Marco Campoli
"True Norwegian Black Metal - The Book" 2024

After "Burzum Secondo Me" (Burzum to Me), the glossary of True Norwegian Black Metal.

The complete "A" to "Z" collection of bands and albums that have had a primary role and fundamental impact in the Norwegian music scene, shaping the cult of True Norwegian Black Metal from the 90s to today, enriched by individual comments and feelings from fans and webzines from all over the world.

From Mayhem to Mork, from Darkthrone to Morgul, from Isengard to Satyricon, from Gorgoroth to Kampfar, bands that gave life to the black castle in which the purest Black Metal and the sounds of hell reside.

This is the word, this is "True Norwegian Black Metal – The Book".

This is NOT an encyclopedia, but rather a glossary: a collection of fundamental bands and their respective albums that gave rise to the "True Norwegian Black Metal" scene. The author has structured this glossary following the law of Black Metal: simple yet intense, laid out in an essential manner, with little chatter and plenty of substance, straight to the point, all intentionally left in black and white to give the text a more gothic, dark, and personal touch.

Over 400 pages filled with history, more than 100 bands that are central to the black cult, and over 600 albums that have shaped the magical and dark sonic journey from the '90s to today; this is what gives life to this book, a true aggregation of the dark history of Norway.

The collection includes:

• Band logos
• Detailed descriptions of the projects
• Full-length albums, EPs, and splits with their covers, titles, labels, members, and production dates
• Personal comments and thoughts from the people, attributed to each individual album

A tribute from the author to the scene and the artists who founded and shaped a cult that became legendary. A book to simply have for anyone, like the author, who feels a deep connection to the purely Norwegian black metal scene and wants to own a small historical, biographical, and cultural keepsake in their library.

Do you know why I love Black Metal? Because it's simple, because it's pure, because it's raw, because there are no too many theories or too much cleverness, because it has no excessive refinements, because it has no excessive technicalities, because it can trigger thoughts and emotions or annihilate them all, because it is direct without frills, because in its imperfection it is damn perfect.

In this cult, in the '90s, they didn't think about sound clarity, they didn't think about a production accessible to all, they didn't aim to sell or commercialize, they didn't think about fame or success, but only about their own thoughts, their own existence, their own spiritual word.

Do you know why I love Black Metal? Because the emotional voice of the guys echoed among the fjords, without a destination, without a name, and without a face, audible only to those who knew how to listen; the echo of souls who didn't care about appearing or being known, but simply about living.

In their music, there was no pre-set compositional structure, no scheme, it wasn't gold, and it wasn't manure, it was Truth; that's why Black Metal is not for everyone: the essence of this cult is not for those who seek sound, but for those who, in their original simplicity, seek a truth beyond appearance and the ordinary.

And this is the way I intentionally structured my book: no attention to detail, no refinement, no technicalities. It contains the essence of True Norwegian Black Metal, everything this cult has wanted and continues to convey through music. I've never thought about appearances or judgments, just like Mayhem, Gorgoroth, or especially Darkthrone never did: they did what had to be done, what their spirit wanted, external judgment is irrelevant. And that's what characterizes Black Metal, that's what makes me love it.

This is my book dedicated to those who taught me the cult of being, not appearing: 443 pages of pure essence, over 100 bands, more than 600 albums, everything needed to collect a thirty-year-old cult in a treasure to keep in your library. All self-produced, all self-published, all self-promoted, taking the artists of the early '90s scene as an example. It won't be perfect, there may be some mistakes, some flaws, but I reply like Fenriz of Darkthrone replied to Peaceville Records after listening to his album: "This is fuckin' black metal, man!"

This is my project, this is:

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤

Marco Campoli