After the death of founder, vocalist, and lead guitarist Mark “The Shark” Shelton on July 27, 2018, Manilla Road disbanded. But their metal legacy remains, hewn into the living rock of our favorite fantasy subgenre.
Read MoreRonnie James Dio, as he stated in numerous interviews, grew up on a diet of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Walter Scott and the Arthurian legends. His lyrics reflected that from early on--though not as much as some might guess--and kept doing so throughout his career.
Read MoreHere on DMR blog we extol Ronnie James Dio (1942-2010) for many reasons. First, we’re all metal fans. But we also praise him because the website of a heroic fantasy publisher couldn’t be more apropos. Dio was, in fact, a sword-and-sorcery hero.
Read MoreRaise your mead-horns and drinking-skulls high, my brothers. On April 25, 1980, two-score years ago, Black Sabbath's classic album Heaven and Hell was released.
Read MoreHowie K. Bentley has been an important part of DMR Books since the very beginning. When I came up with the concept getting heavy metal musicians to write sword and sorcery stories, he was one of the first people I contacted. I could tell by reading the lyrics of his band Cauldron Born that his love and knowledge of the fantasy genre was not merely superficial. With the Swords of Steel Omnibus Edition coming out next week, I thought it would be a good time to learn more about the man who wrote such impressive tales as “All Will Be Righted on Samhain” and “Thannhausefeer’s Guest.”
Read MoreDMR Books is proud to present the Swords of Steel Omnibus Edition, which collects all 23 stories from the three original volumes, plus three new tales. The massive trade paperback version weighs in at a whopping 454 pages!
Read MoreIt’s been a while since our last look at metal album covers that share their artwork with fantasy/SF/horror books. This time around, we’re featuring the work of British artist Bruce Pennington.
Read MoreJust like The Broken Sword, Hrolf Kraki’s Saga is another dark Viking tale with many grim themes such as rape, violent betrayal, murdering of kin and incestuous relationships. Again, there is a degree of witchcraft and sorcery that takes place, as well as quite a bit of great fighting and battle scenes.
Read MoreQuorthon, founding member of the massively influential metal band Bathory, died on this date fifteen years ago. Fantasy author C. Dean Andersson pays tribute to the fallen hero.
Read MoreKen Kelly is a titan in the field of fantasy illustration. He’s done original paintings for a few classic metal albums, such as Manowar’s Kings of Metal and Rainbow’s Rising, but a good deal more records feature his work, especially those depicting Conan and other Robert E. Howard characters.
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