When Kontinual lent me his copy of this great book, I had no idea what I was in for. It's not a retrospective and not so much a nostalgia swipe as an attempt to preserve the past of the death metal genre through the words of the musicians who created it.
Outside of an introduction by Laurent Ramadier, the book is entirely composed of short retrospectives written by the bands themselves. Some are apologetic and wistful, others charging ahead full of verve, and still others factual or like the odd literary piece by Revenant's Henry Veggian, insights into the mentality of those days.
It doesn't make sense to group this book in with other death metal books like Choosing Death or Lords of Chaos, which attempt to analyze and formulate a coherent single narrative for the evolution of the genre. Instead, this is primary research material, with each essay providing approximately a short interview's worth of primary source material for the growth of the death metal underground.
Compiled by Alan Moses (BUTTFACE 'zine) and Brian Pattison (CHAINSAW ABORTIONS 'zine), this half-folio tome brings out the best in death metal, including introductions to a veritable treasure trove of early partial evolutions of death metal. If you want a shopping list for the most obscure neo-death out there, get a pad and paper before you read this.
Printed in an initial run of 150 copies, the book will be heading back for a reprint soon. In the meantime, here's the list of bands who contributed material:
- Autopsy
- Paineater
- Deicide
- Baphomet/Banished
- Groovy Aardvark
- Sepultura
- Prime Evil
- Brutality
- Master/Abomination/Death Strike
- Nuclear Death
- Hellwitch
- Malevolent Creation
- Vomit
- Death
- Derketa
- Cannibal Corpse
- Deceased
- Massacre
- Insanity
- Disharmonic Orchestra
- Possessed
- Incubus/Opprobrium
- Revenant
- Massappeal
- Unseen Terror
- Lethal Aggression
- Incantation
- Tirant Sin
- Morbid Angel
- Hideous Mangleus
- Dream Death
- Nocturnus
- Ripping Corpse
- Soothsayer
- Acheron
- Where's The Pope?
- Napalm Death
It will be great to see this book hit the racks for the long term, because it's chock full of raw material for anyone curious as to the birth of death metal, the underground, and the related genres that spawned from the raw ferment of metallic anguish in that era.
For more information, consult the blog about the book, or its myspace.
Comments
An amazing effort all around Brett, and a cool review to boot - you really DO get it don't you! Thanks so much, we need die hard supporters who understand what we are trying to do here - and fathom this simplest of concepts - to forge forward and spread the word in the hopes of seeing this get reprinted. Again, your efforts have left us humbled.
Great article on a great book.
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