And mostly focus on Seattle and skip over other NW states that had bands that contributed to both local and national metal scenes). But they skip over a lot of the heavy metal scene in the whole NW, only touching on the eastside metal scene and a bit of the thrash metal wave. I think that all definitely happened to some degree and understandable to not include the kitchen sink, but bands and info that drives the focus of the book. spawned punk, which later fused with early metal/hard rock and created grunge. One important thing towards public perception is that when so-called “Grunge” hit big there were a number of books that came out, and while some of those books are good, they tend to tell a story arc of how early NW garage punk like the Sonics, etc. So they don’t realize how big the metal and hard rock scene really has been over the years here, and how important it has been for influence overall. If you were on a major, you got much bigger exposure then if you were on an indie label, or self-released especially. And also how much exposure a band got certainly contributed to that. And that is mainly because of what the media shared with the public and recognized and how it was perceived. that got on major labels and in most cases toured a lot over the years and had radio play and hits.

I think a lot of the misunderstanding is because a lot of the general public is only aware of the bigger NW Heavy Metal and Hard Rock acts such as Queensryche, Heart, Metal Church, Sanctuary, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, etc. I guess a good place to begin is: What in-general about the history of the Pacific Northwest’s heavy metal scene do people from outside of the region misunderstand the most? Northwest Metalfest will be held On March 9 at El Corazon in Seattle, WA. That conversation is lightly edited below. This year, as one of the creative minds behind the revived Northwest Metal Fest, he will present two days of reunited PNW favorites including Q5, The Accused and Coven (the thrash band not the occult psych rock band) and new bands revitalizing the pre-extreme style such as Substratum and Skelator.īeach gave Decibel a crash course in Pacific Northwest metal history. As part of Northwest Metalworx, he’s reissued obscure classics by such acts in order to keep them in circulation. His upcoming book, Rusted Metal, will be a hefty compendium of early PNW metal acts, many of whom dissolved after a demo or single record. A veteran of the scene, he’s dedicated much of his adulthood to the preservation of this region’s early metal history.

Even the most well-versed metal historians may run short of early names from this region after listing obvious heavy hitters such as Queensryche and Metal Church.Įnter Beach. Even so, this part of the world is more often remembered for the sound of Grunge and more recently so-called Cascadian black metal than for its contributions to metal’s mid-and-early 80s Renaissance without which those later genres would not exist. With its craggy shores, deep forests, sky-piercing mountains and days of endless rain, the stretch of America encompassing Oregon, Washington and parts of Idaho ( not to mention British Columbia) cries out for the morbid, sweeping and indomitable sound of heavy metal. The golden age of classic heavy metal in the Pacific Northwest is about to get its long-overdue revival thanks in part to Author James Beach, his upcoming book Rusted Metal, and the upcoming Northwest Metal Fest.

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