—JON WIEDERHORN
DEFENDER OF THE FAITH
BY ROB HALFORD
“It stimulates, regenerates / It’s therapeutic healing. / It lifts our feet up off the ground /and blasts us through the ceiling. . . . Heavy Metal / What do you want? / Heavy Metal.”
“HEAVY METAL,” RAM IT DOWN—JUDAS PRIEST
Having experienced and performed through four-plus decades of the music we now know as heavy metal, there are several things I can say with confidence. Metal was not born; it evolved from other existing sounds, ideas, and technologies. It can therefore never die. Over the years, its popularity has risen and fallen, but metal always bounces back, usually better than before. And those who choose to write and play it always find ways to deconstruct or modify it for a new audience. Whether it’s New Wave of British Heavy Metal, thrash, death metal, black metal, nu metal, or metalcore, discovering a new subgenre of metal music is like finding the key to an exotic kingdom. Open the door and excitement, empowerment, and enjoyment wait on the other side. Why does metal have the ability to touch its audience so profoundly? Because metal gives people an identity and a cause, a motivation to come together—especially in a live arena—and be united with other people who share the love for metal’s power.
From the overdriven volume to the crunching intensity, metal is a catalyst, offering the ability to let go, be explosive, and let out that primal scream. It’s a universal experience that means as much to a teenager with angst as it means to a middle-aged person in a midlife crisis. At a metal show these days, particularly one by a band that has had a long career, you see fifteen-year-olds and fifty-year-olds—and they’re giving each other the devil horns, the universal metal salute. It’s a shared and meaningful moment, one that will last long after Judas Priest, Metallica, and Korn—or whatever bands are dominating the scene at any given moment—have come and gone.
Metal isn’t just defined by the music artists create. From one decade to the next, it’s about signature looks, styles, and attitudes that unify a generation and differentiate them from ones that came before. “Oh, you think that band is fast and brutal? Well, check this one out!”
Metal is music for the ages, and as it continues, metal bands will continue to break boundaries and defy barriers. Each subgenre offers its own set of codes and conduct, and its fans absorb these mannerisms as if by osmosis, slamming, stage-diving, and moshing their way toward both the end of the world and the next evolution of the art form. It’s like a religion, such believers, such followers are the people who love metal. It’s more than a passion: it’s a lifestyle. And it’s a lifestyle for life. Once a metalhead, always a metalhead.
At its primitive core, the way metal makes us feel touches us at the most basic, animalistic level. It’s different from any other kind of music because of the power and influence it possesses, and it will be another forty years before we can truly trace the many paths and forks in the road musicians will take to create new variations on the common themes of rebellion, aggression, and unification.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
ABBATH (OLVE EIKEMO): Multi-instrumentalist for black metal bands Old Funeral and Immortal.
VINNIE PAUL ABBOTT: Drummer for Pantera and Damageplan.
MARK “PSYCHO” ABRAMSON: Vice president of promotions for Roadrunner Records.
STEVEN ADLER: Ex–Guns N’ Roses drummer.
MICHAEL ALAGO: ex-A&R for Geffen, Interscope.
GENE AMBO: Photographer.
JONATHAN ANASTAS: Bassist for Boston hardcore bands DYS, Slapshot.
IAN ANDERSON: Singer/flautist for Jethro Tull.
TOM ANGELRIPPER: Singer, bassist, founder of German thrash band Sodom.
PHILIP ANSELMO: Ex-Pantera singer, 1987–2003; Down, 1991–present; ex-singer, Superjoint Ritual, 1993–2004; guitarist for Arson Anthem.
CARMINE APPICE: Drummer for Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Beck, Bogart & Appice.
VINNY APPICE: Ex-drummer for Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell.
TOM ARAYA: Singer/bassist for thrash band Slayer.
STEVE AUSTIN: Founder, guitarist, vocalist for experimental noise band Today Is the Day.
TREY AZAGTHOTH: Guitarist for Florida death metal band Morbid Angel.
SEBASTIAN BACH: Singer, ex–Skid Row, solo artist.
MATT BACHAND: Guitarist for Boston metalcore pioneers Shadows Fall.
SUSAN BAKER: Cofounder of the Parents Music Resource Center (P.M.R.C.), 1985.
PAUL BALOFF (b: 1960, d: 2002): Singer for Exodus, 1981–1986, 1997–2002.
FRANKIE BANALI: Drummer for Quiet Riot.
JACOB BANNON: Vocalist for hardcore band Converge.
PAUL BARKER: Ex-bassist for The Blackouts, Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Lard, USSA; solo artist.
CHRIS BARNES: Ex-vocalist for Florida death metal band Cannibal Corpse; singer, Six Feet Under.
KEITH BARNEY: Ex-guitarist for Orange County metalcore band Eighteen Visions, ex-vocalist for Throwdown.
LEE BARRETT: Head of Candlelight Records.
GEOFF BARTON: British journalist, ex-editor of Sounds, founder of Kerrang!.
CHRIS BEATTIE: Bassist for hardcore metal band Hatebreed since 1994.
TOM BEAUJOUR: Ex-editor of Revolver, editor of Guitar Aficionado.
JEFF BECCERA: Front man for thrash band Possessed.
BURTON C. BELL: Vocalist for industrial band Fear Factory, Ascension of the Watchers.
JOEY BELLADONNA: Singer for Anthrax, 1984–92, 2005–06, 2010–present; ex-Belladonna.
CHARLIE BENANTE: Drummer for Anthrax, S.O.D.
CHESTER BENNINGTON: Vocalist for Linkin Park.
GLEN BENTON: Front man for Florida death metal band Deicide.
PETER BESTE: Photographer.
KARL BEUCHNER: Singer for metallic hardcore band Earth Crisis.
CHUCK BILLY: Singer for thrash band Testament.
MARTIN BIRCH: British rock and metal record producer.
BETSY BITCH: Singer of Bitch.
RITCHIE BLACKMORE: Ex-Rainbow, ex–Deep Purple guitarist; Blackmore’s Night.
RANDY BLYTHE: Vocalist for Lamb of God.
MARS BONFIRE: Canadian rock musician/songwriter.
WES BORLAND: Guitarist for Limp Bizkit, Black Light Burns, Big Dumb Face.
NICK BOWCOTT: Guitarist for New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Grim Reaper.
KURT BRECHT: Vocalist for crossover metal band Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.).
JUSTIN BROADRICK: Ex-guitarist for Napalm Death; ex-drummer for Head of David, Fall of Because; front man for Final, Techno Animal, Godflesh, Jesu.
CHRIS BRODERICK: Megadeth guitarist, ex-Nevermore, ex–Jag Panzer.
REX BROWN: Bassist for Pantera, Kill Devil Hill; ex-Down.
KEITH BUCKLEY: Vocalist for experimental metalcore band Every Time I Die.
NIK BULLEN: Ex–Napalm Death bassist and vocalist, 1981–1987.
SCOTT BURNS: Ex-producer at Florida’s Morrisound Studios.
WILLIAM BURROUGHS (b: 1914, d: 1997): American author. Wrote Naked Lunch and Junky, both of which referenced the term “heavy metal.”
CLIFF BURTON (b: 1962, d: 1986): Metallica bassist, 1982–1986.
JOHN BUSH: Armored Saint vocalist; ex-Anthrax vocalist, 1992–2005, 2009–2010.
GEEZER BUTLER: Cofounder and bassist of Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, GZR.
BIFF BYFORD: Singer for New Wave of Heavy Metal band Saxon.
JOHN CAMPBELL: Bassist for Lamb of God.
CARL CANEDY: Drummer for The Rods, ex-Manowar, ex-Thrasher; record producer.
JERRY CANTRELL: Guitarist, backup singer, co-founder for Alice in Chains; solo artist.
DANNY CAREY: Drummer for Tool, ex–Green Jellÿ.
SCOTT CARLSON: Vocalist and bassist for Repulsion, ex-Death, Genocide.
STEPHEN CARPENTER: Cofounder and guitarist for Deftones, Kush, Sol Invicto.
IGOR CAVALERA: Cofounder and former drummer for Sepultura, currently with Cavalera Conspiracy, Mixhell, ex-Nailbomb.
CARLOS CAVAZO: Guitarist of Ratt (2008–present), ex–Quiet Riot (1982–2000), ex-Snow.
ROB CAVESTANY: Guitarist, cofounder of thrash band Death Angel.
PHIL CAIVANO: Ex–Monster Magnet guitarist.
DINO CAZARES: Cofounder and guitarist of industrial metal band Fear Factory, Divine Heresy, Asesino, Brujeria.
JACKIE CHAMBERS: Guitarist for New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Girlschool.
JUSTIN CHANCELLOR: Bassist for Tool, ex-Peach.
CHI CHENG: Bassist for Deftones, currently in semiconscious state following 2008 car accident.
BOB CHIAPPARDI: Founder of Concrete Marketing/Foundations Forum/F-Musicfest.
STEFFAN CHIRAZI: Journalist, editor of Metallica magazine So What?
JOHNNY CHRIST: Bassist for Avenged Sevenfold.
RICHARD CHRISTY: Drummer, ex-Death, ex–Public Assassin, Charred Walls of the Damned; radio personality, The Howard Stern Show.
MIKE CLARK: Guitarist for crossover band Suicidal Tendencies.
RYAN CLARK: Vocalist for Christian metalcore band Demon Hunter; art director.
BRIAN COGAN: Professor, author.
RICHARD COLE: Ex–Led Zeppelin road manager.
JAZ COLEMAN: Front man for punk/industrial pioneers Killing Joke.
PHIL COLLEN: Guitarist for Def Leppard, ex-Girl.
ANDY COLSEFNI: Ex-Slipknot vocalist, Painface.
MONTE CONNOR: Ex-VP of A&R, Roadrunner Records.
ALICE COOPER: Front man for the Alice Cooper Band, solo artist, pioneer of “shock rock.”
CANDY COOPER: Journalist.
COUNT GRISHNAKH (VARG VIKERNES): Front man of Norwegian black metal band Burzum, ex–Old Funeral.
ANTHONY COUNTEY: Bad Brains manager.
SHAWN “CLOWN” M. CRAHAN: Percussionist of Slipknot, ex–To My Surprise, Dirty Little Rabbits; filmmaker, photographer.
JEANNIE CRANE: Groupie.
PETER CRISS: Ex-KISS drummer; solo artist.
CRONOS (CONRAD LANT): Venom singer and bassist, 1979–87, 1995–present; ex-Cronos.
ROBBIN CROSBY (b: 1959, d: 2002): Ex-Ratt guitarist.
ABE CUNNINGHAM: Deftones drummer.
BRANN DAILOR: Mastodon drummer, ex-Lethargy, ex–Today Is the Day.
PAUL D’AMOUR: Ex-bassist for Tool, soundtrack composer, front man of Feersum Endjinn.
MIKE D’ANTONIO: Bassist for Overcast, Killswitch Engage.
GLENN DANZIG: Ex-singer/founder for the Misfits, ex-Samhain, Danzig front man.
TERRY DATE: Producer.
DANI “FILTH” DAVEY: Front man for UK black metal band Cradle of Filth.
JONATHAN DAVIS: Vocalist of Korn.
KATON W. DE PENA: Front man of crossover thrash band Hirax.
DEAD (PER YNGVE OHLIN) (b: 1969, d: 1991): Ex-vocalist of Norwegian black metal band Mayhem.
MIKE DEAN: Bassist for crossover band Corrosion of Conformity (C.O.C.).
WARREN DeMARTINI: Ratt guitarist; touring and session guitarist, solo artist.
DEMONAZ (HARALD NAEVDAL): Vocalist and guitarist for Norwegian black metal band Immortal.
AMIR DERAKH: Guitarist, keyboardist, ex-Orgy, ex–Rough Cutt, ex-Firehouse.
MIKE DeWOLF: Guitarist for Taproot.
PAUL DI’ANNO: Ex–Iron Maiden singer, 1978–81.
BRUCE DICKINSON: Iron Maiden singer, 1981–93, 1999–present; ex-Samson.
“DIMEBAG DARRELL” ABBOTT (b: 1966, d: 2004): Ex-Pantera and Damageplan guitarist.
RONNIE JAMES DIO (b: 1942, d: 2010): Singer for Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and the revamped Black Sabbath group Heaven & Hell.
DON DOKKEN: Dokken singer and founder.
JON DONAIS: Guitarist for metalcore bands Aftershock, Shadows Fall.
LEE DORRIAN: Ex-vocalist for grindcore band Napalm Death, founder of doom band Cathedral; owner of Rise Above Records.
RYAN DOWNEY: Band manager; journalist.
K.K. DOWNING: Ex–Judas Priest guitarist.
DAVID DRAIMAN: Vocalist for Disturbed, Device.
DR. KNOW: Bad Brains guitarist.
KEVIN DuBROW (b: 1955, d: 2007): Quiet Riot singer.
ADAM DUCE: Machine Head bassist.
FRED DURST: Front man of nu metal band Limp Bizkit.
ADAM DUTKIEWICZ: Drummer and guitarist for former band Aftershock, ex-drummer, guitarist for Killswitch Engage, Times of Grace.
SUSANNA EDWARDS: Film director.
DAVID ELLEFSON: Bassist and co-founder of Megadeth, ex-F5.
JOE ELLIOTT: Vocalist for Def Leppard.
BOBBY “BLITZ” ELLSWORTH: Singer for thrash band Overkill.
SULLY ERNA: Vocalist for Godsmack, solo artist.
RICK ERNST: Director, executive producer, at Roadrunner Records.
TOBIN ESPERANCE: Bassist for Papa Roach.
EURONYMOUS (ØYSTEIN AARSETH) (b: 1968, d: 1993): Founder and guitarist of Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. Murdered by Burzum’s Count Grishnackh.
DAVE EVANS: Ex-singer for AC/DC.
EVIL (MORGAN STEINMEYER HAKANSSON): Guitarist for Swedish black metal band Marduk.
AUDREY EWELL: Movie director.
BOB EZRIN: Record producer.
DEZ FAFARA: Vocalist for nu metal band Coal Chamber, death/thrash band DevilDriver.
BRIAN FAIR: Vocalist for Massachusetts metalcore pioneers Overcast and Shadows Fall.
PHIL FASCIANA: Guitarist for Malevolent Creation.
FAUST (BARD EITHUN): Ex-drummer for Emperor, Blood Tsunami, Aborym.
CHRIS FEHN: Percussionist for Slipknot.
FENRIZ (LEIF GYLVE NAGELL): Drummer for Darkthrone.
MARIA FERRERO: Ex-Megaforce publicist, Adrenaline PR founder.
FIELDY (REGINALD ARVIZU): Bassist for Korn.
THOMAS GABRIEL FISCHER: Front man for Triptykon, ex–Celtic Frost, ex-Hellhammer.
HARLEY FLANAGAN: Ex-drummer for The Stimulators, ex–Cro-Mags, Harley’s War.
TONY FLETCHER: Journalist.
ROBB FLYNN: Ex-guitarist for thrash bands Forbidden, Vio-Lence; front man for Machine Head.
LITA FORD: Ex-guitarist for The Runaways, solo artist.
RAYNA FOSS: Bassist for Coal Chamber.
ACE FREHLEY: Ex-KISS guitarist, Frehley’s Comet, solo artist.
JAY JAY FRENCH: Guitarist and co-founder of Twisted Sister.
DAVID FRICKE: Journalist.
LONN FRIEND: Journalist, ex-RIP magazine editor, author.
FROST (KJETIL VIDAR HARALDSTAD): Drummer for Satyricon.
GAAHL (KRISTIAN EIVIND ESPEDAL): Ex-vocalist for Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth, God Seed, ex-Trelldom, ex-Gaahlskagg, ex-Warduna.
JOHN GALLAGHER: Singer, bassist and cofounder of Raven.
RONNIE “NASTY” GALETTI: Front man for Nasty Savage; ex-professional wrestler.
SYNYSTER GATES: Guitarist for Avenged Sevenfold.
BRANDON GEIST: Revolver editor in chief.
BARRY GIFFORD: Journalist, author, screenwriter.
IAN GILLAN: Singer for Deep Purple; ex-singer for Black Sabbath; solo artist.
BRAD GILLIS: Guitarist of Night Ranger, ex–Ozzy Osbourne guitarist.
JOE GIRON: Photographer.
MIKE GITTER: Ex-A&R for Roadrunner, Razor & Tie.
TERRY GLAZE: Ex-vocalist for Pantera, Lord Tracy.
JAY GORDON: Vocalist for Orgy.
ANGELA GOSSOW: Vocalist for Arch Enemy.
BILLY GOULD: Bassist for Faith No More.
PAUL GRAY (b: 1972, d: 2010): Bassist, songwriter and cofounder of Slipknot.
BILLY GRAZIADEI: Guitarist for Biohazard, ex–Suicide City.
BARNEY GREENWAY: Vocalist for Napalm Death.
DAVE GROHL: Ex-Nirvana drummer; singer, guitarist, and founder of Foo Fighters.
ADAM GROSSMAN: Front man for Skrew, ex–Angkor Wat.
KORY GROW: Journalist.
&nb
sp; TRACII GUNS: Ex-guitarist for Guns N’ Roses; founder of L.A. Guns.
ROB HALFORD: Vocalist for Judas Priest, 1974–1991, 2003–present; ex-Fight, ex-2wo, ex-Halford.
CHRISTOPHER HALL: Vocalist for industrial band Stabbing Westward.
VICKY HAMILTON: Music executive, ex-Geffen A&R, manager.
KIRK HAMMETT: Guitarist for Metallica, 1983–present, ex-Exodus, 1980–1983.
CONNIE “SWEET CONNIE” HAMZY: Famed groupie.
RITA HANEY: Longtime girlfriend of Dimebag Darrell.
JEFF HANNEMAN: Guitarist for Slayer.
STEVE HARRIS: Iron Maiden cofounder, songwriter, and bassist.
JAMES HART: Vocalist for Eighteen Visions.
MATT HARVEY: Vocalist and guitarist for Exhumed, Dekapitator, Gravehill.
JOE HASSELVANDER: Drummer for Raven, ex-Pentagram.
HEAD (BRIAN WELCH): Ex-guitarist for Korn, solo artist.
WILLIAM HEIN: Cofounder of Enigma Records.
HELLHAMMER (JAN AXEL BLOMBERG): Drummer for Mayhem, Arcturus, Winds, Nidingr, Mezzerschmitt, Death of Desire, Age of Silence.
DWID HELLION: Vocalist for Integrity.
RAYMOND HERRERA: Ex-drummer for Fear Factory, Arkaea.
JAMES HETFIELD: Front man, cofounder of Metallica.
BOBBY HEWITT: Drummer for Orgy.
KENNY HICKEY: Guitarist for Type O Negative.
IAN HILL: Bassist for Judas Priest.
BRENT HINDS: Guitarist and vocalist for Mastodon, Fiend Without a Face; ex–Four Hour Fogger.
KEVIN HODAPP: Photographer.
GENE HOGLAN: Drummer for Dethklok, ex–Strapping Young Lad, Dark Angel, Fear Factory.
GARY HOLT: Exodus guitarist.
JOSH HOMME: Queens of the Stone Age guitarist, vocalist, ex-Kyuss guitarist, Them Crooked Vultures; record producer.
H.R.: Front man for Bad Brains.
EARL HUDSON: Drummer for Bad Brains.
GLENN HUGHES: Ex-vocalist for Deep Purple, ex–Black Sabbath, Black Country Communion.
SCOTT IAN: Guitarist, cofounder of Anthrax, ex–Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.), The Damned Things.
ICE CUBE: Body Count front man, rapper; actor.
IGGY POP: Vocalist of The Stooges, solo artist.
IHSAHN (VEGARD SVERRE TVEITAN): Front man of Emperor, ex-Peccatum, solo artist.
INFERNUS (ROGER TIEGS): Ex-guitarist for Gorgoroth, ex-Orcustus, ex-Desekrator.
Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal Page 68
