Metal scribe Martin Popoff is back with the third installment of his The Collectors Guide to Heavy Metal, this time covering the 1990's. Many will probably agree that the 90's was probably not the best decade for one of our favorite musical artforms, but as Popoff so intricately navigates us through those lean years, we see and remember that there were many diamonds in the rough amidst a sea of grunge and power punk. At over 500 pages, this volume takes you through Martin's reviews of countless bands, many you'll no doubt be hearing about for the first time (which is always the great thing about the this series). For the avid metal fan, making your way through this book will certainly motivate you to revisit many gems in your existing collection, perhaps for some it will be for the first time in years. Personally, I found myself reminded that I've been perhaps remiss on not visiting with my old Pantera, Sepultura, Fates Warning, Yngwie Malmsteen, Megadeth, Meshuggah, Devin Townsend, and King Diamond CD's in quite a while, and at the same time Martin's coverage of the early 90's black metal releases coincides with my diving deep into the genre over the last year or so. If you've never discovered acts like Morgana Lefay, Candiria, Kim Mitchell, The Quiet Room, Shadow Gallery, Trouble, or Doctor Butcher, let Mr. Popoff take you through their 90's material and shed some light on how great or rotten they truly were, in his very unique & humorous style.
Included is a CD provided by Metal Blade Records of some tracks from various bands on their label like Kings X, Sacred Reich, Galactic Cowboys, King Diamond, Fates Warning, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, Skrew, Crisis, The Crown, Mercyful Fate, Six Feet Under, Gwar, and Flotsam and Jetsam. While many folks will probably already have many of these in their collections, a few of the bands fell below the radar back in the day and might be of interest to those who followed the music of that era.
As always, a very well done piece of work from the ever dependable Martin Popoff.
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