Fall is almost here and with it comes lots of great new book releases. I’m an avid reader, but this year thanks to being mostly indoors because of COVID-19, I’ve already read more books in the last six months than I typically do in any given year. Probably three times as many. So, I’m really looking forward to this Fall’s new releases to keep me occupied.

Below are some books I personally am looking forward to this Fall, listed here in order of release date, starting with books releasing in September 2020. After this main list, I’ve included some picks for books that came out earlier this year that maybe you missed, and then some others that are older, but there’s a good reason to get to reading them now.

Continue on to check out my Fall 2020 Book Recommendations….

Fans of thrash metal all know that the San Francisco Bay Area is the official birthplace of the genre that saw the rise of legends like Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. Now, a new documentary will give everyone a look at those bands and others who played fast and furious in the 1980s.

Watch the trailer here below for Murder In The Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story, which features over 50 interviews with members of the aforementioned bands, as well as Testament, Death Angel, Exodus (the title of the doc is taken from a line from “Bonded By Blood,” the title track from Exodus’s debut album), and many others.

Local death metal band, Auditory Vomit, is looking for a new drummer after firing Don “Cymbal Slayer” Greenblatt from the band. Reports say that it all started when Greenblatt got into an argument with singer and band founder, Trevor “I Eat Kittens for Breakfast” Odermeyer. Band members, bass player Fred “Thunder Strummer 69” Finestein and guitar player Nils “Slammer Hammer” Henriksen claim the two began arguing during a rehearsal in Odermeyer’s mother’s basement in their home town of Trenton, NJ.

Well, friends of the metal persuasion, that time of year has rolled around again. The holiday season is upon us, time to show up on doorsteps with your electric twangers and sing songs about roasting nuts, burn down churches, and, most of all, it’s time to avoid all your repulsive metalhead friends that might have the nerve to expect a gift. But for those of you who just don’t seem to have that flare for hiding in your closet for two months straight, here are some wallet-emptying items they’re sure to find amusing.

Here’s the 2016 Metalhead’s Holiday Gift Guide…

Don’t ask me why I decided to go to Ozzfest/Knotfest this year. Normally an annual rite of passage for my husband and our 13-year-old son, I somehow got it in my head that it would be a fun thing for me and my 9-year-old daughter to tag along this year. Perhaps it is all part of my middle-aged crisis that is also attempting to convince me that I am a somewhat relevant rock n’ roll star who is destined for success in my family band (#thecheesebergens), but anyway…

I was approaching the festival in what already looked like miserable conditions as hot winds kicked up dust storms all over the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA. Early thoughts on the parking lot situation: Why do schlubby guys feel like it’s necessary to take off their shirts and stand in the beds of their pickup trucks? And why are there so many more of them taking off their shirts than the ones who actually look good without shirts? But there were plenty of those too…shout out to the twin shirtless heavy metal cowboys with man buns (yes, you are reading that correctly!).

This week’s featured Massive Metal Monday track comes to us courtesy of Metal Blade recording artists Redemption whose new album, The Art of Loss, was released this past Friday February 26, 2016. The song is entitled “Damaged” and features guest guitar work by former Megadeth virtuoso Marty Friedman.

The Art of Loss is the sixth full-length entry in the band’s discography, which dates back to 2003. In addition to Friedman, the album features guest appearances by two other former guitarists for Megadeth, Chris Broderick and Chris Poland, as well as Armored Saint/Anthrax vocalist John Bush.

Megadeth
Dystopia
MP3 | CD | Vinyl
Label: T-Boy Records/UMe
Release date: January 22, 2016

After 20 or so years of churning out several mediocre (at best) albums, Dave Mustaine and company are back with their fifteenth studio album Dystopia. There has once again been a major shakeup in the Megadeth lineup as both guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover exited the band in the wake of the previous album, 2013’s abysmal Super Collider. The two musicians continue to play together in a new band known as Act of Defiance. Their replacements are former Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro and drummer Chris Adler who is pulling double duty with both Megadeth and his own band Lamb of God.

Pioneering heavy metal band Megadeth has announced that its fifteenth studio album Dystopia will arrive on January 22, 2016. The album will be the first to feature the band’s new lineup, which includes Chris Adler (who is also in Lamb of God) on drums and former Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro. Former members guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover left the band earlier this year to form the new unit Act of Defiance.

Along with the album announcement comes the premiere of Dystopia’s first single, “Fatal Illusion,” which you can listen to here below.

As many of you know if you’ve been reading my columns here for a while, my son Jesse Bergen has been a student at School of Rock here in Los Angeles, CA, for almost 5 years now. He’s primarily a guitar player, but is also proficient at bass, vocals, and drums. We’re very fortunate to live in L.A. where celebrities often stop by to support the school and mentor the kids.

Mine is a family of metalheads, so you can imagine our excitement when we heard that on Friday, August 21, 2015, David Ellefson, bass player and founding member of Megadeth, would be dropping by for a Q&A and jamming with the kids. So my son and his fellow house band members set about learning two Megadeth classics.

Check out my videos of the performances here below, along with my firsthand account of the event.

Today’s Thrashback Thursday theme is: great band, cool song, terrible record. Megadeth‘s anthemic track “Crush ‘Em” was just about the only redeeming factor of their otherwise abysmal 1999 album Risk. The record’s title reflects Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine’s belief that the band was ready to take a risk and step outside of their comfort zone. The problem was that the step they took was toward pop metal and the risk that they took alienated many fans. The album would be the last to feature legendary guitarist Marty Friedman, who left the fold a year later.

“Crush ‘Em” was also used as the theme song for the equally terrible Jean Claude Van Damme and Bill Goldberg movie Universal Soldier: The Return and the song’s official video features both actors.