I would advise the people who wish to read this post, to at least watch and listen to the video/song before, during or after reading the post, as you please!

This post for today is the last for the month and possibly not till 15 more days. The post is about the event that could have possibly changed my life. The way it is heading, I believe my life must have been changed for the better. As I type this today, with aching ribs and hamstring muscles [From just a meager 600 meter race] I cannot help but point out this most significant step in my life. This year brings in the 6th year of my illicit love affair which began somewhere dated in mid-September 2006. Today I share my love about Heavy Metal to you.

Being in the commercial music selling hub of India, I couldn’t help but be one of those fans who would listen to semi-romantic songs. It was the era, the outbreak of singers with deep voices unlike the melody of the 70s, or the sleaze-dance numbers from the 90s. It was the era of singers like Himesh Reshammiya and Atif Aslam, and I was swept under them, collecting mp3 CDs every month with 40 Bollywood movies in it and which also included remixed versions of those songs. During a particular period, I got tired of it all. Within a flash of a moment, my entire life scenario was about to change.

As some of you might have read attentively, one particular line would be common in my posts, which reads “When my life was heading downhill”. On the very earliest of my “downhill” leading life scenario, I faced myself down to the threshold of reality. I began to realize that I wasn’t as amazing as I thought I was [My Reality-Check]. I realized of myself being an outcast and felt left out. I became a pity monger and felt pathetic. I called this stage as “My Metamorphosis”. It was a time when Metal was recognized as Noise and Loud Music with talentless people slogging around a stage with crazy people jumping and bopping their heads like hypnotized drones. So, when Linkin Park created a cloud of its own “awesomeness” over India, I was swept in by it as well. Somehow, my PC got a viral problem and I was forced to search a platform elsewhere to distract myself from the “downhill slope”. Without internet and any music file through the formatting, my PC felt like a bald man weeping for his hairy days; like a desert looking for someone to tell folklores of how it once was the bed of an endless ocean.

I did manage to find my solace. Hiding in the corner of a cyber cafe while bunking my classes, I began embracing the one thing I would cautiously listen to simply because it sounded a tad “different”. In the days when I didn’t know the ABCs of torrents or file-sharing websites, I could work with only some free mp3 sites which my friend suggested of which I managed to download one song [Rammstein’s Du Hast] and would listen to it for 4 straight hours at max volume. This way, I managed to open the floodgates to my likeness for Heavy Metal. On a certain afternoon of 30th of September, I remember talking to my friend after my Economics paper about my enthusiasm to witness Iron Maiden’s Death On The Road Concert which was to be aired on Zee Cafe. That afternoon cited the most remarkable 2 hours which would begin the momentous love affair that I so boast about.

This song uploaded through the YouTube link, is the definitive moment of the afternoon. It was the moment where I maxed out the volume of my television and headbanged like a fool. It showed me the essential value of Heavy Metal. It portrayed a picture to myself wherein I could finally answer the question “What is to love in Heavy Metal?” or “How can you listen to this?” As I got a greater understanding of the genres of Heavy Metal and the importance of the bands, I couldn’t help but relate all of that knowledge to this particular song. It was like Prince Siddhartha’s enlightenment for Buddhism under the Bodhi tree; like Archimedes’ Eureka moment [Without the naked run through the streets].

The song in question here is an 8 and a half minute epic ballad which showcases the “often-looked-down-upon” stereotype as well as the “never-looked-out-for” Magic of Heavy Metal. The song is Dance of Death – The fictional story of a wanderer through the forest haunted by his ghastly visions and his escape from it all. Its intricate song styles and lyrics are the often discussed stereotypical ones where people call Metal a foul waste of music space, often berating on the negativities with references to evil and ignoring the “feel good” tempo that other Rock bands are known for. But somehow, where this song excels is how I am to describe in my most common way possible, i.e. listing things.

1] This song though long and epic describes the bravery of Progressive bands that don’t fear of their listeners ignoring the song simply because of its time-length. Many listeners are used to the usual 4 minute to 5 minute songs and call it boredom to listen to anything beyond that time limit. Iron Maiden, being the legend of its field, individually provides all 6 of its talented musicians and artists to shine. It is not until 4 minutes in this song when you hear the first drum beat.

2] What I adored most, except for the enchanting riff in the middle, was the build-up. The wait of it all created a certain expectation. It creates the question in your mind “Where is this song heading?” Invariably, that question leads to the best trait of Metal – Uncertainty. You can never possibly determine the outcome of an epic Heavy Metal song at first listen. And with that Uncertainty, creates the possibility of having your mind blow off.

3] When there are certain songs that depict an incident or tale through their lyrics, they are to be sung that way. Bruce Dickinson, being a man with an operatic approach to vocals, could brilliantly describe and illustrate the lyrics in his enchanting manner.

4] Lastly, I couldn’t help but laud the craft of it all. Being bred through commercial music, I could never enjoy the songs when they were performed live. Somehow, Heavy Metal could seem livelier when seen live. With the privilege I had of watching Iron Maiden live, I could experience their songs as if I was in them. And it holds true, that real music is portrayed and created, unlike the pop and hip-hop “enigmas” where a single beat plays through the entire song.

5] Having studied electrodes and integers in Science and Algebra respectively, I was well versed with how negatives needed negatives to be positive. The negativity which was built up in my life for 17 years simply seemed to diminish when it was mixed with the much perceived negativities which Metal contained. The faster the songs or sub-genres I listened to, the more relieved I felt. Thrash Metal battled Rage, Finnish Death Metal battled teary disappointments and heartbreaks, Folk Metal defeated demotivation. Where I stood once, it wouldn’t have been far for me to be trampled under a bus or intoxicated under alcohol but as I found my release, I found my reason for existence, somehow.

I would have loved to try and illustrate more factors and points about the very event in discussion but somehow I feel this length is good enough to be updated. My ending statement would simply be, that weird as though it may be calling my era in Metal as if a lasting relationship, I can never be sickened of saying it enough. It is that single factor that it has always been at every footstep of my life where I wanted it to be – Whether in success or failure, triumph or loss, laughter or tears, love struck or heart ached. And no matter how many years further do I complete, I shall always come back to and remember this – “My Heavy Metal Moment”.

Adios people!