Official Press Release (Hoepli):
Conceived as a single great tale made up of stories and insights, essential bands and fundamental albums, this book presents the toughest face of rock, from the Chicago blues to the most extreme experiences of metal in recent decades. In 2020 Heavy Metal celebrated fifty years. Yet the desire to crank up the amplifiers to the maximum has its roots in a group of English bands in love with the blues like Who, Yardbirds and Kinks who, at the time of the Beatles’ success, were thinking about how to make the sound more powerful, equipment capable of sustaining unthinkable decibel levels. In a few years this process has led to the birth of hard rock giants such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, and of heavy metal such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and AC / DC. In a continuous interchange of influences between Europe and the United States, these two musical genres have gone through different phases, from the underground dimension of the thrash scene, to the commercial peak of the 80s, from the fury of death to the atmospheres of black metal, from contaminations from the 90s to the declinations of the new millennium, up to interactions with the world of social media and streaming. The book, enriched by the forewords by Michael Weikath (Helloween) and Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride), is articulated as a long story divided into independent sections which, while following a chronological order, do not fail to look carefully at the different “scenes” , in particular the Italian one, and their social context.
Purchase the book from the Hoepli Official Website: https://www.hoepli.it/libro/la-storia-di-hard-rock-e-heavy-metal/9788836004089.html
