For black metal enthusiasts, the work of Dayal Patterson is essential reading. With Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, he gave metal audiences the definitive introduction to the sound, the scene and its history. With the followup, The Cult Never Dies: Volume One, he continued to elaborate on specific scenes and topics. And now, readers will be treated to the third installment of the series: Black Metal: Into the Abyss.
With a more underground approach akin to the zines of old (think Slayer mag), the book focuses on in-depth interviews of long-standing bands like Forgotten Woods and Mystifier, along with lesser-known but vital acts Vemod and Besatt.
To learn more about the book and what readers should expect, I talked to Dayal and he described it as a book that:
can be read as a standalone tome or as part of the series, but unlike the other books it introduces a slightly different approach to the interviews, with a more direct and personal conversational approach. As ever, some of the most fascinating acts in the genre share their opinions and memories
In other words, it's less a retelling of the story of individual bands, but more of an opportunity for those bands to speak for themselves. Black Metal: Into the Abyss comes out on May 31. Go to the Cult Never Dies website to find out more. Read our previous coverage of Dayal Patterson's work: our review of Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, our interview with Dayal, and our story about The Cult Never Dies: Volume One.
