Crims

Musical interests:

• Favourite genres: Thrash, Prog, Death, Viking, Power, Black
• Favourite bands: Children Of Bodom, Nightwish, Nevermore, Judas Priest, Soilwork, Absu, Amon Amarth, Rhapsody, Iron Maiden, Amorphis, Ancient Rites, Arch Enemy, Blind Guardian, Borknagar, Crimson Glory, Deströyer 666, Dismember, Edguy, Hollenthon, HammerFall, Immolation, Iced Earth, Death, Kamelot, Kreator, Manticora, Overkill, Slayer, Stormlord, Behemoth, Graveland, Woods Of Ypres, Pagan's Mind Pyramaze King Diamond Dream Theater etc
• All time favourite album: Children Of Bodom - Hatebreeder
• Other musical interests: Some Prog Rock, 70's Rock, and Hard Rock

• Occupation: Inventory Supply Chain Analyst
• Hobbies: Metal, sports (Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays, Argos, TFC), pub/bar hopping, video games, movies (every genre except Horror with a special interest in foreign films
• Stats: Age- 25, Height- 6'4", Weight: 210lbs
• Relationship Status: Married

How I got into Metal: I grew up in a suburb of Toronto where most of the kids listened to Rap and Dance music. It was all I was exposed to till about 1992, when I finished public school and went on to secondary school for grade 7 and 8. The ethnic population was a little more varied and I met a lot of people that were heavily into the grunge scene. I started listening to stuff like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam, as well as the uprising of pop-punk that was present at the time like Green Day and Offspring. By chance in 1993 I bought an Anthrax CD, Sound Of White Noise to be specific. This was my first introduction to Metal and I proceeded to get CD's by various Thrash bands such as Annihilator, Sepultura, and Metallica. So while listening to Alternative, some Industrial and punk, I also enjoyed Thrash.

Skip ahead a year, a friend (at the time) and I started going through his father's tape collection one day and we dug up some classic Sabbath and Priest. After listening to Paranoid and Sad Wings Of Destiny, I was instantly hooked on classic Metal. When bands like Korn started to make an appearance and were still underground, I switched my tastes from Alternative Rock to Rap-Heavy Rock. That lasted about two years until the genre got very repetitive, boring, and mainstream (thus watered down). At the same time my interest in Thrash and Classic Metal increased.

In 1996 I finally got the Internet at my home and I stumbled upon a website called www.metal-rules.com. I was looking for stuff on Korn and the like, and was shocked to find out all these bands existed that I had never heard of before and that the writers did not consider Korn or Coal Chamber Metal. I've always had an open mind to music and I started reading reviews of CD's like In Flames- COLONY, Kamelot- The Fourth Legacy, and so forth. I didn't know what Power Metal or Black Metal was (I had heard some Death Metal) but the descriptions depicted in the reviews really sounded good. At the time the metal-rules site had a mp3 section and I downloaded In Flames- Insipid 2000, Witchery- Full Moon, and Children Of Bodom- Black Widow... and shortly there after, Blind Guardian- Into The Storm and Kamelot- Nights Of Arabia. Lets just say I was absolutely blown away by the heaviness, melodies, vocals, musicianship, and song writing. The rest is history as they say, as mallcore just wasn't the same anymore (far too simple and whiney) and Alternative had already lost creative steam a couple of years earlier. Since then I've explored every possible real Metal avenue, finding favorites in almost all genres and have also picked up on Prog Rock, which I appreciate for the musicianship and crafty song arrangements. I also have a passing interest in Classical Music which seems to be growing every year.

I find myself enjoying new Metal (not nu-metal) and 80's Metal almost equally, in some cases preferring 80's Metal or 80's styled bands. I've always been passionate about music, but Metal has really taken that passion to the next level. Metal has become not only a music, but a way of life in the sense of beliefs and ideals. Does that mean I'm a Satan Worshipping goat-slayer? No, but Metal has taught me to view everything with an open mind, free of predjudice and free of popular opinion; and relatedly, to make my opinion and judge things for their content, not their image or promotion, or for that matter would other people tell me I should believe or think.

As for my life outside of Metal. I've been out of college for a 3-4 years now and work as a Inventory Supply Chain Analyst for a home improvement retail chain. When not listening to Metal, in my free time (which is sparse), I enjoy playing PC and console games. I play a lot of FPS, RPG's, and action/adventure games with a passing interest in most other genres. I have a large DVD collection and enjoy almost all types of movies. I can find equal enjoyment out of something like Commando and then something like Casino for completely different reasons. I watch a healthy amount of sports with my main interests being in Hockey and Basketball. About 2-3 times a week I work out at the gym so I don't look like I drink beer and sit around listening to Metal all day. On weekends I enjoy going to local pubs, in particular one's with microbreweries in downtown Toronto. Lastly, when the opportunity arises I go to every Metal concert possible.

In highschool I was more into sports than I am now but I still love watching hockey (Leafs!) and play really bad Basketball occasionally. At one time I was quite good and played high school level Basketball and even coached Basketball teams at various points in my teenage years but I haven't kept up with it and the fact that I'm white and can't jump (who would have thought that?) meant that college ball wasn't an option. For about two years I played in a garage Metal band that played Slayer, Sentenced, and HammerFall covers with Progressive Thrash originals. It was never meant to go anywhere and ended when we all got into college or University, but was fun while it lasted. For the record I played everything: guitars, drums, bass, and did vocal work, but I didn't write the music or the lyrics.

As for misc. stuff: I have a martial arts background in Karate and Ju-jitsu, and I would like to get back into that and expand on at some point down the road, preferablly through the sport of Wushu. Lastly, I have a strong interest in World History, in particular European and Asian which coincides with my interest in Pagan Mythology. I am a stout Atheist and am very proud of my German and Danish heritage, but I'm also very proud to be Canadian. Anyway, that's it for now.

- Chris a.k.a. Crims