Bazillion Points Books has announced the late 2010 release of "Mean Deviation: Four Decades Of Progressive Heavy Metal" by Jeff Wagner, a former editor of Metal Maniacs magazine and veteran supporter of metal's most risk-taking bands.
Wagner analyzes the heady side of metal in this exhaustive history of a relentlessly ambitious musical subculture. Beginning with 1970s progressive rock acts Rush and King Crimson, Mean Deviation unfurls a colorful tapestry of sounds and styles, from the “Big Three” of 1980s prog metal—Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, and Dream Theater—to Extreme pioneers Voivod, Watchtower, and Celtic Frost. The flirtation between Heavy Metal and progressive rock grows with bold creative leaps, spawning countless valiant launches toward infinity. Today, the spark of inspiration thrives in obscure outposts such as Scandinavia, Florida, and Japan, Bursting into full Flame with the successes of prog metal overlords Opeth, Meshuggah, Tool, Between The Buried And Me, and their progressive peers.
According to Wagner: “Mean Deviation highlights many impossibly scattered bands and movements that widened the scope of the Heavy Metal genre. To some, Progressive Metal starts with Dream Theater and ends with an interminable Stream of bands that sound like Dream Theater. By my interpretation, the term ‘progressive metal’ allows for consideration of cosmic post-black metal band In the Woods, avant-garde metal surrealists Thought Industry, and those obscure purveyors of Corrupted Swedish Death Metal, Carbonized-along with more obvious entries such as Fates Warning, Opeth, and, of course, Dream Theater."
“One thing prog metal certainly is, is metal. Hard and bold and brash, but refined, adulterated, and mutated; it is Heavy Metal taken somewhere illuminating and sometimes bizarre.”
The book's foreword was penned by Porcupine Tree founder Steven Wilson. Revered in progressive rock circles, the multi-talented Wilson is also highly respected by metalheads as producer of three landmark Opeth albums. As he writes: "In Jeff Wagner's 'Mean Deviation', we now have a definitive book on the relationship between metal and progressive music, and the myriad variation of styles that it has given Rise to... In the meantime, metal continues to mutate and evolve, sometimes in the most unexpected ways, demonstrating that it is far from spent and is, in fact, the most flexible of musical forms."
Weighing in at 400 pages, the heavily-illustrated book includes a 16-page color photo insert, a constellation of appendixes, and a full index.
The book features extensive original artwork throughout by Voivod drummer Michel "Away" Langevin, including the lavish front cover which can be viewed below.
For more information, and to pre-order, visit http://www.mean-deviation.com
Wagner analyzes the heady side of metal in this exhaustive history of a relentlessly ambitious musical subculture. Beginning with 1970s progressive rock acts Rush and King Crimson, Mean Deviation unfurls a colorful tapestry of sounds and styles, from the “Big Three” of 1980s prog metal—Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, and Dream Theater—to Extreme pioneers Voivod, Watchtower, and Celtic Frost. The flirtation between Heavy Metal and progressive rock grows with bold creative leaps, spawning countless valiant launches toward infinity. Today, the spark of inspiration thrives in obscure outposts such as Scandinavia, Florida, and Japan, Bursting into full Flame with the successes of prog metal overlords Opeth, Meshuggah, Tool, Between The Buried And Me, and their progressive peers.
According to Wagner: “Mean Deviation highlights many impossibly scattered bands and movements that widened the scope of the Heavy Metal genre. To some, Progressive Metal starts with Dream Theater and ends with an interminable Stream of bands that sound like Dream Theater. By my interpretation, the term ‘progressive metal’ allows for consideration of cosmic post-black metal band In the Woods, avant-garde metal surrealists Thought Industry, and those obscure purveyors of Corrupted Swedish Death Metal, Carbonized-along with more obvious entries such as Fates Warning, Opeth, and, of course, Dream Theater."
“One thing prog metal certainly is, is metal. Hard and bold and brash, but refined, adulterated, and mutated; it is Heavy Metal taken somewhere illuminating and sometimes bizarre.”
The book's foreword was penned by Porcupine Tree founder Steven Wilson. Revered in progressive rock circles, the multi-talented Wilson is also highly respected by metalheads as producer of three landmark Opeth albums. As he writes: "In Jeff Wagner's 'Mean Deviation', we now have a definitive book on the relationship between metal and progressive music, and the myriad variation of styles that it has given Rise to... In the meantime, metal continues to mutate and evolve, sometimes in the most unexpected ways, demonstrating that it is far from spent and is, in fact, the most flexible of musical forms."
Weighing in at 400 pages, the heavily-illustrated book includes a 16-page color photo insert, a constellation of appendixes, and a full index.
The book features extensive original artwork throughout by Voivod drummer Michel "Away" Langevin, including the lavish front cover which can be viewed below.
For more information, and to pre-order, visit http://www.mean-deviation.com
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