Well, now that I have moved my other weekly columns, Thrashback Thursday and Black Metal Friday, over here to GoD, there’s only one left to introduce to you guys and it is called Massive Metal Monday!

When I was growing up in rural Indiana in the early 80’s, there was very limited access to heavy music. These were the days before MTV blew up with the whole hair metal, Headbangers Ball phenomenon. But on Sunday nights, there was a two-hour radio show that came from WOXY, the radio station of Miami University of Ohio, just across the state line in Oxford, Ohio. It was called Massive Metal for the Masses and I would wait all week for it to air. It was through this show that I was introduced to bands like Venom, Bathory, WASP, Michael Schenker Group, Slayer, and countless others. This Monday weekly column is my tip of the hat to that show. I call it Massive Metal Monday. Every week, I will pay tribute to defining moments by the artists that laid the groundwork for heavy metal to become the worldwide cultural bond for all of us metalheads.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel is a reprint and is a mash-up of Star Wars and Iron Maiden called “The Trooper” by Mark Welser.

The sale at RIPT began today, Tuesday, May 20, 2014, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

The t-shirt is available in men’s (through 3XL), women’s, and youth sizes for $10 each. Kids sizes are $10 (Girls, Toddlers, and Onesies); Hoodies for $38 (in Men/Unisex sizes). See images on product page for shirt colors. You can also get the design on coasters for $25; prints 18″³x24″³ for $20 and 24″³x32″³ for $40; headphones and speakers for $40 each; laptop sleeves for $30-$40.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel today is a mash-up of Game Of Thrones and Iron Maiden‘s “The Trooper” image called “The Walker” by rbucchioni.

The shirt went on sale at RIPT today, Wednesday, July 10, 2013, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

The t-shirt is available in men’s (through 3XL), women’s, and youth sizes for $10 each. Kids sizes are $10 (Girls, Toddlers, and Onesies); Hoodies for $38 (in Men/Unisex sizes). Shirt colors are in black (see images on product page). You can also get the design on coasters for $25; iphone (4/4s) cases for $18; and prints (18″x24″) for $20.

Clive Burr, who was the original drummer for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden, has passed away at the age of 56 from complications from Multiple Sclerosis. His former band members report that the drummer died peacefully in his sleep at home on March 12, 2013.

Burr joined the legendary group in 1979. Iron Maiden was and remains to this day one of the more high profile bands of the New Wave of British Metal during the late 1970s. Burr had lent his drum talents to the first three Iron Maiden albums, which are still regarded by Maiden fans around the world as some of the band’s best musical achievements: the self-titled Iron Maiden debut album, Killers, and The Number of the Beast. Those first two albums also sported the original singer Paul Di’Anno, who was later replaced by the soaring high-pitched vocalist Bruce Dickinson. By the time of The Number of the Beast, the band was on the crest of achieving worldwide success and legendary status as a Heavy Metal unit.

Iron Maiden‘s mascot Eddie is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable and popular figures in heavy metal. The band’s album covers have depicted Eddie as a killer, a mental patient, a soldier, a time-traveler, and much more. During live performances when a massive Eddie comes strolling onto the stage, the crowd goes wild.

Recently, Eddie ended up in Rio De Janeiro during Carnival, the famous annual pre-Lent celebration.

Check out a photo here below via the Iron Maiden Facebook page of Eddie colored purple with microphone in hand during the Carnival celebration.