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This welcome but uneven book, divided in three sections (music, film, and literature), has its origins in a 2006 UK conference on demonology. The introduction, by editors Partridge and Christianson, subtitled “A Brief History of Western Demonology”, does an excellent job at providing precisely what the subtitle says, and poses a couple of interesting questions along the way. The first chapter, Asbjørn Dyrendal’s “Satanism and Popular Music”, is slightly problematic in that it largely accepts the claims to preferential right of interpretation made by the Church of Satan concerning the term Satanism. Hence, the point of Dyrendal’s argument is that black metal lyrics ‘are bad examples of Satanist ideology’ (p. 25). That holds true only if one accepts the Church of Satan’s self image as “the only true Satanism”. There is, however, little reason for a scholar of religion to do so. If black metal musicians and fans view themselves as Satanists, and their ideas also fall well within the boundaries of practically all established etic definitions of Satanism, why should a scholar allow the assertion of the Church of Satan, that “those are not real Satanists”, to enter the scholarly discourse? It would be more proper to use the term to denote either all those who consider themselves Satanists, i.e. an emic definition, or to use a broader etic defintion. The main thrust of the chapter, proving that “My Way” — due to its individualist lyrics — is a better example of a song with “Satanist ideas” in it than most black metal tunes, is highly readable as a comparison between the Satanism of LaVeyans and black metal Satanists. But to designate black metal lyrics as somehow representing an “incorrect Satanism” is questionable. This is not to say Dyrendal’s article lacks valuable insights. One important thing that he brings up, and which is sometimes overlooked by scholars of Satanism sticking too closely to strict ideal types, is the common ground that exists between the LaVeyan and black metal varieties of Satanism. Dyrendal’s discussion of black metal lyrics is also solid, and he picks good and representative examples. For the part of the article where we get to learn about the views concerning music and the Devil held by the present leader of the Church of Satan, Dyrendal has contacted the gentleman in question, and we get the opinions straight from the horse’s mouth, which is always nice. In this context, Dyrendal has also monitored Church of Satan affiliated internet message boards to understand how LaVeyans think about these issues.

Review of The Lure of the Dark Side: Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture, edited by Christopher Partridge and Eric Christianson