My Metal Transition

I enjoy personal reflection, and I couldn't help entertaining one particular thought not too long ago: How different would my metal experience be if I had discovered it sooner--or even later?

Before I delve into this topic, let me clarify how I discovered metal in the first place. I was watching TV, there was a Metallica video, and I went on from there. It was like I was "at the right place, at the right time," so to speak; this story has been retold many times. Click here to read my account. 

I had started listening to metal during a somewhat awkward period for music discovery methods: It was way after the cherished days of tape trading yet prior to the massive amounts of bands found on the Internet--in other words, during the era of MySpace. So, metal had not reached me through the typical ways it presently reaches audiences, especially younger generations. 

I have always loved music, but, looking back, my taste was certainly limited. During my girlhood, I mainly listened to four genres: R&B, rap, pop and adult contemporary. There was no room for heavy rock and certainly not heavy metal, which saddens me to this day because, obviously, I had missed out. While I had no interest in anything other than those four genres at the time, there must have been, at least, a growing inclination to find myself liking other genres, right? 

I can, now, merely speculate the differences if I had been introduced to metal within the influx of online music, only that it probably would have resulted in me being introduced to more of a diverse range of metal sub-genres--at an earlier point of time. After all, because of the nature of how I started listening, I remained reliant on a handful of metal styles: Thrash and classic metal. And, that somewhat kept me in the same state of mind, recalling the days when I was fascinated with pop, rap, and so on. 

While I'm not sure if there is a correlation between one's subtle inclinations to like whatever music style and being "at the right place, at the right time," it's still important for me to reflect on and to track my listening experiences. That day, I just happened to be watching TV, and there was a metal video playing. If it's true that I was inclined to like the music, then I'm sure I would have eventually discovered metal in another way. I'm sure I'm not the only individual to reflect on this. So, what's your unique story of how you found your favorite music genre?