Metal books

[Black Milk]

I didn't want to put this in the other books thread because I felt it'd get a little diluted amongst the other literary discussions, but if I was wrong for that I guess just ban my ginger ass. What are some of yalls favorite books on metal, and recommendations? I really haven't read much, aside from Lords of Chaos and Ozzy and Lemmy's autobios, but I was looking into a few today that I was considering picking up. One was called Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, which from the reviews I read seemed like it touched a lot on the actual musical development of the style which is the main reason I'm interested, I didn't quite like Lords of Chaos because it was way too focused on the sensationalist BS surrounding it and not the music itself. Another one I considered was Choosing Death, which is about the roots of death metal and grindcore. The reviews gave me the idea that it's a bit heavy on just a couple bands like Napalm Death, Carcass, and Morbid Angel and not as well rounded as it could be but I'm still interested enough to give it a spin, I feel I've been plugged into the scene long enough to where if there was something that was total bullshit I'd be able to tell off the bat. There's also one on Swedish Death Metal (which is the title) that's supposed to be quite good but I didn't read into it as much.

[deathstorm]

Black milk pick up cannibal corpse. New book it's very good

[Darian]

I am in the band by sean ysealt. there is also a great comic book series called black metal

[metallikole1999]

My favorite metal book is Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Heavy Metal. It covers everything from traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, and hair metal, to black metal, death metal, and nu metal. It's composed of interviews from band members, groupies, journalists, and many more. I thought it gave a great look to many different subgenres of metal and gave cool little known stories. Any metalhead should definitely buy this.

[jfk36]

Depends, what do you think of traditional metal and the nwobhm? If they're not your thing I can't really help, if they are then try this http://www.amazon.co.uk/N-W-O-B-H-M-ENCYCLOPEDIA-Malc-MacMillan/dp/3931624161. http://www.amazon.com/At-War-Satan-Steff-Metal/dp/1496030885/ This is also quite amusing, at times it is so bad it's good. It is fiction though and im not sure if that's the sort of thing you're looking for.

[Mattig]

Long hard road out of hell is a good read even if you don't like Marilyn Manson. Roots Max Cavalera bio is okay. I'm waiting on Scott Ian's autobiography. There's also the choosing death a run down of the history of death metal and grindcore. I read the Swedish death metal one and it wasn't too bad.

[Black Milk]

I really enjoyed Manson's book. I ended up ordering Choosing Death and the one on black metal, I'm about three fourths through Choosing Death, really enjoying it

[AtTheGates]

Metallurgy Fundamentals by Daniel A.Brandt.

[Parker]

Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

[Black Milk]

^^I've actually just started it the other day, it seems quite thorough which I'm excited for. I breezed through Choosing Death last month it was a fun read but nothing breathtaking

[BlutAusNerd]

Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

Haven't heard of that one, what is it like?

[Parker]

Haven't heard of that one' date=' what is it like?[/quote'] It tells the story of Black Metal focusing on the music and bands. It's much, much less sensational than Lords of Chaos, sticking to the facts stated plainly regarding the Norwegian scene and just has a lot more class.

[BlutAusNerd]

It tells the story of Black Metal focusing on the music and bands. It's much' date=' much less sensational than Lords of Chaos, sticking to the facts stated plainly regarding the Norwegian scene and just has a lot more class.[/quote'] Where does it start and how far down the line does it go? Do they actually hit some lesser known scenes/bands, or just stick to the basics?

[Black Milk]

It starts from its roots in Sabbath and even underground bands like Coven, and goes all the way to subgenres with multiple chapters on a few such as industrial black metal and post-black metal. Its about 500 pages, many chapters focusing on singular bands as well as ones on entire scenes. Also has a beautiful and sizable collection of color photos to boot. I'm only a few chapters in but its reallly well put together and the writing is of true journalistic quality

[BlutAusNerd]

It starts from its roots in Sabbath and even underground bands like Coven' date=' and goes all the way to subgenres with multiple chapters on a few such as industrial black metal and post-black metal. Its about 500 pages, many chapters focusing on singular bands as well as ones on entire scenes. Also has a beautiful and sizable collection of color photos to boot. I'm only a few chapters in but its [i']reallly well put together and the writing is of true journalistic quality

That's a good endorsement, I'll check it out. I don't usually read metal books because they tend to be severely lacking, just like metal documentaries. However, it seems like there are a few now that show some promise, I've heard good things about the Swedish death metal book and the Slayer Mag book, maybe this one will finally be the one to do black metal some justice.

[Black Milk]

Where it wins for me is that it focuses on the stylistic development of the music through time which is the main thing I was interested in learning about.

[BlutAusNerd]

Where it wins for me is that it focuses on the stylistic development of the music through time which is the main thing I was interested in learning about.

The music is what's important, people put way too much emphasis on the lyrics, especially when black metal lyrics are brainless in many cases. The non-musical exploits of the musicians can be interesting to read about, but I hate when that guides people's focus, as opposed to the music.

[tayorous]

theres one all about black metal

[Os Abysmi Vel Daath]

Tom Fischer's book, Only Death is Real, is fantastic. I also really enjoyed Swedish Death Metal, if you're a fan of that scene you've gotta check that book out. I thought Dani Filth's book was kinda fun as well.

[The Batlord]

I don't know how great a book it was, since it's been over a decade since I read it, but Sounds of the Beast will always hold a hallowed place in my heart. I was just getting into the Big Four of thrash and Iron Maiden at the time, but really knew nothing about metal in general past what I heard on the radio. Then I bought that book and the floodgates opened. Hours and hours of time spent in front of my computer, desperately looking for music from bands mentioned in that book. I'm sure I would have gotten into metal without it, but I wouldn't have had as excellent a crash course. Motley Crue's autobiography, The Dirt, is also fantastic. I take a lot of the claims made by the band with a heavy dose of salt (e.g. Nikki Sixx claiming he accidentally summoned evil spirits while reading the Necronomicon, or Tommy Lee's excuses about how he really didn't hit Pamela), but as a work of possibly historical fiction about the excesses of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, it's wildly entertaining. I also like reading between the lines and figuring out which band member is the biggest douche. Nikki Sixx = narcissistic, self-destructive whiner who wants you to think he has a heart of gold; Tommy Lee = complete and utter moron who's bought into his own media hype and thinks he's the most important dude on the planet; Mick Mars = slightly less stupid than Tommy, but luckily too introverted to be the asshole his band mates are; Vince Neil = ultra-narcissistic prima donna. The funny thing is Vince actually comes off looking the best IMO. He's relatively honest in a "I don't really give an shit about trying to make myself look good" kinda way, so he at least doesn't annoy you with BS, and the whole thing with his daughter dying is legitimately heartbreaking.

It tells the story of Black Metal focusing on the music and bands. It's much' date=' much less sensational than Lords of Chaos, sticking to the facts stated plainly regarding the Norwegian scene and just has a lot more class.[/quote'] Sounds great, but I love Lords of Chaos' lack of class. It's one part music history, one part trashy gossip mag, and one part Nazi propaganda (I hear the authors are legitimately NS, at least to some degree). It starts to drag somewhere in the Nazi third of the book, but it's just such a compulsive read (and all the Nazi/Asatru stuff really is interesting, even if it veers off into being completely irrelevant to the topic of the book). One of the best books I've ever read, metal or otherwise. I do wish they'd have added a few chapters regarding the actual music though. It's weird reading a book about Norwegian black metal where I can count the number of times Darkthrone is mentioned on one hand. If you knew nothing about the scene you'd think that it was comprised of Varg Vikernes and "some other guys".

[BlutAusNerd]

I remember Sounds of the Beast, I grabbed that from the library as a teenager, and it helped direct me toward a number of bands as well. I'm from Utah, so all of my metal knowledge was acquired through independent study until I met other fans, which was years down the road.

[Thrashman]

I thought Choosing Death was excellent.

And yeah, didn't really like Lords Of Chaos.

Nergal's book bored me quite a lot as I recall.

Enjoyed the Scott Ian autobiography. And Mustaine's.

Would avoid anything by Joel McIver, his Slayer book is bad.

[Requiem]

I really want to talk about music biographies and other music books. I've got a huge thing for books about music and I love tapping into the narrative of bands and musicians who interest me. I'm fascinated with behind the scenes stories. In this thread I'd really like to hear about what people have been reading. 

Rather than blow my load all at once by writing a goddamn thesis, I'll start with my favourite books about Black Sabbath, a band that I think has the single most fascinating story of any band. Their origin from poverty, invention of heavy metal, wild fame and crash, then revival again, is an amazing story. 

I think Mick Wall's book 'Symptom of the Universe' is the best Sabbath book I've read. I happen to be a huge Mick Wall fan anyway, but I think his treatment of the Sabbath story is great. I think he was actually their manager or press manager for a short time in the late 80s. The book came out just a couple of years ago, and he calls things as he sees them, praising their great albums but not pulling any punches when it comes to Iommi's conduct in the 80s etc. He also has a wry wit and one of those intangible qualities of having the reader feel like his buddy. At least I do. Requiem and Mick Wall. BFFs 4 Eva. 

Martin Popoff also has some interesting stuff, and his 'Black Sabbath FAQ' is a very interesting book, containing many great pieces of trivia you wouldn't normally come across. His research is incredible, and he has dug up some really obscure facts. Sometimes, however, I feel that Popoff's books are a little rushed in his attempt to put as many out into the marketplace as he can, but overall they're good. His favourite album of all time by any band is 'Sabotage' by the way, which is interesting coming from the man who has officially reviewed more albums than any other person in history.

Tony Iommi's autobiography 'Iron Man' is also really insightful, albeit deliciously subjective. Getting his word on the whole story, the splits and the hard years was just brilliant. 

With these three books used in conjunction it's possible to put a pretty good picture of the Sabbath story together. 

Less compelling is Ozzy Osbourne's 'I am Ozzy' which is obviously not written by Ozzy in the slightest and I doubt he even knows what's in it. It's basically a Sharon puff piece. Still, it's not too bad I guess. 

What music books have you people liked, loved and loathed? 

 

 

[MetalheadFromBama]

Duff McKagan's book "It's So Easy (and Other Lies)" is a good book. It talks about his life growing up in the Seattle punk scene, and it talks about him playing with Guns N' Roses. If you want to get it, you can probably find one at Barnes and Noble. If you don't have one in your area, you could just find a copy on eBay.

[ChainsawAkimbo]

Motley Crue - Dirt

One that is considered to be a classic, and for a reason. Extremely entertaining book, that will get you hooked. Even if you have 0 interest on a band, it´s a worthy read. 

Joel Mciver - Justice for all, the truth about Metallica

I actually only got this recently. Very much enjoyed it. This is basically what comes out, when someone chooses to approach a subject objectively. It also talks a bit about the scene in general, the mindset from the early days of thrash metal. Gotta love a book that can also show critique on the subject!