Blood, Fire, Death: The Swedish Metal Story

In the early 1990s, Swedish death metal completely revolutionised the international music scene. Suddenly, the mild-mannered Scandinavian country found itself at the forefront of a new movement with worldwide impact, thanks to bands such as Entombed, Dismember, and At the Gates. The emergence of black metal pushed the culture to even greater extremes, featuring a rawer, darker sound and non-ironic death-worship. Soon, churches in both Norway and Sweden were aflame, and before long, Satanism became more than just an image. But how did it all begin? Why did Sweden become a hotbed for such aggressive, nihilistic music? And who were the people and bands that brought it all about?

Blood, Fire, Death: A Swedish Metal Story recounts the evolution of the genre from the massive amplifier walls of 1970s rock, through the church-burning Satanic 1990s, to the diverse and paradoxical manifestations of the scene today. This book focuses on the phenomena that have propelled the scene forward in an evolution that has been not only musical, but aesthetic and ideological as well. This is a story about grotesque logos and icons that invoke death and darkness, but also a story of dedication, friendship, community, and a profound love for music.