True Norwegian Black Metal

In the early 1990s, members of an extremist black metal cult in Norway burned down churches and desecrated graveyards: what had initially began as a teenage frenzy had now become a dangerous and violent subculture. In this book photographer Peter Beste captures the unusual and disturbing imagery associated with Norwegian black metal.

Mayhem are the most influential Black Metal band in the world, and obviously no strangers to controversy. Death Archives offer never before seen photographs and unique insight into one of music's most extreme subcultures. The Death Archives is a ravishingly illustrated first-person account of the birth of black metal in the Norwegian scene by Jorn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud, the founding member and ongoing bass player in Mayhem. During the band's ongoing career, now spanning thirty years, bass player and only surviving band member from the original line-up, Jorn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud, has collected enormous amounts of photographs, video diaries and memorabilia. In this unique documentary book, Stubberud shares the first groundbreaking years of Mayhem's existence including their first photo-sessions in full corpse regalia; recording sessions, and exclusive stills from live video footage of their earliest gigs. In Necrobutcher's Death Archives he shares rarely seen photos of the band before death of singer Pelle "Dead" Ohlin and murder of guitarist Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth.

“* * * * * *! The most incredible story in the history of music … a heavyweight book.”—Kerrang! “An unusual combination of true crime journalism, rock and roll reporting and underground obsessiveness, Lords of Chaos turns into one of the more fascinating reads in a long time.”—Denver Post A narrative feature film based on this award-winning book has just gone into production.

Here is the most comprehensive history yet of this fascinating offshoot of extreme heavy metal.

"Black Metal - Beyond the Darkness aims to look past the much-discussed Second Wave spearheaded by groups and artists such as Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone and Emperor, with a new focus on a number of the form's lesser-reported international scenes; developments in the selling and distribution of Black Metal through labels, stores and distros; idiosyncratic aesthetics and inherent notions of theatricality; Black Metal's relationship with the world of Fine Art; and oral recollections of the genre's development, amongst other topics."--Publisher's description.

The most thorough and thoughtful treatment of the Heavy Metal dress code and the culture it lives and breathes to date.

A collection of essays and documents presented at "Hideous Gnosis," a symposium on black metal theory held in Brooklyn, December 2009.

Often dismissed as an image with which to attract tourists and to endow athletes with associations of power and endurance, the Vikings and Norse mythology seem to have lost their appeal as an element of identity construction in Norwegian society-apart from the phenomenon of metal music, where these elements are essential. This study analyses the functions of Norse themes as they are applied in Norwegian metal culture with regard to the construction and experience of cultural identity, shedding light on the musicians' diverse motivations and intentions. Imke von Helden's research focuses on the adaption of history in metal culture from a Scandinavianist's perspective. She currently works as a research assistant at the University of Koblenz-Landau. Dissertation (Series: Scandinavian. Language-Literature-Culture /Skandinavistik. Sprache-Literatur-Kultur, Vol. 12) [Subject: Sociology, Music Studies, Norwegian Studies, Cultural Studies, Scandinavian Studies]