Aaaah, metal. If you escaped the 80s without owning a Pantera album, or something from Slayer, chances are you were kind of a pussy. That’s not a smear, that’s just basic science. But metal has clearly survived the Reagan era, and is an entrenched culture everywhere from the frozen wilds of Scandinavia to the torrid jungles of Brazil. People love their metal. And in Metalheads: The Global Brotherhood, photographer Jörg Brüggemann aims to shine a light on this misunderstood cultural niche by traveling to Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States to photograph these fans known as metalheads. As German publisher Gestalten describes:

“In some of the resulting portraits, it looks as if Brüggemann not only travelled to different countries but back in time to the 1980s, the period of heavy metal’s supposed peak. But all of these images have one thing in common: they show that no matter who metalheads are or where they come from, they are united by their music across borders, generations, genders, religions, and social classes.”

The images in the 160 page hardcover are complemented by personal experiences and anecdotes that put the global metal scene into context,  and describe the evolution of this musical genre from its humble beginnings until the present day. It drops this month in Europe, and in April 2012 everywhere else for $60 (£37.50 /€39.90)

One more gallery from “Metalheads: The Global Brotherhood” after the Jump…