Lords of Chaos

In relation to the recent events of Norway, and the fact that I have had the book that I am reviewing today for ten years now, this review will be a special two part review.  Lords of Chaos: the Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground was originally published in 1998 and would see a revised, updated version in 2003.  The authors, Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind, did a pretty good job of examining the events of the early 90's in Norway as it related to the Black Metal scene, as well as try and put a face to the ideas that drove those actions, and the subsequent thoughts.  Why are there two parts to this review, you ask?  This part will be devoted to my thoughts when I first bought the book and the part that will follow will be devoted to my thoughts now that I don't have the rose-colored glasses on that I did when I first read the book.  So, without further ado, here is part one:


When I first picked up Lords of Chaos all those years ago, I was an impressionable youth that had recently gained some level of independence, having finished the first year of college.  Being in that purgatory that existed between the rebellious years of high school and what would eventually be the calmer final years of college, finding individuality was always the thing that drove many of my decisions.  So, when I picked up Lords of Chaos and leafed through the pages, the sections that I read most frequently were of the actual murders and church burnings.  For obvious (and not so obvious reasons) those were the things that got my interest.  I bypassed the "psychology" parts of the book because at the time, I thought it was mindless drivel that feebly attempted to get an understanding for why the things that happened.  Even the origins part, the first couple chapters or so of the book, were considered by my admission at the time, total BS.  All I seemed to care about in the book were the actual murders and the thoughts of those who actually in some way, shape, or form, participated in the events.


And now, the review, in the present state of mind:

In revisiting Lords of Chaos, the main idea was to see where my thoughts were then and how they have changed from that point in time.  This was actually the first time that I read the book from beginning to end instead of skipping around.  It's quite amazing just how much things can change from the early 90's to today.  Black metal, in its core from the late 80's through early 90's, was as much about individuality as it was turning thoughts into action.  Uncompromising, raw, unpleasant to the average listener, these were things that defined the genre in those days.  Today, there just simply isn't a defined set of rules for black metal.  Seemingly, anyone can do it nowadays, be it those stuck in the time warp or those who for the lack of a better term, have nothing better to do than to fulfill their douchebag quota.  In terms of origins, it's fascinating to note that many of the bands such as Black Sabbath and Venom used the facade of Satan as a promotional tool.  The infant stages of black metal had the idea of going farther than that, putting theory to practice, which led to among other things, church burnings and murder.  For all intents and purposes, it seems that the black metal war against Christianity will be an eternal one, for every side that is involved in war, large or small, needs a viable enemy to justify its existence.  There is no doubt that the crimes committed under the auspices of music will continue to fuel a fire within, but the more that I read into Lords of Chaos, the more I realized that every ideal has its strengths and weaknesses, and those who don't have a clear head when making such decisions will be the first ones out.