It’s been over four decades since Kerrang! was launched, originally as a one-off heavy metal special by music weekly Sounds, and since then, it has taken its place on the shelves of newsagents the world over and has overseen every cultural change and every significant event within the genre. Author and longstanding staff member Nick Ruskell has undertaken the mammoth task of breaking this down into a four-decade examination of rock music and how Kerrang! covered it.
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has lent his opinion in the foreword before we delve straight into the 1980s and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. New and archive interviews with the likes of the Scorpions and Judas Priest follow, as well as insight into the classic ‘look’ of Kerrang!, with each decade completed by an album of the decade listing.
We then move into the 90s: the rise of grunge and alternative music and the emergence of nu-metal, with input from the likes of Korn and Machine Head. It was in this era that Kerrang! also famously delved into the Norwegian black metal scene, church burnings and all. Continuing into the 00s and the “new alternative”, the mag was there for the big emo onslaught – and from there, it looks into the future and beyond, as well as the legacy that it’s created. A rite of passage for many a young rocker, this is the ultimate look behind the curtain of metal’s most revered publication.
Kerrang! Living Loud, Nick Ruskell (DK)
Price: £20. Info: here
words CHRIS ANDREWS
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