Michael J. Moynihan
Michael J. Moynihan | |
---|---|
University of Colorado studied language and history Portland State University B.A. in German language University of Massachusetts Amherst Ph.D. in Germanic Languages and Literatures. | |
Occupation(s) | writer, publisher, journalist, musician |
Years active | 1984-present |
Known for | Blood Axis, Tyr Journal |
Notable work | Lords of Chaos |
Michael Jenkins Moynihan (born 17 January 1969) is an American writer, editor, translator, journalist, artist, and musician. He is best known for co-writing Lords of Chaos, a book about black metal. Moynihan is founder of the music group Blood Axis, the music label Storm Records and publishing company Dominion Press.[2] Moynihan has interviewed numerous musical figures and has published several books, translations, and essays.
Biography
Moynihan was born in
Moynihan collaborated with
During the summer of 1991, Moynihan was visited at his apartment by agents of the United States Secret Service about an alleged plot to assassinate then-President of the United States George H. W. Bush. Moynihan agreed to a polygraph test, and no charges were filed. Moynihan stated that it was a simple case of intimidation stemming from his correspondence with Charles Manson, whom he was interviewing for a national magazine.[5][third-party source needed]
In 1995, Moynihan released the first full-length album by Blood Axis,
Books and articles
Moynihan's first publication was an art fanzine called The Final Incision, which he published under the name Coup de Grâce in 1984. It featured contributions from various artists associated with the underground Industrial music scene, including "MB" (Maurizio Bianchi) and Trevor Brown. Coup de Grâce also issued various art posters and newsletters between 1985 and 1989. As a graphic artist, Moynihan designed posters for live performances by Coup de Grâce, Sleep Chamber, and Hunting Lodge in the mid-1980s.[citation needed]
Between 1990 and 1995, Moynihan contributed articles, photography, and editorial work to various magazines and journals including the "extreme culture" magazineThe Fifth Path,
Among the artists and figures Moynihan has interviewed are
Moynihan started a publishing house called Storm Books.
Moynihan was the co-editor of the journal
Lords of Chaos
Moynihan co-authored with Norwegian journalist
Reviews of Lords of Chaos were mixed. The publication was sometimes criticized for a perceived lack of distance towards its subject matter. This was considered especially alarming to groups and figures that had accused Moynihan of right-wing sympathies,[23] charges which Moynihan has dismissed as inapplicable due to the "intricacies of such subjects".[24] However, several critics praised the book for offering an informative or at least interesting view on a relatively obscure subculture.[20]
Tyr
The editorial preface of Tyr, vol. 1 defines an
- Resacralization of the world versus materialism.
- Natural social hierarchyversus an artificial hierarchy based on wealth.
- The tribal communityversus the nation-state.
- Stewardship of the earth versus the "maximization of resources."
- A harmonious relationship between men and women versus the "war between the sexes."
- mass-production.[third-party source needed]
Music
Influenced by first-wave industrial music artists such as SPK and Throbbing Gristle,[26] Moynihan started his first electronic music project in 1984, which he called Coup de Grâce. Along with audio cassette releases and live performances, Coup de Grâce also produced art booklets, posters, postcards, and texts. In 1988, at the age of 18, Moynihan published an edition of Friedrich Nietzsche's The Antichrist featuring artwork by Trevor Brown.[27]
According to Moynihan, a cassette from his project Coup de Grâce was received by an art group called Club Moral in Belgium, resulting in a positive review in the cultural magazine they produced called Force Mental. Club Moral invited Moynihan to come to perform at In Vitro, an art and music festival in Antwerp. He accepted, which resulted in a small European tour of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, while he was based in Antwerp, Belgium.[28] In Germany, he came in contact with Cthulhu Records, the German underground label which would later release the first Blood Axis compilation tracks and album. Upon returning to Boston in the United States, he was invited to join the experimental music group Sleep Chamber.[26]
While Moynihan was a member of Sleep Chamber, a friend of his who was active in the underground electronic music scene, Thomas Thorn, moved from Wisconsin to Boston and joined the band. According to Moynihan, a falling out occurred between Thorn and John Zewizz, founder of Sleep Chamber,[26] resulting in Moynihan leaving Sleep Chamber and moving to Belgium, where he lived in the same warehouse where Club Moral had their home and offices.[26]
Thorn, who had formed an electronic music project called Slave State in Wisconsin, visited Moynihan in Belgium in 1988 and the two collaborate for a live concert of Thorn's project. The show was produced by Club Moral and took place in a cellar underneath their headquarters in Antwerp. After relocating back to the US in 1989, Moynihan formed the musical group Blood Axis and no longer produced music under the name Coup de Grâce.[26]
Experimental musician
In 1995, Cthulhu Records released the first full-length album by Blood Axis,
In 2001, Moynihan released a musical collaboration with French artist
Political views
In the 1990s, Moynihan was frequently characterized as a
Investigative journalist Kevin Coogan has linked Moynihan more explicitly with the extreme right but states that Moynihan does not fit into a "conventional definitions of fascism". Coogan has classified Moynihan as an "extreme rightist".[23] Coogan states that Lords of Chaos "itself, however, is not a 'fascist' tract in the strict sense" and that "Moynihan [does not] himself fit easily into the more conventional definitions of fascism".[23]
The album
In 1999, Moynihan was one of several musicians listed by
German social scientist Christian Dornbusch remarks that Moynihan's work "evokes a mindset which wants to design a future based on
Moynihan has repeatedly denied political ties.[20][39] In response to the various political accusations leveled against him, Moynihan calls the far-right "a bunch of isolated losers" who are "all deluded".[20] In response to accusations concerning the influence of his political views on the writing of Lords of Chaos, Moynihan made statements denouncing the far-right and white supremacism.[20] The Southern Poverty Law Center later listed Moynihan as an intellectual leader of the far right for statements such as "The number of six million [Jews killed in the Holocaust] is just arbitrary and inaccurate [...] If I were given the opportunity to start up the next Holocaust, I would definitely have more lenient entry requirements than the Nazis."[20]
Personal life
Moynihan has a child with his partner Annabel.[2]
Bibliography
- Co-authored by Moynihan
- ISBN 0-922915-94-6
- ISBN 0-922915-57-1
- Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult, edited by ISBN 0-9713942-7-X
- The Command to Look: A Master Photographer's Method for Controlling the Human Gaze, with a contribution from Moynihan, ISBN 978-1627310017
- The Secret King: The Myth and Reality of Nazi Occultism, co-authored with Stephen E. Flowers, ISBN 978-1932595253
- Edited by Moynihan
- The Final Incision, art booklet with international contributors. Coup De Grâce, 1984.
- Der Antichrist by Friedrich Nietzsche. Illustrated by Trevor Brown. Antwerp: C.D.G., 1988.
- Siege: The Collected Writings of James Mason by James Mason, edited and introduced by Moynihan, Storm Books, 1992.
- The Secret King: Karl Maria Wiligut, ISBN 978-1932595253.
- Introduction to Magic: Rituals and Practical Techniques for the Magus by ISBN 0-89281-624-4.
- Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist by Julius Evola, edited by Moynihan, ISBN 0-89281-905-7.
- Little Anatomy of the Physical Unconscious, or The Anatomy of the Image by Hans Bellmer. Translated from the French and with an introduction by Jon Graham. Foreword by ISBN 0-9712044-2-X.
- Confessions of a Radical Traditionalist, a collection of essays by ISBN 0-9712044-4-6.
- American Grotesque: The Life and Art of William Mortensen, co-edited by Moynihan and Larry Lytle, ISBN 978-1-9362399-7-9.
- The Command to Look: A Master Photographer's Method for Controlling the Human Gaze, by William Mortensen and George Dunham, with essays by Larry Lytle and Michael Moynihan. Feral House, 2014, ISBN 978-1-6273100-1-7.
- ISBN 0-9720292-0-6.
- ISBN 0-9720292-1-4.
- ISBN 0-9997245-5-X.
- ISBN 0-9720292-4-9.
- Tyr: Myth—Culture—Tradition Vol. 5, Arcana Europa (2018).
- Translated by Moynihan
Barbarian Rites: The Spiritual World of the Vikings and Germanic Tribes by Hans-Peter Hasenfratz, Ph.D. Translated and edited, and with a Foreword by Moynihan. Inner Traditions, 2011,
References
- ^ "Charles Manson – Commemoration". Discogs. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ a b mrgreg23 (24 May 2005). "Michael Moynihan Interview; Between Birds of Prey". Heathen Harvest. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Gardell 2003, p. 299.
- ^ Pingelton, Kathleen (2006). "Boyd Rice Interview". Filth Forge. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
- ^ a b Seconds no. 32, 64–74)
- ISBN 0-9712044-0-3
- .
- ^ Gardell 2003, p. 297.
- ^ Seconds no. 28, 60–62
- ^ Seconds no. 30, 9–11
- ^ a b The Fifth Path magazine, issue 5. Reprinted in Vor trú issue 53
- ^ Seconds no. 25, pages 56–60
- ^ Junge Freiheit 47/94, p. 20
- ^ Seconds magazine, issue 41. (1996)
- ^ Moynihan, Michael (1997). "RAHOWA". The Black Flame. 6 (1–2): 40–42.
- ^ Seconds magazine, issue 44. (1997)
- ISBN 0-9713942-7-X
- ^ Moynihan, Michael (1996). "Michael Gira Interview". Seconds. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
- ^ Gardell 2003, p. 300.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dundas, Zach (26 March 2009). "Lord of Chaos: Activists Accuse Portland Writer and Musician Michael Moynihan of Spreading Extremist Propaganda, But They're Not Telling the Whole Story". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 1 March 2001. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
They (both Nazis and Communists) [a]re all deluded. People should worry about what happens on their block. They should get along with their neighbors before they worry about the great ills of society and about telling someone who lives 200 miles away what to do.
- ISBN 0-9712044-4-6
- ^ "Lords of Chaos (2018) - IMDb". IMDb.
- ^ a b c d Coogan, Kevin. (1999) How Black Is Black Metal?
- ^ a b Dundas, Zach. "The Notorious Michael Moynihan". Mumblage International. Archived from the original on 1 March 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
- ^ Tyr official website, "About the Editors". Online
- ^ a b c d e Wulfing One (1995). "The Storm Before the Calm An Interview with Blood Axis". Esoterra (5).
- ^ The Heretic No.10, Oct 1994
- ISBN 978-0-8223-3071-4.
- ^ "The Lindbergh Baby (feat. Blood Axis) launches 'Hoodwinked' debut", Sideline webzine. Online: [1]
- ^ "Day of Blood", Occidental Congress webzine. Online
- ^ Interview in the "Heretic" magazine, #10, October 1994: "I would not say fascism wraps up my worldview completely, but it is a step in the right direction"; interview in "Compulsion Online": "if fascism returns to this world a sense for order, discipline and responsibility, I am absolutely in favour"[unreliable source?]
- ^ Wulfing Robert N. Taylor in the 1995 Esoterra interview.
- ^ ISBN 0-8223-3071-7 Portion of section regarding Moynihan available online:[2]
- ^ SF weekly.com[permanent dead link] 14 October 1998
- ^ Moynihan's reply to Schobert (1997)
- ^ Ward, Erik K.; Lunsford, John; Massa, Justin (15 December 1999). "Black Metal Spreads Neo-Nazi Hate Message". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ a b Bennet, J. Decibel Magazine NSBM Special Report (2006)
- ISBN 3-89771-804-9, p. 145
- ^ Schobert, Alfred. Heidentum, Musik und Terror (Junge Welt 1997, Duisburger Institut für Sprach- und Sozialforschung 2000, with Moynihan's reply: "No member of Blood Axis has ever been a member of a political party or group, left or right."