ABOUT ME - I Daemonlord, Museum Curator
I'm a long time fan of heavy metal, firstly getting into it when I was still in single figures of age thanks to my older brother who constantly listened to his bright, loud and colourful metal vinyl. I loved the look, the sound - EVERYTHING about metal. It drew me in, and has never let go to this day. I started my own collection with dubbed tapes that I could get from friends, pen friends and various traders whom I met through metal fanzines and magazines. I used to spend my pocket money on albums when I could, loving the rush of a new album where I would drink in every part of it - not just the music, the artwork, the inlays, the lyrics, the thanks lists - the whole package.When I left full time education and started working, I finally had money to spend on my very own collection, and it kinda went downhill from there! I now have over 6,200 CDs, and my collection doesn't show any sign of slowing up any time soon. In 2006/2007, I was even featured in the first ever 'Collector's Cave' feature in Supernal Music's regular paper catalogue, with label owner Alex Kurtagic paying me a visit to sit and geek out over extreme metal for an afternoon. When first starting this blog, it was all about compiling my favourite rare, obscure and out of print albums for other enthusiasts to share stories and talk about. I'm not into spending stupid money on eBay for things, thus the vast majority of my collection has been built up over time without outrageous prices being spent. These days, I mostly post new arrivals to my collection, be they new, old, common or rare.
In the past I've enjoyed a little amateur journalism, spouting my opinions by reviewing various albums, gigs and occasionally interviewing bands that I like (such as Crebain, Marblebog and Beatrik to name but a few memorable ones). Over the years, I've written for www.avenoctum.com, www.metalcrypt.com, www.goldenlakeproductions.co.uk, www.supernalmusic.com and www.metalteamuk.net - thus if you've seen my reviews before, chances are it's been on one of these sites. Most of my reviews over the years are now collated on my RateyourMusic account, a link to which can be found on the homepage. Be warned though, the quality varies greatly! ha!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I get quite a few questions regarding various different things - some of which I get on a regular basis. Thus, this should hopefully cover some of the more regular ones....
1) Hey mang, how do you afford all this shit - are you a millionaire?!!!11one
No, mang, I am not a millionaire. I work as a music buyer and have the necessary knowledge, love and patience to know where to hunt bargains (if I'm lucky) by scouring the internet and 2nd hand stores. That, added to the fact I am simply getting old now, so bought the vast majority of this stuff over the years when it wasn't out of print and/or going for obscene prices on eBay.
2) Why don't you show the covers and discs separately, or scan the inner booklets etc etc
When I started doing this blog in 2010, I was literally just posting up the front and back covers. I realized people were asking for more and more. After a little research into some suspect requests, I found out some were wanting to use my scans to make bootleg material (asking for inner booklet scans, matrix code scans etc). Thus, adding into the fact I was getting requests from 'real' fans wanting to see the front of the disc, I overlaid the disc, obscuring the back cover a small amount to stop the assholes who were ripping my shit off to make money. I would like to do everything separately, but don't have the technical knowledge to watermark things to stop the bootleggers - plus it'd take me 2-3 times longer to scan shit. So, pretty straight forward really!
3) Will you sell me "XYZ" CD? I've been looking for it for years!!
My initial answer is almost always 'No', but there's no harm in asking if you want to make a reasonable offer. If it's a title that isn't something I listen to particularly often I might be willing to part with it, I have done before.
4) Will you send me MP3s of "XYZ" album...
OR
5) Will you scan me the cover of "XYZ" for my own collection?
Nope.
6) Do you have "XYZ" CD?
Probably not, I don't own everything ever released. I still discover bands every month who've been around for years, so don't profess to be some sort of all-knowing metal guru. Take a look at my fully catalogued CD collection in The Armoury section of the index, as everything I own is listed there.
7) Why do you do this? It really depresses me....
Because I'm a sadist. No, in reality, I don't do it to show off or start a pissing contest. I simply do it because I love metal, particularly metal CDs, and would want to look at such things myself. I know my collection isn't anywhere near the size or quality of some peoples, in fact it pales in comparison to various folk around the intarweb I've spoken to over the years. But as there wasn't much out there doing this sort of thing in 2010, I decided to create my own to sate a number of interests. If you know of any others doing this sort of thing, please let me know because I love to see other peoples metal collections.
8) YOU SUCK!!
So does your mother. Incredibly efficiently so.
