"No Speed Limit: The History of Quebec Metal 1964-1989" book finally available in English

 

No Speed Limit: Québec Métal (1964-1989) traces the emergence of an underground musical genre that has been part of the Quebecois musical landscape for more than 30 years. Whether it was deliberate or not, Quebecois metal steeped itself in primitive and provocative ‘60s garage rock, flew along psychedelic rock’s soaring peaks, and adopted prog rock’s complex structures. It put on the weight of heavy rock and embraced punk and hardcore’s rebellion. It fed off local speed/thrash metal demo tapes, the savagery of crossover/“défonce,” and death metal’s pioneers. This essay is built around a structure made of quotes from almost a hundred interviews: From Voïvod to Obliveon, from Hou-Lops to Offenbach and Aut’Chose, from D.D.T., Sword, and DBC and from Damnation to Gorguts. The French version of the book was originally released in 2014 and has been a huge success (around 3000 copies were sold!), on top of gaining lots of media exposure. This English edition, translated by Geneviève Hass and carefully revised by music journalist Ian Christe, as well as musicians Samuel Dufour and Rob Milley, has been anticipated for years.

 

The author:

Félix B. Desfossés was born in Rouyn-Noranda and officially became a journalist in 2005. As such, he specializes in musical history. He is known for his participation in Radio-Canada’s Bande à part and PM, for his blog dedicated to Quebecois underground music history, Vente de garage, as well as for being one of the founding members of the Musée du rock’n’roll du Québec.

 

The creator:

Ian Campbell is recognized as the former singer of Neuraxis, co-founder of the Extreme Radiophobia fanzine, and main promoter of the Rouyn-Noranda metal scene. He was the creator of this book and oversaw its development throughout production.