Greetings Headbangers and Gamers!

Welcome to the RPG Metal Opera Blog, the home of all things Heavy Metal & Tabletop RPGs. 

This Blog will be devoted to talk about D&D (all editions), Metal songs and bands, and fantasy novels / movies. I'll also be discussing a little RPG that I wrote, a metallized version of 5E D&D, called What Lies Below: the RPG Metal Opera (Now Available on Drivethrurpg.com).

Ever since Led Zeppelin mentioned Gollum and Mordor on "Ramble On," Metal bands have been writing songs about demons, magic, and dragons. For example, Michael Moorcock, the author of the Elric Series, collaborated and wrote songs with Blue Öyster Cult and Hawkwind (which featured Lemmy of Motörhead!). Or Listen to almost any song by Dio, Manowar, or more recent bands like The Sword, and you'll hear fantasy related lyrics.

So why do Heavy Metal and fantasy go so well together? I'd venture a few reasons: Escapism; mythological themes in lyrics fit with heavy music; and simply because a lot of us d&d nerds got into heavy metal. 

Metal and d&d were also born at the same time in the late 70s and 80s, when fantasy and horror became mainstream. Consider this timeline:

• 1965 Lord of the Rings paperback version becomes a bestseller in the US
• Led Zeppelin I, II, III & IV (1969-1971)
• Black Sabbath "Black Sabbath" (1970)
• Gygax's Chainmail rules (1971)
• The Exorcist (1973) 
• original D&D boxed set (1974)
• the New Wave of British Heavy Metal 
• a fantasy movie about knights and wizards battling an evil overlord in outer space (1977)
• the AD&D Players handbook (1978)
• the LOTR animated Bakshi version (1978)
• Iron Maiden's debut album (1980)
• the D&D Basic red box (Moldvay) (1981)
• D&D is featured in the Movie ET and the Tom Hanks film Mazes and Monsters (1982), 
• the Satanic Panic of the 1980s embroiled D&D and Metal in controversy As hysterical parents freak out over demons in the monster manual and the cover of Number of the Beast
• AD&D sells 100,00s of books and has millions of players by the early 80s
• Metallica's kill 'em all, Slayer's Show no Mercy (1983)

Proof that D&D and Heavy Metal were Born from the same Zeitgeist of fantasy and occult fascination that swept the anxiety ridden Post-hippy era. Oddly both Metal and D&D waned in popularity in the 1990s and then rose again in more recent times. Coincidence? I think not. 

So there you have it: Metal and Fantasy. Like Chocolate and Peanut Butter. The best combination ever. A marriage made in heaven. 

Or maybe in Hell.

Thanks for reading. Until next time.