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

Rating:
Summary: Stupid people and bad music
Review: 4 Stars because the authors manage to gather a lot of unrelated material and interview all the leading participants of the bacchanalia of idiots called the black or death metal scene. 1 star off for wooden writing and, quite frankly, taking it a bit too seriously. If there actually is a Satanic conspiracy to overthrow the Free World, it ain't going to be led by the likes of Varg Vikernes or "Euronymous" (who is at any rate dead). I mean, these people are not very smart (or good musicians -- the stuff is really unlistenable). One wonders why Satan would choose such frail vessels to carry his messaage, whatever that is, to a world infected with the "slave philosophy" of Christianity. Euronymous's mommy paid the bill for Mayhem's studio-time. Varg's biggest fan is his dear old mum, who seems very unpleasant sort of person. Moynihan's efforts to link the "music" with pre-Christian myths like that of the wild hunt, and the witch-cults of western Europe, are interesting, but I just don't think these people are that smart. Varg thinks Tolkien is REAL HISTORY, for Christ's sake. At any rate, a very good and extremely amusing read for those interested in human idiocy and folly. Someone needs to import a sense of humor to those poor Scandinavians.

Rating:
Summary: Bloody indeed!
Review: I was going to publish a comprehensive history of black metal sometime this year. Once I finally got my hands on this book, I completely gave up, realizing that I was missing a lot of good information, all of it right here. Lords Of Chaos is thorough, complete, and extremely indepth, to the point where I actually quite easily established a sort of mental rapport with Dead and company. I even created my own LARP character who was friends with Euronymous. (my name was Raven and I played in Haxan, a band similar to Darkthrone....yeah, I know, I'm a loser.) The great thing about this book is that it doesn't focus on anyone as the ultimate "hero" of the scene, equally giving credit to and putting down Euro, Varg, Dead, Snorre, Faust, etc. I like it that way for some reason. One gripe, though: the focus on the friendship and correlation of black metal and Fascism. I know it's a part of some band's theology, but it doesn't have to take up space where one could have given props to many more blackened greats such as: Emperor, Darkthrone, Graveland, Cradle of Filth, Ancient, Dark Funeral, Immortal, Dissection, Enslaved, the list goes on and on and on. And I'll tell ya, during some of the crazy teen killers parts I got like deadly depressed, as the book and black metal itself seemed to wallow in Fascist and Satanic hopelessness. It was the only time in my life I ever thought about getting out my knife and really carving something up, weather it be my chest or the book itself. But the feeling passed and I continued on to finish what I consider the single greatest summary of heavy metal history ever. Each and every person who has donned corpse paint in honor of their favorite band should give this one a good once over. Just remember to bring along the Prozac. Raven

Rating:
Summary: Lords
Review: This is possibly the best non-fiction i have ever read. No, it IS the best non-fiction book i have ever read. I love it so much, as it is very informative, with fantastic pictures of the places where it all happened, much on the history and events of the start of this majestic scene, along with extracts from underground interviews and articles of the bands involved. there are also very in-depth interviews with members of the original "black circle" where they tell their stories and of their crimes and the reasons behind them. varg is concentrated on in the latter part of the book, as he is still a forerunner in the poltitcal aspects which were originally the motivation behind the actions taken, and his view are often very articulately and beautifully illustrated, making him come across very intelligent, as one who killed euronymous, lord of the scene, would not be expected to be. then it focusses on event s taken by fans worldwide which is enlightening as it has not really been that well publicised in connection with the scene before. fans of the scene and those interested in sociology alike should get this book as quick as possible, it is brilliant, a modern literary great.

Rating:
Summary: THE MUMMY
Review: I HATE THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT DOESNOT SETISFICED ME ENOUGH

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing book reaching wrong audience...
Review: It's a shame that such a well-written, intriguing book is being found by the wrong audience. Namely, brain fried metal-kiddies who seem to use it as a guide to finding the most morally reprehensible new bands or as their new "how-to" book. Ironically most of this audience for the book seem to be American, despite the fact that the authors state that such a movement will never happen in the U.S. because of metal fans' wanton drug use and attention deficit disorder. Regardless, the book is a terrific read that I had trouble putting down. Although it does seem to lose it's focus in Varg's political ramblings late in the book, it is both fascinating and disturbing in it's portrayal of misguided youth gone to extremes. The authors also do an excellent job of reporting in an impartial, informative style rather than falling victim to sensationalism. Certainly, the right reader will appreciate the book and it's treatment of the subject of black metal.

Rating:
Summary: A real eye-opener
Review: I've been listening to extreme metal for about 2 years now, and black metal is something that is still sparse in my collection. I'd heard lots of stories about the exploits of the most well known members of the genre, but this book was the first detailed account about the shocking amount of activity that occurred, that I read. Not only did I gain a new perspective on the band members and followers of the movement and its beliefs, but the music as well. Fortunately, the majority of the book focused on the "why". What drove these social outcasts to murder? Sometimes simplistic answers are downright chilling. It would be difficult for any one book to truly capture the full essence of the philosophy that drives the black metal movement, probably the first branch of metal with such a closely tied political and spiritual agenda, but this book gives a fantastic introduction to the unsuspecting newcomer. Anyone who is remotely curious about the music, the philosophy, or the church burnings/murders/suicides should definintely pick this up. The information about politics towards the end can get somewhat thick, but it is still worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: excellent.
Review: i have to say that i really like the title of this book.and im a big fan of black metal music.even though i have never been a part of a church burning i would like to be part of one someday.And my favorite Satanic Band is DARK FUNERAL.bye for now.

Rating:
Summary: It starts out pretty good.
Review: Well i just finished the book a night ago..My impressions?..Ok here we go- First of all , this book is an excellent resource for the Black Metal beginner- It shows yu a side of BM that maybe yu may not have been exposed to just by listening to their cds..In fact Euronymous seems less evil after reading this. Even Death. they just seem like regular blokes that donned the satanist clothes for shock value. Some of the peolpe interviewd belive this is the case.. My only gripe is that the book focuses on Varg WAY too much- Ok, he started the church burnings..Give him an interview or two , but to spend nearly the entire story relating it back to Varg just makes it slightly dull. And some may like it but the last part of the book focuses mainly on politics- Not one of my fav subjects.. A graet thing about the book is the abundance of pictures: Especially the one of Varg standing there with some evikl looking weapons in his hands. Another great thing is the amount of interviews with people in the scene and out of the scene.. But all in all a pretty good book to read for some1 that doesnt know too much about the scene.. Def. Worth yer money hail..

Rating:
Summary: Markedly superficial, yet entertaining
Review: I have read this book several years ago, and found it mildly entertaining. In my view, such a book should have never been written - I would have much preferred these issues to remain obscured from the eyes of the masses - but as long as it has been made, I can comment that it could have been much better. The romantic and spiritual elements that are rife in black metal and related genres are topics that are worthy of great exploration in my opinion. The very same can be said of the strong political and philosophical messages that they contain. I argue with the fact that a book such as this one should remain objective as others have said. It should take a decisive stance......

Rating:
Summary: SCARY IN A REAL SENSE
Review: This is an excellent look into the world of Black Metal. It introduces lots of bands to people who may never had heard ofthem. the scarypart is that these young men actually BELIEVED what they were singing about! This is no cheap "satantic" shoppingmall boys-THESE are the real deal! This book encouraged me to getsome discs of these bands (Emperor; Mayhem; Burzum) and listen to what was going through their minds. I don't endorse what they did (murder), but they weren't posers!