Best books on metal

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

I read an interview with Malevolent Creation and they mentioned Slipknot at least a dozen times and said they wished they could open for them.

 

[cookiecutter]

I don't blame them in the least. Opening for Slipknot = $$$

 

[Zephyrus]

Plus a good way to win over some poseur fans into the realm of true metal.

 

[CF87]

I would rather open for 3 doors down.

it would be

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

Opening for the Rolling Stones = retire early$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[ALK]

Sound of the Devil is probably the best factual book i've read this far as for fiction the book "Nasjonal Satanisten" (the nasjonal satanist) is exelent altough i dont know if or when it will be translated.

 

[Satanstoenail]

I've heard good things about Choosing Death.

 

[MURAI]

"Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology" by Deena Weinstein is well written. Although, it concentrates just on the big names in metal but it describes its themes well.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

Lords of Chaos even though it is full of alot of shit.

Care to elaborate? I thought the book was good until it dwelled into politics and religion which bored me... When it comes to metal or music in general I just like reading the history of it. How the members met? How they came up with their ideas for their music/lyrics/albums? How they got signed to their label? etc.. etc.. like the beginning of LOC especially the history of Mayhem.

But anyways the author of LOC did interview alot of the inside players of the 2nd wave of BM. He wasn't writing it from his perspective but from the perspective of the people he interviewed. Just the politics and religious parts were boring as hell.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

I'm familiar with a couple of books mentioned -- I never read them but I've come across them and after reading others' opinions on them and other "metal" books, I fucking wish idiots outside of metal would stop trying to tap into our world. What they know is only tip of the iceberg. There's a film based on Lord of Chaos? This only means trouble. The majority of people have no idea what BM is. Once this film is introduced to the mainstream, posers are going to come out of the woodwork and Christ knows how the scene will change. We all know the consequences. The definition of extreme metal in general will change and broaden to traditionally non-metal music. There should never be a link between the underground and mainstream music. Someone once asked me why I'm a metal elitist. Keeping metal pure; free of all the bullshit is one of the reasons.

I just have to laugh when someone calls themselves a "Elitist" LoL ... yeah man... keeping metal Pure!!! ... hahaha

 

[cookiecutter]

Care to elaborate? I thought the book was good until it dwelled into politics and religion which bored me... When it comes to metal or music in general I just like reading the history of it. How the members met? How they came up with their ideas for their music/lyrics/albums? How they got signed to their label? etc.. etc.. like the beginning of LOC especially the history of Mayhem.

But anyways the author of LOC did interview alot of the inside players of the 2nd wave of BM. He wasn't writing it from his perspective but from the perspective of the people he interviewed. Just the politics and religious parts were boring as hell.

I'm reading this book and I agree with you. The whole chapters on how the Nazis like UFOs or the etymology of the word Varg are just unnecessary to the story.

 

[AgoliantLives]

I just have to laugh when someone calls themselves a "Elitist" LoL ... yeah man... keeping metal Pure!!! ... hahaha

Keep on laughing. What do you know of my tastes, standards, and what I play? Besides some bands I mention in these threads, you know nothing about me. But true metalheads do their part in keeping metal what it is by defining the sub-genres, praising different bands, telling noobs Slipknot is not DM, etc, etc. Most people here have participated in these kind of discussions at some time or another.

back at you.

 

[Hatebreeder]

Sounds of the Beast is pretty good, though it might as well be called "How Every Metal Movement is Related To Metallica". They spend half the book talking about the early 80's thrash movement and devote maybe 50 pages to death, black, and other underground stuff. I would only recommend it to someone who knows very little.

 

[cookiecutter]

The problem with metal books is that you either make it really in depth and detailed about the underground stuff and the three true metalheads buy it, or you write about Metallica and a lot of people buy it.

 

[Dee Snarl]

I like The Top 500 Heavy Metal ALbums of All Time, by Martin Popoff.

He did some huge survey, and these are the results, each with like a half page review. So let the buyer beware. Tends toward traditional and power metal.

 

[entanglement]

I think there could be a market for a decent book on metal that covers the kind of bands known on this forum as well as the more mainstream stuff. Anyone want to help me write it?

Actually, that could be a pretty decent idea. The members of ultimatemetal.com forums could contribute to ideas and a person can overlook the finalization and we could actually prepare a metal encyclopedia of our own. Heck, we've got the biggest of metal historians here.. people who know their metal well. Why not contribute and actually make someone compile ideas and put up our 'contribution to metal' through a publication? What do we need to get to it? A forum dedicated entirely to just the making process where everybody can contribute with the 'guy' moderating it. This could actually be pretty cool if we put some effort together What do you guys think?

 

[ALK]

Another quite decent book is "Extreme Metal" its just a reference to loads of bands but if you don't want in debth on everything its a good book

 

[Carcassian]

If true metalheads spent less time talking shit to each other on Internet forums one of them might actually use their writing skills to craft a decent book. Alas, the chances of that happening are approximately equal to Megadeth topping the Peace Sells album.

erm...Rust in Peace ?

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

I used to think that, but now that I'm older and wiser, I realise that, no, RIP is not better.

 

[Hatebreeder]

I used to think that, but now that I'm older and more senile, I realise that, no, RIP is not better.

Fixed.