Subtitled sin, devil worship and rock n roll, Lucifer Rising is an interesting and enjoyable read. Written by Gavin Baddeley, who makes no bones about his allegiance to the Church of Satan, this book consists of essays and interviews with various musicians, occultists and hangers-on.
While the Church of Satan has never had any colour bar, nor has it proclaimed allegiance to any political ideology, there has been an authoritarian and far-Right faction within it for many years. Given the mixed racial origins of founder and guru Anton LaVey, (he was part Jewish), it’s perhaps surprising that so many fascists, racists and anti-Semites have been attracted to his Church. There’s a delicious irony in the public discovery of LaVey’s part-Jewish ancestry when his daughter and her partner are so involved in neo-Nazi occultist activities. In any case Baddeley seems to hail from the more liberal wing of Satanism, though he certainly does not shy away from letting the racists and Nazis from having their say.
Interviewees include well-known misanthropists such as Boyd Rice and Michael Moyniham, lunatic Black Metallists Count Grishnackh and Euronymous (who was later murdered by Grishnackh). For the most part the saner Satanists, like Boyd Rice, back-pedal on the accusations of Nazism (though of course they like the frisson of notoriety that it attracts), while the barking mad Black Metallists are, well, completely insane.
The book’s a good read, even if you regard Satanism as simply an excuse for some taboo-busting blasphemy and little more. Besides, LaVey sounds a lot more clued up than many of those who followed him.
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