A review on _Painted Black_ by FRC :

  I saw a review for ANOTHER new schlock expose' posing as investigative
journalism in the most recent edition of _Gnosis_.  It is titled _Painted
Black_ and written by Carl A. Raschke.  I checked it out from the library
and would like to pass along some of the funnier aspects of this "factual
hysteria."  It also raised a few questions about some things of which I'm
not entirely certain.  Mayhaps someone will be able to clear up a few of
them?

  Some of the more obvious errors that struck me (aside from the typos
which pepper the text) were the names of some of the "Satanic Metal
Bands" such as (sic) Megadeaf (Megadeath), Sultic Frost (Celtic Frost) and
Mentalica (Metallica).  We are also informed that the directors and
producers of Metal videos have drawn their asthetic style directly from
Nazi propaganda films!(?)  A statement is made that the "ZOSO" logo
sometimes used by Led Zeppelin is actually the name of a three-headed dog
that guards the entrance to Hell; I can't say anything about this as I'm
unfamiliar with such a mythological creature by this name.  Anybody?
I was surprised that it is very well known among Heavy Metal followers
that the band Slayer's name is an acronym for (sic)...........
"Satan-Laughs-While-You-Eternally-Rot".  Well, that made me SMILE!
Maybe he meant "As" instead of "While".  At least the acronym would match
its supposed meaning.

  Speaking of dogs, Raschke tell us that "an archetypal symbol of Satan
throughout the Western world has been a stray cur, an outlaw dog."
That's news to me....anybody else heard this one?  On a similar topic, the
author claims that "one of Aleister Crowley's most famous aphorisms is
""God Barks"".  This one must have slipped past me as well.

  Something else I found enlightening was that Michael Aquino runs a BBS in
St. Louis called "Weird Net" which caters to his Satanic followers but
"is in no way related to the Army!(?)"  I know Brad Hicks has "Wyrd
Base" in St. Louis and AMER has Aquino on their Board of Directors; I'm
guessing, in light of all the other blatant inaccuracies, Raschke simply is
confused.....and that is being charitable!

  Another anecdote he relates is that a teenager died while enacting a
scenario drawn directly from _Dungeons and Dragons_.  The odd thing is that
the kid was doing an autoerotic hanging process, which I'm aware has
killed lots of folks and is dangerous, at best.  The point here is that it
is NOT part of *ANY* D&D scenario I'm aware of, and am quite certain that
once again the author is confused (or is simply lying).

  Of course, no book of this stripe would be complete without (in the
authors..mind?) some ACTUAL pictures of Satanic Temples and their
diabolical workings, however flawed his perceptions and descriptions may
be.  For us, it will provide some yucks while we marvel at his glorious
ignorance.  Two pictures depict a Temple for the Gnostic Mass; one empty
and one with a Mass in progress.  The other photo on this same page depicts
The Mass of the Phoenix.  Raschke's captions read "Scenes from a recent
Satanic Ritual depicting a communion service using one of the participants
own blood (the man in the middle has cut himself on the chest).  The design
of the altar and the ceremony depicted match exactly Aleister Crowley's
prescriptions.  Photographs by Bruce W. Yonker (used with permission).

  As a final note, he frequently spells OTO; Order Templi Orientalis.  I
can't wait for his next book as this man is a paragon of journalistic
integrity.  
 
