Dear friends, welcome to the second installment of our coverage regarding the upcoming Czech edition of the pilgrimage into the black metal netherworld by the English writer and journalist Dayal Patterson. Today, we are delving into the first act, originally unleashed in 2013 by the U.S. publisher Feral House, of this four-installments long saga.

First, we would like to unveil the cover of the Czech translation that was concocted by our own graphics department. How do you reckon?

Second, content-wise, the first volume, i.e. “Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult”, offers more than 400 pages of the genre’s history. Starting point is the early metal development, especially around Black Sabbath, Venom or Mercyful Fate, wherein the embryos of the later black metal sound, aesthetics and even ideology came to be. From there, the book moves on to the first wave of black metal bands, such as Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, VON or the local pioneers Master’s Hammer. The core is then logically in the second wave of black metal, which of course means the Scandinavian scene (especially the Norwegian one) with all its cult bands and no less significant happenings. Concluding chapters then explore different black metal variations, be it the mainstream black metal of Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth, the folk black metal of Enslaved or Ulver, industrial black metal, or post-black metal.

There are of course more topics explored, as apparent from the following list of chapters:

Roots of Evil / Venom / Mercyful Fate / Bathory / Hellhammer / Celtic Frost / First Wave of Black Thrash / Blasphemy / Samael / Rotting Christ and Greek Black Metal / Tormentor / Master’s Hammer / VON / Beherit / Mayhem (part 1) / Mayhem (part 2) / (Re)birth of a Movement (Norway, part 1) / A Fist in the Face of Christianity (Norway, part 2) / Death of a Legend (Norway, part 3) / Thorns / Darkthrone / Burzum / Emperor / Gehenna / Gorgoroth / Trelldom / The Opus Magnum (Mayhem, part 3) / The Beast Reawakes (Mayhem, part 4) / Black Metal Enters the Mainstream (part 1, Cradle of Filth) / Black Metal Enters the Mainstream (part 2, Dimmu Borgir) / Underground Ethics / Les Légions Noires / Marduk (Sweden, part 1) / Dissection and Watain (Sweden part 2) / Shining (Sweden, part 3) / Politics, Poland and the Rise of NSBM / Graveland and Infernum (Polish Black Metal, part 1) / Behemoth (Polish Black Metal, part 2) / Folk a nd Folklore in Black Metal (part 1, Enslaved) / Folk and Folklore in Black Metal (part 2, Moonfog and Ulver) / Folk and Folklore in Black Metal (part 3, The Proliferation of Black Folk Metal) / A Turn for the Weird (part 1, Fleurety) / A Turn for the Weird (part 2) / Sigh / Dødheimsgard / Mysticum (Industrial Black Metal, part ) / Aborym (Industrial Black Metal, part 2) / Blacklodge (Industrial Black Metal, part 3) / Lifelover (Post-Black Metal, part 1) / Post-Black Metal (part 2)

It is a matter of course that the text comes with plenty of archival and rare photos.

So, enjoy and more next time!