Why Jersey Metal Rules? I’ll tell you why in my list of bands from The Garden State that helped pioneer the genre.

I chose a group for my list highlighting the many genres of Metal.
Hardcore, Metalcore, Stoner, Thrash, Classic Club, Pop, Hair, the Garden State has it all covered.

HOW IT STARTED
I have mentioned the New Jersey Club Scene MANY times in artist interviews, and in the early 1980s, New Jersey was the place for hard rock and metal fans to go to check out amazing music of every rock genre including metal.
Me and my bestie Phyllis (you can find her on the WDHA page on First Call, Last Call weighing in!) were out many nights of the week checking out our favorite hard rock AND METAL BANDS.

Most of the bands on the scene played covers, some combining original material in hopes of gaining record label interest. On any given night you could head out “clubbing” and see a full-scale, ROCK SHOW complete with lights, fog, and amazing sound. It was awesome! There were also various “flea markets” that cultivated our scene as well including the “Rt. 18 East Brunswick Flea Market”, and a place called “Rock and Roll Heaven” where rock tunes, demos, and memorabilia were sold. I spent many a weekend there as a kid – it WAS heaven for music fans. This leads us to METALLICA!

When their demo (No Life Til’ Leather) landed on the ears of Johnny Z and his wife Marsha- (the folks behind Rock and Roll Heaven) they convinced the band to come to New Jersey and record “Kill Em’ All” on their Megaforce label. Metallica played the club circuit in Jersey too including The Showplace in Dover and The Fountain Casino in Aberdeen two staples of the music scene. The rest is history!
Enter the “Old Bridge Metal Militia” who were a group of passionate fans who kept the genre strong! It was so cool to hear James discuss this history at the recent Met Life shows. JUST WOW!

WDHA’s ROLE
WDHA was always a station that embraced the Metal genre. The first “Metal Mania” show began in the early 80s with a host whose name I heard was “Jill”, but I don’t have a last name, I was not at the station yet, but was in Junior High listening to it. THEN the show was taken over by “The High Priestess- Cheryl Richardt” – followed by Eddie Trunk, Matt Murray, Scott Evil and now both of the Mike’s. And we have some AMAZING Metal Memories for sure. When I first started at WDHA, I was the nighttime DJ and Metal Mania was on after me and there were always bands at the door ready to go! It was awesome.

This week for the WDHA Coffee Break I focus on Metal talent from the Garden State.

And check out this awesome book about the local New Jersey Metal Scene – Jersey Metal

While we are still on the topic of rock, definitely be sure to check out our most recent Recconect with Rockers.

WDHA Reconnect with Rockers with Jon Bon Jovi

WDHA’s Reconnect With Rockers with The Metal God- Rob Halford

WDHA’s Reconnect With Rockers with Dave “Snake” Sabo

WDHA’s Reconnect With Rockers With Zakk Wylde

WDHA’s Favorite New Jersey Artist Memories

The Metal Rock Clubs Of Our Youth

New Jersey is the place where Metal was born and continues to have an amazing fanbase. Let’s keep the heavy vibes alive! You know The Rock Of New Jersey will always keep the Metal alive!

Fly Your Metal Flag!

• The Misfits - Lodi

  The pride of Lodi New Jersey, Metal, meets punk, meets horror- Formed in the 1970’s they STILL sell out arenas!

• Monster Magnet- Red Bank

  Our of Red Bank (and one of our past WDHA Rock The Park bands), MM was one of the first “stoner rock- metal bands” creating a unique sound. The band put out 11 totally underrated albums and is still led by the wildly talented Dave Wyndorf.

• Zakk Wylde - Jackson

  Born in Bayonne, raised in Jackson, Zakk Wylde IS New Jersey Metal! I remember seeing him in his band Zyris in the NJ club scene back in the day and he has NEVER wavered from carrying the metal flag.
  From Ozzy Ozbourne’s band, to Pride and Glory, the incredible Black Label Society and now the long awaited Pantera reunion, I ADORE father Zakk. What would we do without him?! A Jersey Metal hero.

• Overkill- Old Bridge

  Formed in the Old Bridge scene in 1980, Overkill was one of the original creators of THRASH METAL! East Coast thrash baby! We helped create it. It was fantastic to see these pioneers at Met Life – in the parking lot- pre- Metallica last summer.

• The Dillinger Escape Plan- Morris Plains

  Described as Metalcore, Punk, Heavy Jazz, Progressive  and Hardcore, The Dillinger Escape Plan  is known for their wild, live performances and authenticity,  the band will be reuniting for a show at The Brooklyn Paramount Theater on June 21st, playing their debut album “Calculating Infinity” in it’s entirety, with original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis

• T.T. Quick - Brick

  Ahhhh my Jersey Metal youth! I wanted to include at least one New Jersey club band from my youth and I chose T.T. Quick because to me, growing up in the NJ metal scene, they screamed local metal! Cool tunes, a fantastic guitarist in Dave DiPietro, and even a cool metal logo. I loved them.

• Bon Jovi- Sayreville

  There is NO WAY I’m not including some hair metal on my list. It put New Jersey on the map. I love Bon Jovi. Always have, always will. Some of the best arena anthems in rock music.

  Hair Metal still rules!

• Danzig- Lodi

  Glenn Danzig and his “doom-croon” vocal style makes the list twice with Bergen County Metal!

  Glenn formed the band post Misfits and had a few cool radio tunes and MTV tunes in the 1990’s, most notably MOTHER, but I always liked this one “Dirty Black Summer” because of it’s cool groove!

• Skid Row- Toms River

  What an ANTHEM! Formed by Dave “Snake” Sabo and Rachel Bolan in 1986, the band formed after Snake left a brief stint in Bon Jovi and met Rachel while working in a local music store. Skid Row were a different kind of 80’s metal band. They kind of had everything. HEAVY vibe, punk attitude, good looking singer (very important in the 80’s!) and killer tunes. While the bands original lineup is no more, they are still going strong with vocalist Erik Gronwall and Sebastian has a new solo record coming out.

• Il Nino- Union City

   

  I wanted to include Il Nino because they were formed in the late 1990’s in New Jersey, giving the state a band that was bringing the “Nu Metal” sound to the metal genre and they have sold over 1 million records worldwide. Il Nino were also leaders in the “latin metal” making this band (who has a loyal following) 90’s trailblazers in the evolving metal sound.

• Symphony X - Middletown

  Progressive fans LOVE Symphony X! What’s not to love? Phenomenal guitar work, visual storytelling and the incredible vocals of Russell Allen.  These East Coast shredders have branded off into other bands with other projects, but still come back together to weave their metal magic and wow their fans.

• Saraya- Bogota

  You know I have to include the ladies of ROCK and Saraya was a band that brought pop to metal and was under appreciated and certainly underrated.  Under the radar, but not for a lack of talent, Saraya brought power pop to metal and the 80’s were a tough time for the metal ladies to gain respect and break down the walls. A band that made Jersey proud for sure.

• Joe Lynn Turner - Hackensack

  If you sing for Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Yngwie Malmsteen and you are from New Jersey, you make the list!

• Metallica- THEY BEGAN IN JERSEY- WE ARE CLAIMING THEM!

  Metallica’s roots and humble beginnings are in New Jersey! Props to the amazing Old Bridge Metal Militia. We LOVE you!

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