Metal Missonary

This book chronicles the life of Australian metal musician Steve Rowe. As well as over 65,000 words of text, it contains 275 photos (most of them in full colour), archival video footage and audio segments.
As a teenager growing up in 1970s Melbourne, Australia, Steve Rowe participated in athletic activities with unbridled enthusiasm. He also enjoyed listening to heavy rock music, collecting records and souvenirs from his musical heroes. 
In the early 1990s, Steve was still full of energy, delivering gritty vocals and thumping bass guitar as the founder of Australian extreme Christian metal band Mortification. The controversial group gained thousands of fans around the world through album sales and concert tours in the USA and Europe. 
In 1996, Steve Rowe, aged 31, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. After surviving a bone marrow transplant and intensive chemotherapy, he contracted cancer of the spinal fluid. In 1997, his doctor declared that he had only ‘two hours left to live’. 
But Steve defied the doctor’s expectations and fought through unspeakable pain only to be declared an L1 paraplegic. 
Strengthened by his faith in God, Steve rebuilt his life to, once again, record and tour with his band. US, European and South American tours enhanced his reputation as a determined ‘metal missionary’ with a survival story of miraculous proportions. 
Steve Rowe’s story is one of an ‘ordinary Aussie’ doing extraordinary things. 
His passion for people and his unshakeable Christian faith are undeniable. His reflections on his health issues and his disability are insightful and poignant. 
Steve’s enthusiasm for life, embedded throughout his story, is infectious and inspiring.