May the Old Norse Gods bless Peter Beste for this book. This is a good primer for novices and a great collectors item for the hardcore Black Metal fan. This book includes a small amount of the history of Black Metal with covers of the zine Slayer, an interview with my personal favorite Varg Vikernes and a letter that the late Euronymous wrote about former Mayhem singer Dead's suicide. I don't know if Beste was trying to shock by having some of the artists standing in front of a church or not, but those photos are powerful images of how stupid and desperate for attention some people can be. Bunch of sick freaks, PETA come get these fools. But that's just one part of the Black Metal aesthetic I don't understand and never will, that goes for the decapitated animal heads on stage. I just want to shout at them to cut their hair, long greasy and stringy is not the look for older men. They look like a bunch of gay leather daddies gone hardcore goth. This collection of photos showcases some beautiful scenery only to be marred by a bunch of middle aged idiots wearing ridiculous "corpse paint" makeup lots of leather and spikes.
If it weren't for the intriguing and sometimes confusing documentary "Before the Light Takes Us" I'd never have an interest in Norwegian Black Metal.
it must be seen as a whole and in context, to completely understand what beste wanted to show with it. very good work, i´m truly happy i finally got to see the whole book and not just some pics here and there. astonishing pictures showing the reality of it, but also the mystic and dangerous side. i liked this a lot and i think this is the face of black metal of today.
it´s truly remarkable how this all blends together, black metal as an art form, as a philosophy, as well as the more pragmatic side of things. norwegian landscape, the iciness, the solitude, then also metal fans, the protagonists when on stage, backstage, at home or even with their families. but this is more or less the smaller part of the book, the biggest being peter´s photography. it´s mostly photography with some background info, mostly of metalion, who also provided some pages from his metal zine to the book, as well as international press of the murder and arson trials.
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