AC/DC, Guns 'N Roses, Van Halen, Jesu, Type O Negative, My Chemical Romance, Kiss, Slipknot, Tool.
Scott Alisoglu: AC/DC, Guns 'N Roses, Van Halen, and Kiss are prime examples of bands that could be referred to in either way, but hard rock is probably the best description. They're all great bands (the Gary Cherone stuff in VH aside), even though I can't really get into GNR these days. Jesu could be very broadly defined as metal (maybe post-metal) in that it is based in extremity. They're certainly experimental. I'm in no way an expert on the band though and spent very little time listening to Jesu, so I'm probably not the best person to ask. I know more about Godflesh. Type O Negative is either goth rock or goth metal, perhaps dark rock or dark metal. My Chemical Romance is commercially appealing emo rock or pop-based rock, although I don't think I've spent more than a minute or two listening to them. Tool is kind of a progressive (not in the traditional sense though) metal band, a brilliant one at that, and Slipknot is certainly metal, regardless of the "nu" descriptor with which they are, often unfairly, tagged. They're absolutely an extreme music act, although I'm not a big fan and don't really listen to them much. Their first two albums are pretty good.
How and when did you first discover metal music?
Probably when I heard my older brother’s Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, and Kiss albums.
What was the first metal album you bought?
Depending on how you define “metal,” it would be Ted Nugent’s Cat Scratch Fever, AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, or Black Sabbath’s Mob Rules. Metallica’s Ride the Lightning and Judas Priest’s Screaming For Vengeance are in there someplace as well. I don’t remember the actual first purchase I made.
What was the first metal concert you attended?
Black Sabbath on the Mob Rules tour; it changed my life forever.
What’s the best metal concert you’ve attended?
Sorry, but I’ve got to cheat again and list a bunch, and I know there are others:
Corrosion of Conformity/Fu Manchu/Alabama Thunderpussy/Weedeater (In the Arms of God tour in Lawrence, KS)
Cannibal Corpse/Pissing Razors/Dark Funeral/Incantation (Gore Obsessed tour in Lawrence, KS)
Motorhead/Morbid Angel/Today is the Day/Brand New Sin (Hammered tour in Denver)
Alice Cooper/Judas Priest/Motorhead/Metal Church/Dangerous Toys (on the Painkiller/1916 tour in Detroit).
Rollins Band/Corrosion of Conformity (The End of Silence/Blind tour in Pontiac, Michigan)
Danzig/White Zombie/Kyuss (How the Gods Kill tour at Harpos in Detroit)
Iron Maiden/Accept (Powerslave tour in Detroit)
Any show at which Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Vader, or Suffocation performs.
What genres of metal are your most and least favorite?
There are many; I’m pretty wide open, but I like the brutal/extreme stuff a great deal, such as death metal, grindcore, and black metal. Thrash and classic metal (including more traditional power metal) are right up there as well. Hell, you might as well throw in sludge, doom, southern metal, and crust punk too, I’m certainly not an emo fan, nor am I a fan of the trendy/Hot Topic brand of metalcore and what some try to pass off as “hardcore” (traditional hardcore is a different story), although there are always exceptions.
Who is the most underrated metal band?
There are many underrated bands, including Eidolon and Immolation. In the latter case it’s more about people not knowing them than being underrated, although that’s changed a great deal the last few years. Weedeater is definitely underrated; those boys are just plain bad ass. People need to check out Lair of the Minotaur as well.
Who is the most overrated metal band?
Trivium
Who are some of your favorite metal bands?
This question always drives me nuts, even though I like to read others’ lists. Here again, it depends on my mood, as I like such a wide range of metal. Motorhead is probably my all-time favorite. There are so many, so I’m going to throw a crapload at you: Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Corrosion of Conformity, Slayer, Naglfar, Redemption, Weedeater, older Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Suffocation, Immolation, Origin, Summon, Skinless, Sentenced, Malevolent Creation, Brainstorm, Symphorce, Exodus, 1349, UFO, Testament, Evergrey, Necrophobic, Vader, Firewind, Lair of the Minotaur.
What is your all time favorite metal album?
Slayer’s Reign In Blood
What are 5 essential metal albums every fan should own?
You’ve got to go back to the roots:
Slayer – Reign in Blood
Black Sabbath – Paranoid (I’ll put a plug in for Master of Reality and Heaven and Hell too).
Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance (Painkiller and Hell Bent for Leather deserve mention as well).
Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (some will argue Piece of Mind and/or Powerslave, which are both perfectly acceptable).
Metallica – Kill ‘em All / Master of Puppets (tie)
What is the biggest misconception people have about metal writers?
That we’re all knuckleheads.
Anything else you’d like to mention?
Just do what you love; many say it, but few live it. Eventually we’re all rotting in the ground with worms crawling through our eye sockets.
