Between the Covers

Unbound. A collection of 44 flyers, business cards, and handbills promoting Los Angeles metal venues and bands from the 1980s-1990s featuring acts such as Sepultura, Gwar, Saint Vitus, Abraxas, Slayer, Wool, Ulysses Siren, Raw Flower, Resistant Militia, Papa Wheelie, and others. The flyers are all printed on paper sheets of various colors sized, 2.5" x 2" to 14" x 8.5", in black ink with several incorporating rubberstamped elements. All items have slight edgewear and soiling else near fine or better.

Decorated with various band’s typographical names and designs, the posters illustrate tombs, zombies, devils, witches, and the band members. One flyer’s illustration is of a sacrilegious nun forcing a cross into her arm; this flyer is for the band Wool. Wool was based out of California and mixed the sounds of hard rock, punk, and psychedelia making them versatile in the bands they accompanied. Another more versatile band was Ulysses Siren which formed in 1983 in South San Francisco. Two years after forming the band’s demo *Terrorist Attack* was featured on KUSF radio and at the Record Vault for becoming the number 1 selling underground demo. Saint Vitus was another widely popular underground band from the Los Angeles area. Forming in 1979, the band has been credited as one of the first bands of the doom metal genre. Slayer formed in 1981 as a thrash metal band from California. In 1986 the band rose to fame and has been labeled as one of the “Big Four” thrash metal bands. Their lyrics and album art included themes of necrophilia, anti-religion, war, Satanism, and murder. This often led to bans on Slayer’s music and criticism from parents and religious groups.

The venues that housed these bands were known for their underground shows. The Jabberjaw was a coffee house and music venue in Los Angeles, California. It featured underground all-ages rock, metal, and punk shows. Jabberjaw released four, seven inch vinyl EPs which were later compiled on CD in 1994 and again in 1996. Another venue was the Reseda Country Club. In the 1950s the club started off as a drug store and later became a music venue in 1979 under Chuck Landis. The club closed in the late 1990s and today is the site of a Spanish-language Christian church.

A fascinating collection of metal flyers from California featuring popular and underground acts during the 1980s-1990s.

Item #403661