Blood Axis
The Gospel Of Inhumanity
[Storm/Elfenblut]
The man behind this project became known to the metal, or at least black
metal, community due to his authorship of the "Lords of Chaos" book. I am
talking about Michael Moynihan of course. Moynihan himself has been widely
involved with the American fringe culture for years. He previously
collaborated with artists like NON and Death In June, but Blood Axis is the
musical entity of his own creation. The other thing about Moynihan are his
known, far right-wing leanings, particularly his espousing of Fascism, Social
Darwinism and other anti-egalitarian ideologies, which is sharply reflected
in this work. One glance unto the CD's artwork paints a clear picture of
what you're dealing with here. What further stresses the esoteric, not to
mention intellectually demanding, nature of this album are excerpts from
Friedreich Nietzsche and H.W. Longfellow, as well as samples of Ezra Pound
(reciting lines from his famous "The Cantos" during his incarceration in a
mental institution) and Charles Manson. Because of the controversial subject
matter, I would advise any sensitive listeners to steer clear from this
album. More daring individuals will be exposed to a very fascinating work.
Its basic musical frame consists of evocative, neo-classical keyboard
arrangements (in fact, the music of Bach and Prokofiev is used as a basis
for several tracks) and incantation-like spoken passages. On tracks "Eternal
Soul" and "Storm of Steel," Moynihan adds guitar and percussion to the mix
which add extra texture and provide the music with more intensity, especially
on "Storm of Steel." But I shouldn't even talk about the music apart from
the rest of the components. Everything on this record is united by common
themes, and the way it's all begotten makes it more than just music. One
could probably go as far as to say that it needs not to be listened but to be
experienced because it's clear that the creators of this work were driven by
their strong convictions about a specific vision where the music is just one
way of expressing their comprehensive ideas. Whether you agree or disagree
with them is one thing, but as a work of art, especially as compelling as
this, it has to be heard.
© 2000 boris