I have a pretty polarizing opinion of Eddie Trunk. I think what he does for the hard rock and metal is great. He makes a great ambassador for helping new fans, young and old, discover the pure magic that is heavy metal music.
That's about where my positive opinion of him ends. He is billed as an expert, but is ignorant to a lot of consensually held views on metal music. He overplays his status in the industry a bit too. Any chance he gets, he mentions that so-and-so from such-and-such famous rock band is texting him secret information, then tweets it or plugs it on his radio show. He does a poor job of promoting new revolutions in the genre. In the last 10 years, there have been a handful of musically inspiring movements that have continued to evolve and pay homage to the genre. Heavy metal in general has been amidst a renaissance, with dozens of new bands firing up their own torches, and the legends of old days flying their flags higher than ever. In regards to that matter, I'll give him credit for recognizing that classic bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, AC/DC and Megadeth have released some of their finest material in the last decade and continue to remain relevant.
Lastly, and this is more of a personal gripe and has no bearing on his professional career, but he almost entirely neglects the death and black metal genres, despite them forming during the same time period as the classic, more traditional heavy metal genres. I can easily connect the dots between bands like Alice Cooper and Bathory. I can appreciate the styles and influences of both, and would have no problem if "Under My Wheels" followed up "One Rode to Asa Bay" on my iPod. Trunk either doesn't agree or recognize the concept that extreme metal is no less important to the biography and history of hard rock and heavy metal than the traditional classics many fans grew up with.
Subject: Re: Eddie Trunk 
