THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEAVY METAL Book Review

Author - Daniel Bukszpan

Upon opening this colossal book of epic proportions, with regards to the size of the book and magnitude of musical engineering welcomes you with a foreword from Ronnie James Dio, whom provides his personal experience buying these bands’ records ever since they were released on vinyl. As mentioned by the legendary Dio (R.I.P.), the following pages present the bands that even got him amped up, but cautious to open the plastic wrapping of his new records covered with larger album art than today’s CDs.

After flipping through the first few pages you’ll be thrown right at the beginning of the alphabet with Abdullah containing its introduction as well as hundreds of more after that leading to the final one being Zebra. All of which are prime examples of metal bands which caused waves if not the very least, ripples in its evolution throughout a history of over 20 years. With each page being above legal size, you’ll definitely find a clear shot of the band you are so eager to learn about. The list of bands archived in this collection ranges from the entire history of metal, but for the most part only includes the innovators that contributed something new to the whole genre.

Included with each short biography of the band are icons which indicate what genre, musical style, lyrical content and the kind of persona the band possesses. Not only that, but there are a few sections with fascinating facts about band rivalries, different genres within METAL, famous venues performed by once small time bands turned into epic gods of HEAVY METAL, magazines, drug addictions, radio and more. Apart from the all you need to know about the bands that matter the most, there are several pages near the end of the book miscellaneous tidbits and also a HEAVY METAL timeline that showcases the most important events.

Having gone through every page of this book greatly informs and improves any individual’s knowledge of HEAVY METAL, which would be a definite recommendation for anyone wanting to learn more about this massive, and wide spectrum of HEAVY METAL influences on our lives and others.

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