What are some NOVELS that are truly metal?
And I'm not talking about autobios about metal musicians. As a novelist who blasted plenty of Symphony X, Blind Guaredian and Metallica to get the mood for my debut, I'd really like to find a few examples to read, potentially for my current 75-book reading challenge and to help influence the next book in my Wings of Nialoca series.
So help me find whatever novels capture whatever metal spirit brings you to Metal Academy. What novels replicate those vibes?
Not sure what you mean Rex. Do you mean novels related to actual metal music or novels that cover the themes and spirit that metal thrives on, such as fantasy for power and heavy metal, horror for death metal and the occult for black metal?
If it's the latter then I have always thought of William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer as thematically quite metal. Any of Michael Moorcock's Elric series are definitely metal fodder - Cirith Ungol often use Elric cover paintings as their album covers.
Not sure what you mean Rex. Do you mean novels related to actual metal music or novels that cover the themes and spirit that metal thrives on, such as fantasy for power and heavy metal, horror for death metal and the occult for black metal?
If it's the latter then I have always thought of William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer as thematically quite metal. Any of Michael Moorcock's Elric series are definitely metal fodder - Cirith Ungol often use Elric cover paintings as their album covers.
I was going for the spiritual definition, but I'm also allowing for some subjectivity i.e. the clan system. Neuromancer is a good example based on what I've heard. I would even include Stephen King's Gunslinger. I haven't read the other books in the series yet.
HP Lovecraft is a staple in certain areas of the metal world, but he is more of a short stories guy than novels. At the Mountains of Madness is one of his longer stories which I often think of when listening to funeral doom.
The In Her Name series of books by Michael R. Hicks are also very "metal" in subject matter.
I don't know if any of the novels I read capture the metal spirit, but some of my favorite books from children's chapter novel series are the ones that involve the main character and their friends in a rock/metal band. Those include Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Overlode, Big Nate in the Zone, and Middle School: Born to Rock. Those books also help me out for when I'm currently writing a spin-off to my own book series, starring a metalhead and his little sister from the future who both end up in the 1980s (the golden age of classic heavy metal genres) and form their own metal band.
Another obvious staple is Robert E Howard, who had the influence on barbarianism in fantasy, in addition to other influences you wouldn't necessarily know of without being familiar with him like his influence on Lovecraft's works. Most of the others in Lovecraft's circle could also count, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert Bloch.
On a different note, Stephen R. Donaldson works well with doom metal with a fantasy theme, and Armor by John Steakley is one, at least in the parts depicting the bug war.
I believe the book that’s had the most influence on metal lyrics & themes is by this dude called God. It’s an old one. I forget the name but I think it starts with a “b”. Some bad ass atrocities transpire in it too by all reports. Metal as fuck!
I believe the book that’s had the most influence on metal lyrics & themes is by this dude called God. It’s an old one. I forget the name but I think it starts with a “b”. Some bad ass atrocities transpire in it too by all reports. Metal as fuck!
Or another by Anton LaVey if we are talking about black metal!
I guess a few dystopian novels such as 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse 5 and I, Robot have been quite influential on metal themes too.
I guess a few dystopian novels such as 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse 5 and I, Robot have been quite influential on metal themes too.
I've actually been on a Kurt Vonnegut binge. Slaughterhouse Five feels a bit more prog rock to me than metal. But 1984 has had a huge say in dystopianism in concept albums.
I know I said I didn't know if any of the novels I read capture the metal spirit, but they do now! I was reading this graphic novel adaptation of Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith:
While listening to all the industrial/cyber metal tracks I've shared in this page of the Sphere Track of the Day thread: https://metal.academy/forum/15/thread/193?page=9
Star Wars can really capture my cyber metal spirit. I guess the most suitable metal genre for Star Wars would be Mechina-style epic symphonic progressive cyber metal.