10 Bands I Wish I’d Gotten Into Earlier
1. Porcupine Tree
I'm currently Spotifying the bejesus out of Porcupine Tree's "The Incident" and endeavour to purchase this masterpiece when my bank account becomes a little greener (or slightly less red...). I've been aware of Porcupine Tree for some time, reading nothing but positive things about their live performances, but I never seemed to "get" their music. Looking for some decent music to work to, I decided to try them out again - and this time something just clicked. The reason I feel I have gotten into this band too late is that I've seen their tour dates pass me by on more than one occasion and I now regret it. Luckily they're still an active band so there's plenty of opportunity to rectify my mistake.
2. Pantera
I was relatively early with Pantera (when put into context). I bought "Cowboys From Hell" when I was about 13 or 14 - which sat awkwardly amongst my Nu Metal CDs. Unfortunately this was still after the band had ceased to be. If I'd been just a year earlier, I still wouldn't have been able to see them live (which of course would be the ideal scenario), but I'd have had a ticket to see them live - which would at least give me a little more "fan" points. Looking back at older Kerrang magazines that I subscribed to for my weekly fix of Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Linkin Park news, I discovered a small advertisement [] for an event named "Tattoo The Planet" featuring Slayer and Pantera. This was the famed Pantera tour that was cancelled due to the horrific events on the 11th September 2001 in New York which signalled the end of the band. A slightly less pathetic justification of my disappointment that I didn't properly discover Pantera earlier was the fact that the album I bought after "Cowboys" was "The Great Southern Trendkill" - which at the time was far too heavy for my tender little ears. This stunted my Pantera growth until I saw Damageplan at Download 2004 and I was helpfully pointed back in the right direction.
3. Crowbar
Crowbar are one of the bands that after hearing, quickly became one of my favourite bands. After I bought the "Equilibrium/Odd Fellows Rest" double album, I had to go out and buy the rest of the catalogue. It's looking increasingly like they'll be returning to our little island soon (they're supporting Sepultura in other European countries) - but I could have already seen them! In 2005, Crowbar supported Hatebreed on their UK tour and they toured on their own around this time too - even worse is one of my friends was dragged to one of the Crowbar gigs by her boyfriend at the time. Had I just been 2 years earlier, I'd have seen Crowbar touring their "Lifesblood For The Downtrodden" album, a personal favourite of mine. Ah well, at least they're active again!
4. Weedeater
I was actually invited to see Weedeater and declined. It was closely after a heavy weekend (possibly a Damnation Festival) and a couple of my friends were going and thought I'd enjoy it, but I was all gigged out. A few months later I checked them out and couldn't stop playing the "God Luck and Good Speed" record and instantly regretted my feeble laziness.
5. Corrosion of Conformity
A friend of mine introduced me to Corrosion of Conformity a long time ago. I paid little attention and I've lived to regret it. A decent sized group of my friends went to see C.O.C. around the same time that Crowbar toured and I blissfully ignored the occurrence. I can't remember what caused me to check them out again, but it wasn't long after the gig and they're now my 11th most played band (according to Last.fm) and my 4th most played band this year.
6. Gallows
I've missed so many opportunities to see Gallows it's ridiculous. I've been at more than one festival that they've played and I've been aware of them playing in either Leeds or Manchester on more than one occasion. Their recent Sheffield gig came at the wrong time for me (the night before a deadline) so I have yet to see them live. "Grey Britain" was introduced to me via my weekly intake of the Metal Hammer podcast, and it really is as good as host, Terry Bezer keeps saying. I'd been asked a few times before if I liked Gallows, but by people I thought had dreadful tastes in music - which always put me off checking them out. I'd heard "Belly of a Shark" and thought it was OK, but nothing that would compel me to buy an album. However after Spotifying "Grey Britain" my opinion changed drastically. I bought the record and it's now a walking/driving iPod staple.
7. Witchcraft
I've seen Witchcraft. They were excellent. The problem was that I didn't know any songs. A friend of mine encouraged me to accompany them to the gig (he needed somewhere to crash in Leeds...), so I went along and was thoroughly impressed. Cut to 2 years later - they're my 14th most listened to band and "Firewood" is one of my favourite bodies of work I own. Had I listened to recommendations earlier I'd have been so much more into the gig and it would have meant so much more! Here's hoping they return to our shores soon.
8. Gorerotted
I never used to get along with extreme metal. It was fine. We lived our separate lives, I was fine without it and it was fine without me. Whilst my friends were attending gigs by the likes of Cannibal Corpse and Gorerotted I sat at home listening to my thrash and classic rock records. It wasn't until I heard my mate Sam's band, that I got bitten by the extreme metal bug. I'm not "Mr Death Metal" by any stretch of the imagination, but if I'm ever looking for some aggressive music, nothing soothes my itch like sticking Gorerotted's "Only Tools and Corpses" on. Unfortunately, I was too late to the party to see them live. On the other hand I'm rather a fan of Gorerotted's spin off, The Rotted and have seen them on more than one occasion - so all is not lost.
9. Megadeth
They're my favourite band and I got into them 17 years into their career. If I'd been into Megadeth just a little earlier, I might have seen the Dave Mustaine, Al Pitrelli, Jimmy DeGrasso and David Ellefson lineup and performances of songs like "Return to Hangar" and "Burning Bridges". I'm not too gutted at this one though, as I've more than made up for any moments I may have missed by seeing the band 10 times thus far, meeting them 3 times and even going to the studio to hear tracks from "United Abominations" 5 months before you. Did I mention I'm a bit of a fan?
10. Type O Negative
Similar to Witchcraft, I've seen Type O Negative live. I loved them at the time, and I even paid a greedy ticket tout £50 for the privilege to get inside the Manchester Academy 2 to witness their performance. I discovered Type O when their cheap Roadrunner produced best of was released. I'd always heard good things, but not from anyone that would force me to check them out. This was one of my prouder impulse buys. So why was I too late? I saw Type O on the "Dead Again" tour when, at the time, I only owned the "Best of Type O Negative". Since attending the gig, I've purchased the entire back catalogue and "Dead Again" is my favourite. The disappointment comes when I think back, I can recall faint memories of some of the riffs from "Dead Again" being played live, but I couldn't appreciate them fully. Had I been more prepared, the gig would have been even better.