1998 • Feral House
I had been itching to read this book for quite some time now, having heard a lot of good things about and being a fan of black metal for several years. When I finally got a copy, it turned out to be even better than my expectations. I admittedly haven't read too many music-related books (I hope to change this in the future) but Lords of Chaos is already standing out among the best.
Being a book about a very niche musical scene, I was a bit wary about the its quality before I read it—after all, it's a subject that I assume few people (in the general scheme of things) would take seriously. However, Moynihan and Søderlind did a fantastic job writing the book, and it is very well written and put-together. Focusing exclusively on the history of the scene than the music allows the authors to explore the story in great detail, and there is a lot more to it than I had thought. In fact, the narrative goes all the way back to metal's beginnings in the '60s and '70s, discussing early Satanic music like Black Sabbath (and some non-metal groups like Coven). It relies less on just interviews for material than I expected (there is about half interviews and half regular narration) which is great for the book's flow and pacing and helps keep things interesting throughout, even for someone who is already sort of familiar with the stories. I also really enjoyed how the book keeps the reader guessing at what happens next, opting to give gradual clues as to how events unfolded; for instance, in the chapter about Øystein Aarseth's murder, it isn't explicitly stated right off the bad who did it—rather, the authors let the story unfold before subtly revealing Varg Vikernes' involvement through several interviews. Techniques like this also help to keep the bias of the book to a minimum; the authors let the reader come to their own conclusion about Vikernes' motive by offering different viewpoints from people involved and never state themselves if they think it was committed in self-defense or not. It gives the book a very honest feel to it, which I think is necessary and deserved.
Of course, good writing is no substitute for a good story, but Lords of Chaos definitely delivers. Even though I was vaguely aware of most things discussed in the book, reading about them here showed me that there was a lot more to what happened than I had thought. Even though the book focuses on a few particular things—church burnings, Aarseth's shop Helvete, Dead's suicide, the murders by Bård Eithun and Varg Vikernes, Vikernes' sentence, Satanism and pagan religion's influence, and the spread of black metal around the world—it goes into each with intimate depth, partly in thanks to the personal interviews. The book goes way beyond than just listing who was in what bands; it discusses a lot of how these groups influenced not only metal acts to follow but also the media reported it and the public's reaction, something that I haven't considered until now. I'd say it's a book that's a lot more about people than it is music; music only factors in incidentally. That's not a bad thing (unless you were really hoping for a book just about music) and it gives the book a very unique feel.
The book is not without its flaws; one of the most egregious is that the narrative has the tendency to go wildly off-tangent, one major example being a particularly long section about UFOs and ancient astronaut theory. It ties in to how many national socialist / fascist / racialist people also are interested in such topics, but I feel that it distracts quite a bit from the book's original purpose. This probably has something to do with the book's over-heavy focus on Varg Vikernes, which is understandable as he was very influential in the scene, but it was still a bit much for me. Additionally, for all topics the book covers, it doesn't once touch on the actual sonic qualities of black metal itself (as I mentioned above). Obviously the book is advertised as historical and not about music production, but it would have been nice to hear at least some about how black metal's sound developed alongside its ideals.
Regardless, it's still an excellent read all around and there was hardly a moment when I felt disinterest in the content. Highly recommendable; I can see this book appealing to anyone with even a passing interest in metal, Scandinavian culture, fringe ideologies, pop history, or good old murder drama. Just make sure to pop in some old Mayhem albums when you flip through it.
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