To Hell and Back Again: My Black Metal Story (Norway 1991-1993)
by Varg Vikernes
150 pages, Ancestral Cult Productions, $13
Tags: Black Metal, burzum, Euronymous, mayhem, multiple stab wounds, norway, varg vikernes
Extreme Metal: Blood, Fire, Death: The Swedish Metal Story by Ika Johannesson and Jon Jefferson Klingberg (2018)
Blood Fire Death: The Swedish Metal Story
by Ika Johannesson and Jon Jefferson Klingberg
240 pages, Feral House, $19
As we get past the glory years of underground metal — roughly 1987 to 1994 — more histories are emerging such as Blood Fire Death: The Swedish Metal Story which came out two years ago and presented itself as a history of Swedish underground metal. It achieves that and more, but falls short of its ultimate mission, which is to explain Swedish death metal and black metal, world-renowned for their intelligence and intensity.
8 CommentsTags: Bathory, entombed, mayhem, Sweden, Swedish Black Metal, Swedish Death Metal, swedish metal, underground metal
Mayhem Releases De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas 25th Anniversary Box Set
For the low price of only $129.99, you can acquire the 25th anniversary box set release of Mayhem Me Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, a five-LP release including all versions of the best-known Mayhem album and the one that, as digestible black metal with throwbacks to heavy metal, inspired many to undertake the genre.
6 CommentsTags: Black Metal, earache records, mayhem
SMR – Dispelling the Magic of the Pretenders
O Mars! God of War! Infernal battles and bestial devastation have ensued on this week’s Sadistik Metal Reviews! Unholy wars between the true and the pretenders, the golden race and the plastic one. Which shall prevail?
12 CommentsTags: Acherontas, Akrotheism, aosoth, aptorian demon, behemoth, dissection, dodsengel, isvind, katharris, mayhem, morbid angel, necromantia, nightbringer, richard brunelle, ulcerate, watain
Humanity and Wolves
The picture above is the Lascaux cave, a beautiful piece of prehistoric art. The text below is just some random thoughts on innate violence, its sonic counterpart, animals and technology, but the purpose is not to elaborate on them. Rather, the purpose is mere curiosity and exploration.
13 CommentsTags: absurd, deathcrush, Funerl Fog, Green Heart, Hunter, ildjarn, mayhem, Prey, Sunset, Wolves
Analysis – Mayhem “Life Eternal”
Let us momentarily forget the ridiculous circus act that surrounds the legacy of Mayhem at this time and focus on what earned the band all the praise they deserve. “Life Eternal” provides a particularly interesting example composition because it consists of a collaboration between multiple musicians during the long creative process that led to the release of the album. Featuring the final lyrics Dead ever wrote as a parting gift and some incredible ideas from Varg Vikernes and a large number of ideas from so many other musicians, it encapsulates the original vision that the Norwegian Black metal originally possessed in its purest form.
3 CommentsTags: analysis, attila csihar, Blackthorn, classic, de mysteriis dom sathanas, Dead, Euronymous, legendary, life eternal, mayhem, varg vikernes
Lords Of Chaos (2018)
In an industry crammed with anti-hero biopics, Lords of Chaos follows the self-destructive rock star trope while sensationalizing the events that occurred during the black metal movement in Norway. Instead of simplifying the story to tell a more accurate tale of actual events, it adopts the more complex and clunky Hollywood cliché of the anti-hero rockstar who must “confront his own demons” instead of the more interesting story, as happened in real life, of a clash over artistic, philosophical, and personal differences. (more…)
7 CommentsTags: attila csihar, Blackthorn, burzum, Euronymous, faust, hellhammer, Jonas Akerlund, lords of chaos, mayhem, mental retardation, Metalion, movie, varg vikernes
Some Brief Thoughts : Mayhem – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
After having built up a legacy for over a quarter of a century, it seems fitting to briefly revisit a few thoughts on the genre-defining De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.
11 CommentsTags: 1990s, attila csihar, Black Metal, de mysteriis dom sathanas, Dead, Euronymous, hellhammer, mayhem, noktorn, norway, snorre ruch, some brief thoughts, varg vikernes
Zloslut – Sahar
Zloslut is a Serbian Black metal that initially consisted of sole founding member Agnarion who had produced all the records by himself but here on Sahar, Agnarion is joined by a full band that changes the dynamic of this album compared to previous works. All the previous rough edges have been rounded out from the production all the way to the riffs themselves. While this does create a certain amount of sterility, it also allows the band the freedom to explore and to develop their own style.
6 CommentsTags: Black Metal, Finnish Black Metal, king diamond, mayhem, Sahar, zloslut
Overview On Creativity : The Plasticity-Divergence-Convergence Model
On the Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, the young programmer protagonist, under the instructions of an Aldous Huxley inspired game developer, has the option of picking up a record by Tangerine Dream – Phaedra. As the young programmer and the viewer struggle with paradox in order to finish his game, we find a chance to do a casual DMU reflection on the parallels between metal and game programming, madness and the collapse of western civilization by substituting learning for entertainment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URssLwPXkVk
11 CommentsTags: Bandersnatch, Black Mirror, cannibal corpse, convergence, Creativity, cryptopsy, de mysteriis dom sathanas, Dead, divergence, Euronymous, gorguts, Jon Levasseur, Luc Lemay, mayhem, Phaedra, plasticity, psychology, tangerine dream
