| | Foreword: in my World by Scott I an | p. ix |
| | Prologue: Heavy Metal Thunder | p. 1 |
| | Kick Out the Jams: Proto Metal, 1964-1970 | p. 7 |
| | Masters of Reality: Sabbath, Priest, and Beyond, 1970-1979 | p. 29 |
| | British Steel: New Wave of British Heavy Metal Shapes the Future, 1980-Present | p. 73 |
| | Youth Gone Wild: Metal Goes Mainstream, 1978-1992 | p. 121 |
| | Caught in a Mosh: Thrash Metal, 1981-1991 | p. 191 |
| | The Age of Quarrel: Crossover/Hardcore, 1977-1992 | p. 267 |
| | Far Beyond Driven: Thrash Revisited and Revised, 1987-2004 | p. 307 |
| | High-Tech Hate: Industrial, 1980-1997 | p. 365 |
| | All for the Mookie: Mu Metal, 1989-2002 | p. 407 |
| | Hammer Smashed Face: Death Metal, 1983-1993 | p. 459 |
| | In the Mightside Eclipse: Black Metal, 1982-Present | p. 505 |
| | When Darkness Falls: Metalcore, 1992-2006 | p. 557 |
| | New American Gospel: Millennial Mental, 1992-Present | p. 615 |
| | Conclusion: The End Complete | p. 681 |
| | Afterword: Defender of the Faith by Rob Halford | p. 685 |
| | Cast of Characters | p. 687 |
| | Acknowledgments | p. 705 |
| | Credits | p. 709 |