ISBN 978-1-935950-10-3
Deluxe 240pp hardcover with over 200 color historical images and diaries
Foreword by Keith Cameron
Dimensions: 9″ x 11″ x 1.25″ (230mm x 280mm x 32mm); 4 lbs. (1.8 kg)
eBook: Kindle | Apple iTunes Books

The dramatic eight days covered in this book, from November 27 through December 4, 1989, represent a turning point for Nirvana. In this brief period, the young band goes from breaking up in Rome to winning over the influential British music press at Sub Pop’s LameFest UK showcase in London—setting the stage for their imminent popularity.

On November 27, 1989, when Pavitt and his Sub Pop partner Jon Poneman arrived to meet Nirvana in Rome, the band was almost finished with a grueling six week tour of Europe. Although determined to promote their grungy, riff-heavy debut album, Bleach, their travels with fellow Sub Pop act Tad had left them exhausted. Pavitt and Poneman did their best to revive the spirits of a frustrated and downcast Kurt Cobain. Despite a threatened leap from a 14-foot speaker tower, and a stolen passport, Cobain managed to continue to London, where Nirvana played the biggest and most important show of its career to date.

Nirvana’s breakthrough show at the 2,000-capacity Astoria Theatre in London featured three Seattle Sub Pop acts: Nirvana, Tad, and popular headliners Mudhoney. Nirvana opened the show, and their heart-pounding performance won over the crowd and changed the band’s fate. The powerful London music press proclaimed that Nirvana was “Sub Pop’s answer to the Beatles.” After that night, the world’s attention began to focus on the band that would become the biggest rock act of their generation.

“Sub Pop didn’t have much to work with. We knew Seattle was developing a distinctive brand of heavy, soulful, grungy rock, but we weren’t sure who our next bands were going to be. Then, everything unfolded. This is a Nirvana story with a joyful ending”—Bruce Pavitt

Playlist 1989: Fifty songs Bruce Pavitt heard at shows and parties in 1989 (via Spotify)

This book helps support Seattle’s Vera Project.

“Thoughtful and inspiring”—Publishers Weekly

Signed copy ships today with FREE limited bonus 1″ metal badge: “BLACK Women Into METAL,” plus a FREE color album card w/unique download code for What Are You Doing Here?: The Liberation Sessions, featuring black women in metal/hardcore.

[Show as slideshow]

ISBN 978-1-935950-05-9
Foreword by Skin of Skunk Anansie
208pp softcover w/color flaps
Dimensions: 6″ x 9″ (152mm x 230mm); 1 lb. (.45 kg)
eBook: Kindle | Nook | iTunes Books | Kobo

What Are You Doing Here? investigates how black women musicians and fans navigate the metal, hardcore, and punk music genres that are regularly thought of as inclusive spaces and centered on a community spirit, but fail to block out the race and gender issues that exist in the outside world.

“The first time I heard rock music it was really exciting. I felt that this new music and vibe was really me. I remember going to bed and having dreams that I was performing this music and visualizing myself on stage, way before it actually happened… What always appealed to me about rock music is the feeling of freedom, that I could finally be who I wanted to be and sing the music that I felt in my heart. Some black people that I met in the music industry felt that we could be stronger and better empowered if we all stayed within in the same box, but I had always relished the fact that I never belonged to any cliques, or any scenes…”—Skin, Skunk Anansie

“I wanted to find other black women like me: metal, hardcore, and punk fans and musicians that were rabid about the music and culture and adamant about asserting their rightful place as black women within those scenes. I wanted to find other women who put aside the cultural baggage that dictates that we must listen to certain musical styles, and simply enjoy the music that influenced us, not just as black women, but as individuals who grew up in an era when, thanks to technology, a large variety of music is accessible and available to everyone. I found many black women and have shared their stories, but I also realize there is still a lot of work to be done.”—Laina Dawes

CONTENTS:

“Who Put That Shaven-Headed Black Woman on the Stage?” Foreword by Skin

Introduction, by Laina Dawes

I. Canadian Steel

II. Metal Can Save Your Life (or at Least Your Sanity)

III. I’m Here Because We Started It!

IV. So You Think You’re White?

V. “The Only One” Syndrome

VI. Too Black, Too Metal, and All Woman

VII. The Lingering Stench of Racism in Metal

VIII. Remove the Barricades and Stagedive!

Epilogue

Appendix: “What Are You Doing Here?”—The Survey

Laina Dawes is a music and cultural critic and opinion writer, an active public speaker, and a contributor to CBC Radio. Also a current affairs columnist for Afrotoronto.com and contributing editor for Blogher.org. She lives in Toronto.

What Are You Doing Here?: The Liberation Sessions download card courtesy of Black Rock Coalition.

SIGNED COPY ships today with exclusive FREE metal badge!

• ISBN 9780979616310
• 450 densely-illustrated pages
• Heavy-duty 130gsm paper
• Extensive 300pp history PLUS 150pp highly opinionated band encyclopedia, gallery, and fanzine bibliography
• Written by Daniel Ekeroth (of Insision, Tyrant, Dellamorte, Diskonto; and author ofViolent Italy)

”Finally, the true story of Swedish death metal! This book brought me back to the good old days”—Tomas Lindberg, At the Gates

“Death metal ruled my adolescent years. The problem is I don’t remember half of it! This tome of dark recollections is the chance to set things straight.”—Nicke Andersson, Nihilist/Entombed/The Hellacopters

“Read this book if you are willing to be subjected to the story behind the extreme face-melting, flesh-ripping, ear-slaying, gut-blasting phenomenon known as Swedish death metal!”—Chris Reifert, Death/Autopsy

Swedish Death Metal: The Heretical Soundtrack (via Spotify):

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ISBN 978-1-935950-07-3
Deluxe 304pp large-format landscape hardcover
Dimensions: 12″ x 9″ (305mm x 230mm); 4 lbs. (2.5 kg)

Presenting nearly 400 first-generation L.A. hardcore punk photographs. Including complete color reprints of We Got Power fanzine 1981–1983 and beyond.

“One of the most thorough and lush compendiums of any punk movement”—Dangerous Minds

“The stark, often beautiful imagery presents an intimate portrayal of West Coast punk in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. With the accompanying personal reminiscences of turmoil and tenacity, which add depth and evocative context, it is a fantastic document of the scene’s emergence.”—PopMatters

In 1979, punk was over… but by 1981, hardcore was born.

As teenagers in 1981, David Markey and his best friend Jordan Schwartz founded We Got Power, a fanzine dedicated to the first-generation hardcore punk music community in their native Los Angeles. Their text and cameras captured the early punk spirit of Black Flag, the Minutemen, Social Distortion, Red Cross/Redd Kross, Suicidal Tendencies, the Descendents, White Flag, the Last, the Gun Club, Saccharine Trust, Sin 34, Nip Drivers, Circle One, M.D.C., Big Boys, Youth Brigade, D.R.I., the Butthole Surfers, Firehose, and many others at the height of their precocious punk powers.

In the process, the duo’s amazing photographs also captured the dilapidated suburbs, abandoned storefronts, and dereliction of the early Reagan era—a rubble-strewn social apocalypse that demanded a youth uprising! Never before seen except in crude fanzine form, these detailed and richly narrative photos are now collected to present an intimate portrayal of a uniquely fertile creative moment.

“The Black Flag bus rolled out to the San Fernando Valley to hear Minor Threat play. Jordan Schwartz was there, looking like a reporter straight out of some ’30s movie, wearing a trench coat and a fedora with press pass in the hatband, holding a camera with an old-style flash reflector. It was a pivotal conceptual moment…”—Chuck Dukowski

David Markey was born December 3, 1963, in Burbank, CA. He made his first film at the age of 11 and published a neighborhood newspaper at 12. In 1980, he became involved in the local underground music scene. He helped form Sin 34 in 1981, and captured the punk scene in the Super 8 film The Slog Movie. Markey was a part of We Got Power magazine from 1981 to 1983, then kept the name alive through his We Got Power Films. He cowrote and directed Desperate Teenage Lovedolls in 1984. He photographed, edited, cowrote, and directed Lovedolls Superstar in 1986. Also that year, his band Painted Willie toured with Black Flag for six months, a period depicted in his film Reality 86’d. Markey has directed music videos for Meat Puppets, fIREHOSE, Shonen Knife, Mudhoney, and Pat Smear, and collaborated with visual artists Cameron Jamie, Raymond Pettibon, and Kim Gordon.

Jordan Schwartz met David Markey while skateboarding in a flooded Santa Monica parking garage in 1979. As they discovered the growing Los Angeles hardcore punk rock scene, Jordan teamed up with David, his sister, Jennifer, and Alan Gilbert to found We Got Power magazine. Jordan contributed in many roles, including that of staff photographer. Jordan had producing and acting roles in Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and the sequel, Lovedolls Superstar, notably appearing as the rock star Brews Springstein. Jordan facilitated the release of three Black Flag skateboards featuring original artwork by Raymond Pettibon. In 1984, Jordan began working and living at SST Records’ Global Network Agency booking gigs and tours for various high-profile bands on and off of the label during the pioneering years of the U.S. independent scene.

Orders ship immediately with FREE bonus embroidered Arne Babb mascot patch.

ISBN 978-0-9796163-4-1
Deluxe 744pp hardcover w/720pp b/w pages
Over 600 reproductions from every issue of Slayer Mag)
100+ rare historical images
8pp color insert from Slayer Mag Archives
16pp gallery of photo portraits by Jon Kristiansen
Dimensions: 8.5″ x 11″ x 2″ (215mm x 280mm x 51mm); 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg)
Forewords by Ian Christe, Tomas Lindberg, Chris Reifert, Fenriz, Stephen O’Malley, Erik Danielsson, and Tara G. Warrior

For twenty-five years, Norway’s Slayer Mag published the gospel of black metal and death metal, combining eye-ripping graphics, brutally honest writing, and relentless offbeat humor. With this anthology/memoir, editor Jon “Metalion” Kristiansen unfolds the extreme highs and lows of a life lived for heavy metal. Founded in 1985 in Sarpsborg, Norway, Slayer Mag quickly rose to prominence by championing countless unsigned death metal pioneers. The pages of Slayer Mag exploded along with the extreme metal underground, and as black metal rose to prominence in Norway in the 1990s, Slayer Mag remained the final word on the moods and motivations of those dark times.

The astonishing combination of archival material includes scores of key historic interviews with the most revered figures in extreme metal, including Mayhem, Emperor, Slayer, Kreator, Nihilist, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Cathedral, Entombed, Morbid, Napalm Death, Metallica, Opeth, Cradle of Filth, Sadistik Execution, Usurper, Nifelheim, Darkthrone, Sodom, Destruction, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Exodus, Dissection, Candlemass, Carcass, Sepultura, Gorgoroth, Death, Watain, Sadus, Satyricon, Enslaved, Pentagram, Jarboe, Immortal, Possessed, Overkill, Ulver, Dark Angel, and countless others.

“From the start, I made Slayer Mag as honestly and as well as I could,” says Kristiansen. “I never knew any other way. I hope that I have produced something that will stand the test of time.”

The complete series 1979–1983. Twenty-two issues in one loud, fast volume. Ships today in a hardcore fun pack w/FREE 1 1/4″ metal badge, yellow new wave balloons, and more!

ISBN 978-0979616389
Trade edition with deluxe durable flex binding
576 stiff full-sized pages
Introductory essays by Tesco Vee, Dave Stimson, Steve Miller, Henry Rollins, Keith Morris, Peter Davis, Henry Owings, Byron Coley, Corey Rusk, John Brannon, and Ian MacKaye
Dimensions: 8.5″ x 11.5″ (220mm x 280mm); 3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg)

In laughably minuscule press runs by today’s standards, T & G was made by guys within the Midwest scene strictly for the edification of scenesters and pals in other cities like DC, Philly, Boston, LA, SF, Chicago, et al. Inspired by magazines such as Slash and Search and Destroy and writers like Claude Bessy and Chris Desjardines, TV and DS pumped out seventeen naughty, irreverent issues together, and TV did another five solo.

Magazines like Forced Exposure and Your Flesh, among others, soon fired up Xerox machines themselves, and the rest is history. So is the legendary independent record label launched from this zine, and so are the bands covered inside: Black Flag, Minor Threat, the Misfits, Negative Approach, the Fix, the Avengers, the Necros, Discharge, Iron Cross, Youth Brigade, Faith, Die Kreuzen, Crucifix, Poison Idea—and all the other punks worth their weight in glorious black and white.

Moisten your earholes with fresh words wet from the mouths of author Tesco Vee and editor Steve Miller:

ISBN 978-09796163-9-6
288pp (24pp color) deluxe Wibalin-bound hardcover
Introduction by Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone
Foreword by Joel McIver
Dimensions: 9.25″ x 11.5″ (241mm x 292mm); 4 lbs. (1.8 kg)

This formidable oversized hardcover runs 288 pages (including a 32-page color section), and combines hundreds of unseen early Hellhammer and Celtic Frost photos with a vast treasure trove of artwork and memorabilia. A substantial written component by Fischer details his upbringing on the outskirts of Zurich, Switzerland, and the hardships and triumphs he faced bringing the visions of his groundbreaking bands Hellhammer and eventually Celtic Frost to reality. In addition, the book includes an introduction by Nocturno Culto of Norwegian black metal act Darkthrone, and a foreword by noted metal author Joel McIver.

Without question Only Death Is Real goes farther than any other source in exploring the origins of underground heavy metal. The wealth of visual information is astounding, both in terms of documenting early 1980s headbangers and exposing the still-relevant imagery of the first Hellhammer and Celtic Frost photo sessions. On top of that, the written chapters combine Tom Fischer’s often shocking stories with lengthy quotes from Martin Eric Ain and the other main Hellhammer members, explaining in intimately human terms how extreme metal was born.

“This is a book about the real Hellhammer, the essence of that group, the aura it carried, and the truly unique spirit of revolution of the times in which it existed. It is a book about a group of outcasts—about persistence, dedication, and an utterly personal vision. I have worked very hard to make sure it will do justice to the work of a number of very unique people who shared the same ideas at a very unique point in time.”—Tom Gabriel Fischer

Signed by author, ships immediately with FREE bonus color 1.25″ metal badge!

ISBN 978-09796163-6-5
320pp trade paperback, w/8pp sensational color section
Foreword by Christina Lindberg (Thriller, Maid in Sweden)
Features over 200 reviews of strange and sexy Swedish films
Full-color insert features rare vintage film posters and lobby cards
Original cover artwork by Wes Benscoter (Black Sabbath, Slayer)

In 1911, Sweden enacted the world’s first government board of film censors, provoking a century-long war against filmmakers that outlived two World Wars, communism, and the sexual revolution. In 2011, the censors finally surrendered—and SWEDISH SENSATIONSFILMS declares victory with a fiery retrospective of over 200 often banned and cut films produced during the golden age of Swedish sin. PLUS: First-hand accounts by starlet Christina Lindberg (Thriller: En Grym Film, Maid in Sweden); scores of rare exhibition posters and images, a glossary of curious Swedish customs; and an uninhibited cast of thousands, including: Stellan Skarsgård, Pernilla August, Lee Hazlewood, Dennis Hopper, Max von Sydow, David Carradine, Heinz Hopf, Harry Reems, Noomi Rapace, Marie Forså, Troy Donahue, Zinny Zan, and Ludde the dog.

Produced in the backyard of the Swedish film industry, these sexually daring films form a canon of countless sensational movies dealing with shocking or taboo subjects—street punks, sadistic mobsters, space aliens, unruly housewives, ruthless drug pushers, bloodthirsty ninjas, teen temptresses, lingonberry cowboys, bearded perverts, and drunken vikings—all simply too strange to ignore.

Once again, Swedish Death Metal author Daniel Ekeroth delves into the arcane culture and contradictions of his homeland, returning with the first comprehensive overview of Swedish Sensationsfilms—the Scandinavian scourge of the world’s exploitation cinema.

“I look back with genuine joy. I am so very happy I could be a part of the seventies, it was so incredibly interesting. I carry it with me; it is a part of me. I would never deny being in those movies. I know that a lot of people do so, but I just had a blast.”— Christina Lindberg

“Into this rising whirlwind of madness, I was born. As the ‘70s came along, all limits were forgotten. Sweden was flooded with sexually explicit and violent films of every kind…and all morals were gone.”—Daniel Ekeroth

Read the “SINSational Sweden” interview with Daniel Ekeroth HERE.

Ships today with a FREE limited 1″ metal badge.

ISBN 9780979616327
352pp includes 32 color pages of unseen photos
Exquisite 100gsm paper
eBook: Kindle | Nook | Kobo

Hailing from the tiny hamlet of Kitee, Finland (pop. 10,000) Nightwish has captivated the world’s imagination with magical million-selling releases like Once, Century Child, and Wishmaster. Their saga is a heavy metal fable as dramatic and tumultuous as the band’s epic symphonic music. In these details and confessions, a vivid and painfully honest portrait of a musical dream emerges—and tensions swell as a split with original singer Tarja Turunen becomes inevitable.

In this remarkably revealing official biography, author Mape Ollila charts the rise from village student project to global stardom, gaining unprecedented access not just to the members of Nightwish past and present; but also their families, their loyal and lewd crew, their peers, their critics, and countless other insiders from the Nightwish adventure. The book lays bare the creative firepower and personal demons of songwriter Tuomas Holopainen; the unique talents and traits of guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and bassist Marco Hietala; and the true reasons behind the 2005 departure of vocalist Tarja Turunen—in the band’s words and hers.

Along the way, the band struggles with religious protesters, fortune-tellers, naked crew members, health problems, shady promoters, out-of-control fans, and the growing pains of an ever-steeper rock star learning curve. Happily ever after or not, these unique Finnish personalities are brought to life in this journey into the mysteries of…Once Upon a Nightwish.

Download free sample [.PDF format]: “Chapter 5. The Upward Spiral”

Orders ship immediately with FREE exclusive 1″ metal badge.

ISBN 978-1-935950-04-2
Deluxe 288pp illustrated softcover inc. 16pp color insert
Dimensions: 6.5″ x 9″ x .75″ (165mm x 230mm x 19mm); 2 lbs. (.9 kg)
eBook: Amazon Kindle | Nook | Apple iTunes Books | Kobo

“One of my favorite reads this year”—GuitarWorld.com

“Compelling and highly entertaining… an eye-opening look into one of rock’s biggest, and most secretive, outfits.”—MusicRadar

Within days of joining AC/DC, Mark Evans played his first show as the band’s bass player. A week later he was on national TV, alongside devious schoolboy Angus Young and the wild singer Bon Scott—dressed as a pigtailed, cigarette-smoking schoolgirl and waving a mallet. In the next few years Mark toured internationally, and appeared on the groundbreaking and platinum-selling AC/DC releases High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock, and the ‘74 Jailbreak EP.

Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC brings the gripping, laugh-out-loud tale of a band that lived fast and played harder than anyone else. The first bio by a band insider during the early years, the book details the struggles and personalities behind the rise of hard rock’s most successful group; with guest spots by rock n’ roll icons like George Harrison, Gene Simmons, Phil Lynott, and members of Metallica. In his honest and revealing memoir, mark evans contends with life’s many turns: A rough-as-nails upbringing, lucky breaks, soaring highs, and terrible personal loss and tragedy. It was a long way to the top…and he was just getting started.

“The aggressive attitude that AC/DC had towards Australian bands continued when we shifted overseas. The world’s bigger bands became our new targets. Who the fuck did these pricks think they were? We saw a few of the so-called headline acts and straight away knew that we had nothing to fear.”

SIGNED COPY ships today w/FREE set of full-color Hellbent for Cooking/Morbid Chef drink coasters!

ISBN 978-1935950004
224pp full-color deluxe softcover cookbook
Dimensions: 7.5″ x 9″ x .75″ (190mm x 230mm x 20mm); 1.75 lbs (.34 kg)

“Positively no false meals…every single metalhead who gets around in the kitchen needs this book.”—Decibel

“What these bands have in common is metal—an art form, an attitude, a lifestyle. It’s not just a gimmick in the cookbook context; it comes screaming through the recipes.”—LA Weekly

With this delicious collection of favorite basic recipes by heavy metal bands from around the globe, Annick “The Morbid Chef” Giroux declares war on junk food, and fires up the flame for a special heavy metal feast.

Hellbent for Cooking feeds voracious appetites with a varied menu of over a hundred recipes from thirty countries, including Yorkshire Pudding from England, Beer Pizza Crust from Germany, Spaghetti Barracuda from Italy, Fårikål from Norway, Country Lamb Exohiko from Greece, Churrasco from Brazil, and Mushroom Steak à la Jack Daniel’s from the United States.

The dishes are legendary, and so are the bands. Feel the heat of thrash metal pioneers Sepultura, Kreator, Anthrax, and Nuclear Assault; the proto-metal heavy rock of Thin Lizzy, early Judas Priest, and Uriah Heep; the slow-cooked doom of Pentagram and Saint Vitus; and the extreme cuisine of underground pioneers Autopsy, Death, Repulsion; and Norway’s infamous black metal chefs Mayhem and Gorgoroth.

Raise your infernal fork for madman Chris Reifert’s Mummified Jalapeño Bacon Bombs, then sample Roast Beef with Green Beans prepared under the watchful eye of Udo Dirkschneider of Accept. Try After the Bombs’ Speed Metal Vegan Tofu, or Eyehategod’s favorite New Orleans Blood Red Beans and Rice.

Afterwards, Doro Pesch of Warlock serves her Black Forest Cake, and Richard Christy from Death pours his trademark cocktail, the mighty Viking Testicle. Now for anyone with a taste for metal: The kitchen gates are open—grab your weapons of mass nutrition and let the feasts begin!

Featuring a full flavorful menu of appetizer, breakfast, lunch, dinner, vegetarian, seafood, dessert, and drink recipes contributed by members of:

Abigail, Abscess, Accept, After the Bombs, Alcoholic Rites, Amebix, Anthrax, Anvil, Armored Saint, Arphaxat, Atomizer, Autopsy, Bastardator, Bëehler, Blackfire, Blasphemy, Brutal Truth, Budgie, Bulldozer, Cauldron, Children of Technology, Control Denied, Countess, Cruachan, Dantesco, Deadmask, Death, Death SS, Deiphago, Denial of God, Desolation Angels, Destruction, Devastation, Dissection, Doro, Dusk, Electric Wizard, Elixir, Envenom, Exciter, Eyehategod, Faustcoven, Funerot, Goat Horn, Gorgoroth, Grimorium Verum, Gwar, Hidden Hand, Holocausto, Impaler, Inepsy, Judas Priest, Kreator, Lamp of Thoth, L’Impero Delle Ombre, Lord Vicar, Mantak, Master, Master’s Hammer, Mayhem, Melechesh, Messiah, Midnight, Minotaur, Mortal Sin, Mütiilation, Necromantia, Necrosadist, Nuclear Assault, Obituary, Obscurity, Orodruin, Pagan Altar, Pentagram, Piledriver, Possessed, Procession, Repulsion, Reverend Bizarre, Rigor Mortis, Rotting Christ, Sadistik Exekution, Saint Vitus, Sepultura, Shackles, Sigh, Sir Lord Baltimore, Skyforger, Slaughter, S.O.D., Spirit Caravan, Stiny Plamenu, Tankard, Thanatos, The Gates of Slumber, The Obsessed, The Rods, Lord Weird Slough Feg, Thin Lizzy, Toxic Holocaust, Trench Hell, Trouble, Tygers of Pan Tang, U.D.O.. Uriah Heep, Warlock, Warpig, Weapon, Wino, Witchfynde, Witchtrap, Xibalba, and Zemial.

Turn the knob to eleven with the Hellbent for Cooking soundtrack (via Spotify)

Ships today with exclusive full-color 26″ x 11.5″ (660mm x 292mm) two-sided dustjacket/poster.

ISBN 978-1-935950-03-5
272pp full-color hardcover
Dimensions: 9.25″ x 11.5″ x 1″ (235mm x 292mm x 25.4mm); 4 lbs. (1.8 kg)

“Awesome”—Brian Slagel, Metal Blade Records

“Fucking awesome”—Kerry King, Slayer

“Great”—Lars Ulrich, Metallica

“AMAZING”—Alex Skolnick, Testament

“Thank you for writing this book! It’s the definitive story of the scene and what we managed to make of it here in the Bay Area.”—Kirk Hammett, Metallica

“Murder in the Front Row captures the true essence of thrash metal in its embryonic stage. These photographs take me on a tour down memory lane, bringing back many laughs and prompting comments like: ‘I don’t remember that!’”—Dave Lombardo, Slayer

“Truly essential…a snapshot of a period in history that was thrilling, raw, violent, and visceral”—Joel McIver, Record Collector UK [5/5 stars]

“Harald O., the craziest photographer of all”—BAM

During the early 1980s, when heavy metal was defined by MTV and mile-high hair, San Francisco’s small community of dedicated headbangers scorned image and instead risked life and limb in search of the ultimate in musical thrills. Locals Exodus and Los Angeles transplants Metallica reigned in small clubs like the Old Waldorf, The Stone, and the infamous East Bay bastion of heaviness, Ruthie’s Inn. Thrash metal upstarts Slayer and Megadeth found a second home in the Bay Area, while a homegrown breed of tempo-crazed teenagers like Legacy, Possessed, Death Angel, Heathen, and Vio-lence brought Bay Area thrash metal to critical mass.

Photographers Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew were dodging bodies from the very start, in front of the stage, backstage, and on the stage itself. They captured the public victories and private parties of a scene where fans and musical idols were equally hellbent on faster, heavier music and endless outrageous fun. Oimoen and Lew fought on the frontline of a war for individuality, snapping frame by frame as thrash metal was born, along with stagediving, crowd-walking, and countless other magical moments filled with key local personalities.

Somewhere along the way, Oimoen and Lew’s friends in Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth became legends. Today, the Big Four thrash metal bands pictured in this book are the reigning elder statesmen of heavy metal. Their fellow ragers in Exodus, D.R.I., Testament, Death Angel, Possessed, and Forbidden remain ambassadors of a Bay Area metal scene that continues to thrive and command fascination around the world.

This stunning volume collects over 400 amazing color and black-and-white photos, plus passionate personal accounts by Bay Area veterans Harald Oimoen, Brian Lew, Ron Quintana of Metal Mania, Gary Holt of Exodus, Alex Skolnick of Testament, and Robb Flynn of Machine Head. From DIY origins to world domination, the Bay Area thrash metal scene screams to life in these fearless pages.

“This will not be a history book, but rather a time machine back to the ‘bonded by blood’ days of the original Bay Area Metal scene. Before they played the Bay Area, Slayer wore makeup onstage—after that first Bay Area show they never wore makeup again. This book will show people why.”—Brian Lew

Bang the Head That Doesn’t Bang: fifteen songs that dominated Bay Area parties (via Spotify):

After Hanoi Rocks dissolved following the death of drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley in Hollywood in December 1984, McCoy carried on with Suicide Twins, Cherry Bombz, a successful solo career, and a stint as a sideman to Iggy Pop. Meanwhile, Hanoi Rocks’ over-the-top image and streetwise bending of punk, glam, and rock ‘n’ roll inspired a generation of platinum-selling bands.

McCoy’s 204-page hilarious and harrowing autobiography includes dozens of rare candid photos, a deluxe embossed cover, a lengthy select discography spanning three decades of rarities, and a new 2009 preface written by McCoy after the final breakup of Hanoi Rocks. The book features guest appearances by Guns N’ Roses, Mötley Crue, the UK Subs, Ofra Haza, Kid Creole, Bob Marley, Lita Ford, David Coverdale of Whitesnake, Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls, Stiv Bators, various Brazilian street urchins, the LAPD, British customs officials, and the Israeli Army Security Forces.

According to the author: “This book is entertainment for entertainment’s sake, for lovers of rock ‘n’ roll history and people who have a taste for the macabre.”

“Sheriff McCoy is a frank, but upbeat experience, and should be required reading for all those who believe in the transformative thunder of rock ‘n’ roll.”—Amp

ISBN 978-09796163-3-4
High-quality 400pp trade paperback
Original cover artwork by Michel “Away” Langevin
Illus. w/over 100 images + 16pp full-color insert
Dimensions: 6.75″ x 9.5″ x 1″ (170mm x 240mm x 25mm); 2 lbs. (.75 kg)
eBook: Kindle | Nook | Kobo

“Jeff goes deep into this much maligned music form and presents it with fervor”—Vice

“An extremely fluent read…sits high on the list of canonical metal texts”—PopMatters

“Revered former Metal Maniacs editor Jeff Wagner analyzes the heady side of metal in this exhaustive history of a relentlessly ambitious musical subculture. Beginning with 1970s progressive rock acts Rush and King Crimson, Mean Deviation unfurls a colorful tapestry of sounds and styles, from the “Big Three” of 1980s prog metal—Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, and Dream Theater—to extreme pioneers Voivod, Watchtower, and Celtic Frost. The flirtation between heavy metal and progressive rock grows with bold creative leaps, spawning countless valiant launches toward infinity. Today, the spark of inspiration thrives in obscure outposts such as Scandinavia, Florida, and Japan, bursting into full flame with the successes of prog metal overlords Opeth, Meshuggah, Tool, Between the Buried and Me, and their progressive peers.

According to Wagner: “Mean Deviation highlights many impossibly scattered bands and movements that widened the scope of the heavy metal genre. To some, progressive metal starts with Dream Theater and ends with an interminable stream of bands that sound like Dream Theater. By my interpretation, the term ‘progressive metal’ allows for consideration of cosmic post-black metal band In the Woods, avant-garde metal surrealists Thought Industry, and those obscure purveyors of corrupted Swedish death metal, Carbonized-along with more obvious entries such as Fates Warning, Opeth, and, of course, Dream Theater.

“One thing prog metal certainly is, is metal. Hard and bold and brash, but refined, adulterated, and mutated; it is heavy metal taken somewhere illuminating and sometimes bizarre.”

Jeff Wagner interviews on Invisible Oranges and Vice.

Ships today with FREE bonus Mellodrama: The Mellotron Music soundtrack CD plus exclusive 1″ metal badge.

NTSC DVD * Region 0 * deluxe digipak
Running time: 80 mins. + sixteen DVD bonus shorts
UPC 705105476964
Includes 8-page booklet with essay by Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues; Mellotron and Chamberlin production timelines; and more.

Mellodrama, a documentary by Dianna Dilworth, explores the rising and falling fortunes of the Chamberlin and its better-known successor the Mellotron—the first musical keyboards to play the pre-recorded sounds of other instruments.

From a California workshop to Royal Albert Hall, Mellodrama tells the story of an ingenious contraption called the Mellotron. Essentially the first sampling instrument, its haunting sound has changed the production and texture of popular music—from the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” and the Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin” to Radiohead’s OK Computer and Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”

featuring members from: The Beach Boys • The Moody Blues • The Zombies • King Crimson • Yes • Cheap Trick • Black Sabbath • Genesis • Refugee • Opeth • Latin Playboys • Goblin • Maroon 5 • Moog Cookbook • Änglagård • Optiganally Yours • Bigelf

plus: Fabio Frizzi • Jon Brion • Michael Penn • Matthew Sweet • Woody Jackson • Zac Rae • Patrick Warren

DVD ships today with Mellodrama: The Mellotron Music original movie soundtrack CD, featuring recordings from the Chamberlin Archives and the Optigan Archives, along with tracks featuring the Chamberlin or the Mellotron from Michael Penn, Patrick Warren, Brian Kehew, Mattias Olsson, Dave Biro, and Bigelf.

ISBN 978-09796163-5-8
Traducido por Carlos San Román C. [Rolling Stone Mexico]
Arte de la cubierta: Wes Benscoter
Introducción: John Peel
Prólogo: Nick Terry
Traducción de Introducción y Prólogo: Hugo Garcia [Jedbangers.ar]
288 paginas

“Personalmente, Eligiendo muerte es la edición que más me entusiasmado. La audiencia de habla hispana es honestamente la más apasionada y leal de toda la escena del metal. Estoy super feliz de que los metaleros ahora puedan contar una versión del libro en su propio idioma. ¡Es un gran honor y espero que a todos les encante!”—Albert Mudrian

Eligiendo muerte: La improbable historia del death metal y grindcore, reseña los 25 años de historia de esta forma de arte subterráneo a través de los ojos y de los resonantes oídos de los artistas, productores y dueños de sellos que propulsaron estos brutales movimientos musicales:

Mike Amott (Carcass), Nicke Andersson (Entombed), Trey Azagthoth (Morbid Angel), Chris Barnes (Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under), Jeff Becerra (Possessed), Jo Bench (Bolt Thrower), Glen Benton (Deicide), Justin Broadrick (Godflesh), Oscar Garcia (Terrorizer), King Fowley (Deceased), Fenriz (Darkthrone), Shane Embury (Napalm Death, Brujeria), Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly), Ross Dolan (Immolation), Trevor Peres (Obituary), Jesse Pintado (Terrorizer, Napalm Death), Digby Pearson (Earache), James Murphy (Death, Disincarnate, Obituary), Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror), Kam Lee (Death, Massacre), Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates), Danny Lilker (Brutal Truth), Chris Reifert (Death, Autopsy), Matti Kärki (Dismember), Anders Jakobson (Nasum), Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost), Terrance Hobbs (Suffocation), Johnny Hedlund (Nihilist, Unleashed), Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy), Scott Hull (Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Alex Wank (Pungent Stench), Jeff Walker (Carcass, Brujeria), David Vincent (Morbid Angel), Samoth (Emperor), Karl Sanders (Nile), Chuck Schuldiner (Death), Paul Speckmann (Master), Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) y mucho más…

Capitulo 1. “El punk es un cadaver putrefacto” [5.8MB .PDF]

Viva la MUERTE!