Reviled and revered in equal measure since its inception over a decade ago the phenomenon known as Death Metal has pushed Hard Rock music to the very edge of acceptability, and way beyond. Death metal and its bastard offspring Grindcore, has become the pariah of the music world. From the founding fathers Death, Napalm Death, Carcass, Incantation, Impetigo, and Morbid Angel, to the rise of Swedish Death Metal legends In Flames, Carnage and At The Gates, the Black Death Metal of Marduk, the Christian Death Metal of Mortification and the political Noisecore of Agathocles. Every major force in the genre is included - Aborted, Malevolent Creation, Deicide, Dismember, Dissection, Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under, Vader, Krisiun, et al. All genres old and new are analysed in depth with full histories and detailed discographies of well over 3,000 bands. Also included are many rare photographs. No area of the globe has provided a safe haven and this book documents the burgeoning uprise of Death Metal bands in the Far East, Eastern Europe and South America. Despite its unceasing growth and increasing legions of fans quite remarkably the phenomenon of Extreme Metal has never been fully documented until now. This book, newly updated and amended, is a must for all serious extreme metal fans.