Metal Storm

Whiplash

-October 31st, 1986-

Live like an angel die like a devil
Got a place in hell reserved for me
Live like an angel die like a devil
Gonna burn in hell that's where I'm gonna be

Venom blasted out of the speakers as we loaded our equipment into Svenn's tiny hatchback.
Thankfully the guy who owned the club where we were booked to perform had told Eric that there was no need to bring the drumset since the band that was on before us had brought one with them and had offered to let us use it for our set.
Before the show however, my mom had asked me to stop by my house with my bandmates so that she could meet them and see who her daughter was going to spend the evening with and we were also going to pick up Astrid along the way.
The sun had almost set. Very soon, the streets of Ystad would be crawling with ghosts, witches, princesses, and other various ghouls stalking the night in search of sweet treats to fill their baskets with.
We had planned to smear some fake blood on our faces for a bit of that good old metal shock value and Eric had bought inverted cross necklaces for all of us to wear when we played.
"Man, this shit's gonna be brutal," Eric said as he loaded the last amplifier into the car, "all the posers are gonna run for the hills when they hear us play."
"Hell yeah, it is," I agreed, "they won't be coming out of their houses for weeks after this."
The others laughed as Svenn passed around some carbonated drinks.
"To our first show," Eric yelled, probably loud enough for the whole street to hear, raising his can.
We cheered and toasted before cramming ourselves into the car with Svenn in the drivers seat.
I'd never really had a friend group, never had a sense of belonging, but being in this band had changed all of that. For once, I felt like I belonged somewhere. Like I finally had found my place in this world.
Our first stop was my house.
As Svenn pulled the car into the driveway, I looked over at Eric, having no idea what my mom would think of this long haired guy clad in a leather jacket with a bullet belt around his waist.
"You ready?" Eric questioned, opening the car door.
I nodded, sliding out of the car and walking with shaky legs towards the door.
"Not exactly the best outfit for this type of thing, eh?" Eric joked.
     I chuckled remembering some of Venom's and Motley Crue's photoshoots. "Could have been worse."
     I held my breath in a little as I heard the doorknob twist.
     My mom opened the door, her eyes flitting between me and Eric.
     "Hi, Marlene. Quite a cold night today, you should probably put on a jacket and who is this lovely young man?"
     "Hey, my name is Eric. I'm the lead guitarist," my bandmate said, politely offering his hand to mom.
      She took his hand and shook it, probably trying hard not to stare at the spiked cuffs that adorned his wrists.
    "It's lovely to meet you, Eric," mom said with a warm smile, "I'll go and grab you a jacket, Marls. You guys care for a snack?"
"Thanks but nah, we got a show to play," Eric said, jerking his head at our impatient bandmates.
My mom reappeared with my jacket and handed it to me.
"Have fun, sweetie," she told me, "and stick close by your friends." She added a bit more sternly.
"I will, mom," I said, giving her a brief hug.
"Bye, Mrs. Fjörsberg!" Eric called out as we walked back towards our car.
She waved back at us.
"Jesus Christ, I thought that she was gonna throw me out right then and there," Eric muttered, getting into the passengers seat.
"She's not one of those moms," I said.
"Yeah, thank fucking god."
"Where to next?" Svenn asked.
I gave him the directions to Astrid's house.
    She was already standing outside the door and waiting when we got there.
    I opened the window and she immediately headed towards us.
    Opening the door, she slid into the seat beside me and waved shyly at my bandmates.
     "Umm...hi, I'm Astrid. Please don't eat me or something," she managed to squeak out.
     "Don't worry, we only eat babies and goats," Eric said, "so you're all good. I'm Eric by the way."
Astrid smiled meekly while the others all introduced themselves to her.
"You play any instruments?" Kristina asked her.
"I play the piano but that's pretty much it," Astrid replied looking down, embarrassed.
"Nothing to be embarrassed of. Anyone who plays a musical instrument has my respect. I love your sweater, also," Kristina reassured her with a friendly smile.
I turned away, happy that Astrid was engaging in a conversation with the same people who she had initially wrote off as Satanists.
"I think we're here," Svenn suddenly said.
Looking out the window, I saw that we had arrived in one of newer areas of Ystad. The areas that had slowly began to replace the beautiful hundred year old brick buildings and classic European architecture that made up most of my hometown.
A neon sign hung above one of the doors reading "Loki's Lair: Live Music And Entertainment!"
Several people were hanging about near the entrance, smoking cigarettes and laughing, their voices slurred.
"That's definitely the place," Eric said.
"Come on, let's get our stuff out and get set up so that we can start as early as possible," Kristina put forth.
We began unloading, heading towards the back exit as the guy had instructed Eric.
Astrid followed us uncertainly.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? This place looks seedy," she whispered to me.
Eric scowled, looking over his shoulder.
"Dude, this is a fucking metal and punk club. What did you expect? Flowers and rainbows?"
She shrugged.
     "Hey, at least it fits the holiday," I joked.
     She managed to crack a smile as we walked down the hallway and into what I assumed were the changing rooms.
     The whole place reeked of sweat and alcohol but I tried not to let it bother me.
    Taking off my jacket, I fitted on the studded cuffs that Eric had let me borrow and slipped on the silver inverted cross.
     "You look great," Astrid commented, clasping her hands together, "like a real heavy metal person."
    Studying my reflection in the cracked mirror that hung at an angle on the graffitied wall, I looked like a totally different person.
    "I guess I do," I said, hardly recognizing the blonde badass in spikes and heavy combat boots (once again, borrowed from Eric who had insisted on me wearing them).
     Loud chatter came from the change rooms as my bandmates walked out, all dressed similarly to me.
     Denim, black leather, studs, and pentagrams.
    A sight that would make every self respecting Christian mom in the neighborhood call a priest or pass out in horror.
    Astrid's eyes widened a little, widening even further when Eric took out a tube of fake blood and smeared it on his pale face, handing it to everyone else who did the same.
     When it was my turn, Astrid took the tube and studied it for a few seconds before looking up.
     "You should put it on your face in a way so that it looks like it's dripping out of your mouth like a vampire that had just drank someone's blood instead of a drunk who had just shoved his face into a chunk of rare beef."
     "Are you saying that I look like a drunk?" Ace questioned, furrowing his brows.
     "Well, yes and no."
     "Aghh stop arguing," I muttered in frustration, part of it probably coming from the fact that I was nervous as hell to be going on stage in a few minutes
     Placing the tube near my mouth, I angled it towards my lower lip, leaving the fake blood to flow down my chin.
     "Better?"
      "Metal as fuck," Eric said, giving me a fist bump, "our very own Elizabeth Bathory."
      A middle aged guy wearing glasses came through the door suddenly, making all of us jump in surprise.
     "Apologies for barging in like that but you're scheduled on in a five minutes. Hell's Gate am I correct?"
     "Yeah, yeah. We're almost done here, we should be on in time," Eric assured him, "come on fuckers, let's go."
     Walking past the man into a short hallway, we reached what I guessed must have been the backstage area.
     A few guys were slumped on chairs with beer bottles in their hands while just behind the curtains a punk-ish band in the vein of the Sex Pistols played.
     "Oh boy," Astrid said, coming up beside me to watch as the vocalist jumped about on the stage, singing an even more nasal version of "I Wanna Be Sedated."
     "I don't know about you guys but I sure do wanna be sedated after hearing that train wreck of a cover," Ace groaned, covering his ears.
     We all agreed and I think the audience did too as we heard a few boos here and there.
     Finally the band stopped playing.
     It was our turn.
     Our first real gig.
     "I'd recommend heading off to the side if you're gonna watch unless you'd enjoy getting caught in a moshpit," Eric told Astrid.
     She shuddered.
     "No thank you. The last thing I need is some broken bones."
     Turning to leave, she gave us a wave.
     "Well good luck, I'm sure you guys will kick ass."
     "For someone who isn't into the scene, she didn't seem too insufferable," Svenn said as soon as she was out of earshot.
     "I mean, there's a reason why she's one of my closest friends," I said with a shrug.
    "I think we better get on now," Ace said impatiently bouncing on the balls of his feet, "I'm itching to get to drumming the shit out of those drums."
      "Then let's fucking go!" Eric exclaimed gesturing at us to follow him as he headed towards the now empty stage. Well, empty besides a few beer bottles and a bra scattered about.
     It was a fairly large club, definitely a newer place. There was a small bar off to one side and a few arcade games.
     Posters advertising alcohol, marijuana, movies, and bands hung everywhere.
      My eyes travelling over the crowd, a crowd of mostly punks and a few metalheads mixed in, I felt a small wave of nausea hit me as my thoughts raced, questioning whether I would be able to get through this show.
     Eric must have felt the nervousness radiating off of me or something because he quickly took me aside.
     "Marlene...I know you're nervous, I am too. We all are. Fuck, even Ace is likely nervous even if he's not showing it but treat it this way; treat it as if it's just another rehearsal in the garage. Forget the audience. Block them out and imagine that this is another rehearsal," he ground out, locking eyes with me.
     "I'll try to," I managed to say, biting my lip.
      "I don't even give a shit if you fuck up. The only thing that matters is that you put all you got into this and that you came, alright?"
      "Yeah." I said, "thanks, I'll keep all of this in mind."
     "No problem," he said, "again, don't be too hard on yourself. This shit's nerve wracking but we're all in it together."
    Sucking in a breath, I nodded. My heartbeat gradually steadying.
     Slinging my guitar over my back, I followed him onto the stage and took my place on the left side of the microphone beside Kristina.
     Svenn shook his hair out of his face and quickly adjusted the stand to his height.
     "We are Hell's Gate and we're ready to take you down to the deepest pits of Hell!!" he screamed, inciting a few cheers from the audience members.
     This was our cue to start playing our first song which was Sodom's "Blasphemer."
Eric started the intro and I stepped back to play the riffs as Svenn growled the first verse.
A bunch of people cheered, recognizing the Sodom song and several guys started a small moshpit near the front of the stage.
I caught a glimpse of Astrid in her bright black and orange jack o lantern patterned sweater standing off to to the side, she flashed me the metal horns and cheered, urging me on.
Adrenaline rushing through my veins, I continued to play the rhythm section.
Blocking out the excited screams of the crowd, I quickly changed my tuning as we dove into the next song....and the next..and the next.
     For those 30 or so minutes, I completely lost track of everything. Of time. Of where I was. The only thing I was aware of was the music that made its way into my system like a drug, making my eardrums ring and my head throb.    But in the best way possible.
I could do this forever
     "Thank you all fuckers for coming," Eric shouted, stepping up to yell into the mic, "our first demo should be out within the next few months. Catch it when it's out!"
     Brushing my hair away from my sweaty forehead, I made my way with the rest of my bandmates into the backstage area, my ears still ringing from the music and the drums still sounding in my head like thunderclaps.
     "That was fucking awesome!" Ace cried out, collapsing onto one of the benches.
      "Nah, it was beyond that," Eric beamed, "I think we should all give ourselves a pat on the back. We fucking killed it."
     The cheers from the audience as well as the hungry looks in their eyes that I had glimpsed confirmed it.
     For a band with no previous experience of ever playing an actual gig, we had indeed fucking killed it and as we walked to our car, with Astrid chattering excitedly about how she couldn't believe that she had actually enjoyed a metal show, drenched in sweat from head to toe and covered in fake blood while a full moon looked down as us from the sky, I knew that this was a night that I would never forget.