Bill Peel

What’s Black and Red All Over?*
Review of the Repeater Books paperback edition (May 23, 2023) released soon after the eBook edition (April 11, 2023).

I read Tonight It's A World We Bury: Black Metal, Red Politics due to Inciminci's excellent review. Especially due to the line: "this is a baller read, informative, whether you agree or disagree and it will broaden your horizons."

I'll disclose upfront that I've never listened to black metal, as the genre in my mind is associated with either satanism or extreme right-wing politics. I do listen to some metal though, although it would be pretty esoteric to most people, namely the Estonian folk metal band Metsatöll (Estonian for: Forest four-legged animal, but also a colloquialism for "wolf" or "werewolf") and the Swedish sludge/doom metal band Walk Through Fire, especially their interpretations of the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

See poster at https://repeater-radio.com/wp-content/uploads/Bill-Peel-Logo.png
Poster for author Bill Peel’s show on Repeater Radio which previewed the book. See link below.

Tonight It's a World We Bury (the book title is taken from a black metal song lyric) gives quite a thorough overview of the black metal music scene and dozens of its bands, even having information about obscure Saudi Arabian black metal (a rebel music with its own very unique local aspects) with the author seeming to have an infinite knowledge of it. The author's other interest is left-wing politics and the thesis of the book is about how various themes or characteristics of black metal can be incorporated into the anti-fascist/left wing movement. These themes form the main chapter titles: Distortion, Decay, Secrecy, Coldness and Heresy.

There are not actually very many black metal bands with left wing politics but the author does mention a few of them. The book is an attempt to reconcile the apparent right-wing association of black metal with a potential future in the left-wing. I will still confess to having little interest in black metal, but Inciminci was absolutely correct in their review that this book "broadened my horizons."

Other Reviews
You can read a review of Tonight It’s A World We Bury at the Hate Meditations blog here, from May 29, 2023.

Footnote, Trivia and Links
* This is taken from the old riddle: "What's black and white and read all over?" Answer: A newspaper. I edited that for my lede, and the related answers are: The cover of this book or the Anarchist flag.

Author Bill Peel previewed the book on Repeater Radio in 2022 by reading excerpts from its Chapters and also playing excerpts of black metal music. You can listen to the first 2 episodes about the “Distortion” chapter here. Other episodes are presumably available if you subscribe to Repeater Radio. I think the only other shows are with excerpts from the “Decay” chapter, based on a tweet which said it was the final episode here.

Repeater Books did a podcast interview with author Bill Peel and members of black metal band Dawn Ray’d on their YouTube channel which you can listen to here (audio only, no video).… (meer)

Tonight It's a World We Bury by Bill Peel is an interesting look at how death metal can be used in support of left wing causes as well as right wing.

This uses theory in making the connections, but is not, as some might think, just an intellectual exercise in connecting theory to practice. Those who "meditate" as a form of mental masturbation rather than societal change might think so, but they are wrong. Theory is used here to makes Peel's point and to establish ways in which to think about death metal outside of the way that has become popular.

I also think there is some misunderstanding about what he is doing here. He certainly isn't "re-affirming" death metal as left wing (a misleading line in the book description), since that would mean it has, at some point, been that. Peel discusses this idea with respect to other situations where groups might reappropriate ideas or movements. In the same vein, he isn't trying to make some definitive connection between leftist thought and death metal, he is showing how, because of the general dissatisfaction with the world that runs through the genre, it can be used by the left as a weapon or tool just as easily as by the right. His arguments are more demonstrations of where and how to do so, not some kind of "here are the connections" tract. So whether you find the arguments totally convincing in and of themselves is to miss a big part of the point of the book.

He does show that death metal can be used by the left. He does so by making good arguments linking leftist thought with the genre. Neither leftist thought nor death metal are monolithic so the big takeaway is that this can be another tool in your box to change the world, not that your understanding of either leftist thought or death metal aligns with his. Unless you just like twiddling your thumbs and pretend you're doing "deep thinking" when in fact you missed the point.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for ways to bring more flexibility to how they can make change in the world. While this is clearly geared toward those who either like or might be open to death metal itself, it also serves as a template for how to use material that might not be designed for your use. If you just like to show people your pseudointellectualism, you might enjoy this so you can write a long-winded vapid piece that makes you feel better about your pathetic self.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)