Vaults of Madness (Inside the world of the Metal merch collector)

Bucking the trend of modern music, the Metal genre continues to stick to the Left Hand Path of society, with bands and labels big and small creating a continuous supply of physical music, and a stash of super cool band merch, which is seemingly never out of demand.

Like those into the classic tape trading days of the 80s, there is still a fiercely dedicated section of the Metal community who supports the scene by passionately collecting all manner of physical merch, be it a high quality limited release splatter vinyl by a top tier metal band, all the way through to small run of hand numbered cassettes sold by an unsigned artist out of their bedroom.

These collectors are the lifeblood for many bands, offering unbelievable support to their artistic expressions through purchases and social media promotion, whilst also ensuring the longevity of the scene by collecting and showcasing physical items.

This series by Steve O’Brien from Aussie underground Death Thrash band Aeons Abyss, will feature interviews with Metal Merch collectors, who will tell the tales of their collection, highlighting prized items and recounting episodes of endurance and lunacy that enabled them to stock their very own Vault of Madness.

Metal Vault Collection No 2 – Dylan Clark Arkansas, USA

I’m Dylan Clark from central Arkansas (Ark-an-saw), USA. I am a younger guy, as far as collectors go. I was born in ’92 so my first memory of collecting was begging my mom for AC/DC Back in Black, and Metallica Black album at a very young age. So maybe like 1998? I still have those…