How to get into Metal

You don't just wake up one day and start liking screamo music. It's a slow progression… at first your mom is concerned, then you start wearing all black, then maybe even a piercing or two. It's been over 15 years for me, so I feel its my duty to address the theoretical question of how I would recommend one start their metal journey today.

When you are young you generally listen to what your parents listen to. For me that was classic rock. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses, ACDC to name a few. I started playing guitar around 10, and naturally tried to learn all of my favourite songs. I even played Stairway to Heaven at my Grade 8 talent show (TJ, me, Luke, pictured).

Learning guitar at this age, it wasn't about musical theory or mastering my scales - it was the challenge of playing hard songs and impressing my friends. It was here where I started to venture slightly into Metallica, which is the gateway band to metal for many. Learning to play those songs on guitar, I found they were generally faster, more fun to play, and difficult. This sparked my path at the time down the road of metal, searching for more challenging and fun music to play.

A Proposed Listening Progression

I'm going to list 5 steps that take you from light to heavy. Included are other songs to try in the same 'level' if you found your taste.

I'll also mention that there are an insane amount of subgenres in metal. They all fall on some spectrum of heaviness, and even I avoid some of the more intense ones. What I've listed here generally falls in the Metalcore category.

The Breakdown

I would be remiss if I didn't discuss the best part of metal music, the breakdown. Breakdowns are when the speed and tone of the song change somewhat abruptly. Usually it's a focused beat across all instruments, and can be with or without vocals. Here are a few samples to give you an idea of what they are.