Feral House adds another title to its Extreme Metal Series of books - Blood, Fire, Death: The Swedish Metal Story. It's a bit rarefied, but Ika Johannesson and Jon Jefferson Klingberg are Swedish journalists and metal fans, who turn a keen eye on the history of what makes Swedish Metal so compelling for fans.

In Blood, Fire, Death, Ika and Jon uncover elements of the subculture rarely discussed in American media. The book explores the depressive metal genre, where fans are encouraged to hurt themselves and even kill themselves. They follow the band Shining for a few years and unveil a whole subculture of blood, sex, metal, and self-mutilation.

They also look at the extreme metal scene from the female point of view, through interviews with both fans and musicians. This chapter also discusses sexuality within the extreme metal scene with Gaahl, possibly the only outspoken gay musician within black metal. And finally, they explore the nuances of the often misunderstood and difficult politics of Scandinavian metal where it's acceptable to go to any extremes in lyrics; splatter, gore, and torture, but no band wants to be associated with Nazism. 

Blood, Fire, Death: The Swedish Metal Story will hit store shelves on November 6th.

A further description of the book reads:

In the early 1990s, Swedish death metal revolutionized 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 birth of black metal drove 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 emerged as more than just an image. But how did it all start? Why did Sweden become a hotbed for such aggressive, nihilistic music? And who are 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 not only been 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. 

The authors comment, "This is not the definitive history of Swedish metal. Instead we’ve focused on bands, individuals and phenomena which to various extents have propelled the scene forward. This evolution has not only been musical, but aesthetic and at times ideological. Blood, Fire, Death investigates the politics, economy and gender structures of the scene. This is a story of grotesque logos and icons, about real death and darkness, but also a story of dedication, friendship, community — and a profound love for music."