Lords of Chaos

I don't know which is worse, this or the film. Probably this. Absolutely romanticized “version” of what happened to the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, don't waste your time on this, watch some interviews or good documentaries.

A sensational story told in a slightly less sensational book. Having watched a documentary about these characters...and that's really what they were...self-manufactured identities...I was fascinated and read several articles, which led me to seek out this book. The authors do a good job explaining who these kids were, where they came from, how they met up and then unfolding the story of the many disastrous consequences resulting from their friendship and the shared worldview they created. I found it difficult to get a handle on these kids. On the one hand, most of them seem articulate and of at least normal intelligence. But their failure to understand that the almost cartoonish “Satanic” imagery their musical heroes projected was just an act paints them as highly immature, or excessively naive. The fact that they then attempted to live up to such nonsense, to the point of committing murder and arson more than hints at some degree of mental instability. What really disturbed me the most was the absolute lack of remorse these guys expressed, even years later. Those who committed murder were even indifferent to what they'd done or the effect it had on the victims' families and friends. That may be due to the fact their own cohorts seemed just as unmoved. Even those who had been close friends with the killer or the victim offered not much more than a shrug when asked how they felt about it. Beyond that, the authors provide plenty of background information about the environment in which these events took place. My only criticism is that the second half of the book seemed a bit tedious as the authors reached beyond the original story/events and interviewed many who we're not directly involved and provided only tangential interest.

This book is about the Norwegian Black Metal music scene at the time, the Norwegian Black Metal band Mayhem, church burnings, the suicide of Dead & the murder of Euronymous (Oystein Aarseth)
I love the front & back covers this book has, it's a unique front/back book covers, that gets your attention.
I have seen the Lords of chaos film, Dead's suicide & the murder of Euronymous (Oystein Aarseth) was brutal, gory to watch.
The film in my opinion made Euronymous look like a weak, poser though, which I didn't really like.
It made Varg Vikernes seem a bit rapey, or abusive to women as well.
Some band members in Satanic Metal bands are a real Satanist but they don't sacrifice animals & people to Satan. it's a inaccurate portrayal of genuine Satanists since most Satanists are atheists, and they believe in demons the demonic divine. but maybe they don't believe in spirituality psychic abilities, spiritualism etc..
I was confused about the churches, if the churches that were brunt were originally a Norse Pagan Stave church, or if they were Christian churches that replaced the original Norse Pagan Stave churches and that's why Varg Vikernes hates Christianity, anything associated with it and burnt the churches. They originally wanted to instill fear in people by creating Norwegian Black Metal.
In my opinion the film, was good, it was entertaining, fun to watch at times, because i'm a metalhead, I always will be.
Mayhem is one of my favourite, Norwegian Black Metal bands.
I really love the aesthetic of Black Metal bands, the corpse paint makeup style that Dead originally created.
A lot of Satanic Black Metal/Black Metal bands in general use animals heads, blood when they are live on stage.
Death is part of their aesthetic, it's a theme in their music, they have the aesthetic look of death, they are the embodiment of death, or a corpse.

I can say with 100% certainty that as a metalhead I have intention to ever be the type of person that would desecrate graves, or to be a grave-robber & i'm not a necrophile.
I have no intention to be a “corpse-violator” just because i'm a metalhead, I love horror films & i'm interested in witchcraft.
For the metalheads that do commit these types of disturbing, horrific & disgusting crimes, their intentions are not always known.
I think a minority of people do it for attention, to seem edgy because they are disobeying the law, for the attention & respect of others.
It's attention-seeking behaviour for shock value, some people do it due to being bored, for others though their intention is more serious and sinister, they may practice black magick, or they might be a Satanist.
It's has a connection to black magick, Satanism in some aspects or Necromancy (Death Magick) a type of witchcraft that involves communication with the dead, summoning the dead for divination purposes, or asking a conjured/summoned spirit(s) to help you with a task.
Any crimes involving a Cemetery, unexplained motivation for the crime(s) is automatically sinister and should be taken seriously, because it's likely to happen again.