Rating: 
Summary: Can't believe that!
Review: I'm from Germany and really shocked if I saw, that this book really can be bought. In Germany now we have another Satanic-Murder and it's really a joke, that Amazon is selling this book!
People are saying, that it is normal to kill people! It isn't normal that's perverse!!!
Everybody is having the right to live and not to kill!
If some of you are sagely, then it would be better to practice Paganism like "Wicca and Witchcraft"!
I hope this books will be never grave by any shopper!
Hope You'll find the right way...
Blessed Be!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Lords of Chaos
Review: Well written and educational, Lords of Chaos is a non-fiction take on the cultural, political, and social implications of the infamous Norwegian Black Metal scene from the early 90's. Many members laid siege to the social and religious conscience of Europe: burning churches, desecrating graves, some members claiming loyalty to Nazism: the book climaxing in the tale of Florida teens intent on acting out an extreme political agenda. Black Metal is a scene typically portrayed as enigmatic, self-important and nebulous; Moynihan and Søderlind brings it down to simple reality through face to face interviews with band members (although the book includes an utterly useless interview with LaVey, the founder of the insipid Church of Satan.) Often when exploring ideas such as Satanism, White Nationalism, and Anti-Semitism, most writers have difficulty in restraining themselves from invoking silly drama or their Leftist politics. Lords of Chaos is hard and cold. Although it's no mystery what position Moynihan takes, he his able to subtly infer an obvious knowledge and insight of Black Metal while still managing to maintain a fair amount of objectivity. Ufortunatley, the book gives a token exploration of the scene in the United States, in a superficial overview that barely scratches the surface of the Black Metal underground here.
Rating: 
Summary: Lords of Chaos
Review: I wealth of information for the Black Metal fan.
Heavy information on Viking / Norway Meatal Scene.
Good background on bands and the Scene in 80/s and early 90's.
NOT enough information on the Varg and Euronymous fued but a good read. More information on Church Burnings and trials would have been nice also. If you are into Dark Throne, Burnzum, Mayhem and celtic frost this is for You. Are you Morbid?
Rating:
Summary: Truly evil
Review: Great book! You really get the dirty, horrific details you've been thristing for... hahaha There's good coverage of satanism in rock music and everything that led up to the black metal explosion in Norway. Great photos, too. The book does get a bit boring towards the end - its treatment of other scenes is not as interesting as its coverage of the stuff that was happening in sweden/norway. Anyway, I liked this book so much that I bought a Burum tshirt, put on some corpsepaint and went as a black metal fan for halloween.... Now if only more people had read this book, I wouldn't have been asked so many times why I decided to be a KISS fan... hahahah
Rating: 
Summary: Sophistry ain't complimentary
Review: Disclaimer: the author of this review is a serious Burzum fan.
Moynihan comes off as a man with a mission in this one . . . the mission being to prove that the entire second wave of black metal, of which the so-called Norse Black Metal Mafia was an integral part, was an expression of the rebirth of the spirit of National Socialism and Paganism within Scandanavia and people of Germanic/Scandanavian descent. While this may have been the view of a very few select members of "the movement," particularly Varg Vikernes; it certainly wasn't the outlook of others who helped create the medium. The book focuses mainly upon Moynihan's misrepresentations of Varg's anti-Semitic Neo-Pagan philosophies and Moynihan's own biases and views, and completely omits large parts of the entire history in order to make the Black Metal Movement seem like it was a well formed crusade in the name of Quisling influenced Facism and Paganism. The history and role of many key bands, most glaringly Darkthrone and Thorns, are completely omitted, while more interesting and obcure stories such as the death threats levelled against the band Fleurety are completely ignored. Moynihan also turns a blind eye to important non-Scandanavian bands such as Tormentor and Sigh.
"Lords of Chaos" is well written for all of its faults, and is important in that it attempts to chronicle the history and philosophies evolved by an astounding group of musicians. It contains a great deal of photos and does contain a few good interviews - the most exciting of which are probably those with Garm of Ulver. One may wish to take these interviews with a grain of salt, considering to what degree Varg's comments were apparently distorted. The book gets a second star simply for the photos and the fact that Moynihan even bothered to tackle a difficult topic, despite his cheesy paparazzo approach to the subject.
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to conroversial stories.
Review: I don't know much about Black Metal and the bands that are mentioned in this book, but the story is fascinating. Even if it were fiction, it would be worth a read.As you can see by reading many of the other reviews, there are many versions of the stories reported here. In my opinion, this is the best place to start for the novice or the unintiated in the world of Black Metal.
Rating:
Summary: Rare BM journalism work!
Review: As an experienced journalist and devouted follower of extreme music,I found this book to be one of its kind...I've read a lot of books about extreme music and Black metal in general,but what makes Lords of Chaos stay ahead from the others is sheer journalism aproach that Moynihan applies on it by letting the facts speak for themselves,starting from the history to the new age Black Metal...I know many people and fans will disagree with certain views of some bands or individuals expressed there,but thats what makes this book special...everyone had a chance to show their point of view on matters related to music in general and Black Metal in particular and you be the judge...I've read this book couple of times,and even though I knew most of the facts presented there,I found it very valuable since I got almost all of them in one book,beautifully written without burdening you with unnecessary things...I'd recommend this one to anyone willing to know something more about Black Metal,especially to those willing to study extreme music...very reliable book!
Rating:
Summary: Watch out for blunders and errors!
Review: The good thing about this book is that it covers a subject mostly averted by the media, at least for what I've seen and know: the Black Metal scene, specifically the Norwegian, and the stories behind it. As a B.M. listener, roaming through stores and talking to friends, I eventually bumped on some twisted versions about the Varg - Euronymous incident. The more I asked, the more I realized the little people knew about the story, although they all heard about it. Decided to know about it, I entered Burzum's site and read all the stuff there.
I do not agree with Varg in lots of things, specially the Nazi stuff, but what I must say that is relevant to this review is his pointing out of many errors and mistakes throughout the book, page by page. Some errors are clearly bad-intentioned, and add to a sensionalistic character in this book. Beware.
Rating:
Summary: Burn Baby Burn!
Review: The world-view of Black Metal is bleak, anti-social, politically extreme, and self and socially destructive. I don't like this world one bit, but I do find it fascinating. Black Metal is the music of the hyper-alienated. It goes beyond the punk rock message so elequently expressed by The Sex Pistols: "No future." Black Metal points to a future, but one that is anti-Christian, anti-democratic, anti-human. One manifestation of Black Metal social protest is the burning of old churches in Norway. As a form of music, I [don't like it at all, not what it stands for]--yet there is something compelling about the hard driving music that resinates in some primordial recess in my soul. Listening to the music can be a powerful experience... The authors put together a vibrant picture of the deviant subculture/counterculture of Black Metal music. Didrik Søderlind works hard interweaving analysis and interviews. As an academic I appreciated his attempts to credit his sources with endnotes. I would have liked a discography in an appendix and would have cheerfully paid a few dollars more for a compilation cd of Black Metal cuts that were discussed in the book. From a scholarly standpoint, more theoretical analysis of the genre would have been appreciated, be it sociological, psychological, literary, or what have you. The book is certainly approachable and is a decent read. Tighter editing would have welcome, but on the whole, I found Lords of Chaos to be a welcome addition of my popular culture library. For students and fans of metal music, this book is well worth your while.
Rating: 
Summary: A Document For the Black Metal Community
Review: I have to say that the first 100 pages or so contains information that was fairly well-known to the scene prior to the book's release. I read through these pages without getting anything from it, but fortunately situations regarding Mayhem, Vikernes, etc. are well documented here. The latter half of the book really begins to drag as Moynihan and Soderlind concetrate on the ramblings of Varg Vikernes himself, a man whose ideologies are notorious for being easily malleable in general. In addition to this, there is a little play on words and some cultural parallels that get really tedious towards the books close. Additionally, it seems at times as if the authors are really reaching to give the book more substance. At the book's close, it gets interesting again as Absurd (a horrible group) is brought up as well as some other almost completely unrelated situations. At times, I'm afraid that Lords Of Chaos begins to read like a tabloid publication, bringing up shocking situations as a way of keeping the reader more intrigued in the words than the said subject. It is very informative to new fans, however, and perhaps the fact that these authors took the time to document everything is meritorious in itself. Still, Varg Vikernes is not even half as evil as Patrick of Catholicon!
|
