This is book is a conversational look at the life and times of the early death metal scene. It contains recollections of people, gigs, events, bands, and publications. It's at times in-depth, at times fucking hilarious.

The pictorial aspect is grand, too. Mostly live shots from shows back in the day.

My biggest criticism is that the publishers took submissions and pretty well published them as-is. The book is rife with spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors that truly disrupt the reading experience. It also paints a picture of metalheads as unschooled, which is unfair.

Even a hard-arse like me got over the errors, however, and just enjoyed the read. So much information is contained here, and in the most perfect way possible: personal story. In stories chosen by the bands themselves. It's truly their story, in their own words.

I loved the fact that this book, when I read it on commuter trains, sparked off conversation with non-metalheads who were curious. That alone is fantastic.

All metalheads, especially fans of thrash and death metal, need to read this book. I bought my copy from Missing Link Records in Melbourne. It was the only copy in the country! Wow!