SOUND OF THE BEAST

Fevered history of the underdog genre that has sold 75 million records in the US alone.

In the decades since Black Sabbath’s 1970 debut launched heavy metal, says freelance journalist Christe, “100 million listeners sought refuge in the resounding cultural boom, finding a purity unmitigated by doubts or distractions.” By the late ’70s, critical disdain was countered by the rising commercial presence of “protometal” bands like AC/DC, Kiss, and Led Zeppelin. During the ’80s, the popularity of the New Wave of British heavy metal (Motorhead, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden) inspired a frantic tape-trading network in the US, from which arose numerous thrash and power metal bands, including Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. While these bands stealthily developed large fan bases in Middle America without radio play, Los Angeles “glam metal” generated chart-toppers for image-obsessed bands like Motley Crüe and Poison. Christe also delves into the fresher territory of black and death metal—hyperfast, youthful music obsessed with perverse decay, supported by worldwide underground networks—and other regional phenomena that defy the stereotypes, such as the grass-roots “nu metal” of Slipknot and “digital metal” like the author’s own project, Dark Noerd. Christe discusses nearly all of it with a sense of uncritical wonder, mostly ignoring the seamy side of a genre notorious for misogyny and substance abuse, yet finds little positive to say about arguably more important forms like punk, funk, and rap except when they intersect with his beloved metal. David Konow’s greatly superior Bang Your Head (2002) approaches metal from a nuanced, humanized perspective; Christe, by comparison, offers a streamlined, unquestioning fan’s overview. Still, his command of the genre’s many detours and obscurities is admirable, and he sneaks in some shrewd analysis between hormonal commentary, e.g., his comparison of classic Gibson guitars to “magic wands for unlocking the power of a mighty wall of Marshall amps.” Some pages are occupied by Spin-style charts and Top-10 lists.

More for headbangers than outsiders.