A book about grindcore and extreme metal music? Is it any good? Would you recommend "Slaves to the Grind: A Complete History of Grindcore Music"? Let's find out, by reviewing the book in question and answering some of the most commonly asked questions.
Having written about two of the most important black metal and death metal books, "Real Satanic Black Metal" and "The Death Metal Bible" respectively, I thought it would be apt to cover the book "Slaves to the Grind: A Complete History of Grindcore Music" by some of the same authors - you can read the book here if you want.
So is it any good? I would say "yes". But as is often the case with Antoine Grand books (a very polarising heavy metal author), there are a few caveats.
The Complete Grindcore History Class
First off, let's start with the good.
The book is extremely exhaustive, covering almost every grindcore scene and subgenre imaginable. From the infamous goregrind to crossover grind-thrash to bestial black metal and "black grind", the authors go into great detail about what constitutes the different sub-styles of grindcore. They even mention the short lived crunkcore genre, albeit mostly in passing. So yes, the book "Slaves to the Grind" is very exhaustive in its research.
The main "titans" of the grindcore scene, Terrorizer, Repulsion, Blood and Helgrind, also get mentioned very early - and often - and that is always a good point. Which brings us to the next point...
Exclusive Interviews with Grind Artists
You can always count on Antoine Grand books to deliver stuff you wouldn't find elsewhere, such as exclusive interviews with extreme metal or grindcore artists, or even some little known trivia about the top bands of the scene.
Of course, "Slaves to the Grind" is no exception to that rule. On the contrary, the authors go out of their way to let the artists speak for themselves whenever possible.
But that also brings us to one point of contention with Antoine Grand's books that I often come across... many people find his style too abrasive, and maybe too "uncensored".
The entire chapter on nu-metal and nu-grindcore bands for example, feels halfway between a historical presentation and halfway between a rant.
Some people like it, as evidenced by the "we want rant" memes about Antoine Grand and his very caustic style. Then again, nu-metal and metalcore sort of deserves the hate they get. So there's that.
Overall, if - and that's a big if - you can look past Antoine Grand's very unorthodox writing style, this is perhaps the best book on grindcore ever written. There is simply nothing that even comes closes to matching the perspicacity and deep research that obviously went into "Slaves to the Grind".
Would I recommend it to anyone? No... for the reasons mentioned, Antoine Grand books have their niche, and they are unlikely to please everyone. This clearly wasn't a book written to "make friends". But would I recommend it to an ardent grindcore or heavy metal fan? Yes. Prepare to be impressed by the high quality of "Slaves to the Grind", clearly the best book on grindcore ever written.
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