Heavy Metal Horror: Axes of Evil: "Louder, Faster..."

Music is an integral part of a lot of my stories.  The arts in general, from music to writing, sculpture, painting, etc., are places my brain enjoys going as I explore characters imbued with a creative side that is often damaged...(or just damaged characters without any foundation based on some sort of creative endeavor, which has got to be worse. I mean, can you imagine going through life with no creative outlet?  What's the point?  Go to work, come home, have a beer, grunt at the wife, scratch your belly, watch a sporting event, have twenty-four seconds of intimacy...then drop to sleep to do it all again the next day.  No, sorry, not on my to-do list. Creativity is mandatory for self-exploration, self-expression, holding on to my sanity...and survival.  So...where was I?).  Anyway, to the point, one of the places I have gone to on occasion with my fiction is Heavy Metal.  I've done it a few times in short tales, with one more in the just released anthology, Axes of Evil.  The story therein, "Louder, Faster..." is probably my favorite of that noisy batch o' tales.  

I wrote the story after seeing a Metal show with my ex-wife's husband about a year and a half ago.  Something of the little venue, just taking in the condensed fury, the people, the noise, worked its way into my head and birthed this short story swathed in Satanic Metal...and Love, Sweet Love.  But not in a cheesy way, no.  This one's got an appropriate hard edge, and...er, wait! I can't give it all away.  Let's just say it's an odd one, for sure, and one I think you'll enjoy. 

That said, check this TOC. There's lots to enjoy:

1. Introduction by Alex S. Johnson
2. Mourningstar by Del James
3. All the Rage by Lindsey Beth Goddard
4. The Plaster Casters Rise Again by Persiphone Hellecat
5. The Cold and Lonely Tombstone of Angus Smith by Jeff Ö’Brien
6. Battle of the Bands by Joel Donald
7. The Doom to Come by Andrew Freudenberg
8. Sinister Cavan by Jim Goforth
9. Beyond Death by Chuck Rios
10. Rio Grande Blood by Chris Kelso
11. Tones of Skin and Bones by Michael Faun
12. Seven Goats by Mathias Jansson
13. Louder, Faster… by John Claude Smith
14. Ex-Punk by MP Johnson
15. An Unholy Statement by Kerry GiantSquid Lipp
16. Keltorrian by Jacurutu Scarry Garry-Shinigami Twenty-Three
17. Let Him Who Hath Understanding by Sylvia Bourgoin
18. Frygga: Dreams of Fire by Christine Morgan
19. Death Call by Christopher Hivner
20. Gargamathanga by Martin Garrity
21. Backstage Passes by Anna Haney
22. Rita by Mimi A. Mimi Williams
23. Die, Clown, Die! By Alex S. Johnson
24. Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Charie D. La Marr
25. Rock and Roll All Night by Sephera Giron
26. Hardcore Crust by Terry M. West
27. Unholy Concoction by Robert Holtgrewe
28. Axes of Discordance: A Bangalore Story by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
29. Crush by Selene MacLeod
30. Harbinger Master by G Arthur Brown
31. The Dreadheads by Grant Wamack
32. Before the Ball by Ray Van Horn Jr.
33. To Hell With the Metal by Sean Leonard
34. Extremophiles by Lucy Taylor

(Yes, that does say, Lucy Taylor; only one of the handful of Major influences on my own writing.)

So, what's keeping you?  Crank it to 11 and purchase Axes of Evil HERE.

Enjoy!