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This
book is amazing. Absolutely amazing. And in my eyes it
is the best book that has ever been published about an
underground cult metal band. Bazillion Points didn’t get
stingy with this; from its incredible super size to the
glossy paged presentation (which of course grants the
super sized price) and all the extras, it is obvious
that this publishing house threw the house out the
window just to give some well-deserved props to the
mighty Hellhammer and Celtic Frost.
But let’s
take it by parts. It is impossible to get into the book without
first caressing it and perusing through its giant pages and
velvety (not really velvet, but you know what I mean) cover and not think that there was love put into this.
The hard cover is tough enough to knock some sense into
gel-brained glam metal boys. And the layout is totally clean.
Respect went into presenting a sober and clean work. The pages
are black, the lettering is white, and the pictures are black
and white. And what a world of pictures do we have here.
Looking at
the massive amount of photographs that documented the early days
of Hellhammer is very telling. Heavy metal always had a look but
up until that point no one in the underground had placed more
emphasis on the image than they had on the music. Let’s put it
this way, as rudimentary as their music was, and as influential as
they came to be, Hellhammer’s pictures signaled a shift towards
extremity, while Venom looked hokey, these Austrians
weren'tlaughing. What’s more
important, here were laid the aesthetics of black metal. Looking
at these pictures is understanding where it all came from.
Which brings
us to the story, which is mostly told by Tom Gabriel Fischer but
is complemented with short comments by Martin Eric Ain (who is
credited in a smaller font on the cover) and other past members
of the band. Fischer is a good writer. Some have said that he is
too ‘flowery’ which might be true but by no means
obstructs the narrative which is articulate, colorful and even
humorous. And in Only Death is Real Fisher bares it all; his maniacal drive to be
successful, the never ending quest to find suitable members (one
member quit because he had to go shopping with his mom), the
struggles to become real musicians and be accepted in the
growing underground network (the excerpts quoting their early
reviews are hysterical), etc.
Only Death
is Real is a bit like the history of heavy metal itself. Like
the genre, Hellhammer fought against mockery, condescension and
derision with even more determination. The results of such
struggle are well known by all reading this piece.
Now
Bazillion Points, how about a reissue of Fischer’s Are Your
Morbid?.
Bazillion Points
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