Remembering Adrian Bromley, One Year After His Death

One year ago, metal enthusiast Adrian Bromley passed away at the young age of 37. Actually, to call him a metal enthusiast is a vast understatement -- he was the metal enthusiast. A major facet of the Toronto scene, he was a music journalist who wrote often for Chart, Unrestrained!, Chronicles of Chaos and other independent outlets. After working as a publicist for The End Records, he started at his own company, Ixmati Media.

Writer Marta Ustyanich just published a memorial on Bromley's presence in the metal world, including words from close friends. Adam Wasylyk, who co-edited Unrestrained! with Adrian, remembers his friend as the constant scribe. He said that "if he wasn't writing a story, of which he could churn out six or seven a day, he was writing somewhere; whether it was an email, a text message or on a message board."

His positive attitude was inspirational to many, and he hardly bothered to write negative reviews because he felt that it would only hinder the scene. Ustyanich writes that "it was rare that you got to stay in an industry that thrives on ego and private agendas," which was highlighted by Drew Masters, who was one of the first editors to ever pick Bromley up in the '90s.

The article also discusses the decline of Bromley's health, struggling to make ends meet with his various projects and small but numerous sources of income. Toronto and the metal world as a whole lost a dedicated fan, but his legacy definitely lives on through the outlets that he generously supported.