to get imported. By the early to mid 90's the number of shops had decreased but there was still a few really good ones pushing all forms of metal. Our radio shows were getting more promos, even interviews, but it was still very much only the mainstream metal labels with local distribution, very few import only albums/bands got good promos. Then by the time the e-com became a thing and made it easier for the average joe to import their own shit many of those shops did disappear. These days there is a few shops still in the burbs but they really are a secret that people don't seem to share like they once did.

 

[challenge_everything]

Dada Records still rules though, tad overpriced but a really good secondhand vinyl and CD selection. Back in the day I got secondhand copies of the two Morgoth EPs and Severed Survival, all on vinyl. Great times, and the owner is a fucking legend, looks like a very very old John Lennon but with the personality of Clint Eastwood.

I had no idea this place still existed! I'm gonna have to pay a visit now

The CD Library on Wellington St used to rule as well, I got into tons of great metal and punk bands by renting random stuff from there.

 

[CiG]

I had no idea this place still existed! I'm gonna have to pay a visit now

I haven't been there in awhile tbh, John is old as fuck and I was wondering recently if he's still alive. Might have to swing by soon myself and say hello. Last time I was there I bought a shitload of hip hop 12 inch singles from the discount shelf.

Dada has been around forever, my dad told me he used to go there in his 20s lmao.

 

[jimmy101]

In Melbourne in the 80's we had records shops scattered all around the suburbs and many of them were dedicated to not selling mainstream music. We had maybe 15 or so different record shops we could get metal in and the local scene for hard rock and heavier was thriving with different bands playing every night. But while that was all happening it was very localised. There was very few international bands touring and the scene supported itself a lot. Since then some of those bands have found some international success, but many more didn't and remain fondly in the hearts of those who got out and saw them in pubs and dingy little shit holes.

We found new music by doing record shop crawls every few weekends. By the end of the 80's and into the 90's radio shows took over as a source of finding out about new bands, but unless promos came through many of the less known o/s bands were still difficult to get and if they weren't on local release they took 6-8 weeks to get imported. By the early to mid 90's the number of shops had decreased but there was still a few really good ones pushing all forms of metal. Our radio shows were getting more promos, even interviews, but it was still very much only the mainstream metal labels with local distribution, very few import only albums/bands got good promos. Then by the time the e-com became a thing and made it easier for the average joe to import their own shit many of those shops did disappear. These days there is a few shops still in the burbs but they really are a secret that people don't seem to share like they once did.

Metal Mayhem & Smoke Dreams both used to be valuable anti-mainstream stores. Sadly, since they both closed down nothing really popped up to fill the void.

 

[Slammed]

78 Records

My missus took me to 78 Records before we were married, I guess around 2003, even she was disappointed when she walked in the door. There was no vibe, top 40 music was on the speakers, everything was overpriced. I think in all the trips I've done to Perth I only went to 78 Records once.

As much as it's a shitty chain store one of the best places I found in Perth for metal was JB Hifi down the road from Carousel. I haven't been there for a few years but if you dodged all the boxed crap, the car stereos and the hippy go lucky staff the metal section at the back of the shop had probably 2000 albums in it. Although that shits probably all changed now, I know the best JB store in Melb for metal throughout the 90's is now filled with man bun wearing dance music listening latte sippers.

 

[CiG]

My missus took me to 78 Records before we were married, I guess around 2003, even she was disappointed when she walked in the door. There was no vibe, top 40 music was on the speakers, everything was overpriced. I think in all the trips I've done to Perth I only went to 78 Records once.

She was disappointed in 2003? Damn high standards.

As much as it's a shitty chain store one of the best places I found in Perth for metal was JB Hifi down the road from Carousel. I haven't been there for a few years but if you dodged all the boxed crap, the car stereos and the hippy go lucky staff the metal section at the back of the shop had probably 2000 albums in it. Although that shits probably all changed now, I know the best JB store in Melb for metal throughout the 90's is now filled with man bun wearing dance music listening latte sippers.

Oh yeah that's pretty local to me, they're still decent, though the arrangement has changed a lot and the metal CDs are no longer in the same area, actually it looked like the music section in general is a lot smaller, and now it's shoved away on the opposite side of the shop, still in the back, near the TVs.

 

[Slammed]

Metal Mayhem & Smoke Dreams both used to be valuable anti-mainstream stores. Sadly, since they both closed down nothing really popped up to fill the void.

Metal For Melbourne started it all, they had a great place down in Banana Alley where the music was played loud so that it would drown out the noise of the trains above the roof. There was a drum kit in the back corner anyone could play and the place started importing shit long before it was fashionable. We spent ages in that shop, straight off the train at Flinders and down to Banana Alley. They helped kick the live scene into gear and they even had a label at one stage giving bands like Mortification a huge boost. Eventually they went through a few name changes and changed ownership and they were never the same.

We used to frequent a little shop, can't remember the name, in Dandy just down the road from JB (which at the time had a shitload of metal and played metal most of the hours they were open). That guy in that alley in Dandy helped us with all sorts of imported shit for the radio shows and it was sad to see him go.

 

[jimmy101]

Yeah those Banana Valley vaults used to have some interesting shops there, that's for sure. These days I think they just converted it into a massive gym.

 

[Slammed]

She was disappointed in 2003? Damn high standards.

She was disappointed with me before that, but she'd live in Melbourne for 8 years she knew what record shops could be like!

Oh yeah that's pretty local to me, they're still decent, though the arrangement has changed a lot and the metal CDs are no longer in the same area, actually it looked like the music section in general is a lot smaller, and now it's shoved away on the opposite side of the shop, still in the back, near the TVs.

Seems like all JB's are going that way. Music sales are dropping but the sales of boxed shit is growing and it's not like that shit takes any skill to sell so any numpty can get a job there.

 

[Slammed]

Yeah those Banana Valley vaults used to have some interesting shops there, that's for sure. These days I think they just converted it into a massive gym.

Yeah I think it was a gym last time I was there. Missing Link I believe closed down and became an internet business. Back in the 90's even the Virgin Megastore was good for metal, although not as good as MFM. We met Mustaine and Ellefson at an instore in the Virgin Megastore when they toured RIP

 

[jimmy101]

That's amazing! And yes, I forgot about missing link. I have a feeling store like that might have died out due to the fact you can buy pretty much anything online these days.