This is a comprehensive, illustrated book about one of the most enduringly popular forms of music. Combining biography, critical analysis, and detailed reference sections, it profiles all the major heavy metal artists as well as a huge selection of other niche acts from around the world. Metal includes new first-hand interview material with many major metal musicians and detailed discographies. Running to approximately 600,000 words, it is the definitive metal encyclopaedia.

Garry Sharpe-Young (1964–2010) was an internationally recognised expert on rock music. He is the author of more than a dozen books on heavy metal and rock, and since 2001 managed the constantly expanding www.rockdetector.com, the definitive online information resource for all loud rock/metal music. Garry lived in Taranaki, New Zealand.