Metal Storm

Heavy Metal Maniac

-Sunday, August 27th, 1986-
Sunday.
The day of my first rehearsal with Hell's Gate.
Almost all morning I had been in my room, practising, trying to get the songs right.
Noting which bands Kristina had mentioned as their main influences, I stuck to playing songs by them...listening to their albums in between playing sessions and forming the notes in my head as I intently listened to the music.
Right now, I was trying to figure out the notes and chords for "The Exorcist" by Possessed.
A fairly new band which had only released their debut album two years ago, Possessed were already pioneering a new style of metal. More intense and darker than anything I had ever heard before, I'd picked up the album at a record store last year and had been amazed at the sheer brutality of the guitars and the hellish lyrics paired with the half growled and half screamed vocals of Jeff Becerra.
Playing the riffs, I was transported into the fiery realms of Hell, crawling with demonic entities and countless souls, all damned to an eternity of damnatio-
"Hey, can you be quieter in there!? I'm trying to read here!"
I groaned, turning down my amplifier and picked up an Iron Maiden album to jam to instead. Something that was just quiet enough to hopefully not further interrupt my neighbour's reading session.
Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to even begin explaining my love for metal but there was something about the aggression, the energy, I loved that. And sometimes the ballads. The incredible atmospheres and emotion that a few simple chord could create. It was beautiful in a way that a music genre could have both songs about pissing on the throne of God and songs that you could bawl your eyes to.
Black Sabbath were the first metal band that I had really loved and after hearing Tony Iommi play that distorted intro for "War Pigs", I was determined to become a guitar player. To learn all the songs that I loved on guitar.
The feeling that came with learning your favourite song on guitar and being able to play along with the record was incomparable to anything for me.
    "War Pigs" was the first song I had learned and I still remember the joy that I'd felt when I'd played along with the song on my record player without messing up or skipping a note.
    Checking the time, I saw that there was only 15 minutes left until noon.
    I wanted to practice some more and get that Possessed song down to a T but I also didn't want to be late for the rehearsal.
    Pulling on a dark grey sweater and my most faded pair of mom jeans, I grabbed my guitar and made my way downstairs.
    Opening the fridge, I quickly grabbed the sandwich that I had made for myself earlier and headed outside.
    The sun was shining up in the sky on this Sunday afternoon, her yellow rays turning the grassy lawns an emerald green and making the colourful little houses that lined my street look like a picture from one of Grimm's fairy tale stories.
Biting into the cold sandwich, I walked along the sidewalk, greeting my neighbours and petting every purring cat that happened to cross my path.
I felt as if nothing and no one could ever stop me.
    Soon the faded, red cottage came into view. Judging by the lack of loud guitars and drumming, the rehearsal hadn't started yet.
   Taking a deep breath and composing myself, I knocked on the door.
    This time it was Ace who opened it.
    "You're just in time," he said, opening the door further and inviting me in with a wave of his muscular arm.
   "I planned to come a bit earlier..." I began
    "Nah, don't worry. You're all good," he assured me as I stepped in, "we're still getting tuned up."
    Weaving around the fresh piles of sweaty clothes and shoes, I followed him down to the garage.
    Kristina smiled and waved at me, probably grateful that she was no longer the only girl in the band.
    Svenn was playing around with his microphone and Eric, dressed in tight black jeans and a Venom "Welcome To Hell" shirt despite it being rather chilly inside, was busy tuning his Flying V.
    "Marlene's here!" Ace announced before plunking in behind his drumset where only the top of his head could be seen.
    "Ah, sweet. I'm almost done tuning here," Eric said, "Marlene, why don't you go and get tuned so we can get ready to rock this shit."
    I took out my guitar, careful not to accidentally bump it on the hard, cement floor and quickly checked to make sure that none of my strings were too out of tune.
    I gave Eric a thumbs up and plugged in my guitar. He quickly went over and set up the tone for me.
    "We're gonna go over a few Celtic Frost songs first so the tone's gotta be on the lower side here," he told me, stepping back to his spot on the other side of the microphone.
    I breathed a sigh of relief, I was very familiar with Celtic Frost's ominous yet heavy style of thrash metal.
    "Okay, I think I'm ready," Kristina said, making her way over to stand beside me.
    "So am I," I added.
    "We can start with a slower one like Procreation Of The Wicked so Marlene has a better chance of keeping up and not messing up any notes," Ace suggested.
    "Yeah, that'll work," Eric grumbled, "we can pick the pace up as soon she's able to play along with us. Start the intro, man."
    Treat this just like when you play along with the records, it's not too different. The only difference is that you're playing along with a live band.... I told myself.
    Ace counted down to 3 and Eric began playing the slow and ominous main riff.
   I joined in, nearly missing the first note but composing myself and once again reminding myself that this is just another album jam along that I had done hundreds and hundreds of times in my room before.
    Kristina joined in on bass, her thin fingers forming the groovy bassline that had quickly made the song a favourite among fans of the band.
   Svenn began singing the first verse. He was actually quite a good vocalist. His voice was strong and had a rough sort of edge to it, the kind that was perfect for a metal vocalist. I honestly thought it was kind of funny that the seemingly most quiet member of the band was the singer. He held no sign of his previous shyness now however, occasionally stepping back and headbanging to the groovy rhythm of the song between verses.
Eric tossed his hair back, playing the lead section with me keeping (or struggling to keep) the rhythm.
Once or twice, I almost missed a note but telling myself repeatedly in my head that this was just another room practise section helped keep me composed and got me through the entire song.
Ace added in a short drum solo near the end before getting up and giving me a fist bump.
"Woo-hoo, that was great! I think the Celtic Frost guys would be pretty proud if they saw you play today."
    I nearly fell over at the compliment. Hell, I'd surprised even myself. To hear these people who had probably been doing this for longer  than I had compliment my playing was something completely new to me 
"Marlene, dude you fucking killed it. Up to playing something heavier and faster...?" Eric asked me, a broad grin spreading across his face.
    I blushed and looked away.
   As much as I wanted to play a more fast paced song, I was worried that I would mess up and completely embarrass myself.
    "Aw come on, we can give it a try and if you can't keep up, we'll just stick to playing slower songs for now," he urged, "I mean, all the best bands have a mixture of both heavy and slow music. Just try to pretend that you're playing along to a record player again. That's what I did when I first began playing in bands."
    His words spurred me on a little, boosting some of my confidence. It was surprise to hear them coming from him too, maybe his bossy attitude wasn't the only reason he seemed to be the leader here after all.
    Raising my head to look into his dark blue eyes, I nodded.
    "Okay. Just not Kreator's Pleasure To Kill please ."
   "As you say m'lady," he said taking an awkward bow and making Kristina and Svenn double over in laughter, "we can do the title track of Morbid Tales for now. It's a fairly straight forward song."
    I told him that I'd give it a shot.
    Once again, he started off the intro, this time with Kristina coming in second with the bass riff and me coming in when the macabre song about the Egyptian underworld switched to a faster tempo.
    Somehow, I was able to keep up with Ace's steady drumbeat and when Eric dove into the solo, his raven hair falling into his face as he headbanged, I focused on playing the riffs, my hand moving back and forth along the frets and my head bobbing slighting along to the heavy music that throbbed out of the amplifiers.
    We played a few more mid tempo Celtic Frost songs and threw in Metallica's No Remorse in the end.
     Ace threw his drumsticks up at the low ceiling and fell back in his seat, signalling the end of our rehearsal.
    I wiped my hand across my forehead, the ends of my fingers sore and my hands sweaty.
My watch read 3:05pm.
    We'd rehearsed for nearly two hours.
    Kristina patted my back with an encouraging smile, "you did fricking well for your first time. You'll only get better and better from then on."
    "Thanks," I said. Lost for words.
     The music still pounded in my ears and I could still feel the pounding drums, the steady rumble of the bass, the heavy groove of mine and Eric's guitars. For the past two hours, I had lost myself in the music...losing track of reality and time. It was almost an intoxicating feeling, really.
     "Well guys, I think I better head on home. My mother's gonna give me shit again if I come home later than when I told her," Kristina muttered, all her previous enthusiasm gone as quickly as it had come, "she already hates that I come here in the first place."
     "I'll get going too," I said. "I promised my parents that I'd be home in time for lunch."
     "Is she still threatening to pull you out again?" Eric asked Kristina.
     The brunette sighed. "No, but I don't want to risk setting her off again. She's been through more than enough."
     "You know, if that happens, you can come and crash here," Svenn said, going over to join his friends where they stood in a small circle.
     "I've considered it but I don't wanna leave her...she's kind of a bitch sometimes but shes been through so much," Kristina choked. To my shock I saw that the girl who had seemed so rough and tough before was now crying, tears rolling down her pale cheeks.
     Ace embraced her in a hug while she cried, her body trembling against his.
     I desperately wanted to say something, anything to comfort her. I hardly knew anything about her but she just looked so broken, so sad.
    But all I could do was stand there and watch. Whatever had happened, it was clear that she had been through hell and back.
    Choking out a final sob, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
     "Bye guys, I'll see y'all next week hopefully," she managed to say with a small smile.
     "Take care, Kristina," Eric said, pulling her into a short hug, "we're all here for you no matter what. You're strong and I'm sure that your dad is proud of you."
     "Thank you, Eric," Kristina whispered, tears glistening in her pale blue eyes, "I should get going now."
     I stood with my guitar still hanging around my neck in silence, not wanting to interrupt the moment that the two bandmates had just shared.
      Pulling away from him, she waved one final time at her bandmates before walking out.
     "You should go with her," Ace said, "I'm pretty sure that she lives not too far from you. Make sure that everything's fine back there."
"I'll do that, yeah," I said, "bye you all."
The three remaining guys waved back.
"Remember, the next rehearsal is on Tuesday after school!" Eric called out before going back inside the house and leaving me alone on the lawn
Looking towards the street, I saw that Kristina had vanished like a ghost.
      Trudging home, I realized how lucky I was to have joined such a supportive group of friends who genuinely seemed to care for each other.
     Although I had only known them for two days, I was determined to prove to them that I belonged in their band.