“Earache: 35 Years of Noise” by Guy Strachan and Dave Ling (2022)
Well, as a kid who was introduced to Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Entombed, Obituary, Massacre, and so many other heavy bands in the late-80s (thanks in large part to the Columbia House music club and an intrepid local NW Indiana music store called Hegewisch), Earache was one of those obscure, pioneering labels that stuck out for obvious reasons; the music was a bloody earache to our parents and their bs Christian-conservative belief systems. Like with Nuclear Blast and Metal Blade and Relapse Records, the metal genre was growing exponentially during this time, and while many lament the Grunge Gold Rush that did a lot of damage to metal music, I would argue that metal survived, evolved, and expanded tremendously in the 90s. It wasn’t a phoenix; it is a titan. Now, we have numerous small metal labels sprinkled around the globe disseminating awesome music (there are even Buddhist metal bands now! https://metalinjection.net/scene-report/the-dharma-death-metal-initiative-buddhism-in-metal).
While this coffee-table book is a nice publicity piece for Digby Pearson and all he’s done for metal music, I was quite unsurprised to see the label morph into a pop-rock/blues venture, and subsequently see its place in the music business skyrocket. Such is life. Pop = $$$. Still, such a book is pleasant time-machine eye-candy for those of us who embraced metal music, its lifestyle, its attitude, and its mindset . . . and carry that torch onward into the grave.
Buy the book directly from Earache Records (https://webstore.earache.com/new-additions/earache-records-35-years-of-noise-book-klas-rydberg) and give a middle finger to the Amazon Imperium. \m/
