Venom, 33, 38, 42–43, 44, 61, 73, 74, 96, 104–05, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 115, 117, 123, 138, 146, 185, 238, 243, 244, 270, 272, 293, 317, 321
Vicious, Sid (bassist), 29, 30, 179. See also
Sex Pistols
videogames, 67, 70, 302, 320, 350
Vietnam War, the, 18, 72, 292
Vikernes, Varg (singer/guitarist), 275, 276, 285; as Count Grishnach 277–79. See
also Burzum
Vincent, David (singer/bassist), 245. See
also Morbid Angel
Violence (band), 135, 320
Virgin Steele, 343, 344
Vixen, 160
Voivod, 73, 98, 111, 112, 114, 137, 142, 197, 198–99, 206, 225, 230, 253, 335, 358, 359
Voor, 114
Vulcano, 106
W.A.S.P., 56, 64, 83, 120, 121, 123, 130–31, 158, 159, 160, 166, 235, 293
Walker, Jeff (singer/bassist), 186, 247, 248.
See also Carcass; Napalm Death
Wall of Voodoo, 48, 198, 334
Ward, Bill (drummer), 1, 3, 4, 11, 18, 24, 25, 205, 340, 341, 361. See also Black Sabbath
Warhammer, 345
Warlock, 95, 100, 138
Warlord, 63, 95
Warrant (US), 156, 159, 164, 219, 222, 231, 242
Warrior, Tom (singer/guitarist), 17, 21, 37, 61, 74, 90, 105–06, 111, 112, 113, 142, 170, 182–83, 197–98, 226, 281, 345, 355. See also Celtic Frost; Hellhammer
Wayne, David (singer), 94, 183, 192, 228, 231, 350. See also Metal Church
Wehrmacht, 181, 185, 231
Whiplash (band), 137, 147, 344
White Lion, 231
White Zombie, 167, 183, 224, 225
Whitesnake, 161
Who, the, 37, 213, 234
Williams, Michael D. (singer), 250. See also
Eyehategod
Williams, Wendy O. (singer), 29, 48, 120,
357. See also Plasmatics, the
Winger, 155, 160, 164, 218, 231
Wino (singer/guitarist), 346–47. See also
Obsessed, the; Saint Vitus
Witchfinder General, 40, 44, 193, 345
women in heavy metal, 99–100, 155–56, 180, 249–51, 265, 272
Wood, Andrew (singer), 231
Wrathchild, 49
Xena: the Warrior Princess, 99, 350
Xentrix 140, 317
X-Ray Spex, 28
Y&T (Yesterday and Today), 49, 53, 73, 97, 100, 143, 161, 224
Young Gods, the, 223
Young, Angus (guitarist), 39, 40, 52, 54, 57.
See also AC/DC
Young, Malcolm (guitarist), 52. See also
AC/DC
Yurkiewicz, Bill (entrepreneur), 255, 257.
See also Relapse Records
Zazula, Jon. See Johnny Z
Zappa, Frank (guitarist), 120–21, 254, 327, 350
Zazula, Marsha (entrepreneur), 86, 200. See
Znowhite, 100, 206
Zoetrope, 202, 206
Zombie, Rob (singer), 167, 183, 224, 306,
329, 350. See also White Zombie
ZZ Top, 140, 328
EDITOR’S NOTE
The beautifully rendered book jacket on Sound of the Beast deserves special attention for all heavy metal fans. The painting by metal priestess Madeline von Foerster is based on a section from the massively illustrated underceiling to the sacred Baptistery of San Giovanni—St. John the Baptist—in Florence, Italy. It is part of a huge mosaic that took more than 200 years to construct and was completed in the thirteenth century.
The most prominent monument in its distinguished home city the Baptistery was owned for centuries by the Merchant’s Guild. Its exterior espouses a grand yet plain geometric workaday presence. Inside is contained a most awe-inspiring sight—a lavish gold-paneled tile ceiling depicting hundreds of images of Christ, the Apostles, holy angels, and other religious scenes installed by faithful artisans during a thousand years of devoted labor.
Obscured beside a large rendering of Christ is the most striking element in the fray—a single frieze, the inspiration for the jacket of Sound of the Beast. Completely distinct from all the other panels, this segment depicts a hellish and disturbing landscape of the last judgment, where a horned beast has been damned to devour and dispose of sinners while commanding a sea of winged demons, faceless vermin, and all-devouring serpents.
This tableau has already profoundly influenced civilization. Dante himself was baptized in the Baptistery, and was later inspired to write several Cantos of the Inferno when he returned and discovered our demonic panel between the more obvious heavenly angels and golden light. When we first saw the frame, we instantly began banging our heads, flipping the devil horns, and turning up the heaviest metal we could find in tribute. We searched for other images beforehand, but this was the only one that did Sound of the Beast justice.
COPYRIGHT
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2003 by HarperEntertainment, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
SOUND OF THE BEAST. Copyright © 2003, 2004 by Ian Christe. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © JULY 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-04298-9
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Christe, Ian.
Sound of the beast: the complete headbanging history
of heavy metal / Ian Christe.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
Discography: p.
ISBN 0-06-052362-X (hc : alk. paper)
1. Heavy metal (Music)—History and criticism. 2. Rock groups. I. Title.
ML3534.C475 2003
914.5′632047—dc21
2002068894
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