Stephen O'Malley

Attila Csihar
Mayhem
“Illuminate Eliminate”
From Ordo Ad Chao (2007)



Attila is one of the most talented, unique, and distinctive artists I have ever met. His sense of metamorphosis, spice, flowers and abstraction bleeds through his work. He is a prince in the metal world, but as a pure artist, I have always held him in a level realm of someone like Joan La Barbara or Diamanda Galas. I chose one of his more challenging and uncompromising pieces from his second album with Mayhem.

Dead
Mayhem
“Buried By Time And Dust”
From Live In Leipzig (1990)



Dead, more than any other person, personifies the essence of black metal. He became the death. Everything after his death was in some way a shadow or imitation of the moment of the Ur-black metal moment in Mayhem. His voice called the freezing moon, buried in time, opened eternity. Necrobutcher remarked on the “intimacy” of his poetry/lyrics in a recent documentary, a point which I hadn’t considered before but was purely truth. I get chills every listen. His voice was horror and pain; he lived it and died in it – a shadow.

Nocturno Culto
Darkthrone
“Paragon Belial”
From A Blaze In The Northern Sky (1992)



He howls like the possessed, monochromising the atmosphere. He howls because he is possessed in a monochrome atmosphere. Darkthrone was the first 'second wave' black metal band released in regular shops in the States. I found A Blaze In The Northern Sky on cassette in a record store in a mall at age 17; it was my first black metal album. The anti-gods ripped the firmament open. Nocturno Culto appears as a beast, draining the life force but charging with immense energy. It’s like the thunderclap without a sheltering sky. Dark and forbidding… and thrilling.

Ronnie James Dio
Heaven & Hell
“Bible Black”
From The Devil You Know (2009)



I didn’t comprehend Dio in 1984 when I was first introduced to metal at the Zapereski’s house. And I didn't have the time of day for him in 1993 when my Black Sabbath disease started. The most boring conversation in metal is “Who’s best, Ozzy vs Dio” and it took me ages and ages to understand. When Heaven And Hell [which reunited the Dio-fronted Sabbath line-up that recorded 1981's Mob Rules and 1983's Live Evil] happened, I made a pilgrimage to Birmingham NEC to see the premiere shows and was devastated. Dio’s obviously a remarkable singer and showman… but he also has a great power of spirit and optimism, which projects directly into the soul of the listeners. And obvious (to me, at least) was that power and joy which projected onto his bandmates. The music had vitality and fire, passion. Deeply dove since. I managed to acquire the original photo collage from Holy Diver at auction. When Dio left our sphere, Dennis Cooper told me he always thought O))) would have collaborated with him, an idea which I had never faintly imagined. We have peaked some high mountains with O))), but I don’t know if Olympus, the mountain of the gods, will ever be one of them.

Tim Wyskida

Udo Dirkschneider
Accept
“Fast As A Shark”
From Restless And Wild (1982)



In 1983 I was 12 years old and already an AC/DC fan. I can't remember how I became aware of Accept but remember getting a copy of their new album Restless And Wild, on cassette. The album starts with a recording of a traditional German song performed by children, disrupted by Udo letting loose a caterwaul, which sounds like Bon Scott after huffing helium. Unforgettable. I hadn't heard any vocalist quite like Udo and still haven't.

Paul Di'Anno
Iron Maiden
“Killers”
From Killers (1981)



The first Iron Maiden album I heard was The Number Of The Beast, with Bruce Dickinson on vocals. I immediately got their prior albums and was surprised to find out they had a different vocalist. Bruce Dickinson was impressive but his academic approach wasn't as appealing as Paul Di'Anno's style which was more gritty, punk and just generally more interesting to a budding degenerate. 50 years into this metal thing, his voice still stands out.

Alan Dubin
OLD
“Freak Now”
From The Musical Dimensions Of Sleastak (1993)

I was a bit late to the OLD game, not hearing them until their penultimate album in 1993. The blend of James's proggy, harsh industrial music with Alan's warped vocals was incredible. His vocals sounded like a possessed Bon Scott, who'd just been soaked in gasoline, set ablaze and put in front of a mic. His voice was altered at times, using various effects, to great effect. Decades later, his voice is stronger than ever. It makes no sense.

Eric Wagner
Trouble
“RIP”
From Trouble (1990)



In the smoking lounge at my high school, a fellow dirthead metal friend asked if I’d heard Trouble. He handed me his Walkman and immediately I was pulled in by the music. At the time, I hadn’t yet become nauseated by the parade of Sabbath imitators, who to this day continue to pollute underground music. I got a ticket to see Trouble at the Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, NY. They were amazingly loud and amazingly heavy. Eric Wagner sounded like someone tossed Janis Joplin into a blender. In an odd twist, my friend Kory Clarke of Warrior Soul fame replaced Eric for a spell later in the band’s career. Unfortunately Eric passed away but his voice will live in my head until my passing.

Read Rob Turner's interview with Khanate in The Wire 478. Wire subscribers can also read the cover feature online via the digital magazine library.