Music that shivers me timbers

[JonoBlade]

A place to post your best examples of songs that give you goosebumps, preferably with a timecode of exactly when the stars align and it sends shivers down your spine. Not just long lists of favourite songs, but ones where it repeatedly hits you in the feels.

Some examples of mine:

The monk chant bit at the end of part IV "Requiem for a Soulless Man" from Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67 × 10−8 cm−3 gm−1 sec−2 (Type O Negative)

Tides of the Mourning | Void Of Sleep (bandcamp.com)  (7.00 onwards)

▶︎ A Doomed Lover | My Dying Bride | Peaceville (bandcamp.com) (4:35 onwards unto oblivion)

The Writ (quiet bass noodly intro then slams into Ozzy's vocal)

@navybsn posted:

Raining Blood

Slowly We Rot

Holy Wars

Victim of Changes

I am the Black Wizards/Inno a Satana

Precious and Grace (ZZ Top)

Spacegrass (Clutch)

Skull Fracturing Nightmare (Demolition Hammer)

I know most of these except the last couple I'll check them out.

 

 

[FatherAlabaster]

The first one that always comes to mind is the last few lines of "Comfortably Numb". Even just reading the lyrics makes me choke up a bit. It's how I feel all the time. It's the lyrics that do it though, it's not the music by itself.

 

Swans - "Why Are We Alive", specifically the version on Various Failures, because for some stupid reason they left the best part of the song out of the album version. It starts around 3:51 but if you skip the rest of the song to get there (or if you're not me) it probably won't sound too special. And skipping to the "payoff" would make you a shitty person. Nobody wants that.

 

The part when the music kicks in more after the first verse in Rush's "Witch Hunt", around 2:17 (I bet even Goatmaster might be able to dig this song, but who knows):

 

The chord changes behind the vocal melody that first happens about 2 minutes into Blut Aus Nord's "Henosis":

 

The medieval choral piece "Mundus vergens" as sung by Lionheart (the vocal ensemble, not the band):

"Black Rose Immortal" and "Moonlapse Vertigo" by Opeth... both have some of my favorite sections, don't need to post those.

The part when Aaron says "turn loose the swans" on MDB's "Turn Loose The Swans" from the album Turn Loose The Swans:

 

The first time Glen Benton says "once upon the cross" in the Deicide song "Once Upon The Cross" from their album Once Upon The Cross (admittedly this worked better on me when I was 16 but it still rules):

 

This recording of the traditional Gower Wassail, I grew up with this on tape and I feel like a kid for a moment every time I hear it:

 

(and yeah, we do already have this thread, what thread don't we have somewhere - it's called "songs that affect you" and I think it's in this section - but a new one is fine, most everybody that posted there is long gone)

[MacabreEternal]

We could be here a while.

Akhlys - Somniloquy (from Melinoe)

The start of this track proper after the faded up intro.  Just the sense that I am being cast into the bowels of every skin-crawling nightmare ever dreamt as that ghastly howl and mining riff starts:

Altarage - Altars (from Nihil)

One of the nastiest opening riffs ever committed to tape.  Here be an absolute "fuck you" to my comfort zone and let's take a couple more steps forward to really drive that blade home.

 

Slayer - Dead Skin Mask (from Season in the Abyss)

I have never been able to cope with the kid crying on this track.  When I was a kid listening to this in my bedroom I genuinely thought it was a kid trapped in my room somewhere.  Even as a grown up I find this unsettling still.

Asphyx - Serenade in Lead (from Last One On Earth)

The bit from 01:25 into the track is just all the back of car seat fumbles, unexpected one beer left in the fridge and lost a fiver and found a tenner moments from my whole life rolled into one:

Dismember - Override of the Overture (from Like an Ever Flowing Stream)

That section at 03:20 is one of the most memorable pieces of Swedish death metal ever written.  It says "STOP WHATEVER THE FUCK IT IS THAT YOU ARE DOING AND LISTEN TO ME DICKHEAD!"

I'll be back.

[SurgicalBrute]

2 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

Dismember - Override of the Overture (from Like an Ever Flowing Stream)

That section at 03:20 is one of the most memorable pieces of Swedish death metal ever written.  It says "STOP WHATEVER THE FUCK IT IS THAT YOU ARE DOING AND LISTEN TO ME DICKHEAD!"

 

Absolutely second this...in fact this was the first song that came to mind for me.

 

A few more:

Sulphur Aeon - Incantation

The very beginning of the very first song (0:00) hits like an absolute hammer. Especially after the really great into track on this album, which actually feels like it's leading up to something rather than some tacked on afterthought. I actually recommend listening to them both together to get the full effect.

 

Bolt Thrower - At First Light

Honestly, this whole song smokes from start to finish, but at about 2:50 in...STAN-DING...AT THE EDGE!

 

King Diamond - Arrival

At the 2:52 mark, when the tempo shifts and goes into that great riff....then King comes in with his almost strained sounding vocals. This was the song that finally made me sit down and give King Diamond a chance, and it was because of that moment in particular.

 

Taake - Myr

C'mon...everyone loves the banjo song. The fact it's actually a really great set of riffs doesn't hurt either (3:20)

 

Gjenferdsel - Dodshymne

This band was kind of an early discovery for me when I was still feeling my way around in extreme metal. Overall they're pretty forgettable by pagan black metal standards, but I still find myself digging them up from time to time because of this one song, at the 4:20 mark, which starts this really great...almost triumphant sounding riff to close out the track

 

Manegarm - Vargstnen

Back when Manegarm knew how to put a song together. The 4:30 mark is when it really hits for me. It's a refrain of an earlier part of the song where it shifts from metal into folk, but this is when the song really peaks and makes you want to sing along even though you may not know the language.

 

Midnight - Shock til Blood

Short song, but the dueling guitar solo at 1:25 is why this is still my favorite Midnight song

 

Chapel - Hell Breaks Loose

The fucking intro riff...damn this song slays!

I'll be back with more later

 

EDIT: Fuck almost forgot

Slugathor -  The Smoke

Again...whole song slays from start to finish, but the 4:20 mark...where it kicks back into that riff from earlier all by itself. Then the vocalist pops in with on the second run through, then the whole band kicks back in on the third go around

[GoatmasterGeneral]

4 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

The part when the music kicks in more after the first verse in Rush's "Witch Hunt", around 2:17 (I bet even Goatmaster might be able to dig this song, but who knows 😞

I listened to the song, and as Rush songs go I guess I'd be willing to say it's one of their better ones. But you have to understand I dislike Rush on a much deeper level. First of all I hate Geddy's voice with a burning passion. I find it to be absolutely intolerable, I can't deal with any track he sings on at all, no exceptions. And the other thing is they're total nerds. I'm sure they're all nice guys and all, and I bet I'd get along just fine with them irl. But when it comes to my music, I want it to sound heavy, dark, nasty, evil, filthy and dangerous. I want it to bludgeon me and rip my face off. That's why I listen to extreme metal you see. I don't want my music presented to me by prog nerds, pencil neck geeks, socially inept D&D dorks, milquetoast muppets, furries, larpers or pocket protector sissies. There's nothing evil or filthy about Rush's music. As a band they're not badass or cool. They're not even mildly edgy. They probably wear helmets, safety harnesses and protective gear while having sex with their wives in the dark with their socks on. Alex and Geddy are super nerds and that's their choice, live and let live. But when bigtime super nerds form a rock band it just turns me right off. I'm just not ever gonna be interested in nerd rock. And that's a big part of my distaste for prog rock in general. Music is mostly about how it makes one feel, and I don't apreciate feeling those nerdly vibes.

[navybsn]

Add Rush - Witch Hunt to my list. The Necromancer, Lessons, Something for Nothing, The Pass, and several others. No surprise there from me I'm sure.

The Cure - pretty much anything from Disintegration. I've never hid my opinion that this is the standard bearer for the perfect album, but the title track if I had to pick just one track.

Opeth - lots of tracks here too and as usual I'm tracking pretty well with FA. I'd add Face of Melinda, Bleak, and Hope Leaves.

Bolt Thrower - an embarrassing omission from me there but Surge is spot on with For Victory. I'd add Granite Wall and Killchain off Those Once Loyal.

In the metal sphere, I could go on for days and still miss a ton. Even after all these years, I still get psyched up by lots of great songs. But I'll change it up for these last 2. These are the 2 I have a seriously hard time with. The others hit me because I want to headbang or they remind me of something positive or a good time in life, but not these. I usually can't make it through either.

Trampled by Turtles - Alone. Full disclosure, first time I heard this song I was laying in a hospital dying of brain cancer. I had a 34 yo wife and a 10 yo daughter who were going to have to find a way to go on without me and rebuild their lives. I've known my wife since we were 3, so while we didn't start out together in life, it was damn close. So the thought of either of us having to be alone was and still is just crushing. Can't even proof read this post without getting choked up.

Dvorak - The New World Symphony "From the new world". Can't tell you exactly what it is about this one that really gets me because it evokes such a range of emotions. I first heard this at 16 when my family was falling apart. My dad had walked out, my mom was institutionalized, and I was left to pick up the pieces and take care of my baby sister. No money, no one there for support, and no fuckin clue what I was doing. All while being a straight A student and somewhat popular junior in high school trying to hide the shit show from everyone for appearance sake. Basically the worst situation I could imagine at that time in my life. This piece of music just hit me in ways I still don't fully understand and since graduating and moving out of town 31 years ago, I don't think I've listened to it all the way through. Takes me back to that place I don't want to go back to.

 

[AlSymerz]

Less metal more hard rock but the song Needle by Aussie band The Screaming Jets gets me especially the lines "Held an old friend as he died. Oh what a wasted life." It's too close to real life.

There's also another song a mate of mine wrote about a fatal air crash that took out half the football team which sends shivers down my spine because of the personal connection.

Kiske hanging on to the end of the chorus twice toward the end of I Want Out. Ron hanging on the end of the chorus at the end of Leave Scars.

However as an entire performance The Angles Doc Neeson Live at Narara where Doc comes out for the first song in a tux as mild mannered, almost business man like person, then slowly transforms song after song as the devil behind his eyes slowly takes over and creates the madman.

 

[MacabreEternal]

Will second:

5 hours ago, navybsn said:

Opeth... Face of Melinda,

Bolt Thrower... Killchain off Those Once Loyal.

 

Some non-metal

Verdi - Prelude to Act 1 : La Traviata

Just one of the finest pieces of classical music I have ever heard.  Those lush strings that come in around the 1:20 mark just grab me by the throat every time.  Damn.

Little Richard - Send Me Some Lovin

The "glamourous" lifestyle of living in hotels hundreds of miles away from home, usually led to me looking down that long, dank corridor of depression.  Wanting to be nowhere but home with the ones you love is a fucking killer and the more positive nature to the tongue in cheek side of Little Richard used to pick me up just enough when needed.

Glaare  - Iksy (from To Deaf and Day)

Those haunting synths and those ethereal vocals that grow stronger as the track progresses are just a wonderful combination that connect so well with me.  A wonderfully restrained and balanced piece of music that makes me feel a real connection with the artists.

 

[AlSymerz]

Billie Holliday's version of Gloomy Sunday is a shivers up the spine song.

The original lyrics written in Hungarian in the early 30's were about the atrocities of war but they were changed a few years later to be about committing suicide after a relationship. It became known as the Hungarian Suicide Song and although not the first English translation Billie popularised in the 40's. There are unconfirmed rumours that over 130 people have topped themselves because of the song. The composer also killed himself several decades after releasing it and Billie's version of the song was banned by the BBC until 2002

By today's standards the lyrics aren't that bad but Billie's version, the lyrics and the story, fake or not make it interesting at the very least.

[Sheol]

Hail of Bullets - Ordered eastward

Not only is the opening riff+drum part absolutely tits and instantly memorble. Then they follow up with another excellent marching riff at 0:42. Then the bridge at 2:45 where Dan Swanö growls "We were ordered eastward", gives me chills everytime, knowing that east was almost certain death by.... frost or war. In total, just a masterpiece of a song.

 

Pink Floyd - Time

Everyone knows this song. What makes it is of course the lyrics. Incredibly poetic and poignant, and actually carries different meanings as you grow older and you move in and out of phases of your life. The Gilmour guitar solo is of course beautiful, and the delicate vocals of Richard Wright.

[navybsn]

9 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

Verdi - Prelude to Act 1 : La Traviata

Is there a specific version you recommend? There is one on Tidal from a Romanian Opera outfit, so I'll check that one out on the way home today.

Songs keep coming to mind so I'll keep adding:

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here - don't care who you are, you've lost someone in your life. I have lost several dear to me over the years. No song I can think of speaks to that feeling after losing someone special more than this one.

U2 - Running to Stand Still - so yeah U2 is a shit band these days, but their early albums were pretty solid. This song off of The Joshua Tree is my favorite. I had a girl in my life when this came out who I was mad about, had a brief fling with, and figured out she was a beautiful disaster and would never be the one. Any time I hear this it makes me think of what could have been.

Van Halen - Panama - if you hear this and don't bust out the air guitar, check your pulse.

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

10 hours ago, navybsn said:

Van Halen - Panama - if you hear this and don't bust out the air guitar, check your pulse.

I must have died some time ago and am merely a corpse going through the motions, simulating being alive.

DOA from the 2nd album might prompt me to get out the air guitar. Panama doesn't have that kind of effect on me.

 

[FatherAlabaster]

1 minute ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I must have died some time ago and am merely a corpse going through the motions, simulating being alive.

DOA from the 2nd album might prompt me to get out the air guitar. Panama doesn't have that kind of effect on me.

 

NP: Nekkrofukk - Mysterious Rituals in the Abyss of Sabbath & Eternal Celebration of the Blakk Goat, Polish filth 2021

 

Nekkrofukk - Antikkrist Venomous Uteroplacental Injekktor of Goat Semen, 2019

 

But does this Nekkrofukk stuff shiver your timbers?

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Yeah, I realized I'd put it in the wrong thread then had to edit and move it over to the what the hell are you listening to right now thread. Of course during the two whole minutes it was here shivering timbers someone would have to quote me. But to answer your question no, I can't say this would qualify as a shiver my timbers kinda band. This is more like comfort food.

[Thatguy]

There is so much music that shiver the timbers of the good ship Thatguy.

We will start with some non-metal and an obvious one first  - The Aria from Bach's Goldberg Variations - I have three versions of this and Maggie Cole's is my favourite.

The last scene from Michael Nyman's opera 'Facing Goya' - 'Forgive Me'. 

[JonoBlade]

On 9/26/2023 at 7:34 PM, FatherAlabaster said:

Swans - "Why Are We Alive", specifically the version on Various Failures, because for some stupid reason they left the best part of the song out of the album version. It starts around 3:51 but if you skip the rest of the song to get there (or if you're not me) it probably won't sound too special. And skipping to the "payoff" would make you a shitty person. Nobody wants that.

Oh yeah. Putting the time marker is mainly so one can compare if the experience can be replicated. Listening to a bit of a song out of context wouldn't work at all. In fact, since I seem so obsessed with closing tracks I wonder if you don't really need to hear the whole album for a great passage in a song to make sense.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

3 hours ago, JonoBlade said:

Oh yeah. Putting the time marker is mainly so one can compare if the experience can be replicated. Listening to a bit of a song out of context wouldn't work at all. In fact, since I seem so obsessed with closing tracks I wonder if you don't really need to hear the whole album for a great passage in a song to make sense.

I do tend to listen to whole albums 95% of the time, but I think most songs can also work as stand alone entities that can make sense on their own outside of the context as a piece or a chapter of the entire album. But just listening to a snippet of a song, "the payoff" would be stupid. Agree totally though that the closer is often the best and most important track on an album. Or it should be anyway.

I've often used a baseball analogy for album sequencing that I'm realizing you non Americans and anti-sports nerds won't understand or appreciate. But anyway... the way most bands do it the leadoff track sets the tone, gets on base. Tracks 2, 3 and 4 are the "meat" of the lineup, track 3 or 4 generally being the "cleanup" hitter. You hide your weaker infielder low average batters in the 6, 7 and 8 slots. Pitcher bats last because pitchers can't hit they only live to throw. And that's why album sequencing reminds me of baseball lineups.

But the way I'd do it, the album closer is the album's anchor. You put your biggest weightiest most epic behemoth of a track last to close the album out with a bang, give them something to remember and hopefully want to come back for more. I also appreciate when bands reserve some of the better more interesting tracks for side 2. I used to hate when bands would front load an album and stack all the best songs all right in a row on side 1. There were so many albums I desperately wanted to re-sequence back in the day.

If you have 10 tracks, 5 on each side, I would put a zippy upbeat rocker with a memorable riff first, a couple more of the better catchier songs at #2 & #3, then if you have any weaker tracks you need to hide put them either at #4 or #6. Never as a side 1 closer or the side 2 opener. Put the less obvious good songs together on side 2, tracks 8 and 9 should be good solid songs that lead you up to the big bang epic closer #10. I was always a side 2 guy. There were so many albums where my favorite song wouldn't be the obvious leadoff track, but something more quirky or different from side 2 that grew on me over repeated listens until it was my favorite.

[navybsn]

I'm more of a lead off song guy. The first song will make or break an album for me, so you better come with the heat if you want my attention. Goes for side 2 leads if we're going back to the analog era. By the closer, I'm already sold or passed. Not to say there aren't great closing songs, but I usually don't get that far if the rest of the album hasn't grabbed me first.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

4 minutes ago, navybsn said:

I'm more of a lead off song guy. The first song will make or break an album for me, so you better come with the heat if you want my attention. Goes for side 2 leads if we're going back to the analog era. By the closer, I'm already sold or passed. Not to say there aren't great closing songs, but I usually don't get that far if the rest of the album hasn't grabbed me first.

I can agree with that. An mediocre album with a great closer doesn't do anyone any good. I was thinking more in terms of what sets the albums we consider truly great apart from the rest. An epic closer is part of that for me, but you absolutely need that killer opening track to grab you first. Many of what I've come to think of as my favorite albums of all time start off with two killer tracks and then they've really got you. I just hate when the first 4 or 5 songs are all great and then the last 4 or 5 all suck. Those albums where you never used to bother to flip them over because all the good songs were on one side.

[Dead1]

On 9/28/2023 at 12:54 PM, Thatguy said:

There is so much music that shiver the timbers of the good ship Thatguy.

We will start with some non-metal and an obvious one first  - The Aria from Bach's Goldberg Variations - I have three versions of this and Maggie Cole's is my favourite.

The last scene from Michael Nyman's opera 'Facing Goya' - 'Forgive Me'. 

You'll be happy to know that some classical music that sends shivers down my spine in classical - eg O Fortuna by Carl Orff or Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries.  Some of Bach Jnr's work does it too but I can't remember the name of them  

 

But the one track that sends me into the heavens is Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone.  (Note The Good, The Bad And The Ugly is my favourite movie of all time).

 

Also not metal, but the track Heaven On Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar.  Just that build up and when the singer hits the high notes...

2 hours ago, navybsn said:

I'm more of a lead off song guy. The first song will make or break an album for me, so you better come with the heat if you want my attention. Goes for side 2 leads if we're going back to the analog era. By the closer, I'm already sold or passed. Not to say there aren't great closing songs, but I usually don't get that far if the rest of the album hasn't grabbed me first.

Oh totally agree an opening track should sucker you in.  But a good album should also not whither away.

 

If you've got to have filler, then track 4 on first side and track 6 or 7 assuming an 8 song album. 

[JonoBlade]

8 hours ago, Dead1 said:

Also not metal, but the track Heaven On Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar.  Just that build up and when the singer hits the high notes...

Oh yeah. That one does it. 

"My mind is clearer now ...."

Judas is metal as fuck.

[navybsn]

Okay, couple more non-metal.

Yes - Roundabout - I'm a bass player. Not much anymore these days but it's in my genes. I've never been shy at expressing my undying love of all things Geddy Lee, but even I think he would agree that never before or again has a bass player laid down anything that can touch Chris Squire on this track. Just absolute master class. Mastering this line is like defeating the final demon boss in the ninth ring oh hell. Not to mention that keyboard line at 5:45 affectionately known as "the moment the congregation in the black church goes wild". Just filthy. And yeah this is the version with Geddy on bass because I couldn't resist. According to the man himself, the only band he has ever waited in line for tickets to see.

Heart - Alone - is there a more perfect rock power ballad? Is there any woman or man for that matter that can hold a candle to Ann Wilson in the vocal department? The answer to both questions is no. When the chorus kicks in (both times) it's just so powerful. The expression of emotion with the clarity and power of the gods. Punches me right in the gut every time how many decades later. A bit superlative perhaps but only by a touch. And good Lord was Nancy a smoke show.

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

2 hours ago, navybsn said:

Heart - Alone - is there a more perfect rock power ballad? Is there any woman or man for that matter that can hold a candle to Ann Wilson in the vocal department? The answer to both questions is no. When the chorus kicks in (both times) it's just so powerful. The expression of emotion with the clarity and power of the gods. Punches me right in the gut every time how many decades later. A bit superlative perhaps but only by a touch. And good Lord was Nancy a smoke show.

Ann was pretty fucking hot too if you go back far enough before she let herself go. Not that it's her responsibility to stay slim and trim for my dumb ass but I'm just sayin' for me she was deffo the hotter one way back in the '70's when I was in high school. Beautiful face, amazing voice. Never really been bewitched with the blondes. 

[thrashinbiker]

Music that shivers me timbers!  What a GREAT thread. 

I apologise now, I have spent a bit of time writing this out and it may be too long for some people's tastes, but for those who like a bit of history about a stranger on the internet, I hope you enjoy it.

I'm starting off with a bit of an unusual one, here, but hear me out.  

Judy Collins - Send In The Clowns

Despite thinking of myself as a metalhead through and through, I have always appreciated dipping my toes into the waters of other genres, and musicals are no exception.  The musical this song is from is "A Little Night Music", by Stephen Sondheim.  Not a particularly famous musical, though this song undoubtedly is.  Every man, woman and their dog has covered it over the years, but no one, no one beats Judy Collins.  

The song is sung from the point of view of Desiree, an actress who had a brief affair with a lawyer (Frederik) and, after he proposes to her, she turns him down and he scuttles off to lick his wounds.  Many years later, Desiree realises that she really does want Frederik and is ready to make a commitment to him.  She rushes off to find him and declare her undying love... only to find that he has taken up with a younger lady and is committed to her.  

As Desiree is an actress, the song uses some theatrical references, but is very easy to follow.  I have honestly never heard a singer so beautifully and accurately portray irony through vocals.  The song is melancholy, full of regret, a dark, ironic humour that sometimes, when that moment comes along where you finally decide you desire something so passionately, is the very moment it becomes out of reach.

Golden moment - Desiree realises that sending in the clowns is unnecessary, she and Frederik are the clowns due to the poor decisions they made and their overwhelming regrets.  "Where are the clowns?  Send in the clowns... don't bother, they're here."

Spine tingling moment (1:22), having finally realised what she wanted after all this time, Desiree finds that Frederik has moved on with his life and has another girl.  Collins sings so beautifully and with such a resignation that despite it being largely of her own making, she is destined to end up alone.

"Just when I'd stopped opening doors,
finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours,
making my entrance again, with my usual flair,
sure of my lines... no one is there."

 

And now for something... completely expected since this is a metal forum.  

As the end of the 1980s rolled around and we hit the 90's, I was 10-11 years old and still largely finding my feet in terms of music.  As a kid in the 80s, I listened to the usual synth pop that littered the charts and would happily sing along to the classics, but I never did have that passion where I came home from school and just HAD to put on THIS album or THAT song.  Music was largely background for me in those days and while I enjoyed it, it definitely wasn't a central part of my life.

It could have been that it stayed that way the rest of my life, except a chance visit from my (now sadly passed) Uncle Jeff (the black sheep of the family LOL a mantle I have more than happily placed onto my own shoulders) around 1989-90 set me on a course that would ultimately change my life.  

To give just a little background, Jeff was much younger than my dad and my aunt, his brother and sister, as he was "unplanned".  He was around 30 at the time of this visit, and while I had seen him on the odd occasion previously, I hadn't really had much to do with him.  He certainly wasn't neglected, but given his siblings were much older than him and that my grandparents hadn't particularly wanted another child, I later came to understand that if not on a practical level, he was neglected somewhat emotionally.  An accident (not his fault) at work left him with a decent enough payoff (not life changing money, but a fair amount) so he only had to work part time doing "here and there" jobs, and he rented an old farmhouse (what he referred to as "The Hovel") out in the country and lived a largely solitary life, where he discovered metal and went to gigs and picked up the odd girl or two for company now and then.  Despite not being a working farm, he received a reduction in the already very reasonable rent for occasionally checking some of the outbuildings where some machinery and other bits and pieces were stored.  He had plenty of space for his cars and bikes and, while shabby, the house was warm and, to his credit, kept clean and mostly tidy.  He could also play his music as loudly as he wanted and there was no one within a couple of miles to hear.

Despite the age difference, Jeff was one of those guys who just radiated effortless cool.  He had long hair, a beard and wore black jeans, metal tees, lumberjack shirts and a denim jacket.  I forget the reason for his visit, given it was so long ago, but I was the only one in the house at the time and I invited him in and made him a drink.  Conversation was a bit stilted (like I said, we hadn't really spoken) and he asked me a bit about music, and I told him I didn't really have a favourite band or bands, and asked him what he liked.  He grinned and told me to hang on for a minute.  

He went out to his car (he was a keen biker and car enthusiast and he had brought his rather tasty 1981 Trans-Am Turbo).  I didn't (and still don't) know much about cars, but of course, I had seen Smokey and The Bandit, so I recognised it as being undoubtedly cool.  He brought in some tapes and told me to give them a listen on my Walkman later, but not to let my Mum and Dad see them, haha.  

The tapes?  Well, they were Slayer's Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood and Metallica's Master of Puppets.  He also brought in some magazines (Metal Hammer and Kerrang!, if memory serves) and said if I liked the music, to give them a read.  

Later on, I popped a tape into my Walkman (chosen at random, Reign in Blood) and fuck me!  I was blown away by a type of music I had never heard before.  Listening to Tom screaming through "Angel of Death" and hearing those thrashing guitars was a fucking sensory overload, but one I really, really enjoyed!  I lay on my bed and tried to focus on the lyrics as I was assaulted by fast beats, fast guitars and the snarling vocals.  In no time at all I reached the end of side 2 and couldn't believe the 28 (and a half!) minutes I had just experienced.  Despite being young at the time, I felt something with that music.  Socially awkward and pretty much an outcast at school, it felt as if I had found my music.  I don't want to peddle clichés, especially to you guys, but I was like fuck me, man, THIS is where it's at.  I'm fucking home.  

I listened to RIB twice more, stopping in between each song to ruminate on what I had just heard.  Even now, thirty-five years later, I still remember being particularly animated during:

Slayer - Altar of Sacrifice

 

Even to this day, I can't fully explain why this song stood out to me, but man, it was fucking life changing.  I can attest that growling "enter to the realm of SAAAAATAN!" at the table when out for a family meal can definitely get you some strange looks.  But hey, I was obviously non-conformist from an early age.  

I listened to all of the tapes and loved every second.  As the years passed, Jeff and I became great friends and I devoured the magazines, awestruck by those guys who had become my heroes and how they looked so cool.  I grew my hair and saved every penny I had (and what I earned through doing little jobs for neighbours) to buy more tapes (later CD's) and it was a proud fucking moment when I was round the age of 14 and went into town to the army store and bought my first pair of German para boots.  They were size 13 and despite being a tall dude (I'm 6'7" now, though I wasn't then!) and having big feet for my age, I still had to wear several pairs of boot socks to stop me tripping over them.  I did grow into them a couple of years later, however, and remain a size 13 to this day.  

I fucking loved those boots, man.  My entire wardrobe consisted of several pairs of black jeans, metal tees and those boots.  I grew closer to Jeff, and I thank him in my heart every day for introducing me to the greatest music I have ever heard.  On my fifteenth birthday, I went to stay with him, and he presented me with (nearly) every metalheads desire - the much-revered leather jacket.  It was a TT leathers cafe racer style (picture attached below for context, though my jacket was bigger as I was a big dude even then) and MAN, I wore that fucking thing to DEATH.  Summer, winter, rain, snow or shine, I had that jacket on.  Clothes do not maketh the man and they certainly don't make a metalhead, but for the first time in my life I felt I belonged... somewhere.  

During this time my catalogue of music grew considerable (again, thanks to Jeff and to reading the magazines to discover what I might like the sound of) and I considered each purchase carefully (of course, you couldn't just grab practically anything you wanted from the net in those days, so each bit of money spent had to be carefully thought out) and I made some great buys (along with some duds, as we all probably did in those days!).

During the course of that year, as I went from 15 to 16, Jeff taught me how to ride a motorbike.  On the farm, there was a massive piece of concreted land that (I think) had previously been used to park farm vehicles and lorries which took the produce from farm to supplier.  Either way, it was great to have the freedom to ride around without worry of law enforcement and just goof off.  

And so, in me, a biker was born.  That said, I have never been the type of biker to be dismissive of my four-wheel driving compadres.  Jeff still had his Trans-Am and another car, the make of which escapes me right now, and I was the only other person he allowed drive his pride and joy.  What teenager DOESN'T get a kick out of doing burnouts, handbrake (e-brake in this case) turns and reverse 180's (J turns) in a fucking Trans-Am with thrash blasting from the tape deck?  Fuck, I laid down some rubber in that old beast and despite being a biker rather than a car enthusiast, those nights of thrash and smoking tyres are some of the best of my life.  

One song I particularly liked laying down some tread to was:

Metallica - Master of Puppets

I can't explain why, it just made my right foot heavy

I spent a lot of time with Jeff in the 1990s, and was devastated when he passed away, suddenly, in 2000.  His injury from that accident apparently caused some complications that weren't fully known about at the time and he collapsed, suddenly.  Fortunately, he wouldn't have felt a thing.  

Black sheep, metalhead, largely left to his own devices by society, Jeff's time on this earth is possibly the richest of any person I have ever known.  The musical education he gave me, the endless fun times of smoking tyres, smoking metal and smoking a few joints are my absolute fondest.  Rest in fucking peace, Jeff!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading.  I enjoyed writing that and I hope it gave you a laugh or two.

Phil aka thrashinbiker \m/ fuck yeah \m/

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Altar of Sacrifice/Jesus Saves which run together on the album with no real pause in between, have always been my favorite track(s) on what I consider to be the best metal album of the 80's. And it doesn't even need a go faster button.

Sacrilege really to stop and reflect in between songs on that album which is like a metal symphony with perfect flow, and needs to be played straight through front to back without interruption. But I guess once you own the record you're free to play it any way you want.