The subject matter is fascinating but the book is unfocused. The story begins with a brief, interesting history of Satanism and heathenism in heavy metal music, but about a third of the way through, the writers mostly abandon the musical stuff and shift to a discussion on white nationalist ideology. Then the book concludes with just a list of gristly crimes committed by metal fans.

I would have preferred more coverage of the music itself. How did Mayhem finish their album after Euronymous was murdered? Who sang on the record after Dead killed himself? What kind of music did Varg make in prison? Lords of Chaos can feel incomplete, and you will want to spend some time on Wikipedia for a fuller understanding of black metal and the intersecting crimes.

The first half of this book on the Norwegian “Black Circle” and the narrative around them was fascinating and very readable.

Then, once that story wraps up, the book gets really bogged down in the ideology of black metal and starts to become a repetitive jumble of “satanism/paganism/nationalism/racism”. I was skeptical of the criticisms of the books authors letting their subjects go unchallenged in some of their more racist claims, because it’s a book about extremes and you’re going to get those views if you are looking at the subjects honestly, and then I got the some of the longer interviews where some answers go for paragraphs and sometimes even pages of white nationalist dogma that seems to have little relevance to any thesis in the book. At the very least these diatribes could have been edited down for readability if not content. But for the most part the more the subjects take their ethos seriously the more clownish they come across.

Anyway, I would highly recommend the 7 or 8 chapters and then stopping.

First half was really interesting, however second half was dull as anything and to be honest became a struggle to finish... so I didn't

A sensational story told in a slightly less sensational book. Having watched a documentary about these characters...and that's really what they were...self-manufactured identities...I was fascinated and read several articles, which led me to seek out this book. The authors do a good job explaining who these kids were, where they came from, how they met up and then unfolding the story of the many disastrous consequences resulting from their friendship and the shared worldview they created. I found it difficult to get a handle on these kids. On the one hand, most of them seem articulate and of at least normal intelligence. But their failure to understand that the almost cartoonish "Satanic" imagery their musical heroes projected was just an act paints them as highly immature, or excessively naive. The fact that they then attempted to live up to such nonsense, to the point of committing murder and arson more than hints at some degree of mental instability. What really disturbed me the most was the absolute lack of remorse these guys expressed, even years later. Those who committed murder were even indifferent to what they'd done or the effect it had on the victims' families and friends. That may be due to the fact their own cohorts seemed just as unmoved. Even those who had been close friends with the killer or the victim offered not much more than a shrug when asked how they felt about it. Beyond that, the authors provide plenty of background information about the environment in which these events took place. My only criticism is that the second half of the book seemed a bit tedious as the authors reached beyond the original story/events and interviewed many who we're not directly involved and provided only tangential interest.

Poorly written/organized to a profound degree. I was initially carried along by true crime aspect but mentally checked out during the back half which is almost entirely about neo-Nazis and the history of satanism. An exhaustive well researched book for sure, but mostly a massively depressing slog. Also now reading that the author is in a “Germanic Neopagan” band with a very fascist looking logo. Yikes/Oops.

While this book is a solid timeline of the Norwegian Black Metal scene of the early 90s and the subsequent crimes that resulted from it, the authors lost me halfway. The latter half of the book chronicles the belief system of several influential people in the Black Metal scene disturbingly well. I say "disturbingly" because these people are nationalists, fascists, and neo-nazis. How many interviews can one book have with different people spouting the same rhetoric before the reader concludes the authors share the mindset of these hate mongers?

La primera mitad del libro es un magnífico true crime. Un exhausto relato sobre los personajes principales de "la movida" noruega de los ochenta y noventa donde se comienza a cultivar el black metal y, por ende, sus creencias políticas, religiosas y musicales. El asesinato de Euronymous a cargo de Varg Vikernes culmina una primera parte de libro lleno de personajes extremistas rodeados de una sociedad que no entendía (y, posiblemente, siga sin entender) nada de lo que estaba pasando.

Una vez pasado el ecuador el libro decae enormemente hasta hacerse algo pesado. Excepto por las ultimas cincuenta paginas donde el relato revisa lo que sucedía en aquellos momentos en otros países del mundo, principalmente europeos, y presenta ciertas relaciones políticas del black metal con la derecha radical. Sin embargo, el resto son reflexiones de personajes de diversos orígenes y estratos sociales que nada aportan a la historia contada inicialmente y simplemente dan vueltas y más vueltas a los mismos hechos.

Cinco estrellas para la primera mitad. Dos, con suerte, para la segunda.

I could not stop talking to everyone I met about Black Metal the whole time I was with this comprehensive history. Fascinating, violent, and pertinent.