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