I was born too late to have been a part of punk’s beginnings. Heavy metal, for the most part, had also happened during my pre-teens, leaving me a middle schooler clinging on to its fading glories as the ‘80s came to a close.

But all was not lost. I was growing in Miami, FL after all: not exactly the birthing place of the burgeoning death metal scene, but just close enough to feel its reverberations. Upon seeing Napalm Death’s “Suffer the Children” and Morbid Angel’s “Immortal Rites” videos in ’90, I threw myself head first into this then-unknown world of demonic vocals, atonal riffage, unreal double bass kicks, and unparalleled evil. I haven’t looked back since.

Choosing Death: The Improbably History of Death Metal and Grindcore is a book written for people like me. It’s a book about the “who”s, “where”s, “what”s, “when”s, and – most importantly – “why”s of a movement that won our hearts and gave us a place where we belonged. The ancestors (Possessed, Slayer, Venom), the forerunners (Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Repulsion, Death), the friendships, the gaining of popularity, the band and label dramas… and, of course, the music. For me, it is a trip down memory lane. To the world, it is the first literary statement to boldly claim both genres’ worth in musical history.

The chapters – cleverly named after songs by Terrorizer, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, and Death – meticulously map out how both grindcore and death metal sprung to life in towns like Birmingham and Tampa all over the world. Aligned semi-chronologically, it traces the beginnings to – who else – Napalm Death and Earache Records, following their stories as well as their impact on the musical market place. Priceless anecdotes abound (Mick Harris and Steve Charlesworth’s drum battles to see who could blast faster), it perfectly conveys the “we had no idea what the fuck we were doing, but something was happening” mentality of the bands at the time. As with all revolutionary art, these barely legal kids were stumbling upon the fastest and most brutal music known to man purely out of naivete. The innocence they had toward making music and the undying loyalty they had for the art form makes someone like me proud of the fact that I was one of the underground few. Sure, I was three / four years late, but that feeling of belonging to a secret, obscure world was (and still is) worth every dirty look the mainstream threw my way.

Along with the big names, the book also covers some relatively unknowns much to my happiness: Sacrifice, Master, Disharmonic Orchestra, Pungent Stench, Hellbastard, etc. And even though I would’ve liked to see even more under underground acts mentioned (Hexx, Demolition Hammer, Incubus), it’s hard to argue with a book that digs so deeply into the infamous Earache / Columbia joint venture. Without giving too much away (for those of you newbies / unfamiliar), the success of Earache led to an early-‘90s distribution deal with major giant Columbia that turned bands, personal relationships, and creativity into a very fucked up cesspool, out of which not many survived. I myself had always wondered what exact drove Carcass to implode, Napalm Death to slow down, and Entombed to use Marvel Comics characters… well, I wonder no more. If there’s one lesson to be learned here, kids, it’s that business kills art. It’s as simple and truthful as that.

Reading about how every member of Morbid Angel worked at the same car wash in order to support themselves, how drummer Pete Sandoval practiced double bass 12 hours a day in order to join the band, and how Mick Harris took four and-a-half hour weekly train trips to practice (for a second band, no less) just cements my belief that these guys deserve more credit than the world has ever given them. Punk had the attitude and metal had the technical prowess, but it wasn’t until grindcore and death metal that the two were combined. These guys were the rough-n-toughs from the streets, and they could play like the arena rock spandex-panted. And which other genre can boast the number of mutations that emerged out of the initially darkened spewage? Death and Carcass would lead a melodic revolution, Napalm Death and Godflesh would introduce apocalyptic (almost industrial) rhythms, Sepultura and Fear Factory would pave the way for nü metal, and Roadrunner bands such as Cynic, Believer, Pestilence, and Atheist would erect a tower all their own in the intertwining of jazz and metal. Not all became popular, but almost all became greatly influential. And people complain about the music’s lack of subtleties? Wake the fuck up and listen for a change.

This book is for us the faithful. It is for the kid who saved his lunch money every day in order to buy a new tape every weekend. It’s for the 40 of us who caught bands like Disincarnate, Epidemic, Cancer, Raped Ape, and Sinister before they became footnotes. It’s for those three outcasts in every school who clung onto their dignity, identity, and devotion to something entirely their own, no matter how much ridicule they took for it. This book’s for all of us who were there, to share with all of you who we welcome into the sect.
www.feralhouse.com

Tim Den

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 Past Constructive Criticism

marcia posted the following Constructive Criticism: yah

rob c posted the following Constructive Criticism: remember tim : the black/blue pen is for the album cover you'd draw on the cassette tracklisting while you waited for the tape to record at brians', the little piece of paper for "liner notes" and the solos. the red pen is for any necessary "blood" that needed to be drawn on the cover. p.s. - "god is a faggot!"

abel f. posted the following Constructive Criticism: hey fool! that was my lunch money! and you "borrowed" tapes, dubbed them and then drew your own covers. that's fucking metal. can i get a word up for brutal mastication?