The sheer fact that a writer issues no less than three publications on the topic of Black Metal within just little more than a year, the heart piece being the highly acclaimed, 480 pages monster „Black Metal: Evolution of the cult“, demands respect and speaks volumes about the man’s absolute dedication to the subject. As the title suggest, the aforementioned main book focuses on the development of the genre from its early innovators through the Nineties’ Scandinavian Black Metal explosion onwards to the present day scene. Based around interviews the author has conducted with almost all important figures of the movement (well, at least those still alive), every chapter pays respect to one particular band or national scene, sometimes revealing details that might surprise even a long time follower of the genre. Dayal’s way of doing really in-depth interviews and conversations with people who have either been interviewed 1000 times before or haven’t been in the last 20 years at all is unique. However, if you are familiar with the history of Black Metal, you will find a lot of redundancy here as you probably have read about the Mayhem/Burzum or Dissection story 20 times before. Having said that, „Evolution of the cult“ is still probably the most comprehensive book on the field and as such mandatory reading for every Black Metal enthusiast. The best thing about Dayal Patterson’s work, however, is that „Evolution of the cult“ is only serving as a starting point to a much bigger project, the basis on which he starts to explore the multifaceted genre’s 666 faces. „The cult never dies Vol.1“ is the first in a planned series of books examining the less obvious, more obscure sides of Black Metal. Written in the same (excellent) fashion as the main book, the 300 page work completes the picture of the old Norwegian scene by extensively featuring Satyricon, Manes, Kampfar and Solefald as well as Wardruna and the Norwegian painter Theodor Kittelsen whose work has influenced the aesthetic of Black Metal covers more than that of anyone else. Moreover, the Polish scene is covered in detail, from originators Xantotol and Mastiphal to more recent acts like Evilfeast and MGLA/Kriegsmaschine. The last third of the book concentrates on protagonists of the DSBM movement such as Strid, Bethlehem and Silencer. It is obvious that Patterson has become a little obsessive with this gargantuan project and that’s what I fucking love about it! I can’t wait for the next volume to drop and hope that this series goes n for a long, long time.

Last, not least, „Prelude to the cult“ is a small, fanzine-like publication meant as a kind of introduction to the whole thing, featuring older and newer interviews with Mayhem, Beherit, Taake, Gorgoroth and the likes. Pretty cool add-on for sure. 

To make it short: If you are into Black Metal and able to read, you have to go hunt down these books and stay tuned for Vol. 2. The cult never dies!

Vernichtungsschmerz