This Time, It's Personal: Metal Origin Stories
Quick topic summary: This time, it's personal! Nate and Jacki discuss their metal listening origin stories. We talk about:
- Nate's secret past as a band guy (Jacki is too intimidated to attempt German words)
- The defining songs and albums that started our roads to heavy metal
- Growing up with parental music choices including Steppenwolf, Captain and Tennille, and Garth Brooks
- CD prices and music discoverability before the 2.0 internet (a dark time indeed)
- Concerts we've seen: Nate plays air guitar at Ozzy, sees Nevermore and Mayhem in college, and falls for Rain Fell Within at Metalfest, also with shout-out to Anathema. Jacki witnesses true love at a GWAR show, survives the onslaught of A Band of Orcs
- Beavis and Butt-Head, obviously
- The shift from record labels to self-producing
- What keeps us coming back
- Nate's love of black metal
- Jacki's in a thruple with power and folk metal
- How our metal listening overlaps with our reading tastes
- A digression on Béowulf and JRR Tolkien
- Nonfiction and heavy metal
- Benefits of metal fandom
You can find our Spotify profile with our Metal Origins playlist at https://open.spotify.com/user/31kosaxlm6j56e44766ijo4ndzjq?si=cdd4a1a247c646e1
Music Mentions:
- Amok by Sentenced
- In Extremo
- “Ecce Homo” by The Black League
- “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest
- “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theater
- “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath
- “Holy Diver” by Dio
- Live at the Fillmore by Testament
- The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience by Beavis and Butt-Head
- Greatest Hits by Queensrÿche
- “The Family Ghost” by King Diamond is the video referenced
- “Transcendence” by Labyrinthus Stellarum
- “Eternity” by Anathema
- “Land of Snow and Sorrow” by Wintersun
- Forgotten Tales
- “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” by Emperor
- Moonlight Sorcery (Again! We love them!)
- “Bēowulf Is Mīn Nama” and “O Fortuna” by Corvus Corax
- Kentucky by Panopticon
- “With Doom We Come” by Summoning
Upcoming Reading/Listening Releases
- The Two Testaments of Chuck Billy by Chuck Billy (11/2026)
- Born in Flames by Bench Ansfield (09/2026)
- Big Bad Book of Kaiju by Jonathan Mayberry and Henry Herz, ed (08/26)
- Ocean Above Stars Below by Triosphere (08/26)
Next Month’s Book: Bring your lyre and your hand-painted urn, because it's The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
Playlist Contents:
- Nepenthe - Sentenced
- Ecce Homo! - The Black League
- Breaking the Law - Judas Priest
- Pull Me Under - Dream Theater
- Iron Man - Black Sabbath
- Holy Diver - Dio
- The Preacher (Live) - Testament
- Bark at the Moon (Live) - Ozzy Osbourne
- Come To Butt-Head - Beavis And Butt-Head
- Someone Else? - Queensrÿche
- The Family Ghost - King Diamond
- WarChiefs of the Apocalypse - A Band of Orcs
- Transcendence - Labyrinthus Stellarum
- Eternity (Pt. 1) - Anathema
- Land of Snow and Sorrow - Wintersun
- Cold Heart - Forgotten Tales
- Béowulf Is Mín Nama - Corvus Corax
- With Doom I Come - Summoning
