The Principles of Sonic Occultism: Sound As Magic

I bought this for $1.59 on kindle. For that price, I don't feel particularly cheated, but good lord this man is in dire need of an editor.In no particular order, the author goes off on frequent tangents about:- How much pop music and Hollywood sucks (I agree, but he hammers this point so hard it that it becomes laughable).- How dumb "the abrahamists" are and how he used to be a christian (if he thinks so little of them, why bother mentioning them so often?).- His previous books, his web videos, and how systems like most western esotericism and eastern ascetism, (but excluding his, oddly) are disastrously flawed (I understand that occultism is subjective, but writing off thousands of years of ritual tradition in the span of a few pages?).It takes him just over the first third of the book to finally get into the topic of sonic occultism (you know, only the title of the book I bought), and even then he wavers off and on. When he's not on point, he generally just comes off as incredibly angry and petty - perfect example is his passage about a chatroom that banned him and his subsequent retaliation (yes, he really did include this in the book). I kind of feel sorry for someone who carries around this much anger, and I genuinely hope he can find some peace.On the positive side:- When he's on topic, he clearly knows enough about the material to make it interesting and engaging.- He was also thoughtful enough to include listings of his previous sonic experiments (the files of which are easy enough to find with a search engine).- He lays out some broad, solid theory about sonic occult principles with a few clear diagramsI think if he trimmed the book down, stayed on topic, and kept some of the pettiness and contempt for unrelated topics out of his writing, this would be an incredibly useful book. As it stands now, I'm only going back to the passages I highlighted.

So many grammatical errors. A collection of rants..with very little usable information. Anger teaches some while love teaches others (more powerful).

Another fantastic read from Tarl. I only wish this work were longer.

Received this as a gift from a friend.As mentioned by another review, the author frequently deviates from the topic, goes on unnecessary tangents and the book is structured so poorly that it's difficult to keep any organizational structure in mind of how what you're reading relates to anything else.I've had an easier time reading translations of Dantes Inferno.As others have also mentioned there's a certain arrogance that pervades his style of writing and it leaves a bad taste. A lot of the book degenerates into him mocking things he doesn't like. Seems to target the stereotypical targets like prep kids and the casually religious.Honestly half the book just feels like whining. If he got to the meat of the content the book would probably neatly fit in under 60 pages without all of the unnecessary fluff.EDIT:Finally got around to finishing the book. All I can say after completion is that there are some interesting points and things to chew on and mull over in the mind, but you need to really dig through a mountain of tangents, complaining and side stories to get there. I mentioned earlier the book could fit in 60 pages, really the stuff that's worth anyone's time could fit in probably 35. The visual charts and notes included are childish and leave one wonder why they were even put in the book.In general, I think one would be better off studying a bit of marketing and mysticism/mythology, as that's really where most of his thinking on this is centered.Again, interesting thoughts to consider, but not worth the work it took to getting to them, and if you're anything like me, reading this will feel like work.

Another great book from Warwick.

This is a great short work. Tarl, while a little pedantic at times, provides a very interesting perspective on propaganda, music, chants and all other forms of sound that are used to influence the human world.

10.2 inches of penetrating wisdom & spooky dookiness, from the dark graveyard of Vermont, the dark gardens of the Republic