The Encyclopedia of Australian Heavy Metal is an attempt to chronicle the history of heavy music in Australia since the heady psychedelic early days of Buffalo and bruising boogie of AC/DC and Rose Tattoo to the technical death metal of Psycroptic and muscular metalcore of Parkway Drive. Like Nick Calpakdjian's forthcoming film documentary Metal Down Under, the encyclopedia is a study of musical forms and subcultures that continue to remain under-exposed and misunderstood, but this book attempts to go even further than Nick's film. Every band, every release, every musician, no matter how apparently inconsequential - the Encyclopedia of Australian Heavy Metal will try to capture it all, permanently, and present it to readers in a 400-page hardcover volume as staunch and study as the music itself.

The Encyclopedia of Australian Heavy Metal will be the culmination of a project that editor Brian Giffin began with a website called The Australian Metal Guide in 1997. The first, incomplete version of the encyclopedia was published as The Australian Metal Guide by German publisher Iron Pages in 2005. This latest version hopes to update, revise and finalise Brian's research into this subject that he has undertaken with help from writers, reviewers, fans and artists across Australia since the late 1990s. This is why he is billing himself as the editor, not the author, because the contributions he has compiled come from a wide variety of sources - first-hand accounts, magazine articles, press releases, personal emails from band members, websites and personal contributions from friends and colleagues. The book will include full membership details and discographies for every entry, album art, photos and a full colour cover for which Brian has commissioned Canberra-based visual artist Roy Torkington, former guitarist with the legendary progressive death metal band Alchemist. Brian is also hoping to produce a limited-edition CD of Australian metal music, containing up to 17 tracks, for up to 300 subscribers.

Funding will be used to pay for the publication of the book in hardcover format, cover art, promotional costs, publication costs and for the production of a limited-edition CD. 

Cost breakdown:

*Publication using a POD online service such as Lightning Source or Lulu
*Graphic design for the full-colour cover
*Promotion and publicity
*Production of the accompanying CD

The text of the book is almost at the completion stage. As this will be produced using web-based self-publishing methods, final delivery dates will be determined by the length of time it will take in the actual publishing stage, but all subscribers will be kept up-to-date with developments and delays should they arise. Production of the accompanying CD will be determined by mastering and manufacturing timetables, artist submission times and finally by legal clearances for tracks included. This may mean that the CD will not be sent out at the same time as the book, but all subscribers will receive the disc once it is made available.