Rick Brindle

  My latest novel, currently titled Sister Alex, is under construction. It's a post apocalyptic story about a transgender called Alex, and her fight for both acceptance and survival. I'm working though the editor's report and comments, and I hope to publish as soon as it's ready. In the meantime, try my other books... Cold Steel on the Rocks We Are Cold Steel Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard It's Not For Everyone

Ah, the big three. Well, my opinion, and it’s purely subjective. From top to bottom for me is Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin. And I’ll tell you why. Black Sabbath Black Sabbath, for me, are the absolute top of the heap with these three bands. The first Sabbath album I bought was Seventh Star, then the Dio albums, then the Tony Martin ones as they came out, then Born Again, and only then did I listen the the Ozzy ones. But you know what, I really don’t care about the lineup, because they’re all amazing, all awesome slabs of mega metal. Whoever was in the band, I just got it, I got their message, and their music just spoke to me every time. Each different lineup has got its own magic, and I love every one of their albums. Black Sabbath rule! Deep Purple So, number two on my list. My first Purple album was Perfect Strangers, and didn’t they look super-cool in 1984? I loved Perfect Strangers, then I got The House of Blue Light, which I didn’t like quite so much, and then I got in...

Cold Steel on the Rocks,  the first book in the Cold Steel trilogy, the one that started the most outrageous metal journey on the planet, features right now in the June 2023 issue of Metal Hammer. Pirates and heavy metal in the same book? You know it! When the pirate Blackbeard buried his treasure, he could never have imagined that it would fall to the heavy metal band, Cold Steel, to come looking for it.Cold Steel, high-octane British rockers who came close to legendary status, until the release of their fourth album, when their excesses send them spiralling into terminal decline.Struggling small-time band manager Johnny Faslane, in the right place at the right time, lands the dream job of managing Cold Steel, and then has the seemingly impossible mission of turning the band around.Cold Steel’s singer, Maxwell Diabolo, claims to have a treasure map that he thinks will lead him to Blackbeard’s lost riches. With the band bent on a terrifying path of self-destruction, Johnny wonders ...

We Are Cold Steel,  the second book in the Cold Steel trilogy, is free to download from Aamzon for a limited time. Get your copy now! A day after their historic concert on the Caribbean island of St Clements, heavy metal band Cold Steel are heroes. Now, all they have to do is stay out of trouble and enjoy a well-earned holiday until they start work on their next album. Except that the owner of the recording studio hates all things Cold Steel. Except that Cold Steel’s record company has blackmailed the studio into accepting them. Except that not all reporters are as friendly as band manager Johnny Faslane’s girlfriend, Rachel Shaw. With a tight deadline, Cold Steel have to get the next album out before their tour starts. They can’t afford any delays, and Johnny has his work cut out keeping the band in line. Feral former soldiers, reporters with an agenda, cake-obsessed studio execs and international criminals all work their way into the mix as the band hurtle from one improbable inc...

  Although my book,  It's Not For Everyone  told my own story from thirty years ago, it's sad to see that nothing has really changed.  BBC News, 14 April 2023 The RAF might say it has a zero tolerance policy towards abuse, but it's still going on, and once it happens, the damage is done. The military really needs to get into the twenty-first century and change its whole mindset before we stop reading more stories like this.  It's Not For Everyone Cold Steel on the Rocks We Are Cold Steel Cold Steel and the Underground Boneyard  

Sure I do. I listen to Nickelback. And for all the cork-sniffers out there who are already screaming that Nickelback aren’t metal…define metal. Yeah, right. So Nickelback, and really, actually, what’s not to like? Nothing, that’s what. They do catchy, upbeat metal, and you just can’t help tapping your foot when they play their stuff. I love their lyrics as well. Some of them, like Never Again, are really profound. They’re not just party boys, lots of their songs are about social issues like drugs, crime, death. But they also do the party stuff, and they also do the ballads. You could argue they’re a complete metal band all in one. It’s not just me, they’ve sold albums to more fans than just me, and their constant success is phenomenal. Okay, so maybe Chad could cut down on the self-love, in between song patter when they play live, but that’s a small thing. And let's face it, if I was front man for Nickelback, I’d be in love with myself too. Nickelback? They rock! And do I listen to...

It was  September 1989, at the Bristol Colston Hall, the Headless Cross tour. Axxis were the support band. They weren’t really up to much, but no real shocks there, it’s always hit and miss with support bands. Black Sabbath, though, were amazing. The line up for this concert was Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Neil Murray and Cozy Powell. They played songs from the whole Sabbath history, although nothing from Born Again or Seventh Star. I’m never hung up by line up changes, as long as the music is good, and oh yes, the music was good. Then, for the encore, Tony Iommi started playing Smoke on the Water, which was weird. But then, Ian Gillan came on. Awesome. Sabbath played Smoke on the Water and Paranoid with Ian Gillan and Tony Martin singing. Absolutely fabulous! Some things you just don't forget. Since then, I saw them on the Dehumanizer tour and also Heaven and Hell. I mean, sure, they called themselves Heaven and Hell, but we all know it was Black Sabbath. Cold Steel on the Rocks We A...