METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, EXODUS - Murder In The Front Row Photo Book Available For Pre-Order; Final Jacket Art Revealed

September 6, 2011, 13 years ago

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Bazillion Points Books has revealed the hardcover jacket artwork and page samples for Murder In The Front Row: Shots From The Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter, by Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew.

This spectacular large-format 272-page view inside "the metal scene that banged those heads that did not bang" includes over 400 of some of the earliest color and black-and-white photos of METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, EXODUS, POSSESSED, DEATH ANGEL, LEGACY / TESTAMENT, VIO-LENCE, and many others. The book will be available in December 2011, wherever books and sold, and is available for pre-order now with a limited two-sided exclusive poster-size dustjacket at this location.

During the early 1980s, when heavy metal was defined by MTV and mile-high hair, San Francisco's small community of dedicated headbangers scorned image and instead risked life and limb in search of the ultimate in musical thrills. Locals Exodus and Los Angeles transplants Metallica reigned in small clubs like the Old Waldorf, the Stone, and the infamous East Bay bastion of heaviness, Ruthie's Inn. Thrash metal upstarts Slayer and Megadeth found a second home in the Bay Area, while a homegrown breed of tempo-crazed teenagers like Legacy, Possessed, Death Angel, HEATHEN, and Vio-lence brought Bay Area thrash metal to critical mass.

Photographers Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew were dodging bodies from the very start, in front of the stage, backstage, and on the stage itself. They captured the public victories and private parties of a scene where fans and musical idols were equally hellbent on faster, heavier music and endless outrageous fun. Oimoen and Lew fought on the frontline of a war for individuality, snapping frame by frame as thrash metal was born, along with stagediving, crowd-walking, and countless other magical moments filled with key local personalities.

Somewhere along the way, Oimoen and Lew's friends in Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth became legends. Today, the Big Four thrash metal bands pictured in this book are the reigning elder statesmen of heavy metal. Their fellow ragers in Exodus, D.R.I., Testament, Death Angel, Possessed, and FORBIDDEN remain ambassadors of a Bay Area metal scene that continues to thrive and command fascination around the world.

This stunning volume collects over 400 amazing color and black-and-white photos, plus passionate personal accounts by Bay Area veterans Harald Oimoen, Brian Lew, Ron Quintana of Metal Mania, Gary Holt of Exodus, Alex Skolnick of Testament, and Robb Flynn of MACHINE HEAD. From DIY origins to world domination, the Bay Area thrash metal scene screams to life in these fearless pages.


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