Meet Matt Herring, author of Black Sabbath: The Vinyl Testament

Matt Herring, writer of Black Sabbath: The Vinyl Testament, offers a look back at half a century of bone-crushing riffs, thought-provoking lyrics, and a band that fought for, and is still fighting for, every bit of respect it could get.

Throughout the history of music, Black Sabbath has been one of the most misunderstood and influential bands. Their music is annoying, loud, Satan-worshipping nonsense to the uninitiated. If you get Black Sabbath, you’ll find that their music provided a soundtrack not only for the disenfranchised of the ’70s and dreamers of the ’80s, but also for pure music lovers.

Black Sabbath: The Vinyl Testament takes you all the way back to their very first album! Every album is broken down, the stories behind it are described, and each song is reviewed. Featuring an in-depth look at the half century of bone-crushing riffs, thought-provoking lyrics, and a band that had to fight for, and is still fighting for, every bit of respect they deserve, The Vinyl Testament is written by music journalist/historian/podcaster Matt Herring.

Herring has discussed another band that means a great deal to him. “When I write about a band, I am completely honest. If I don’t like something, I will say it. But I will always preface my remarks by reminding the reader that this is my opinion and it doesn’t make the band or its music bad.”

Herring is a history lover and relates the stories of his favorite bands as history lessons, inspiring or rekindling enthusiasm for them.

“One of the big things I learned from writing this book was how Black Sabbath never had the support they needed from their management and record labels. Instead of protecting them, the band was mistreated and manipulated. They were kept on the road or in the studio and high enough to not ask the questions they should have been asking.”

Additionally, the book tells the story of Jimi Bell, guitarist for Autograph and House Of Lords, who played for Black Sabbath pre- and post-Black Sabbath. During the audition process for Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 1987, Bell made it into the top two. Later, he joined the Geezer Butler Band, but that project failed.

A full-color, 200+ page book with an incredible cover designed by Andrew Edge. The Beatles are cleverly incorporated into the book for a reason that is explained in the book, and are a band that both Black Sabbath and Matt Herring love. Fan pictures, bootlegs, autographed albums, and CDs from fans’ collections are inside, along with awesome photos taken at concerts and meet-and-greets

Within hard rock and heavy metal, UFO are one of the most influential bands of all time, as he showed in his previous music books, UFO: YOUR FAVORITE BAND’S FAVORITE BAND and ASIA: TIME AND TIME AGAIN. In fact, there is no band more criminally neglected than them that ever put music on vinyl, tape, CD, or 8 Track! Matman Herring reviews every UFO album and every song in UFO – YOUR FAVORITE BAND’S FAVORITE BAND and hopes that you will be inspired by some of the best music ever recorded.

Also included are the stories surrounding each album as well as reviews of albums by Michael Schenker Group, Waysted, Whitesnake, Scorpions and other bands or artists that have lineage to UFO. No book about UFO would be complete without the comments of those musicians that were influenced by UFO including Dave Meniketti (Y&T), Michael Sweet (Stryper), Jimi Bell and B.J. Zampa (House Of Lords), Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions, Electric Sun), Steve Brown (Trixter) and Tracy G (Dio). The book is introduced by Michael Sweet of Stryper, the front cover is done by the amazing Andrew Edge and back cover photograph is by Rebekah Herring.

Meet Matt Herring, author of Black Sabbath: The Vinyl Testament