Holiday Book Recommendations

Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground - Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind (2003)

The original version of this book was published in 1997, but a completely revised version has just been released. It chronicles the Norwegian Black Metal scene and how it turned into suicide, church burning and murder. The main story is the murder of Euronymous by former bandmate Varg Vikernes.

The revised version recaps the events since 1997, including the numerous crimes committed by Black Metal practitioners.

Lords of Chaos uses a variety of sources including the artists themselves, sociologists, members of the clergy and academicians to give a well-rounded viewpoint. It's a disturbing tale, but an engrossing one.

Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal - David Konow (2002)

David Konow attempts to chronicle the history of heavy metal from the early days in the 60s to the fall of metal in the early 90s, and for the most part he succeeds. There are some gaps, but he does a good job of recounting the beginnings of heavy metal with bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and marking the highs and lows until Seattle killed the hair bands.

Konow interviewed a ton of different people for Bang Your Head, including big name and lesser known musicians, record company executives, managers, and other members of the metal scene. It's a good overview of the history of metal, and very entertaining. Anyone who wants to know how the genre evolved will want to read this book.

Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture - Natalie J. Purcell (2003)

It's a shame more people won't read this book. The reason is the exorbitant cover price of $36.50 for a 200 page paperback book. The high price may be because it's designed to be a textbook, but it is good as a casual read as well. Natalie Purcell takes a scholarly look at the world of death metal and comes up with some interesting conclusions. She investigates the demographics, ethical systems and behavior that categorize the death metal genre and those in it.

The book focuses exclusively on the United States death metal scene and provides insight into the bands and fans of death metal music. The thing

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