Published by Fourth Estate, August 2004
Written by Seb Hunter
Amazon.com link
I wanted to do my first paperback review for RevelationZ on a book that people who love Heavy Metal could really identify with on a personal level. One thing that has always struck me about the scene today, is that just about everybody who listens to Metal also makes some kind of attempt at picking up an instrument and trying there hand at rock stardom. And this particular piece of literature just so happens to be about one of those Metal musicians who failed to achieve success on every level. I think Heavy Metal is the only genre of music where, I would guess, about 80% of the listeners are also aspiring musicians themselves. Maybe Jazz would come in second or something like that, but Metal will always rule in this particular department.
So Seb Hunter is one of the many Metal fans who had these sorts of dreams of their own, and this book is his story, in addition to being the ultimate guide of how to fail miserably in the music industry. Who could blame him though, as he goes into dramatic detail of how he fell in love with the music from the very start of his childhood.
I think my favorite thing about the book, is how Mr. Hunter goes into such tremendous detail about the history of Metal, and how it corresponded with the musical phases he went through in his journey. The influence that the popular bands of the different years of his life had on him was so relevant to how he ultimately failed, and yet he describes what these groups did to him with such passion that I couldn't help but laugh. Overall "Hell Bent" is so full of self-depreciating humor, that I found myself laughing out loud non-stop as I burned through the pages. It's really brilliantly written, and has so much historical value, at least if you are interested in the history of this thing we call Metal. This book really demonstrates Seb Hunter's natural gift of story telling and usage of voice.
My biggest complaint about the book is that it seems to really be cut short. I was like "is that really it?" I found myself wondering if maybe he had some deadline for it or something, and he had to abruptly end the book. The book gets better and better as you get further into it, and when I reached the end, I really wanted it to keep going. So you can see that this abrupt ending was a little troublesome to me.
Overall though, I really think this is one of the best autobiographical books I have read about Heavy Metal (although nothing will ever touch Motley Crue's "The dirt"). I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of any kind of music, or to anyone who enjoys reading about Heavy Metal and its history.
Rating: 8.5/10
