Metal Vaults Collection No 6 – Kevin Casper, from North Carolina, United States

Introduce yourself and how you first got into Metal

Hey! My name is Kevin Casper. I live in New Bern NC USA. I first got into metal at a young age, the first band i was into was Metallica because my older brother was a fan. Then my dad showed me bands like Black Sabbath, Rush and Alice Cooper etc. As i got older my taste for metal and music in general grew and so has my collection.

Tell Noob Heavy about your collection

My collection is mainly vinyl records, cassette tapes, and VHS tapes. I started collecting vinyl around 2010, first one I remember buying was 12” Die, Die, My Darling single by the Misfits. Now I have about a thousand albums on vinyl and a few hundred cassette tapes. In my collection you’ll find a lot of death metal and doom for those are my favorite genres of metal but I also have a lot of other stuff as well. I’m also a fan of older stuff from the 60s and 70s and I have a lot of Albums from bands like Black Sabbath, Rush, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, and Frank Zappa etc. My cassette collection is particularly old school death metal and doom. It’s a challenge to find those genres on cassette. My favorite cassette is Attention by Septic Death from 1990.

What was your trigger to start collecting?

I started collecting vinyl for many reasons. One being I was never allowed to have vinyl because I didn’t have a record player but once I bought one I started buying albums right away. Another reason was they were different, it wasn’t only black vinyl I started to notice, but colors and splatters etc, and I wanted to start collecting to show my dad how much they’ve changed.

How do you manage your collection?  

I manage my vinyl collection with Discogs. I punch in every album I have and it keeps track of value and inventory.

What is your most valued item, and does it have a story? 

My most valued albums in my vinyl collection are probably Leprosy by Death from 1988, Eaten Back to Life by Cannibal Corpse from 1990, and La Sexorcisto : Devil Music Vol. 1 by White Zombie, glow in the dark edition, from 1992

Which item in your collection has your favourite artwork?

My favorite album art from my collection would be my Death Vomit album,
I always pull it out to show people. But i also like my Carnivorous Erection picture disk from Regurgitate and my No Remorse Live album picture disk from Metallica.

You also have a wicked collection of VHS.  Tell us about this and why you like collecting videos?

I also collect VHS tapes, mainly horror because metal and horror go hand and hand, but I also collect sci fi and live concert VHS tapes. I grew up with VHS I love the nostalgia of it. I also love the sound of a tape like when there is a crinkle in the film and the sound gets stretched for a second. Stuff like that I think makes the horror movie just a little creepier.

What is your Holy Grail? 

My holy grail is my numbered 1 out of 200 Night Bringers album by The Black Dahlia Murder. I have a lot of hand numbered albums but only this one is number 1 !

Why do you think it’s important to collect physical media and metal merch?

I think its important to collect physical media and metal merch because if you don’t it’ll stop being made. I think vinyl has made a big come back and if you want it to continue and stay then you need to support it.

How can people follow you on Social Media?

If you want to check out my collection follow me on instagram @casper.kevin or check my Discogs out, Tbdm69, where I also sell music

About Steven - Aeons Abyss 42 Articles
I do the music for the band Aeons Abyss, and also co-host The Metal Podcast on Spotify. I have been into Metal since the mid-80s, growing up in country Victoria, Australia. Some of my favourite bands from back in the day include Morbid Angel, Slayer, Obituary, Bolt Thrower, King Diamond, Megadeth, Sabbat and Iron Maiden. I am a massive fan of Aussie Metal, and underground metal in general, and for me, nowadays the scene is very much akin to the tape trading days when metal first started; but instead of tapes we have Bandcamp, websites like Noob Heavy, and Social Media platforms. These are the tools to network with other underground metal bands and metal fans from all over the world. A little about my band: Aeons Abyss formed in 2017 and we play our own brand of Death Thrash Metal. Our music is on all streaming platforms and Bandcamp, where we also sell our merch directly to fans. Also, our lyrics are a very important component of our music, so much so that our vocalist is known as "Death Metal Poet".

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