ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Born in 1986, JP Abboud can recall several confrontations and ruined relationships in the name of Metal. An introvert’s love of paranoid sci-fi and solipsistic fantasy dream hazes punctuated his stint fronting maniac cult Borrowed Time. He is working now in the Epic Metal band Gatekeeper. He will die eventually.
James Ashbey has been a member of various heavy metal bands, including Solstice (England), Lethean and Craven Idol. He sees many parallels between weird fiction and heavy metal, and enjoys working creatively in both fields.
Howie K. Bentley is the guitarist, lyricist, sole composer, and founder of two heavy metal bands: Cauldron Born and Briton Rites. He became an avid reader as a teenager in the early 1980s upon discovering the fantastic tales of Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Howie has had a number of sword-and-sorcery and occult fantasy tales published in recent years. He resides in his home state of Kentucky, where he spends his days and nights writing epic prose about barbarians and wizards and dreaming of the days of blood and thunder. For updates on his fiction, visit https://www.amazon.com/author/howiebentley.
Max Birbaum, born in 1989, is a German author and musician. During his studies of philosophy and history he has released three books in the German language and two albums as the guitarist of Lunar Shadow. Among his literary idols are names such as Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and Lord Dunsany.
Geoff Blackwell is a guitarist and keyboardist currently living in Vancouver, Canada. He has played in several bands including Gatekeeper and Scythia, has appeared on no less than ten physical recordings and makes his living teaching music and performing in bands, musical productions, and as a studio musician. His primary inspirations are Robert E. Howard, Frank Frazetta, Quorthon, Thin Lizzy, and Ayinger Celebrator Dopplebock. He'd like to thank DMR for letting him appear in this book, plus family, friends and bandmates of past, present & future for all their support.
Mike Browning is a metal drummer/vocalist that has played in several well-known bands. He was a founding member of the legendary Florida death metal band Morbid Angel. His run in that band lasted from 1982 to 1986. In 1987 he briefly played in Incubus. Later that year he formed Nocturnus which lasted until 1992. In 1990 Nocturnus put out The Key, a science fiction/horror concept album. The story “The Key” is based on that album. Mike has reactivated the band under the name Nocturnus AD and have released an album entitled Paradox.
Jaron Evil was born in Vancouver, Canada and has appeared on more releases than most would credit him. He has been the bassist for tech death titans Archspire, guitarist and vocalist for space metal band Eismond, and under the moniker Vultyrous he has been the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for symphonic black metal band Artep. A diverse multi-instrumentalist, Jaron also has several solo projects under his belt including Funeral Fornication (black metal), Ringbearer (Tolkien-inspired dark ambient), Almuric (power/doom metal), Bio-Mech (80s sci-fi synthwave), and others. He is always working on new music.
Ernest Cunningham Hellwell was born in Wichita, Kansas. An avid reader at an early age, his interests in writing and music both manifested in high school. It was at Wichita High School North that he met Mark Shelton in a creative writing class. During this time Ernest conceived and wrote the story “The Riddle Master.” Shelton was so taken with the story that he later put the tale to music in a song of the same title. It was released on the album Crystal Logic by his epic metal band Manilla Road in 1983. Ernest made his musical debut to the public in 2011 as the bassist on the Manilla Road album Playground of the Damned. Shortly thereafter E.C. and Mark established the band Hellwell. His stories were never published until his tale “Acheronomicon” was included with the release of the first Hellwell album Beyond the Boundaries of Sin (2012). The second Hellwell album, Behind the Demon’s Eyes, was released in 2017.
D.R. Lackner is a multi-instrumentalist and oil painter. His creative output can be seen and heard as the guitarist, vocalist, lyricist, and cover artist for the epic heavy metal band Legendry. His work in all mediums revolves around fantastical realms of sword and sorcery, and takes inspiration from Robert E. Howard, Manilla Road, and Frank Frazetta, among countless others.
Joe “Deathmaster” Minichino is a vocalist/guitarist, and the founder of Italian epic Heavy Metal band DoomSword. Born in Lombardy, Italy, he has a life-long passion for medieval history, fantasy and Heavy Metal. Joe is greatly influenced by Moorcock, Howard, Poul Anderson, Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road, Bathory, Frazetta, and Whelan. He adopted his pseudonym from a Warlord EP. Joe has also released albums with Agarthi, Fiurach, Gjallarhorn and Fury’n’Grace. He has lived in Cork, Ireland since 2004. He’d like to thank Rowena O’Sullivan, Rory O’Kelly and Sean Musick for proofreading/feedback on his story.
Byron Roberts is the vocalist, lyricist and founder of the UK extreme metal band Bal-Sagoth. An English Literature graduate, Roberts conceived Bal-Sagoth as a symphonic black metal project built upon an elaborate fantasy and sci-fi oriented lyrical concept, inspired by the novels, short stories, comics and movies he grew up with, particularly the classic pulp stories of Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. The lyrical mythos of the Bal-Sagoth universe goes far beyond the band’s six album discography, encompassing novellas, short stories, and even graphic novels. For more information on Byron’s work, visit www.bal-sagoth.net and www.byron-a-roberts.co.uk.
Mike Scalzi is the singer, lead guitar player and founding member of The Lord Weird Slough Feg, as well as a philosophy instructor at Diablo Valley College, San Ramon, California. Scalzi was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania.
Birthed and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chris Shoriak was exposed to many different forms of music and art, which quickly became his biggest interests. Moving to the Pacific Northwest, his love for fantasy was tempered within the iconic scenery, pristine shorelines, and ancient redwoods. After several years and several music projects he moved out to the lush, snowy mountain-town of Flagstaff, where he met several like-minded musicians who shared in his vision of Ice Sword; thusly began his long-awaited dream of a power/fantasy metal concept-band/project.
Jason Tarpey is a musician and blacksmith from Boerne, Texas. He is the vocalist for Eternal Champion, Iron Age, and Graven Rite, the latter featuring the song “The Summoner's Pit” which inspired his short story “Vengeance of the Insane God.” He also operates Hammerhall Forge, where he creates his hand-forged iron works.
Scott Waldrop was born in Winston-Salem, NC, grew up in Washington D.C., and lives in Raleigh, NC, with his wife Mary and son Scottie. He plays guitar in Twisted Tower Dire and Walpyrgus.
ALSO AVAILABLE
The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor by Byron A. Roberts – The Wolf-King of the north, Caylen-Tor, does battle with imperial armies and sorcerous serpent-men in three exciting novellas! Spectacular sword-and-sorcery by the lyricist of Bal-Sagoth.
Lands of the Earthquake by Henry Kuttner/Under a Dim Blue Sun by Howie K. Bentley – The first split release from DMR Books in the tradition of the Ace Double series! Lands of the Earthquake is a classic science-fantasy adventure from the pulp era that has never been published in book form before. On the flip side you’ll find a brand new sword-and-planet tale. A US soldier hijacks a Nazi spaceship and lands on a planet threatened by snake-men! This title is available exclusively from DMRBooks.com.
Death Dealers & Diabolists – Eight action-packed tales of swords and sorcery! Includes stories by Keith Taylor (author of the Bard series) and Buzz Dixon (writer for Thundarr the Barbarian, G.I. Joe and Transformers).
Warlords, Warlocks & Witches – Eight more fantastic tales of action and adventure! Features stories by David C. Smith (Red Sonja, Oron) and Geoff Blackwell (Swords of Steel).
The Road to Infinity by Gael DeRoane – Aran Dyfar’s wanderlust leads him on a quest to discover the mythical Road to Infinity. Along the way he encounters friends, monsters, and wonders beyond imagination. A picaresque adventure sure to please fans of Jack Vance’s Dying E
arth and Lyonesse series.
The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories by Clifford Ball – After the death of Robert E. Howard, Clifford Ball was the first writer to follow in his footsteps and pen sword and sorcery stories for Weird Tales. For the first time ever, all of Ball’s stories are collected into one volume. A must-have for pulp historians and fans of fantasy, horror, and weird fiction!
The Sapphire Goddess: The Fantasies of Nictzin Dyalhis – At last, the stories of one of the most unusual writers of weird fiction are collected! This volume contains all of Nictzin Dyalhis’ works of fantasy and science fiction, many of which have never before been reprinted. Those who love the wild imagination and masterful prose of authors such as Clark Ashton Smith and C.L. Moore are sure to enjoy this collection.
Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria – Classic tales of adventure from the sunken lands! Includes all five Kardios stories by Manly Wade Wellman, all three Lemurian tales by Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr., and a hard-to-find Leigh Brackett story set in Mu.
Swords of Steel Omnibus Page 55
