This first issue of 1996 was the culmination of the transition from Heaven’s Metal to the HM logo with the small print “HEAVEN’S METAL” on top. While old school Christian metal was dropped from its name, visually that is not the message this magazine cover told. It had Stryper’s (at the time retired/ex-frontman) Michael Sweet on the cover with his long hair holding a guitar and an inset of Mortification. There was another inset, too, which was a rare first (and last) for this magazine – it had dcTalk on the cover!
Looking back, it’s hard to tell how this collection of editorial decisions helped form our new identity or helped further confuse it. It was probably a little of both. I’ll admit that I was a little gun-shy of making bold, sweeping changes and radical moves. We were in the midst of navigating new waters and competing with a new upstart magazine called 7ball. The feedback for “turning our backs on metal” over the name change were in full force, so I already felt like I was making radical choices. I probably made several that I felt were “safe” or more calculated rather than gut-level. Though I’ve always gone with my gut on a lot of choices with this magazine over the years.
We had a “still” from a band video that featured a monkey on a computer desk, which served as our Table of Contents page image.
The 77s had just released Tom Tom Blues on Myrrh Records and they had taken out an ad for it. Flying Tart Records was advertising a new tribute album called Sweet Family Music: A Tribute to Stryper. The spine of the CD had a typo that read “A Tribute to Styper.” That about epitomized the level of respect metalheads felt the label showed to their favorite band. Indie rock bands playing fuzzed out versions of melodic metal songs went way over the heads of those not willing to experiment, expand or expose themselves to a new type of concept record called “A Tribute Album,” where an artist deconstructed a song and re-interpreted it in their own, unique way.
The Letters to Ed two-page spread was filled with hate mail about the name change. Not all of it was “hateful,” of course, but it’s kind of fun to throw that word “hate” around. It could be a bad thing, demeaning definitions and all, but it gets the general idea across.
We had a comic strip in these days that was drawn by a guy from the Northwest (I think), named Jeff Swenson. It was called “Young Geezers” and, while I don’t remember ever asking the guy why he called his strip that, it might be a play on words that talks about the old, stubborn ways of the younger metal-listening generation. “Young Geezers” rather than “Old Geezers.” Get it?
Fold Zandura got some coverage in the Hard News section, along with a short-haired Dale Thompson of Bride and a photo of Petra frontman John Schlitt (who had just released a solo album called Shake) posing with Reverend Robert Schuller from “The Hour of Power” show and the Crystal Cathedral. Holy Soldier‘s Steven Patrick had a solo album and Guardian had just made a video for the song “This Old Man.”
I heard one time from the guys in Holy Soldier that they got so fed up with Patrick that they kicked him out of the bus on the side of a freeway in the middle of rural Montana (or someplace up in the desolate Mountain time zone), tossing his suitcase out and driving away. Patrick later told me that he had to hock his wedding ring to pay for transportation home. That’s harsh, man! Wow.
R.E.X. Records had some bands out with new albums: Six Feet Deep; Leaderdogs for the Blind; Rocketboy; and Sweet Nectar.
dc Talk said, “We just evolved like any band evolves,” to explain the musical style changes from rap to alternative rock (with the album Jesus Freak).
Curious Fools was out rocking with a passionate show and a new album called Read. Raspberry Jam and Ken Tamplin were talking about their new albums. Both of which had ties to soul music.
P.O.D. was advertising their self-released Snuff the Punk album, which showed someone holding a gun to the devil’s head. The headline on their ad read: “Hardcore with a hip-hop appeal to it.”
We had a feature article on a new band called Common Children, whose band photos revealed some young kids making music. Writer Ginny McCabe expanded her boundaries by writing on the hardcore band Overcome, where she was able to tell their story of being young (still in high school) and how they came to write an album called Blessed Are the Persecuted.
Blackball introduced its alt-rock stylings to an audience that knew their singer as the frontman for progressive metallers Precious Death.
One of the books reviewed in this issue was To My Dear Slimeball by Rich Miller, which was like a new take on The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.
As always, some of the old ads in this back issue are fun to look at. EDAN Productions was advertising several spring concerts, including: Overcome, Reflescent Tide, Fold Zandura, Tourniquet, Stavesacre, Crashdog, Six Feet Deep, MxPx, T-Bone, Michael Sweet, Holy Soldier, Poor Old Lu, Dimestore Prophets, Black-eyed Sceva, Sixpence None the Richer, Joe Christmas, Morella’s Forest, Plankeye, and The Lost Dogs. There was also a recurring ad for the HM Hotline, which was a 900 number one could call for weekly updates on news. I guess it was like a precurser that showed how much people wanted to get news fast and in real-time instead of having to wait two months for a new issue. They were willing to pay for this service. I made about $50 a month or so from doing this, if I recall. There was a giant ad for Alarma and Graceland Records, which highlighted the debut album from E.D.L. (Everyday Life), which featured a still news footage shot of Reginald Denny getting his head bashed in by angry rioters. One of the new small ads in the back was this new musical project fronted by this guy named Burrito, called 8-Ball Cholos.
The Mortification poster included a white box around the oval-shaped hm logo. This was likely a sign of my limitations as a graphic designer (and lack of layout knowhow at the time). Looking back at this issue I cringe a little bit at the layout techniques we were using. Alternating stripes in the album reviews section was kinda lame, as were the addictions to transparent page backgrounds for texture.
The cover story was a travel piece, as the label flew me up to Boston to interview Michael Sweet face-to-face. They took me out to dinner with his wife and we had a nice time walking around Freedom Square. Later on he apologized for not taking me to a lobster restaurant, figuring I wouldn’t want to taste what all the tourists did when I was there. Little did he know how much I love lobster and crab legs. Ah…well.
The 1995 Staff Picks featured some common albums from the nine staffers (people that worked in the HM office, as well as some freelance writers and columnists). These included the Buzz album from Guardian, Delusions of Grandeur by Fleming & John and the Gold album by Starflyer 59 (which I just heard is now being re-released on vinyl).
Galactic Cowboys, who had gone through a sort of “leave metal behind” change themselves, explained in their interview why they chose the name Machine Fish for their new album. Seems all the successful bands of that period either had the word “machine” or the word “fish” in their name, so they took them and made that their title. The formula didn’t quite work, as the world kind of ignored this incredible band. The interview made it sound like the beginning of Blackball was not going to be the end of Precious Death, but history shows that PD’s third, self-titled album was really the members of Blackball making an album and calling it Precious Death. I guess we got fooled.
The King Diamond Says article (which was called “What King Diamond Sez” … which we later altered to the correct, not as cutesy spelling of the verb) was pretty enlighting. Turns out the dude is a sports fan and we both chatted lots about Deion Sanders and the Dallas Cowboys. This discussion didn’t have the usual “surprise!” spring God into the conversation element. Not this guy. Deemed as an evil satanist with an upside-down cross in his promo photos, he was more than willing to jump right in and start talking religion from the get-go. Whenever I finally get Rock Stars on God, Volume Two (Lord willing) published, I plan on having a bunch of these satanic metal guys in there. These have always been interesting (this one, Cradle of Filth, Morbid Angel, Dimmu Borgir).
When I glance at the album reviews in this issue, I look for a characteristic that I personally hate in reviews – that telltale sign of bluntness (and lack of subtlety and creative wording). I prefer our album reviews to be entertaining. I’d prefer that you were not bluntly aware that you were reading an album review. Ya know? Here are the last sentence or two from the reviews. See if you can pick up what I hate about ’em…
Everdown
Straining
…This will soon be one of your favorite bands. We should, like, do a big article on these guys or something.
-DVP
MxPx
On The Cover
…Thought it’s not a typical MxPx project per se, it’s very cool and is a must for every MxPx fan.
-BVM
Siloam
Dying To Live
…Those of you who prefer theold Holy Soldier to the new are going to warmly embrace this new Siloam album.
-DVP
Galactic Cowboys
Machine Fish
…With machine Fish, the band has created something of true, lasting quality. Let’s hope the rest of the musical audience sits up and takes notice.
-DVP
Overcome
Blessed Are the Persecuted
…This music is dangerous. You should stay away from it at all costs … unless you can afford ruining a mattress and boxspring from jumping or losing a couple ribs slamming your friends.
-DVP
Scott Wenzel
Film At Eleven
…If you dig John Mellencamp, this stuff’ll blow you away; but if you’re expecting soemthing to rival the energy of Whitecross, be warned.
-DVP
DigHayZoose
Ascension 7: Rocketship to Heaven
…Ascension 7 is well done considering the conditions under which it was recorded (i.e. equipment malfunctions, allergies and last minute planning). No matter what, Dig Hay Zoose is never short of energy.
-BVM
Leaderdogs for the Blind
Lemonade
…If this fantastic piece of art isn’t on the charts soon, there’s something wrong with our world.
-BVM
Cloud Merchants
S/T
…I like this album, because nothing seems to get too monotonous. It’s a unique and well done first effort.
-BVM
Brian White & Justice
The Least That I Can Do
…Mr. White & Co. have found a sweet approach to this increasingly popular style of music.
-BVM
Joe Christmas
S/T
…Production and mix were handled well. A bit of irreverence was demonstrated, which made it right on target for the style. This is a pretty cool album. The near ’70s sound really was a nice touch, too.
-Mitch Roberts
Various Artists
Are We Not Men? We Are Demo
…All compilations should be this good.
-Jeremy Choi
I’m just gonna stop there. They all read and feel like an album review done by numbers. Formulaic and not transcending the assignment much. In other words, it is a little too obvious in answering the important question: is this album good or bad? I’m glad we improved in this area in the last 15 years.
I wouldn’t say this was HM’s finest moment, but the issue sure was a snapshot of a period of time … and a fairly accurate one at that.
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