Sound of the Beast. The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal

A quick search on “Heavy Metal” in the books section of Amazon reveals a list of some dozen issues about the music, the people who make it and the cult that follows. A short history of the genre itself is usually a part of these books, but rarely do you find a wider analysis or a “Complete [...] History of Heavy Metal” that’s not an encyclopedia. Ian Christe’s attempt alone is worth an applause, just when you think about Metal and all those roots that it derives from and the branches it has grown. Where to begin? Which path to follow? Christe puts in a load of knowledge, behind-the-scenes information, quotations and weaves them into a coherent storyline that essentially follows a chronology of events outlined in the beginning of the book. So, is this book worth reading? And, moreover, is it the promised “Complete Headbanging History”? Let’s find out!

In the beginning there was…

Black Sabbath, a quite simple and obvious fact which Christe can’t stress enough. And why would he begin with the misty origins of metal in blues and rock’n'roll? After all, this book is about pure heavy metal and that’s what Sabbath was and is about. In my personal opinion, Deep Purple and especially Ritchie Blackmore’s follow-up Rainbow were about as influential for modern day heavy metal and its subgenres, first and foremost power metal, as Tony Iommi et al. Of course, Christe mentions them, but rather shortly and he doesn’t refer to them later whenever he’s talking about influences.

Christe is an American and therefore, he’s most proficient in the American metal scene, so, after some 20 pages about BS, hard rock and proto-metal, another 20 pages about the initial “new wave of British heavy metal”, he presents us with more than 190 pages about the (further) development of metal int he USA. Now, don’t get me wrong, the US were most important for giving metal a commercial platform on which it could spread throughout the world – yet there were many countries that caught the spark and it would have been most interesting to just quickly have a glance at how the development took place in different locations. Christe at least points out the importance of the German scene with speed metal acts such as Kreator, Destruction and so on.

Metallica bloody Metallica

Christe’s main focus stays on the USA though. The frame for his narrative is built up by the history of Metallica – and that is a good choice! I wasn’t into the early history of the band before and it was quite funny to realize they started as metal kids as well who were and stayed deeply rooted in the scene. With the rise of Metallica came the rise of metal. Of course, not only Metallica was responsible for that and Christe also describes the hair metal movement in detail and the other members of the “Big Four” (of thrash metal): Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer.

Coming back to the narrative, I think that’s what best about this book: Its coherent flow of stories, interviews, trivia and world news melted into one epic tale of heavy metal. Bringing together all these different developments and finding the relations between them is a great achievement of the author, no doubt. This is even more apparent, when you consider the whole lot of subgenres and clashes with other genres which Christe mentions and analyzes.

A complete history of heavy metal?

Crossovers make up a huge part of Christe’s story and it’s interesting to see the relevance of rap metal, hardcore punk, stoner metal and so on not only for the forth-going commercial success of metal, but also for the rejuvenating forces inside metal and the appeal it has for ever fresh new audiences. Christe has no prejudices when talking about other genres and he doesn’t say which subgenre is more to his liking and which isn’t, although, his preference for everything “core” is apparent.

So, even after 320 pages, is this a complete history of heavy metal? Simple answer: No, it isn’t. Take for example prog metal. A big act such as Dream Theater with worldwide renown is only mentioned once in the book in a subordinate clause and another highlight of the genre, Fates Warning is consequently labelled as a power metal band. Well, that might count for the first two heavily maiden-inspired albums, but certainly not for the rest. Doom metal at least gets an honorary mention at the mere end of the book, but it looks like Christe completely forgot about it and then went like “holy shit” and somehow squeezed it in. That way, he doesn’t get in too deep – no room for drone and other fantastic creations this style brought up.

Not complete though still headbanging!

This flaw remains the only letdown of the book, though and it’s not that much of a big flaw, when you consider the mass of material Christe presents and the impossibility of including virtually every style of metal and analyzing them appropriately in a single person’s effort. And, hey, there’s still more in this book: Whenever Christe stumbles upon a subgenre he provides a “best of” list to go with it to help newcomers find a decent introduction. Apart from the narrative, the book can also be used as an encyclopedia: A brilliant index at the end lists band names and the pages on which they are mentioned.

At last, a praise for the supreme visual style of the book. From the front cover (an adaptation from a renaissance painting, showing the apocalypse) to the pictures on the inside and the quality photo part in the middle: after all, heavy metal is not just about the music, it’s a very visual movement, rich in gestures and symbols and the book measures up to it. So, if you’re into metal, no matter if you’re a beginner or insider, get this book, have fun with it, bring it to good use and bang your heads!