Tyrion Lannister (played by Peter Dinklage) kicks Frodo - and all his castmates - to the curb. Is he the new heavy metal protagonist? (Image found at www.thestartofallthings.wordpress.com
I’m about to commit heavy metal heresy: I don’t want to hear another metal band naming itself after or singing about stuff from Lord of the Rings. It’s an old, tired, geeky heavy metal cliche. What works of fiction can bands turn to next to show their non-hackneyed literary cred? I have some suggestions broken down by the type of band.
For the Righteous Warriors of Power Metal
The first book in this series by George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones, is already a hit HBO series. The five-book (so far) collection is far darker and less cutesy than J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. It’s ripe with characters and places that would make epic heavy metal lyrics, from the The Wall guarded by the Night’s Watch to the mysterious, post-volcanic cataclysm of Valyria. Dragons? Check. Dudes in armor? Check. Scary undead creatures? You betcha. Perfect for heavy metal. Who could do it best? My bet is on Swedish power metal band Hammerfall – they could breathe lyrical life into Tyrion Lannister, Ned Stark and Daenerys Targaryen.
For Lamentations of Lost Love and Broken Families
So far, author Patrick Rothfuss has only finished two books in the Kingkiller Chronicles. You’ve got a flawed protagonist with a terrible past. You have him alternately bent on revenge and hiding to save his own skin. You have fairies, cruel nobles, enemies that seem to have no weakness. Mix in some lost love, and you’ve got a perfect stew for lyrics and music that would conjure memories of Oceanborn-era Nightwish symphonic metal. A female-fronted metal band could run with this mix … though the title of the first book, The Name of the Wind, also invites smirky dudes like me to riff on songs about flatulence.
For the Creepy Crypt Dwellers
There’s no rule that says heavy metal has to be about clashing steel and maidens fair. How ‘bout a lonely kid roaming an English moor searching for the remains of his dead uncle … and instigating a showdown with a serial killer who preys on kids his age? That’s the premise of Belinda Bauer’s outstanding book Blacklands. I describe it as About a Boy meets The Silence of the Lambs. It’s a ready-made recipe for a doom metal band. It requires a creep vibe, and the Dutch band Candlemass and its American singer could deliver.
For Politically Angst-Ridden Thinkers
Dystopian futures are no stranger to heavy metal. And Veronica Roth’s book Divergent could be a vehicle for a Queensrcyhe/Fates Warning/Iced Earth sort of metal band to go off the rails. It’s set in Chicago, where it follows the story arc of a girl named Beatrice. She leaves her family and her grim psuedo-Amish faction to join the society’s unquestioned badasses. There, Beatrice becomes Tris – and a fulcrum for change in the first book of a proposed trilogy. I was a bit chagrined to realize that Roth wrote it for young adults. By the end, I didn’t care.
