My older review of the book, slightly updated:

The infamous Process Church of the late 60s not only infected a large quadrant of the industrial music underground when it's denizens began exploring the tenets and imagery of this mysterious end time-cult back in the 80s, but also crept into some of the darker corners of hardcore and metal, largely thanks to Dwid from Integrity who has long had an obsession with this enigmatic group (and who has used certain Process images, themes and symbols for a bunch of different Integrity albums). My own interest in apocalypse cults and their literature has had me wanting to explore the Process Church at depth, but for years their self-published magazine and other texts have been nearly impossible to find unless you were willing to shell out an outrageous amount of cash.

A book came out recently called Love, Sex, Fear, Death: The Inside Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment, written by former Process member Timothy Wyllie and published by Feral House, which offers an insider's look at the background and evolution of the black-clad cult, its roots in Gnostic theology, the connections to pop personalities of the era like Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Parliament's George Clinton, and the various controversies that have surrounded it's activities. I haven't been able to pick that tome up yet for the shop, but here we have a complimentary book released as a companion piece to Wyllie's volume, also published by Feral House in conjunction with black metal label Ajna Offensive's publishing imprint, Ajna Bound. Propaganda And Holy Writ Of The Process Church Of The Final Judgment is a gorgeous softcover edition that collects the three most notorious issues of the Process Church's official organ, known as the Sex, Death and Fear issues of Process Magazine. Sold on street corners across the globe by Church members completely dressed in black, Process Magazine was a propaganda tool, sinister surrealist art aktion, and quasi-mystical prank all wrapped up in one eye-popping newsprint rag. There's some dispute online as to whether these reproductions featured in the book are 100% complete (some digging around on the internet took me to claims that a couple of pages are missing from at least one of the issues, but Ajna / Feral House state quite clearly that this is indeed the complete magazine material; I'll defer to them), this is as thorough, exhaustive and complete such a collection is going to get. A fantastic book that finally gives me the opportunity to gorge my eyes on all of the bizarre writing, wild psychedelic artwork and various manifestos that the Process Church was spreading in the late 60s.

The graphic design is amazing, and the writing from the members of the Process group are laced with copious amounts of black humor and are often pretty hilarious, clearly suggesting that things were not exactly as they seemed and that the folks involved didn't take themselves completely seriously. This edition also features "The Gods On War", an intense liturgical tract written by Robert de Grimston, as well as an excellent and insightful interview-discussion between Timothy Wyllie and Feral House mastermind Adam Parfrey (R.I.P.), an updated 2022 preface, and a smattering of supplemental material. Anyone fascinated in the Process Church (especially if you've read Love, Sex fear Death) will want to read this collection, but even casual fans of the darker underbelly of the Hippie Era, the LSD-laced Satanic art of the late 60s/early 70s, and apocalypse cults in general will find a lot of stuff in this book to absorb.