I never listened to much metal until I became a housewife. I liked Linkin Park, and some of Limp Bizkit's music, but nu-metal was as much exposure I got as a 2000s teen growing up in Singapore. I had heard of bands like Metallica of course, but never heard any of their music until I deliberately went looking for 'Enter Sandman' because I heard American troops were using it to torture prisoners of war in Abu Gharib and other. That and 'Highway to Hell' by AC/DC. In reflection this is actually pretty funny (not for the prisoners of course, who had never heard such music before and were being blasted by this seemingly hellistic, satanic sounds 24/7 as a form of mental torture) because those are actually very mainstream metal songs and not at all controversial. Those songs, and those bands, are miles away from actual Black Metal or Satanic Metal. I remember being so apprehensive to even listen to Enter Sandman and Highway to Hell then, convinced my christian soul was at stake (evidently my intellectual curiosity won out). But thanks to Limewire, I did. This was probably 2004? And I was 14 years old.
Anyway when we moved to StL, my favourite music station was KLOU 103.3 and they specialised in '80s and '90s rock. From that station I ended up being exposed to a lot of new music, like ZZ Top, and occasionally they'd play Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down. Soon, those two bands entered my regular rotation of music. They were the best to listen to when doing mindless numbing tasks, like folding endless loads of laundry. And then I had M, and went though another bout of post-partum depression, and as I'd lay in bed feeling despair all I could think of was the lyrics of Chop Suey. Still Rage and System were very much considered not regular 'metal'. I tried listening to metal songs and bands, but nothing resonated. I was not a fan of the guttural incoherent screaming sounds. Somewhere around this time I heard about a rising band named Ghost, and even wanted to go to their concert in StL in Aug 2023, but we were ultimately unable to make the timing work.
From then to now, I also heard about a band called Amon Amarth and enjoyed their whole Viking Metal schtick, but also couldn't get behind the guttural vocals. I still played Put Your Back Into the Oar though, and one time E asked me what the song was, and I said it was basically 'Row Row Row Your Boat', and she said she liked the song after, lol. I also subscribed to Napalm Records on YouTube, and enjoyed the occasional metal songs from all over (Maori Metal anyone?). And Ghost of course, over the past 2 years, exploded into somewhat mainstream consciousness. Twice I have seen people wearing Ghost merch out.
One of these times, the woman wearing the Ghost hoodie, turned out to be really chatty. I ended up having a great conversation with her, and it turned out she was once a DJ for a metal radio station in NJ, so she was very knowledgeable about metal. She gave me a whole slew of recommendations, and I went home and started listening to some of them. Somehow this made YouTube decide to give me recommendations, and they turned out to be full concert length videos of Behemoth and Batushka (now Patriakh) - two Polish Black Metal Bands. And somehow as I sat there listening and knitting, something stuck. And it was maybe a day or two later that I found out that my grandfather had died, and suddenly that misery and sadness I felt made their Black Metal songs feel comforting. It was all I felt like listening to. And I guess this is where I at with my metal listening journey, which oddly developed not when I was an angsty teen, but as a full fledged (debatable of course) adult with children.
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Yesterday I went to a trial rowing class. Years ago, the ex I dated in LSE, was co-captain or something of the rowing club. They even did some '24h' row thing with a machine on Houghton Street before to raise money, but I don't recall going to see it, lol. I was a pretty shit girlfriend. But anyway I think that was the first time I really became aware of a rowing exercise machine. It looked cool, but I didn't understand how to use it.
Of course over the years I have seem numerous rowing machines in gyms, but never once used them. I have tugged on the handles before, but never dared to use it. Also the first tug of the handle seemed so tough and intimidating, which was also another deterrent. Around StL too, there were quite a few Row Houses, which I figured was like Peloton but with rowing machines. I thought the name was pretty clever, but didn't think anything else beyond that because I had no time or energy to exercise or take care of myself.
Then of course we moved to NJ, and lo and behold, there is Row House nearby. I thought about going for a trial class there, but then Jon warmed me that I was so out of shape, I was liable to give myself a heart attack. So instead I aimed lower (OR DID I?) and started doing yoga regularly in Summer 2024. With the initial trial period I went to yoga twice a week, but later slowed to once a week. Still almost every yoga class made me feel like my butt was kicked. That felt like enough exercise for now, and so I was pretty content.
For the New Orleans trip however, I had a hell of a time packing, as mentioned before. I was not happy with my body, and decided I should step up my game. After looking around the area (and knowing I was not likely to stick to anything that would be a pain to get to), I ended up back at Row House. So I signed up for a trial class and went yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the motion of the rowing machine, which of course took some time for me to learn, but somehow snapped into place when then lights were turned off. All the yoga I did helped too, because afterwards I was not collapsing in agony. I felt fine all day yesterday too (punishing allergies aside), and woke up only 1/10 in muscular aches today too. What I didn't like was all the loud music, so I feel like I need to bring earplugs next time. Also, I felt the experience could have been improved if they blasted metal music instead. It would have been awesome to row listening to metal Row Row Row Your Boat - Put Your Back Into The Oar by Amon Amarth.
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