Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal

DEDICATION

J
ON:
T
O MY PARENTS
, N
ANCY AND
S
HELDON, FOR THEIR ETERNAL
SUPPORT, WITHOUT WHICH
I
WOULD PROBABLY BE WORKING
A REAL JOB
.
M
Y WIFE
, E
LIZABETH, AND MY CHILDREN
, J
OSHUA AND
C
HLOE, WHO LEARNED TO FLASH THE DEVIL HORNS LONG
BEFORE THEY DISCOVERED THEIR LOVE FOR
S
ELENA
G
OMEZ
.

K
ATHERINE:
T
O MY MOTHER
, A
NTONIA
. T
HANK YOU FOR THE WORDS
.
P
ROUD, PROUD
.

CONTENTS

D
EDICATION

F
OREWORD
: I
N
M
Y
W
ORLD BY
S
COTT
I
AN

P
ROLOGUE:
H
EAVY
M
ETAL
T
HUNDER

1
K
ICK
O
UT THE
J
AMS
: P
ROTO
M
ETAL
, 1964–1970

2
M
ASTERS OF
R
EALITY:
S
ABBATH
, P
RIEST, AND
B
EYOND
, 1970–1979

3
B
RITISH
S
TEEL:
N
EW
W
AVE OF
B
RITISH
H
EAVY
M
ETAL
S
HAPES THE
F
UTURE
, 1980–PRESENT

4
Y
OUTH
G
ONE
W
ILD:
M
ETAL
G
OES
M
AINSTREAM
, 1978–1992

5
C
AUGHT IN A
M
OSH:
T
HRASH
M
ETAL
, 1981–1991

6
T
HE
A
GE OF
Q
UARREL:
C
ROSSOVER
/H
ARDCORE
, 1977–1992

7
F
AR
B
EYOND
D
RIVEN:
T
HRASH
R
EVISITED AND
R
EVISED
, 1987–2004

P
HOTO
S
ECTION

8
H
IGH
-T
ECH
H
ATE:
I
NDUSTRIAL
, 1980–1997

9
A
LL
F
OR THE
N
OOKIE
: N
U
M
ETAL
, 1989–2002

10
H
AMMER
S
MASHED
F
ACE:
D
EATH
M
ETAL
, 1983–1993

11
I
N THE
N
IGHTSIDE
E
CLIPSE:
B
LACK
M
ETAL
, 1982–
PRESENT

12
W
HEN
D
ARKNESS
F
ALLS:
M
ETALCORE
, 1992–2006

13
N
EW
A
MERICAN
G
OSPEL:
M
ILLENNIAL
M
ETAL
, 1992–
PRESENT

C
ONCLUSION:
T
HE
E
ND
C
OMPLETE

A
FTERWORD:
D
EFENDER OF THE
F
AITH BY
R
OB
H
ALFORD

C
AST OF
C
HARACTERS

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHORS

P
RAISE

C
REDITS

C
OPYRIGHT

A
BOUT THE
P
UBLISHERS

IN MY WORLD

SCOTT IAN

I
was eight years old, sitting in my uncle’s bedroom at my grandparents’ house, going through his vinyl. I pulled out the first Black Sabbath record. There’s woods and a witch, and I’m a little kid looking at this going, “What is this? This is scary.” And my uncle goes, “That’s Black Sabbath. They’re acid rock.” I’m like, “What’s acid rock?”

So I put it on and it starts with the rain and then that riff comes in and I’m like, “Oh my God.” I was a little kid, scared, sitting in my uncle’s weird dark room with his black light posters, and I had never heard anything like that. Up until that point I lived on AM radio in the car with my parents, listening to whatever was on WABC in New York. This was my first exposure to anything like that, and I instantly liked it. I went, “What else is like this?” And we listened to Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa and everything heavy and weird he had in his collection.

I started asking my parents to buy me records, and I watched stuff like
Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert
on TV, and this other show,
In Concert
, which were about the only places you could see live performance on TV back then. I got way into music. I had a cousin who was twelve years older than me who was a biker and a musician. He lived down the street from us and I used to hang out in his basement when he’d jam. I’d sit there and watch, and I thought anyone with long hair was the coolest guy in the world, and anyone who had a guitar was the coolest guy in the world. That was my introduction to the world of heavy metal.

We were living in Long Island when I was in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, and up until I started seventh grade, music to me was really personal. None of my friends were into music. They all played hockey. None of them gave a shit about Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. So I’d just sit in my house and practice my guitar and listen to songs. It wasn’t until I was thirteen and starting seventh grade that I met kids who were listening to Zeppelin and KISS and Aerosmith and Cheap Trick and the Ramones, and that’s when I really started to blossom.