MISHA'S MUSINGS: The wonderful, aggressive world of Metal

It's time to talk about my love for the grand world of metal Music - yes, the same music that has been derided by social conservatives over the years for such brilliant claims of Satanism when it came to Iron Maiden's 1982 album The Number of the Beast as well as outright criticized by many for being mere "noise" - which I have subsequently responded to by pressing the imaginary IGNORE button in my head. I could not care less. 

But how did the world get the musical genre of Metal, anyway? Many things that have influenced Metal, such as Memphis Blues Rock, and in some cases, some proto-Metal music, such as the 1967 song Helter Skelter by The Beatles (yes, those guys). But unanimously, metal is said to have begun with the 1970 album Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath - which is one of my personal favourite albums of all time. The introductory song, also called Black Sabbath, is a song about a man freaking out over a mysterious figure in black pointing at him - based on Geezer Butler, the bassist's experiences. Further unfortunate events, such as a horrible freak industrial accident that Tony Iommi suffered which led to the tips of his middle and ring fingers being cut off (and Iommi persevering afterwards by adopting a new way of playing to cope) led to the introduction of this new, distorted sound onto the music scene.

Since then, many bands have risen to prominence such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, and countless others - each of which owed a debt to Black Sabbath and its sound. Several of these bands have gone on to produce some of the finest music I have ever listened to.

Breaking the Law by Judas Priest is a classic of music as a whole. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica is famous musically for the late Cliff Burton's iconic bass riff at the beginning, but is also almost a documentary about the Spanish Civil War, as it was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's 1940 novel of the same name.

Canada has its own great metal bands: Ontario gave the world thrash-metal legends Razor and Annihilator, while B.C. - specifically the unique mind of Devin Townsend, gave the world Strapping Young Lad, my personal favourite Canadian metal band - as well as his many fantastic solo works. 

Besides Strapping, I personally have been reappraising metal, by listening to the discography of several metal bands, such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest to and from work. I plan to broaden my horizons and listen to all sorts of Metal genres (yes, there are more than one), from Black Metal to Power Metal and even Doom Metal. Mainly so that I don't end up pigeon holing myself into just one. 

If you want to get into metal, I strongly suggest you listen to Metallica or Black Sabbath first, especially the albums Master of Puppets or Paranoid. You will thank me later.