Matt Hinch

It could be said that Matt Hinch came late to the metal party. After toying around with grunge and “alternative” for the majority of his adolescence growing up in Napanee, Ontario, metal took center stage by the time he reached his 20s and continued to push out the competition every year thereafter.

Since breaking the shackles of “radio friendly” music with Metallica, Megadeth and Pantera, his preferred styles constantly evolved into deeper, darker and doomier beasts. Much of this breakthrough was aided by a stint at a record store and being exposed to the greater variety of metal at his fingertips and friends that knew what they were talking about. However, Clutch always has and always will rule the roost for Matt.

It’s those friends that led to Matt writing about metal. Their intra-office End of Year lists planted the seed that eventually grew into his blog, Kingdom of Noise which has been running since late 2008. After sticking his neck out with encouragement from some of his peers, Matt began writing for Hellbound.ca in mid 2012 and was also picked up by GhostCultMag.com for their inaugural issue this fall. About.com Heavy Metal begins a new chapter in his writing career.

Matt spent a year at Carleton University in Ottawa then transferred to the University of Guelph for second year to study Kinesiology. After some reevaluation, Matt graduated from U of G in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science.

Both my development as a metal writer and fan seemed unlikely. I grew up in a predominantly country music based household. The only respite I got was the classic rock I’d hear when I spent weekends with my dad. I first rebelled against the twang of country with rap. My first cassette tape was Run DMC’s Raising Hell.

There was a steady progression through some very questionable periods into Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, then the Pepsi Power Hour on Much Music exposed me to the wonders of Metallica, Anthrax and Pantera. I bought Far Beyond Driven from a friend before I even owned a CD player. Slayer, Sepultura and Six Feet Under came next alongside the grunge. It wasn’t until I hit my early twenties around the turn of the century that metal became my lifesblood. I finally found fellow metal lovers that turned me on to so much more than I could find on my own.

My tastes continue to evolve. There were times I couldn’t stand grind and black metal but now they are two of my favorite genres. That’s what’s so great about metal. The spectrum is so wide that as long as you allow yourself, you can flow through its varying shades and back again and it feels like a totally different experience. I still lean towards the more extreme ends but as long as it’s metal, I’ll give it a shot.

Working 50 hours a week and raising three girls (and three dogs) out in the “sticks” near Forest Mills, Ontario doesn’t leave much time for keeping up with playing bass or trying to master my extreme vocals, or even time to write for that matter but metal is a passion for me and I try my hardest to integrate it into whatever I have to do. I haven’t yet but I hope I turn at least one of my daughters into a metalhead. But as long as I can teach them about passion, I will have succeeded.