Customer Reviews

Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground

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1 star:		(12)

 

 

"Lords of Chaos" is a very well-written book that documents certain key events in the rise and fall of the Satanic movement in extreme metal. Beginning with a slight history of the proto-black/death metal bands of the '80's (i.e. Bathory, Venom, King Diamond, Slayer, etc...), and bringing the reader to the early '90's when the Norwegian black metal scene declared its supremacy, this book tells it like it was. Everything from the church burnings (for which Samoth of Emperor was imprisoned), to Faust's (Emperor's drummer) murder of a homosexual fan, to the suicide of Dead (Mayhem's vocalist), to the murder of Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth (Mayhem's guitarist) at the hands of friend and Burzum mainman Varg Vikernes, to the German band Absurd's own transgressions in the following years, this book is pretty much a black metal historian's dream. The philosophy is not elaborated on as much as it should, but there are several chapters that deal specifically with Anton LeVay's brand of Satanism (right down to an interview with him) to several notes on Nordic/Viking mythology, and plenty of rare photos and interviews with key personalities in the scene, including Ihsahn (Emperor), Varg (Burzum), and even the guys in Cradle of Filth (a.k.a. black metal goes pop). It is definitely not for all tastes, and even fans of black metal may find it horrid to find that a scene that carries so much enjoyment also carried such terror and insanity. Not for the weak of heart. Other than that, it is an interesting read...

I must say that I disagree with the other reviewers about any bias from the authors of this book. It is not written so as to revere or condemn the people who are the subject matter, only to tell their stories. I can figure out that arson and murder are bad things all by my myself, thank you, I don't need the authors to spoon feed morality to me. In fact, I thank them for not doing so.

This book is not a "history" of black metal so much as a series of accounts of individual events in the scene. From here stems my main criticism of the book: it's a bit sloppily strung together. It starts off with a breif background of satanism and occult in non-metal music, and continues with a summary of early black metal bands such as Venom and Bathory. The following section, which makes up the majority of the book, is about the occurances in the Norwegian scene, mainly focusing on Mayhem and Varg Vikernes. Then there's interviews with people trying to explain the psychology behind satanism, heathenism, racism, and general bitterness towards judeochristianity. And finally, there is a bit about the events surrounding Absurd in Germany, and short cameos of black metal scenes and associated crimes in other countries that seem to have been tacked on as an afterthought. The first half of the book is a quick read, the second half requires a bit more patience.

Overall I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to any fan of metal with an interest in the subject. Non metal fans might enjoy the book as a true-crime account, but I think something would be lost by a reader who knew nothing of the music or had never been to a metal show and therefore knows nothing of the context.

Lords of Chaos focuses on the Norwegian Black Metal scene of the early 1990's, and its influence on music fans and political activists both in Norway and around the globe. The central figure in the scene was Varg Vikernes (at least according to these authors), who gained notoriety by murdering his friend, band leader and Black Metal guru/promoter Euronymous of the influential band Mayhem. From jail, Vikernes has made a number of shocking and radical statements, as well as self-published several treatises. Vikernes has toyed with Satanism in an anti-Christianity sense, with traditional Norwegian pagan heathenism, and with nationalist/skinhead ideals. He claims burning churches isn't blasphemy--the blasphemy lies in the churches themselves, which were constructed on top of heathen alters [horg]. He also makes enlightening comments about the need for female groupies to make any political movement attractive to the masses.

The authors carefully explore the Norwegian political climate and the presence of the State Church as part of the environment that led to the rise of Black Metal. Heavy Metal influences from around the world are also painstakingly traced. Several interview subjects expound upon the difference between Norwegian Satanism (dedicated to destroying Christianity) and Anton LaVey's Church of Satan (focused on achieving pleasure through selfish desires and motives). In the closing chapters, the authors explore Black Metal true crime in Germany, as well as copycat pseudo-Satanic rituals, sacrifices, and crimes committed by rabid fans in the US, Finland, England and other parts of the world. While the main figures in Norway and German maintain that Black Metal murders were due to interpersonal conflicts (NOT ritual sacrifices), the younger fans in other countries seem to glorify the music and commit senseless copycat acts in tribute to their heroes.

Moynihan and Soderlind have created an exhaustively-researched treatment of music, politics, and crime. The book avoids sensationalism at all costs and presents multiple points of view, especially in the dozens of interview subjects. The text is interspersed with hundreds of illustrations of band logos, album covers, fliers, traditional religious symbols, band members on stage, growing up, and in prison, media articles, press releases, and letters. The visual accompaniment greatly enhances the reading experience.

This is a pretty good look at the genesis of the Black Metal sub-subculture for about half the book. It details the horrible acts of certain individuals of the scene and allows them to voice their own opinions, and this is how we learn that most if not all of the members and leaders of this "cult" are just reactionary idiots with too much time on their hands.

But halfway through the writers lose their momentum and it becomes a fairly unfocused look at satanism and black magic - which ultimately has little to do with the subject at hand.

The final chapters feel like repetition of much of the information in the first eight chapters, but are interesting because of the detailing of bands in different areas of the world and what different scenes are like there.

As I put in my title, this is a good book, but it could have been great with some editing.

Excellent. I have read and re-read this book several times. The subject matter interviewed and covered are typically disgusting pigs, with what I believe to be an undue amount of attention given to Varg Vikernes. Focuses somewhat more on the sensational, true crime elements of the music, and the incredibly asinine/boring political views of the nationalistic elements of the scene as opposed to covering landmark releases, turning points in the music becoming more mainstream, etc. I would have preferred a little more discussion of the music as opposed to a whole chapter about Vikernes' obviously deluded belief that Aryans were created by extraterrestrial robots. Monyhan and Sonderlind repeatedly point out that (for better or worse) Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir are the biggest black metal bands in the world, but have only two brief interviews with Dani Filth, and a short interview with the label heads at Nuclear Blast talking about how many Dimmu records have been sold. It definetly seems like the NATIONALISTIC PAGAN CHURCH BURNING GRAVE DEFILING CHRIST-HATING MURDERERS have the spotlight over the music and musicians. That being said, the book is still a fascinating and engrossing read, written by a team who have a good deal of respect and appreciation for the music.

...are some of the customer reviews I have just read, from impressionable, probably disturbed youngsters writing things like "Hail Sathanas" and recommending this book to all black metal scenesters as a "how-to" guide. Obviously these kids have MISSED THE POINT. Sure, the music is compelling--having worked in a record store that sells recordings by Burzum and Emperor, amongst others, I agree that black metal is quite unlike anything else out there and musically ingenious. But the philosophy behind it--NO WAY. I have no love for Christian belief systems, either, but this does not mean I condone the sort of blind, unrelenting, emotionless hatred and destruction perpetrated by the followers of black metal philosophy. The two journalists who wrote this book did a fine job of researching, interviewing and trying to be objective, but nothing in this book acts as an encouragement to embrace national socialism, or Satansism, or murder and church-burning--nothing. The most intriguing part of this book, which unfortunately the authors did not address in detail, is how little jail time and punishment was given to these black metal criminals. They are continuing their message of hate from jail, inciting their (very young) followers, and they'll be out in a matter of years, with every intention of committing other crimes. Even Vikernes will only be 42 when he is released. It saddens and frightens me that some people see this work of research into destruction and violence as some sort of handbook. I urge those people to read this book again, more carefully, without focusing only on the bloody murders and the nihilistic spoutings, and at least try to understand what happens to these people, what the consequences of their actions are. The best example is the interview with Ihsahn of Emperor--I don't agree with his beliefs, but he is one of those people who would understand that I don't have to--he seems to have his head on straight, at least, and a good grasp of what his beliefs actually mean. Read this book as the sociological study that it is, and hear the music as works of art, not as incitations to violence, and understand what it is that drives these people to embrace heathenism and Satanism--which is the best way to distance yourself from the actual violence, as the authors of the book have done. I congratulate them on a well-researched, intelligent account of black metal, and regret that there are those who cannot see beyond the hatred and gore to understand their objective account.

In the mid-1990's Norway was scandalized by a series of church arsons. The true nature of the crimes became a media sensation when it was revealed that a number of native Black Metal musicians were tied to the crime spree. Murders soon followed arson as the crimes became even more bizarre and shocking.





Lords of Chaos is an in-depth look at the scene that spawned these incidents. Moynihan and Soderlind's book is probably one of the oddest true crime stories that I have ever read. It's clearly an ambitious work, and it often suffers from trying to cover too much ground at once. It's a Black Metal history that turns into a true crime novel and finally morphs into a sociological treatise on Satanism and nationalism.





It profiles a number of the prime movers in the Norwegian Black Metal scene, and has an amazing number of interesting photographs and illustrations that provide tremendous depth of detail into the subjects at hand. Moving quickly from a short history of the development of Black Metal, the authors begin to delve into the tragic events surrounding the band Mayhem. Mayhem's leader Oystein Aarseth (stage name Euronymous) and his cohorts set out to form the most sinister band imaginable, setting a cartoonish Satanic image up against a furious wall of metallic sound. Mayhem would provide the blueprint for a generation of followers, not only in sound but in background philosophy. Mayhem intended to live out their Satanic image to the hilt, proving to all that they were no mere posers. This desire for authenticity would eventually lead to a crime wave that still reverberates today, as grave desecrations and church arsons eventually led to murders and a rise of nationalistic imagery not seen since the heyday of the Nazis.





The authors have great source material and were lucky enough to get firsthand interviews with a number of the primary subjects in the book. The writing moves along at a good pace, as the reader is taken on a whirlwind tour of the Black Metal scene.





My main gripe with the book was the substandard level of editing. There were numerous misspellings and printing errors throughout the book. Also, as I stated earlier, I thought that the authors really lost track of where they were going with the book. It's a crime book with a lot of music history and cultural observation......or maybe it's a music history intertwined with a true crime novel.....or perhaps it's a sociological deconstruction based on a true crime story with Black Metal for it's background source. I don't know......it's confusing, but it somehow all works out in the end.





Truth is certainly stranger than fiction. There is no way that a writer could make up this cast of characters or the storyline that accompanies them. It's a truly amazing ride into a netherworld of Satanism and extreme music, where violence and aggression are rewarded and civilized society is reviled.





Highly recommended.

A fascinating account of the formation of Norwegian Black Metal and its aftermath that attempts to delve into the minds of a handful of originators. The first half of the book makes for intriguing reading as the events of the black metal subculture branch out into an unsuspecting society. The latter half of the book attempts to discover the motivation behind the more sinister deeds of the black metal fraternity, but at times tends to be a little confusing and lacking focus, which is possibly a reflection of the state of mind of the book's antagonists. The authors successfully present the facts and let the reader draw their own conclusions, ensuring this book is a great conversation starter.

Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind, Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground, revised edition (Feral House, 2003)

If ever a book was meant to be read in tandem with Mother Angelica: Her Life Story, this is it. Moynihan and Soderlind trace the emergence of Norwegian black metal (touching on its rise in other countries, of course, but focusing on the antics of Norway) through both the musical and criminal aspects. By now, the whole world is probably well aware of what the supposed "Black Circle" were getting up to in Norway in the early nineties (assuming there ever really was a Black Circle; Moynihan and Soderlind don't much opine on that subject, and their interviewees give conflicting information). The authors seek here not to glorify everything that happened, but to document it in the most objective of ways, giving ample airtime to both sides of every argument. There are times when that may seem like overkill (specifically, an interview with Emperor vocalist Ihsahn is followed by two interviews with others, one of whom believes Ihsahn means everything he says, the other doesn't), but what emerges is a picture that's as balanced as it can be when the topics under discussion are not only very loud music, but also murder, grave desecration, church burning, and that sort of thing.

It's a pretty good guess that anyone who actually dives into this book is going to have at least a skeletal familiarity with both the crimes documented and the major players, but the book is written in such a way that, I believe, even those with no concept of what black metal is will quickly get everything straight in their heads. There's a pretty big cast of characters, especially early on, but they're pretty easy to discern from one another. Also, Moynihan and Soderlind don't make the mistake that so many chroniclers have of treating the music as if it's nothing more than talentless banging; they offer opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of various bands from the perspective of people who have actually spent enough time listening to the material to be able to pick such things out.

Whether you're a fan of black metal or not (for that matter, whether you're a fan of rock music at all or not), there's a great deal of interest here. This is as much a piece of true crime writing as music journalism, and seems one of the more balanced pieces of writing in either genre. Recommended.

I have to say that this is one of the best books I've read in 1998. Being an avid listener of black metal, naturally I was interested in the subject, but after reading this book, I have to say that no background concerning this type of music is necessary for you to enjoy this book. Anyone who enjoys true crime books as well as works of sociology will be fascinated by LORDS OF CHAOS because it contains so much material related to these areas; specifically it deals with a leader of blackmetal's murder and the ensuing trial, along with the reasons he was murdered by the individual on trial. Also, it gives a great overview of the roots of blackmetal and the type of people involved in the scene. It also strives to answer the question of why people are attracted to this type of extreme music, and does a fairly good job of answering that question along with posing a few more questions in the long run?(relating to the possibility of 'ancient forces' having an impact of the rise of blackmetal) All in all, you can't go wrong here. I do wish that more coverage was given to more bands that deserve attention, but that certainly does not detract from the book's overall impact. Highly reccomended!!!