True Norwegian Black Metal
WHAT
TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL
WHERE
ARIEL BOOKS, 42 OXFORD ST, PADDINGTON AND 103 GEORGE ST, THE ROCKS
HOW MUCH
AROUND $100
We feel pretty dubious about all this hipster anthropology shit, but this book has some serious credentials. Photographer Peter Beste apparently spent eight years getting unrivaled access to the most insular and hostile music scene in the world: True Norwegian Black Metal. Think Burzum. Emperor. Immortal. Darkthrone.
Primitive, evil, grim, raw, necro, and most importantly TRUE. These guys are serious, which is why they dress up in spikes, blood, corpse paint and leather before overdubbing themselves shrieking into four track recorders in dank cellars.
Except not really: a mate of ours was once excitedly quizzed by Darkthrone's legendary Fenriz about something called the 'Byron Bay rave scene', and Beste's lovingly-produced holiday album does as much to dispel Black Metal's record-sleeve fantasies as a week spent hanging around Oslo. The photo of Fenriz waiting at the bus stop is nothing after the sheer banality of Nattefrost sitting at his kitchen table, freebasing (p92).
So if you just want to wallow in the myth, try Banks Violette's burnt church sculptures. If you want the reality, keep your eyes peeled for upcoming doco UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US. For now, if you want Black Metal, Peter Beste's TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL and the accompanying VICE broadcast series are the best there is.
*Cradle of Filth are not true.
Format: Book
Motivation: Good with a whiskey in the bath
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