What’s a book review doing in my music blog? Well this book is about the history of metal, and even though it is a well written book (and not just some fanzine type stuff), I decided to put the review here instead of my book review category.
Sound of the Beast is written by Ian Christe (who I’ve never heard of), and does a decent job of detailing the history of Heavy Metal. IMHO, he spends too much time on Metallica, and to a lesser extent Black Sabbath, and makes them seem to be the be all end all of metal, and doesn’t focus as much on all the other bands. But he could of done it just to add more pages to the book. He does cover all the various genres of metal, and at least mentions just about everyone who might fit into the metal category. But it lacks the depth needed for the 2nd tier metal bands, and goes into detail on only the 1st tier bands. But, if you are a metal fan, I’d definitely suggest going out and buying this book. Odds are that it will trigger a memory of a band from back in the day, and leave you wanting to find a used copy of their CD on eBay. I definitely didn’t think Ian gave enough credit to the NJ/.NYC metal scene, and barely touch upon Overkill, but I’m sure everyone has their personal cult favorite that he didn’t give enough detail on.