Hellraisers

The conceit propelling Axl Rosenberg and Christopher Krovatin's 'Hellraisers' is that they are tenured professors providing a semester-long course in the history and culture of heavy metal; the fact that they are tenured allowing them to “say pretty much whatever” they want. This formula works surprisingly well, although a few references, such as to “AP Math Class” (and semesters, for that matter) show that the authors are firmly focused on the US market. 

Each lavishly illustrated chapter provides information on a particular genre or subgenre of heavy metal from proto-metal to deathcore and djent and includes an audio homework assignment comprising key tracks to which one should listen. The chapters are interspersed with free-standing mini-essays on topics such as heavy metal bass playing, festivals or yet more sub-genres. 

Inevitably those ‘studying’ this book will challenge their teachers on certain points. If Black Sabbath are “the first heavy metal band” then why are they listed as one of the big four “proto-metal” bands? Why is Arthur Brown mentioned as a pioneer of shock rock but not Screaming Lord Sutch? Why is The Beatles’ Come Together part of the homework for proto-rock but not Helter Skelter, especially given that there’s a section on the Manson Family’s murders?

In the big scheme of things, however, these are all minor quibbles. Both the heavy metal novice and the dedicated metalhead should find this book informative and entertaining because the authors communicate their knowledge and enthusiasm with a great deal of humour. The latter is apparent from the very start of the book, as it’s dedicated “to the Birmingham sheet-metal machine that ripped off two of Tommy Iommi’s fingers”.

Heavy metal may be, as the authors claim, “antisocial and misanthropic by nature” but this book is one that anyone with any interest in heavy metal should warmly embrace.

Hellraisers by Axl Rosenberg and Christopher Krovatin is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late October.

Oh, this is fantastic: Rosenberg and Krovatin do their best to define (yet not partition) different sub-genres of metal within its greater pantheon and highlight the personas, instruments, mascots, and celebrations that make it so, well, metal. I adore and feel represented as a metal fan with the authors' use of bitten-tongue-in-cheek humor, base palette of white-noise vertical black denim, and liberal use of photos & illustrations.

Full and complete credit to the authors of this book for finding the humor in heavy metal music. That is something severely lacking in any discussion of what I consider a beloved musical genre. 

I didn't really know what to expect going into this. I've been a fan of heavy metal in one form or the other since I was a little girl in the 80's. My parents were 21 when I was born, so I listened to what they listened to growing up, plus the addition of my sister, who was four years older than me. Led Zeppelin was a constant, along with Prince and Creedence Clearwater and yes, New Kids on the Block. My music taste was handed to me and I ate it up. 

I remember my sister, mother and I standing in the living room, watching the video for Welcome to the Jungle, and staring at each other like whaaaa. My first concert I remember going to was Poison, the Look What the Cat Dragged In tour, when I was around 6 years old (I fell asleep). I was too young for Iron Maiden, but Metallica was a constant. 

When I was old enough to make my own choices music wise, it was still eclectic, Pantera mixed up with Garth Brooks and TLC. But there has always been something about pounding drums, heavy bass, and screaming lyrics that soothed some savage part of my soul. 

Reading this book was basically taking several long, head banging walks down memory lane. Paying homage to the blues background and working their way from Jimi Hendrix to Linkin Park, this book covers bands you've never heard of, bands you've forgotten about, one hit wonders, gods of metal, devils of metal, embarrassments of metal. 

Each chapter is set up for you in a truly hilarious way, and no metal fan can be comfortable taking themselves too seriously. If you're a Megadeth fan and you're looking down on lovers of the big hair band metal fans, prepare yourselves, because you're going to get roasted, too. At the end of the chapter, there's a Starter Kit for baby metal fans, covering everything from required hair length to how many patches you'll need on your jean or leather jacket. 

Seriously, you will laugh so hard working your way through this. 

Not going to lie, I read this with my eyes peeled for one specific band. Sure, they disbanded 20 years ago when the bass guitarist died in a horrible unnecessary car accident. But they are major to ME, so they'd better be included. Sadly, there is only one, near throw-away reference to this band of my teenaged life, Acid Bath. But they reference Crowbar and Goatwhore, two bands former member Sammy was involved with. So. I don't have to yell. 

This review is more about me than the book, you may notice. This is evidence that I really got into it, and it made me happy and nostalgic for my metal days. Such as they were. 

In all seriousness, this is such a great book for anyone who has loved metal in their life. Funny, evocative, chock full of pictures, information and laughs. Thoroughly worth the read.

“Hellraisers” is a must-own for any metal head. This book is just as funny as it is informative. The text gives you an explanation as to what metal is, how it came to be and the bands that made it happen. This book is covers all the different types of metal: prototype metal, goth metal, heavy metal, and so forth. This book is an endless resource for anything you want to know about metal.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I decided to read this but I’m glad I did. The illustrations and pictures in this book are awesome. This book gives you a insight into the roots of metal to how it is now. I never knew there were so many different types of metal but I do now. I knew some of the bands mentioned throughout the book but not all and was surprised at some of them being considered metal. I really enjoyed this book even though I’m not a diehard metal fan. I would recommend this book not only to metal heads but to any fan of music.

Thank you to NetGalley and Race Point Publishing for an ARC copy of this book in return for an honest review.

A highly pictorial book portrays the entire history of heavy metal music in all its genres and forms, with sometimes scathing metaphors for how it sounds, which ramps up the entertainment value.  It doesn't get as far as scientifically defining all the stupid sub-sub-genres and categories of metal, but what it does do is prove that 99% of people in the metal industry are either ugly, or stupid-as-fuck-looking.  Seriously, you can never persuade me that any of Slipknot have ever got laid – and the same applies to Manowar.  So while a lot of the music itself is ugly, and/or stupid-as-fuck, it's completely valid that a nuanced, academic and intelligent book be written about it.  Here's giving it the goat…

In my teens and twenties and even today I loved Heavy Metal. Some of the bands depicted in this book are my favorites and I still listen to today, some of the bands I have to admit I had never heard of. Thank you to this book and YouTube I have heard of them now.  This is an amazing book. It has tons of pictures, background, song titles, and more. I learned some things about some of my favorite bands even, and some of it was some pretty crazy stuff.  The pictures in this book are awesome. Some of the pictures are on stage, some are from Photo shoots. I remember now why I was in love with some of these guys through the HOT photos in this book. 

If you like any Heavy Metal at all or are just a huge fan of music in general grab a copy of this book. This book was like traveling down memory lane as well since I loved these bands from the 80's to date.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

I am not a fan of heavy metal in any way (but why do I have heavy metal flags and band tshirts??)
Oh yeah, because my husband is a metalhead.
So I read Hellraisers for a few reasons:

    I love music, any kind of music.
    I love my husband
    He wouldn't read the book so I had to summarize it to him

But it was actually really good. I was surprised at all of the different subgenres within the heavy metal genre. Some of them I don't 100% agree with because lets be real glam rock is NOT metal but it is definitely one of my favorites. Honestly, I learned a lot from this book. It kind of goes into the history of heavy metal and talks about bands who inspired other bands and how all the subgenres are connected to the main genre.
 
Now I will say, the last 100 pages or so were not really necessary.
Now I'm not an expert or anything, but grouping Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, and Linkin Park into the "nu-metal" genre seemed a bit off to me, but according to my husband that's exactly what the three of them are. So who knows.
 
Either way, I really enjoyed this book even though heavy metal is not quite my taste. 
If you enjoy this music, you'd definitely enjoy this book!
 
Huge thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of Hellraisers!

What a great book! This would be a perfect gift for a teenage boy. The illustrations are great, and I love the homework assignments of listening to music. I knew about heavy metal music than I thought.

It took me a while to read this simply because there's only so much I can read about music (and metal in particular) without taking a break to listen to it. With a great format and hilarious one-liners throughout, this is a really good history of metal. From its beginnings to all of the sub-genres it has spawned, this is a fairly comprehensive look at it from a metalhead's perspective. If you like metal or any of its genres, read this book. You'll enjoy the humor and it's actually very interesting.

The Heavy Metal genre of music is quite a broad church, and trying to capture even the current state of the industry, let alone the origins of it is an ambitious task the authors have set themselves. You may well argue that they have taken some missteps along the way, and not everyone is going to agree with their categorisation of various bands under the umbrella term "heavy metal", but I think they have done a sterling job at hitting the right notes along the way. This book is obviously written by people who are passionate about the topic, and their knowledge and appreciation of the music and bands really shines through.

As a fan of the genre, or probably more accurately, certain sub-genres of heavy metal, I found that the authors did an excellent job of hitting the key points of each phase in the development of the music. The book starts off as a history lesson of the birth of rock and roll, and wends its way through the history of hard rock, and how it developed into heavy metal. The latter half of the book is given over to the various sub-genres of metal, although inevitably I am sure it misses some of the more obscure. Some of the more entertaining parts were the descriptions of the starter kits required, which often described in painfully-accurate detail the fans of the period or sub-genre. For those readers looking for an introduction into a particular era or there are helpful lists of artists and songs suggested at the end of each chapter.

This is a book that you can easily drop in and out of, pick and choose what interests you or want to learn more about. Frank Zappa is often quoted as saying that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, and in some ways this book is trying to fill a number of spaces. It is part history, part encyclopedia, and part love letter to a genre of music which is often derided, and its fans mistreated or misunderstood.

Hellraisers is an attempt at writing a reasonably comprehensive history of Heavy Metal, and in that aim, I believe it has succeeded. As a fan of metal, I found myself nodding along to a lot of the descriptions, as this book is clearly written by authors who "get it" which I find is rare. 

This is a very entertaining read, although not for everyone, and the latter third might well carry a warning of disturbing material, but that comes with the territory.

A great guide to rock and heavy metal, which doesn't take itself too seriously. It covers many sub-genres including thrash, death metal, ,the classic metal bands and much more. The authors are obviously big fans of the music, so no snide comments or self-important prose you get in some music books. It is not really a reference book so not sure how many times you would come back to it. Still it is a fun and at times informative read.

Without a doubt, this is the best book I have read on the history of heavy metal music. The author obviously did a lot of research. It is very well-written and the abundance of research is obvious through the writing. It was so well presented, along with the photos. As a fan of heavy metal music, I was excited to read this book, and it was well worth the time put into reading it. The subject was well treated in this book. For those who love heavy metal or hard rock, or those into music history, this book is a must!

I have been brought up in a family where rock music plays a huge role. My dad has been singing and playing the guitar virtually his whole life and he'd led me towards appreciation for this genre ever since I was a kid. I, as a teenage girl, had had to pass the awkward Hannah Montana stage, then overcome my mild One Direction obsession, until my music taste finally blossomed into something bearable. I do love rock, classic or otherwise. I've been brought up on AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Clash and Pink Floyd. I listen to punk rock on daily basics. Reading about the history of rock, how it came be, who made it famous and how it has been transforming ovet the years, was most definitely an experience I thoroughly enjoyed and would most definitely recommend to every rock fan, including my father who'll be getting this book as a gift sometime very soon.

This book attempts to be an overview of Metal Music complete with playlists and lots of photographs.  The authors do really know the subject and enjoy writing about it.  I enjoyed some of the humor and the photographs.  They begin with an overview history of the music and then break it down into the many sub-genres.  The playlists are helpful if you are unfamiliar with any of the bands or sun-genres.  The book is good overall and will appeal to to superfans and casual fans.  It will make a great gift.  Enjoy

'Hellraisers: A Complete Visual History of Heavy Metal Mayhem' by Axl Rosenberg and Chris Krovatin is an irreverent journey through the different genres and evolution of heavy metal.

From the early days of proto-metal through the new wave of British heavy metal and glam metal and on in to deathcore and djent, this is a fun look at each sub-genre.  I learned who listens, where the bands are generally from and who the main bands are.  There are lists of songs to listen to, and pretty hilarious lists of what you should look like and wear if are into these genres.  There are also shorter articles on smaller genres and things like the criminals of metal and things like drum triggers.

I haven't listened to heavy metal since the glam metal days, so I learned a lot about how things grew and changed in the music.  There are lots of pictures, and tons of humor.  I had a really fun time reading this!

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.