“Lords Of Chaos – The Bloody Rise Of The Satanic Metal Underground” is the title of the original edition of this Black Metal documentation, which was published for the first time in the US in 1998. It took the authors whole four years to put out the German edition of the book I’m holding in my hands right now. This second edition has been updated and expanded with additional information not included in the original text. With their large background knowledge they create a detailed portrait of the Norwegian Black Metal scene, which profits of Søderlind’s own experiences with members of this particular scene. Every chapter begins with a proper quotation and the content is supported by numerous black & white photos. In addition to this the texts are supplemented with authentic statements and interviews as well as newspaper articles. Thus “Lords Of Chaos” does not appear as a boring fact-book, but as a collection of fascinating views into the background of events everyone has heard of, but only die-hards might have been able to examine in their full extent. Despite the controversial subject the documentation manages to uphold a high level of objectivity, yet at some passages Moynihan’s affectation for the personality of Varg Vikernes cannot be denied. From p.99 on “Lords Of Chaos” is rather a book on Varg Vikernes than a Black Metal documentation, which starts to suck approaching the end of the book. Shortening the book would not have caused any damage to it however the appendix recaptures the reader’s interest. If one really needs the separately sold double CD featuring some of the bands mentioned in “Lords Of Chaos” as well as some originators of satanic music (e.g. VENOM, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK WIDOW, SODOM, HELLHAMMER, DARKTHRONE, MAYHEM, UNLEASHED, THORNS, ABRUPTUM) is disputable, but whoever is interested in Black Metal or is too young to remember the events in the Norwegian scene during the early 90s does not make a mistake by buying this documentation. www.prophecyproductions.de