Lords of Chaos - bookrastinating.com

405 pages

English language

Published Nov. 3, 2003

ISBN:: 978-0-922915-94-1
Goodreads:: 116168

Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground is a book by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind. It is an account of the early Norwegian black metal scene, with a focus on the string of church burnings and murders that occurred in the country around 1993. A film adaptation of the book was directed by Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund in 2018. The book has been the subject of controversy over the alleged political leanings of author Michael Moynihan, though he denies these allegations.

3 editions

ArnoWI reviewed Lords of Chaos by Michael Moynihan

Not great

2 stars

Not a great book. The beginning is interesting where the origins of black metal are analyzed. Learnt about a great number of bands I hadn't heard of yet or unjustly hadn't really given much attention before. Three things stand out that made this not something I would recommend. First is the part on pyromania. It is very long, feels like it was added as filler, and finally ends with the short and simple conclusion that it doesn't apply at all to the church burners, after having spent so much time delving into it. The second and main issue is that it pretends to be critical about the racism and nazism of its subjects while giving a clear voice to those the writers claim to criticize. Long passages in which Vikernes and others are allowed to fully display their racist believes without any or insufficient commentary or critical treatment. Finally, the …

Not a great book. The beginning is interesting where the origins of black metal are analyzed. Learnt about a great number of bands I hadn't heard of yet or unjustly hadn't really given much attention before. Three things stand out that made this not something I would recommend. First is the part on pyromania. It is very long, feels like it was added as filler, and finally ends with the short and simple conclusion that it doesn't apply at all to the church burners, after having spent so much time delving into it. The second and main issue is that it pretends to be critical about the racism and nazism of its subjects while giving a clear voice to those the writers claim to criticize. Long passages in which Vikernes and others are allowed to fully display their racist believes without any or insufficient commentary or critical treatment. Finally, the title of the book. A chapter lists black metal associated atrocities in countries other than Norway. One of those is about the group known as Lords Of Chaos from the USA who had nothing to do with black metal at all yet the book is named after them. Almost as if the writers were thinking more about marketing the book in the USA rather than find an apt title. Overall learnt a lot and enjoyed the beginning at least but very flawed.

As a bonus, some of the descriptions of events are to be taken with a grain of salt as I've read several claims they are not depicted accurately.