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114 reviews for:
Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground
Didrik Søderlind, Michael Moynihan
3.47 AVERAGE
114 reviews for:
Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground
Didrik Søderlind, Michael Moynihan
3.47 AVERAGE
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
dark
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
A brutal but important read for anyone into metal music, paganism or just anything that has some presence of racism and/or Nazism tendencies even if you yourself do not endorse such abhorrent things.
The book is detailed and arguably a bit too detailed in places. The later unpackings of the wider legacy of those fateful origins of black metal in Norway lose their way a bit and feel less tied together than the earlier part of the book. That being said everything is interesting and of value in the wider discourse around the topics covered.
Essential reading but do strap in as there are some awful viewpoints presented throughout. Some of them are so extreme they're almost laughable but they do still take their psychological toll.
Things have progressed since the second edition (2003) that I read and I know some of the people interviewed have shifted their perspectives further so this book is a snapshot of what was and not necessarily reflective of what is. Go check out some of the new artists doing good (and not racist) stuff with metal, they might just surprise you.
The book is detailed and arguably a bit too detailed in places. The later unpackings of the wider legacy of those fateful origins of black metal in Norway lose their way a bit and feel less tied together than the earlier part of the book. That being said everything is interesting and of value in the wider discourse around the topics covered.
Essential reading but do strap in as there are some awful viewpoints presented throughout. Some of them are so extreme they're almost laughable but they do still take their psychological toll.
Things have progressed since the second edition (2003) that I read and I know some of the people interviewed have shifted their perspectives further so this book is a snapshot of what was and not necessarily reflective of what is. Go check out some of the new artists doing good (and not racist) stuff with metal, they might just surprise you.
This was a dramatic read, but by the last couple of chapters I was so exhausted that I had to take a break and go donate to the Norwegian anti-racism center to calm down. It’s that kind of book.
Buen libro, pero demasiado largo. El libro relata de manera precisa el movimiento del Black Metal Noruego de inicios de los 90's y se extiende, y se extiende, y se extiende por otras 200 páginas que, si bien están relacionadas al tema, me pareció excesivo. Si quieren aprender lo mismo sin tanto material adicional, mejor vean el documental Until The Light Take Us o esperen a la película de este libro que saldrá este año
medium-paced
Interesting history of the subculture, but Moynihan has his own agenda which makes me reluctant to recommend people buy this first-hand. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2019/02/26/lords-of-chaos-friends-of-tyranny/
Something to take into consideration: I've never been one to listen to black metal, but the corpse paint and fanaticism caused me to want to take a deeper look into the genre.
The book provided a very thorough explanation of the themes and trends that created and shaped black metal, at least from my rather naive understanding of the genre. The clash of Viking culture and Christian invasion felt like the most compelling aspect of the book; I wished they would have touched more on that topic, but I'll take what I can get. The main personalities in the culture were also pretty interesting (from Varg to all of the academics that took the time to comment on the scene), even though they could get a bit annoying at times.
All in all, it was a good read, though it did lag at small points throughout the novel. It was a good read and gave me a view of subcultures other than anarcho-punks, which will hopefully give me the ability to get more from the music I listen to.
The book provided a very thorough explanation of the themes and trends that created and shaped black metal, at least from my rather naive understanding of the genre. The clash of Viking culture and Christian invasion felt like the most compelling aspect of the book; I wished they would have touched more on that topic, but I'll take what I can get. The main personalities in the culture were also pretty interesting (from Varg to all of the academics that took the time to comment on the scene), even though they could get a bit annoying at times.
All in all, it was a good read, though it did lag at small points throughout the novel. It was a good read and gave me a view of subcultures other than anarcho-punks, which will hopefully give me the ability to get more from the music I listen to.