Until the light takes us

“Until The Light Takes Us” was an interesting documentary about the now-infamous events that took place in the Norwegian Black Metal scene in the early 90s. A small group of performers decided that their mission should include not only music, but a wave of anti-Christian activism aimed at kicking the religion out of Norway altogether, which resulted in numerous church burnings, several murders, and lots of generally anti-social behavior. I’ve never been a particularly big fan of the music style but have always found these events fascinating in a morbid sort of way. I can remember flipping through the U.K. metal mag “Terrorizer” back then and following all of the news reports about who killed who and who was in jail and so on and thinking “Wow, what is wrong with these people?” “Until the Light Takes Us” may not have helped me to understand the mindset behind these events any more than I did already, but it was an interesting ride nonetheless, into the dark underbelly of a music scene that became legendary in a terrifying sort of way.

Metal fans have been buzzing for months about Until The Light Takes Us, but official screenings have been few and far between. Consequently, 99% of the film’s core audience hasn’t seen the saga of the Norwegian black metal scene as told by filmmakers Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell. That’s all going to change on September 28th, when Until The Light Takes Us finally gets DVD treatment. Luckily for me, my hookup Terrill, whose inventory is usually comprised of amateur porn, videocam bootlegs of current blockbusters and unreleased Tyler Perry films, somehow got his grubbies on an advance screener.

Setting aside the music and copious violence, Until The Light Takes Us is, at its core, the story of two men, Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell (Darkthrone) and Varg ‘’Count Grishnackh” Vikernes (Mayhem, Burzum). Through a series of interviews, the film chronicles their relationship, as well the relationship of each to the genre they helped sire. The interviews are alternately insightful, amusing and poignant. Though we each probably have a well-developed image of both based upon their musical output and personal exploits, it is very different to hear these two men describing and critiquing their scene. It’s also a blast to accompany Fenriz on a mundane train trip and listen to him explain how to avoid being at the receiving end of a body cavity search courtesy of the local authorities.

Continue reading at MetalSucks

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