I’ve covered the world of metal and horror extensively, yet I’m always struck by how often metal fans love horror flicks.
Then again, it makes perfect sense, because metal fans are often fascinated with the dark side of life, and like the classic Universal monsters, they know what it means to be a misunderstood outcast like the Frankenstein monster.
For true metal and horror fans, we never really outgrow it, which Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett understands all too well with his new book, Too Much Horror Business.
Having checked out the book myself, I can attest it’s really a delight, and it was especially cool for me to discover in its pages that Kirk is a fan of my all time favorite B movie, Dracula Vs. Frankenstein.
Much like when you discover somebody likes one of your favorite metal bands, you can become instant friends with someone who digs the same flicks you do as well.
Hammett recently told Rolling Stone, “I can’t be the solitary collector. It’s time for me to share it with the world.” He’s also very happy with how the book turned out. “I should be,” he told writer Greg Prato. “I f*cking went through every little positioning of all the pictures, every little word and grammatical stuff. It really has been a labor of love, and I’m just very proud of it.”
Kirk is also launching his own monster toy line, KVH, where he’s donning the alter-persona Kirk Von Hammett. The toys will be based on photos and graphics in the Horror Business book. “It’s going to be pretty cool, because I’ve always wanted to make toys.”
As we reported previously on TG, Rolling Stone just ran a poll of the Greatest Metal Albums of all Time. Unlike their dunderheaded best guitarists poll from 2002, this one was left up to the fans to decide. Metallica dominated the poll with four albums, and Master came in at #1. As Hammett told Stone, “We were definitely peaking, and Master of Puppets was the sound of a band really gelling and learning how to work well together.”
This report also tells us there probably won’t be another album from Metallica until 2014, and Hammett said that once the band is finished with their 3D concert film, which they’re financing themselves, they should soon “start hunkering down and putting riffs together. That’s all going to happen soon.”
