IoMP 95: The Metal Seeds of Our Childhood: 6 Songs That Shaped Us
Before the blast beats and breakdowns, before the long hair and leather jackets — every metalhead had their awkward musical origin story. In this nostalgic and hilarious episode of the Influencers of Metal Podcast, Collin and Tom dig deep into the six childhood favorites that shaped who they are today.
From console hockey features to the gateway rock bands that led them down the road to metal, the guys relive the soundtracks of their youth — complete with looks into where the seeds began to sprout.
Whether you’re a longtime listener or a new fan, this episode is a trip down memory lane that reminds us all where our love of heavy music began — and how far we’ve come since those early days of awkward headbanging in the bedroom mirror.
Hit play now and relive your own musical childhood!
DISCLAIMER: Copyright Exceptions under the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42), allowance is made for "fair dealing" for the purposes of criticism or review.
Check out more from the Influencers of Metal Podcast!
Is Pizza Thrash actually a metal subgenre... or did somebody just slap a stupid name on 2000s thrash and call it a day?
We're halfway through 2026, so our duo are joined by Chris Thrash to rank their Top 5 albums of the year so far!
Van Halen helped revolutionize guitar playing, inspired generations of metal musicians and laid some of the groundwork for the hair metal explosion — but does that make Van Halen a metal band?
It’s Van Halen Week on the Influencers of Metal Podcast! Collin and Tom continue their quest to find the most metal Guitar Hero game by diving into Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
Hear which records from Galneryus, Haserot, Protest the Hero, Left to Die, Motionless In White, and more survived the chaos on this month’s edition of “What Have You Been Listening To?”
Few bands have disrupted heavy music quite like The Hu. But does that make them rock... or metal?
Festival season has arrived, and so it’s time for us to explore some of the biggest festivals in the world.
Is Sleep Token one of modern metal's greatest success stories—or one of its most overhyped bands?
Collin, Tom and the Pumpkin Queen break down their June listens, listener recommendations, and the albums dominating their playlists — featuring everything from doom metal and hardcore to metalcore madness
Heavy metal didn’t appear overnight. It crawled out of the blues, turned up the distortion, and terrified everyone’s grandparents.
Collin and Tom are travelling to Uzbekistan to uncover one of the world’s lesser-known metal scenes.
Collin and Tom launch their new series “Is It Really a Subgenre?” by diving headfirst into the legendary meme known as Crabcore.
Guitar Hero 5 has Iron Maiden, Rammstein, Dethklok and Children of Bodom… but somehow still only clocks in at around 10% metal. So where does it rank in the “Most Metal Guitar Hero Game” tournament?
What if you could book ANY five bands for your own metal festival? Also, I thought we escaped the island by now?