Rating: 
Summary: Black Metal yes (first half), White Power NO!(last half)
Review: If you're a metalhead and a true crime fan, the first half will interest you. The photos are captivating and better than most books of this sort. Then the author becomes obsessed w/Varg Vikerson's beliefs and hatred of non-whites for the last half. That is when he really lost me! Check out the author's photo at the back. It may explain why he spent half of the book promoting Varg's horrible jailhouse "religion"! Is Moynihan a Nazi too! If he is, I wish I'd known before I spent my money on this book!
Rating: 
Summary: A very good (not perfect) book on Black Metal
Review: This is a surprisingly objective book, considering the subject matter. One would expect a book dealing with murder, suicide, satanism, paganism, church burning and extreme music to be... rather sensationalist. It is much to the authors' credit that they have avoided this and allow the people to speak for themselves.The reason I did not rate this five stars is because the book, imho, should have been trimmed down. Varg gets too much attention after he goes to prison; there is a lot of stuff with him that has little (if anything) to do with Black Metal. The entire discussion of his name, varg, was a waste of time since he only picked it because it means wolf. Just skip this part. I think this is an excellent book; whether you are looking for a "howto" or seek to combat such villany (a word not used enough in commom parlance). Just for the record, I am in a Black Metal band called Catholicon. I only mention this so that you know what side of the fence I'm on.
Rating:
Summary: The most disturbing thing about this book.....
Review: ...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.
Rating:
Summary: Cool but gets boring
Review: I really liked the first 1/4 of this book (dealing with the history of black metal and the main incidents of the title but I lost interest quickly. The rest of the book seemed very disjointed and left me unsure of what the authors were trying to do. It's worth checking out though.
Rating:
Summary: Running on empty..
Review: This book was like a white-knuckle ride down a long stretch of desert highway.. without making that crucial stop at the gas station that has the sign "last gas for 100 miles". The book starts out great... all the meaty stories of violence, burning, murder, the fight for control for a small tight-knit scene, and the results.. The problem for me is about the last 1/3rd of the book. The book up until then makes a good case for why things happened the way they did- the history of the Nordic people, the imagery of their mythology embodied in the actions of Black Metal followers, and the tying in of National Socialism of Europe. However, when Anton Levey is bought in for his 2 cents, and a expose of American violence and murder related to metal music, it just gets boring.. I don't even like what people like Varg or Euronymous espouse, and their music.. but I have to admit, the story is very poignant..
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books on the subject of blackmetal
Review: When I first read this book last christmas, I was hooked on it.This book goes beyond the tabloids, critisizers, and mtv.I agree with what it says in the book," black metal is extreme music for extreme people".I am a devoted fan to true black metal bands such as mayhem and darkthrone.What these bands have done is to bring music to it's fullest and is respected by their fans.To anyone getting into black metal-GET THIS BOOK.Hail sathanas and long live black metal
Rating:
Summary: A compelling book worthy of praise
Review: It took me longer to find this book than it did to read it. From start to finish this book kept me enthralled the whole way through. Lords of Chaos does more than scratch the surface of the clandestine Black Metal scene. It provides insight and often empathy into the events that relate to the genre worldwide. It is good to see the mix of sensationalism with compassion for those involved in the scene. Quite often in Black Metal journalism we tend to focus only on the debauchery and criminal element that surrounds the scene. Through reading this book, the reader is made aware of the political ideologies and neo-paganism of the Black Metal belief system. We learn, is that it is a belief system, as these people are deeply passionate about their place in the "new Christian world". People of all cultures and education levels will enjoy this book. I am both a Sociologist and a Teacher. This book is one of the best books that I have read in a while.
Rating:
Summary: Satanic terrorists' history book
Review: Striking book! The better points have already been overwhelmingly made here; well written, plenty of first person accounts and an unflinching search by the author to dig up information. As someone who is really interested in the Norweigen black metal scene myself (and I'm in a US black metal band as well), it was an eye opener. I couldn't get the images of these young, white teenagers out of my mind for days after I had finished the book. The pictures Moynihan has used to show how human and harmless these people look in everyday life really struck me. The authors made a very good point in showing that the average metalhead in Norway is quite a bit more intellectual than in the US. These are young people who, for the most part, have seriously thought out hard spiritual questions, which relate to their creative output. I'd say that one subject that very few people seem to have touched on, including Moynihan, is that the musical quality of black metal is quite high indeed. It is often dismissed as some artform for brainless, talentless extremists (at least here in the US), but in reality there is an enormous outpouring of talent from this part of the world. Extremely good work is being done, and the musicians are dead serious and firmly dedicated. Lords of Chaos does meander a bit in the end towards fascism and Nazism, and it came as no suprise that Moynihan's own band bears a striking resemblence to those two idealogies. While there are similar elements in black metal (might is right, strong over the weak), I have found Nazism to be not very popular at all among these bands, maybe 1%, if that. However, I do not live in Norway, so it's just my observation based on the lyrics and interviews from these bands. To present this scene, without commercializing or marginilizing it, is to be commended. Overall, the authors have captured a moment in history of a doubtlessly important cultural movement, a subculture of spreading hatred and terror. (It's no coincidence that Norway was the last of the European countries to submit to Christianity, up until 1000 AD! So their connection to strong-willed heretics is well founded.) 'thanks for a great book!'
Rating:
Summary: Darkness from The Land of the Midnight Sun
Review: 'Lords of Chaos' is more a loosely strung together series of interviews than a book, yet somehow it works. The authors begin what seems to be a look at youth music in Scandinavia, but the focus changes quite quickly. The book has less to do with music than the rise of neo-Celtic belief in Europe. The music of Burzum, the main band discussed in 'Lords of Chaos', is mostly instrumental and quite haunting. I found their albums right here at amazon.com & ordered 'Daudi Baldrs' after reading the book. The music sounds like something you might hear while gazing into a fire near a snow fed lake at night while wolves' eyes sparkled at your back from beneath darkened firs.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Thorough Investigation of this dark facet of m
Review: This book is very informative and very in-depth about this haunting genre of music. Although somewhat redundant and hard to understand, you get a glimpse of things MTV would never dare to cover. If this brand of music and the occult interests you, this is your book.
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