Rating: 
Summary: A review from a highly-respected Black Metal insider
Review: The following comment was received by the author from the singer of Mayhem, arguably the most important Black Metal band in the world:"I got your book yesterday and I have spent the night reading it and the day thinking about it. First I have to say that I am impressed with the amount of research you have obviously done. It is a rich, objective book on a matter that has until now been 'tabloid.' I have to congratulate you... the first impression is amazing. For me it was a flashback and maybe also an awakener. I have, of course, been aware of most of the [events] in the book, but to have it presented chronologically like this, in one volume, put many things in perspective. The integration of storytelling and in-depth interviews, as well as bringing to light a certain philosophy in a rather bloodstained reality, thrusts this beyond anything previously written about the 'black metal scene.' It is also a book worth reading by people within the scene to get an 'outside gaze' at themselves." - Maniac, singer & lyricist for Mayhem
Rating: 
Summary: not that good, not that bad
Review: When reading this book i felt like i was reading something that i had already known and learing nothing new. This book may be somewhat good for an outsider not into the black metal scene as to inform about how the scene was started and the goings on of those wacky Norwegians. This book can be interesting at times and at other times is rather tedious. It seems like the authors are just trying to fill in space. But the main downfall of the book is the misleading title of the book. It seems to be less about black metal, but more focused on Heathenism,satanism and facism within the genre, no rise nor fall is indicated in the book. If you are looking for a guide to black metal and wondering what this music is about then you might want to stay away from this book. But if you are in fact interested in the occult, esoteric and violent aspects within the black metal scene, then this mught interest you. All in all this book isnt bad, but it could have been a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: "...the FALL of the satanic metal underground..."
Review: Throughout this book, the author is constantly trying to make it clear how intelligent he is & how many big words he can use in a single sentence. The book is entitled "The Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground", but for anyone who has known about Black Metal for more than a year will surely agree that this book marks the "Fall" of the Satanic Metal Underground. Complete with book signing across the country & everything! Throughout a large portion of Lords of Chaos, I get the impression that the author is just trying to take up space. But, I suppose this book has decent insight on the now dead & buried Black Metal scene (to the commercialization of media whores). But still, nothing is stated which hasn't been said before in years of interviews in fanzines, etc. Still a slightly entertaining read (hence, the score of 5)
Rating: 
Summary: lords of chaos
Review: Medieval armor, swords, corpse paint, and black leather -- from its ghoulish exterior trappings right down to the soul-snatching music itself, Black Metal is cartoon evil come to life. Bearing names like Dead, Euronymous, and Count Grishnackh, its a genre that can lay claim to a bizarre enough cast of characters to lend its macabre cinematic quality flesh and blood credibility. But in Northern Europe, where Odins wild hunt might still be heard thundering across the starry midnight sky, Black Metal musicians have actualized their grim eschatological fantasies in a manner thats anything but make-believe. Far more than a fan boy rockumentary, Lords Of Chaos is a chronicle of murder, church burning, and grave desecration, all set against a musical backdrop which might politely be equated with, say, Nuclear holocaust. If you like your music served up with a steamin slice of criminality -- its just more fun that way -- then forget about all those unimaginative gangsta Rap clones. Lords of Chaos real Men In Black mean business.
Rating:
Summary: An essential book for those interested/into black metal.
Review: This is the first book to come out that addresses the underground realm of the Satanic black metal movement in Europe. Being familiar with a lot of the riots, church burnings, murders committed, etc... I was brought up close to this world and learned alot from reading all the interesting interviews and richly detailed text throughout the book. Authors Moynihan and Soderlind peel the layers of this sweltering scene and reveal the truths, terrors and realities of the undercurrents of this music scene that is still one of the most popular in the extreme music genre. This study takes the reader on a journey that will send shivers to the darkest part of your soul. Many bands of this scene are featured even ones imprisoned, most notably--the notorious Varg Vikernes of Burzum, and an in-depth interview with The Church Of Satan's own Anton Szandor LaVey, among others. A spectacular book.
Rating:
Summary: Advance praise for this title from a respected sociologist:
Review: In writing of the branch of 19th century German occultists whose speculations and dreams came to life in the German National Socialist state, the historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (_The Occult Roots of Nazism_) wrote: "fantasies can achieve a causal status once they have been institutionalized in beliefs, values and social groups. Fantasies are also an important symptom of impending cultural changes and political action." With _Lords of Chaos_ Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind paint a portrait of just such a fantastic realm where Satanism, neo-pagan Ásatrú and National Socialism energized a musical scene in which fantasy was actualized in the burning of medieval churches in Norway and where one of the scene's leading figures, Varg Quisling Vikernes, would be convicted of responsibility for the first wave of fires and for the murder of another leading figure in the world of Norwegian Black Metal. Michael Moynihan, [afforded with] a remarkable insider perspective, offers a uniquely valuable history of Black Metal music in general and of the Norwegian scene in particular as it is viewed by the participants themselves. _Lords of Chaos_ is a compelling work deserving of a wide readership on both sides of the Atlantic. -Jeffrey Kaplan, author of _Radical Religion in America_ (Syracuse University Press)
Rating: 
Summary: Moloch's Power Chord Puppets
Review: The only good thing about this lower astral plane charade is that it will allow anyone with a smidgen of spirit, intelligence, and light to see the stupidity of the black metal musicians themselves and how they are unable to see that they are mere Power Chord Puppets for some corporate Moloch wearing a three piece Armani suit, sipping a Martini and listening to lounge music.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, Not exactly a true music book though.
Review: European Black Metal- now theres an interesting subject. My fascination with this very foreign genre began when I first heard Dimmu Borgir on a local metal radio show. Before you judge let me say that I am fully aware that Dimmu is not real black metal and that I am definetally not a fan, but they did give me my first experience with the music. I did not like the music, and now after reading this book and listening to countless black metal bands, I can still say that I do not like the music. My favorite bands are Pearl Jam, Chili Peppers, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, and basically anything that doest resemble anything close to black metal. Although I dont like the music and the only black metal album that I own is In the Nightside Eclipse by Emperor (not a bad album to have if you're gunna only own one black metal album) black metal certainly has the most interesting history out of any music... ever. The music is almost terrifying, and I can barely listen to a whole song before I turn off my stereo in disgust, but the history of it is too great for me to resist. Murders, church burnings, torture, grave desecrations, all of the true evil is too much for me to resist. Its like everything you read in horror stories and dont think that its real and couldnt happen, well it certainly did happen, in a place called Norway. All my stoner, Sublime listening to friends thought the book was rediculous, but when I showed them page 61 with Dead lying on the floor with his brains hanging out they couldnt put the book down either. The downside to this book is all the information on white supremicy, nazism, racism, UFO's, and fukked up black metal philosphy. That stuff doesnt interest me at all, in fact it just pisses me off. Its times like those in the book that I wish they could just stick to the music and terrorism. But all and all even if you dont like the music (like me) this book will still capture your interist and anyone who starts it will have a hard time not finishing it.
Rating:
Summary: kaleidoscopic survey of black metal +its offshoots & critics
Review: The book presented a compendium of characters, bands, titles, musical genres, religious organizations, and political movements primarily based in Scandinavia and northern Europe, as well as their perspectives on and disagreements with each other, that were often hard keep track of or to integrate into a common story. Varg Vikernes ("Count Grishnackh") was the one thread of continuity throughout the book as many other personae in metal referred to him and he moved through his own spiritual formation, dabbling in Satanism and coming to a focus in heathen nationalism. I got interested in the book around page 150, and it really held my interest for about 100 pages. The rest of the reading was tiresome, interviews sometimes wandering and repetitive and the narrative disjunct. The book does cover a lot of material, and is perhaps a valuable read for that reason alone.
Two things I came away at the end feeling a lack of were a better depiction of what black metalers are angry about in the church in Norway (and elsewhere). I wanted to know exactly what they were reacting to, but apart from claims about how the church was established in Norway (by forcing conversions and supplanting Nordic religious sites), only a few clues were given. It was hard to sympathize with their rage or to get a clear picture of what they were complaining about, and the characters interviewed did not usually articulate it very well. Secondly, there was no treatment of supernatural aspects or validity of Satanism or heathen religions (Norse, Teutonic). I would have been interested to read more about this.
The interviews with Varg Vikernes (and his mother) in Ch. 8, Ihsahn (lead singer of the band Emperor), Pal Mathiesen (professed Christian, writer on theological issues), Anton LaVey (high priest of Church of Satan), and Kerry Bolton (publisher of Australian journal _The Nexus_) were highlights of the book..
Overall I gained from the book an understanding of the complex forces at work in the black metal movement, including a familiarity with other ideologies and movements related to it, such as Norse heathen nationalism (picking up on my cursory survey of Viking mythology in high school) and Nazi revivalism. I came away with perhaps a better grasp of the scope and nature of "Satanism" in the mundane sense, but no clearer concept of its supernatural validity. In fact the book seemed to conclude that although some black metalers may get in touch with the supernatural in their practice of Satanism and the occult, that in fact much of it is a "fad" and that any mature metaler will move beyond it to extreme politics or the heathen religions of his forefathers.
Rating:
Summary: What is going on in Norway?
Review: I'm not a black metal fan and can't profess to empathisizing with the genre necessarily, but I found this a pretty interesting rock book.
The maddening thing about this book is the way it jumps all over the place. It is in desperate need of better indexing and organization, because there is a lot of information.
If anything, this book should be given to people who think Norway is a nice, small, idyllic country with none of the problems of a place like the USA. Non-comformity, for some of the players in this book, led them to, er, interesting paths of intense speed-metal guitar, quasi-Satanic dabblings, church burnings, Pagan ideleogy, Nazi-glorification, jail, the afterlife, etc. The book is about what intense alienation, isolation, and a little ideology can do to some young people. Being the second edition of this book, the material also covers more recent events and the inevitable splitting of the genre into many other sub-sub-genres of metal (yes, apparently it's possible) distinguishable only to the truly dedicated.
This is a good look at how a rock 'scene' develops in another part of the world with its own demented twist. Much of the material is now the stuff of 'legend' for other bands to continue the trend of loud, very angry and very serious music. I'm not sure what drives so many people to paint their faces with corsepaint, reference Satan, burn churches, stab their friends to death, etc, etc, but perhaps the people of Norway themselves should be looking at this. I'm no expert, but I can bet the average Norwegian has either never heard of black metal, or if he/she has, regards it as some lunatic element in their society. While perhaps not entirely lunatic, I'm sure there is probably something the people of Norway can learn about their own culture and society from these events. It's probably not something they want to learn. Also fascinating is the law in Norway, which dictates a maximum of twenty-odd years in jail for murder (this isn't Texas), meaning that Count Grishnackh will have ample time to develop his 'ideology' and will likely have time (and maybe even the following) to implement it when he gets released sometime in the next decade or two (just in time to run for Norwegian parliament).
As someone wrote, this is the Norwegian equivalent of gangsta rap, where your street credibility may well ride on how many churches you've firebombed, or how many people you stabbed, or threatened, or whether or not you ever made a necklace out of pieces of your buddy's skull.
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