A friend was downsizing their collection last year, so I got a copy of Lord of Chaos for free. I’ve been a fan of black metal for ages, so I’m very familiar with the stories from the Norwegian scene and the Black Circle.
The first half of the book was great – it was really interesting to read those stories with more detail and context, as well as some background on the parties involved.
The second half has been a slog. The deep dive into Varg’s ever-shifting ideology is mind numbing. In the interviews with him, he’s so obviously full of shit. He’s basically a teenage edgelord, but it seems like the authors are bending over backwards to validate his beliefs and glorify a white supremacist murderer. When the interviewer does occasionally grow a backbone and challenge Varg, he responds with a “haha actually I’m smarter than you and you just don’t understand” type of statement.
Does it get any better, or are the last 200 pages just more detailed explanations of how esoteric occult Nazism relates to UFO conspiracies? I believe this version is an expanded reissue from the 00s.
by ancientspacejunk