Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal is a 2004 book by Ian Christe, documenting the history of heavy metal music and its origins.
The book argues that heavy metal began with Black Sabbath in 1970, eschewing the concept of 'proto-' heavy metal. As such, Christe devotes several chapters to documenting the band's history. He continues to chart the emergence of NWOBHM, practiced by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and thrash metal acts such as Metallica. His analysis extends to Slayer and their influence upon grindcore and death metal.
Brent Burton, writing for the Washington City Paper, deigned that "Like Nick Tosches' 1977 Country, Christe's Sound of the Beast takes a deep-focus view of music that most regard as one-dimensional—drawing attention to some of the rawest purveyors of each subgenre. However, unlike Tosches' writing, Christe's descriptions of the music he so clearly loves are often ungainly. On his beloved Sabbath: 'Above all else they had the best riffs, the huge guitar and bass lines that last a lifetime.' And on Metallica: 'Kill 'Em All might have been the first record fast enough that when fans played it to the point of skipping, a full chorus could be captured in a single revolution of the vinyl.' Christe also falters when he inexplicably attempts to beat metal's 'white music' rap without any ammo: Hard rockers Phil Lynott and Slash are among a mere handful of names enlisted for the cause."
Famous quotes containing the words sound of, sound, complete, history, heavy and/or metal:
“An old pond—
a frog tumbles in—
the sound of water.”
—Matsuo Basho (1644–1694)
“Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.”
—Bible: New Testament Matthew 6:2-3.
The Sermon on the Mount.
“I see advertisements for active young men, as if activity were the whole of a young man’s capital. Yet I have been surprised when one has with confidence proposed to me, a grown man, to embark in some enterprise of his, as if I had absolutely nothing to do, my life having been a complete failure hitherto. What a doubtful compliment this to pay me!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man’s right to his body, or woman’s right to her soul.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“What sport shall we devise here in this garden
To drive away the heavy thought of care?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We are supposed to be the children of Seth; but Seth is too much of an effete nonentity to deserve ancestral regard. No, we are the sons of Cain, and with violence can be associated the attacks on sound, stone, wood and metal that produced civilisation.”
—Anthony Burgess (b. 1917)