Rock Reads: The Armageddon Chord by Jeremy Wagner
Reviewed by Kevin Wierzbicki
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Wagner is a contributing writer at publications like Metal Edge and RIP Magazine as well as a songwriter and guitarist for the groups Broken Hope and Lupara. Here he channels his energy into his first novel, a story about how an ancient text written by Satan himself (here referred to as Sethis) has been discovered in Egypt. It turns out the writing is basically sheet music for a song that, when played correctly, will unleash Satan's full might and allow him to rule the world. So you have two skeezy characters, one an Egyptologist and another a dying millionaire, plotting to find a guitarist capable of playing the so-called Armageddon chord and they're especially interested in the fact that if they're successful Satan will grant one of them eternal life. Enter Kirk Vaisto, a young hotshot guitarist that the plotters think will fit the bill perfectly. As the story progresses Vaisto figures out that there's something evil going on but it takes him awhile to take it seriously since he's a bit uncertain about the heaven-and-hell thing, declaring that "music is my religion." The story of Vaisto's life and career, the normal part, is interwoven with the main story and since Wagner is a longtime working musician these threads are portrayed realistically. Wagner drops in knowing references here and there too, even going so far as to pattern Kirk Vaisto's playing style and thusly his name, off of Kirk Hammett and Steve Vai. In lots of ways The Armageddon Chord is also a thinly-veiled retelling of the typical music business horror story where an artist is manipulated and exploited ruthlessly with disregard for the consequences except that here Wagner makes the story lots of fun by taking it to the extreme.
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