We sat down with some of the icons of the last few decades of heavy metal and hard rock to talk about the culture, why it's so enduring, and how it has changed.

Unsurprisingly, Judas Priest's Rob Halford, Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour), Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual and now a solo artist), Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson (Megadeth) and Jason Newsted (Metallica, Voivoid and now his own Newsted), all had a lot to say on the matter. As did Jon Wiederhorn and Katherine Turman, co-authors of the essential Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal, Howie Abrams, who wrote the zine-styled Merciless Book of Metal Lists, and Zeena Koda, radio host and metal writer (FADER, Revolver).