Victim of your dreams

A second article, Victim of your dreams: A review of negativity and melancology in black metal theory and the arts of Xasthur, has been published in the Journal of Metal Music Studies, volume 2 issue 2. The abstract and a link to the journal page for the article are copied below.

The inherent criticisms presented by black metal and black metal theory demonstrate that the fallacies of ontology rest upon the illusion of coherent organization. This blackness consumes the human perspective and reveals a nothingness that penetrates all interpretations and purpose. In melancology, this epistemic darkness of black metal is directed upon the false human foundations of identity and orientation, negating the principles from which notions of value and agency originate. Black metal is then a misanthropic art that demonstrates the futility of moral ideologies. The present discussion examines these criticisms and explores the themes of pessimism, melancology, and misanthropy in examples derived from the black metal music of Xasthur.

http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=21979/

Dark Epistemology

An article written by McWilliams, "Dark epistemology: An assessment of philosophical trends in the black metal music of Mayhem," has been published in the journal of Metal Music Studies 1(1). The issue is currently available as a free pdf at the following address.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/mms

The abstract is below.

This article attempts to characterize a negative form of postmodernism as expressed in examples of black metal. Black metal is discussed in reference to a collection of examples from the music and comments of individuals of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. Through an integration of ideas advanced in postmodern philosophy and theory, this article attempts to describe a realization of epistemological darkness that is demonstrated within black metal, and this discussion concludes by considering the limitations of essentialism in relation to the art and its themes.