Back in 2004, the same year that the first issue of Decibel was published, longtime editor Albert Mudrian published Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore. The book, originally released by Feral House, has been out of print for a while. Plus, 11 years later, there’s been a hell of a lot more death/grind released and bands that were in their infancy have gotten larger and/or faltered. In short with more than a decade of context and history to add, the book was due for an update. Perhaps it’s because of those reasons that a revised and expanded edition of the book will be released next month. Version 2.0 of Choosing Death offers over 100 additional pages, featuring three new chapters, over 50 additional interviews and a new cover, painted by Entombed/Morbid Angel album cover artist Dan Seagrave. Here’s what Muldrian says about the new edition:
This is what Choosing Death should have been all along. But I honestly don’t believe I was capable of doing something this fully realized back in 2002 through early 2004 when I wrote the original. Obviously the story arc has been updated to address 2004 to the present day, but additionally, I was able to go back and tell the origin stories of the Dutch and Finnish death metal scenes (which were glossed over in the original) in much greater detail here. Other stories surrounding many of the core bands featured in the original—such as Death, Autopsy and, yes, Napalm Death—have been expanded as well, creating a much fuller portrait of the death and grind movements. Oh, and check out that brand new Dan Seagrave cover art—how can you fucking beat that?!
The new version of the book will be the inaugural release from Decibel Books. It will be shipping the week of April 12th, but you can preorder your copy here. Not sold yet? Check out a few sample pages of the book in the gallery below.
