But this thin layer of macho attitude—bristling with Uzis, crossbows, leather pants, and cocaine—conceals a surprisingly conservative core. Whether it’s Stage Fright’s dark god of metal who plays the Dreamatron, a piece of tech that lets him beam his vividly imagined dreams into the audience’s minds, or The Scream’s “postmetal cyber-thrash band” that worships Satan (both books 1988), rock was portrayed exactly as it was shown in Christian scare pamphlets. Lead singers were spoiled brats and junkies, hooked on bondage, torture, or drugs made from the blood of schizophrenics. Hell looked exactly
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