Ross Hagen is Assistant Professor of Music Studies at Utah Valley University Orem, USA. His research interests include black metal, music fan cultures, avant-garde music, and musical medievalism. He is also a bassist and composer in several black metal bands.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: “Kathaarian Life Code”1. “In the Shadow of the Horns”2. “Where Cold Winds Blow”3. “Paragon Belial”4. “The Pagan Winter”NotesBibliography

Hagen is uniquely placed to navigate [black metal's] paradoxes, as well as the sub-genre’s wider social significance. His exploration here of black metal’s appeal as a form of contemporary Nordic folk music, and his theoretical deliberations on the scene’s “romantic” and "modernist” aspects, are both forthright and stimulating ... [A] thought-provoking analysis.

Ross Hagen is Assistant Professor of Music Studies at Utah Valley University Orem, USA. His research interests include black metal, music fan cultures, avant-garde music, and musical medievalism. He is also a bassist and composer in several black metal bands.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: “Kathaarian Life Code”1. “In the Shadow of the Horns”2. “Where Cold Winds Blow”3. “Paragon Belial”4. “The Pagan Winter”NotesBibliography

Hagen is uniquely placed to navigate [black metal's] paradoxes, as well as the sub-genre’s wider social significance. His exploration here of black metal’s appeal as a form of contemporary Nordic folk music, and his theoretical deliberations on the scene’s “romantic” and "modernist” aspects, are both forthright and stimulating ... [A] thought-provoking analysis.

Ross Hagen is Assistant Professor of Music Studies at Utah Valley University Orem, USA. His research interests include black metal, music fan cultures, avant-garde music, and musical medievalism. He is also a bassist and composer in several black metal bands.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: “Kathaarian Life Code”1. “In the Shadow of the Horns”2. “Where Cold Winds Blow”3. “Paragon Belial”4. “The Pagan Winter”NotesBibliography

Hagen is uniquely placed to navigate [black metal's] paradoxes, as well as the sub-genre’s wider social significance. His exploration here of black metal’s appeal as a form of contemporary Nordic folk music, and his theoretical deliberations on the scene’s “romantic” and "modernist” aspects, are both forthright and stimulating ... [A] thought-provoking analysis.