Bergmetal: Oro-Emblems of the Musical Beyond

How is it that nobody has pointed a finger to the relationship between metal, mountains, and mysticism over the last few decades and declared with a resounding YES that conquering high peaks of stone and moss, and the feeling of triumph that comes with the ascension, are undeniably metal. I can recall long hikes in the fall with nothing but Paysage d’hiver blaring through my earphones; profound moments atop the ranges of Cascadia, and the snowcapped monoliths that stretched out past the horizon. It’s the feeling of ascension, triumph, and destiny rolled into one. Conquering a mountain and admiring the view is profound.

Bergmetal the blog has existed for some time. It explores the ‘trisonic intersections of mountains, mysticism, and heavy metal’ and takes a stance somewhere between fan-boy reverence and the faux-intellectualism that has recently infested the black metal blogosphere. Posts would mention a band or album and attempt to draw parallels between the music and the magic, and this is where the book follows. Bergmetal dedicates individual chapters to the works of Bathory, Darkthrone, Sleep, Aluk Todolo, Omega Massif, Schrei aus Stein, and Sapthuran.These seven ‘poetic emblems’ are at times too verbose and dense for their own good. Despite some over-analysis of lyrical themes, the majority of content is sound (some chapters more so than others). Expect plenty of references to metaphysics, nihilism, worldly theology, and a number of surprising conclusions.

If you’re familiar with the writing styles of analytical philosophers, or looking for a more focused discussion of the mountain thematic in metal than the Bergmetal blog offers, then you should bump this to the top of the reading list. It’s about time somebody published a serious piece of heavy metal commentary, and Bergmetal is it. Forget Lords of Chaos filler and Black Metal Theory obscurity. This perfect-bound paperback is available through Hworde, an imprint of Gnome books.

Get your hands on it here.

You'll find me in the vast wilderness of British Columbia, talking metal at LURKER, or working in publishing and front-end web/eBook development.

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