Joel McIver is a British author. The best-known of his 20 books to date is the bestselling Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica, first published in 2004 and selling close to 50,000 copies in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

, Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

, Ice Cube

Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...

 and Queens Of The Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...

. His writing also appears in newspapers and magazines such as The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, Metal Hammer

Metal Hammer

Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...

, Classic Rock

Classic Rock (magazine)

Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...

 and Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

, and he is a regular guest on music-related BBC and commercial radio.

In the introduction to the 2009 book All Pens Blazing: A Heavy Metal Writer’s Handbook by Neil Daniels

Neil Daniels

Neil Daniels is a freelance British writer specialising in rock and heavy metal. Educated at Middlesex University, where he obtained a BA Honours degree in Film Studies, he has written books on Judas Priest, Robert Plant, Bon Jovi and Linkin Park. He co-authored Dawn Of The Metal Gods: My Life In...

, veteran writer Martin Popoff

Martin Popoff

Martin Popoff is a Canadian-born music journalist and critic who covers the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles magazine, he has additionally written over twenty books that both critically evaluate heavy metal and document its history...

 described McIver as "probably the top [rock] scribe in the world right now".

As well as writing his own books, McIver also co-writes the memoirs of rock musicians, notably that of sometime Deep Purple

Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...

 bassist Glenn Hughes, whose autobiography was published in May 2011, and of Max Cavalera

Max Cavalera

Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the heavy metal band Sepultura, before forming Soulfly in the late 1990s...

 (Sepultura

Sepultura

Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte, formed in 1984. The band was a major force in the death metal, thrash metal and ultimately groove metal realms during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their later experiments melding nu metal, hardcore punk and industrial.Sepultura...

, Soulfly

Soulfly

Soulfly is a heavy metal band formed in 1997 based in Phoenix, Arizona. The original lyrical content revolved around spirituality and religious themes, with later albums encompassing other themes including war, violence, aggression, hatred and anger. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max...

, Cavalera Conspiracy

Cavalera Conspiracy

Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian heavy metal band founded by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera , along with American guitarist and bassist Marc Rizzo and Johny Chow. The band originally formed in 2007 as Inflikted but changed its name for legal reasons...

), whose book will appear in 2012.

McIver is an alumnus of Backwell School

Backwell School

Backwell School is an academy in Backwell, North Somerset, England. The school, which has had academy status since May 2011, is a specialist Arts College, and includes a sixth form and takes pupils from the age of 11 to the age of 18...

 and the University of Edinburgh

Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

List of University of Edinburgh people is a list of notable graduates and former faculty of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The University is associated with ten Nobel Prize winners and three Prime Ministers....

.

External links