Black Metal documentary UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US review

Co-directors Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites weren't Black Metal aficionados when a friend of theirs at Amoeba Records in San Francisco turned the two indie-music fans onto a sub-genre, that strangely enough, these days is also being appreciated by even the low-fi and roots music communities, for it's purity and relevance. Yep. Black Metal is almost hip now. But when the Ewells and Aites delved a little deeper, and became aware of the notorious history of true Norwegian Black Metal, which includes arson, suicide, and murder, they decided the subject would be perfect for their feature debut. So they set off for Norway, where they lived for two years, and ended up getting a very clear and unflinching look at what is often a very misunderstood subculture.

Why did a few young musicians decide to set fire to beautiful hundreds-years old churches?  What led to the infamous murder of one BM figurehead by another? How did such a tight-knit community of extremely resourceful and creative artists, become so infamous, and at times, so ultimately self destructive? The answers given by these often intelligent, and articulate men, can be surprising.

One thing that really sets UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US apart from other docs on the subject, of which there are a small handful,  is the on-screen inclusion of Varg Virkernes. Vikernes is also known as Count Grishnak, of BURZUM.  As co-director Audrey Ewell put it "Making a Norwegian Black Metal documentary with out Varg Vikernes is like making a Rolling Stones documentary without Mick Jagger." which is actually a damned good analogy. Vikernes was recently paroled from prison after serving 16 years for the murder of Oystein Aarseth, one time leader of the band MAYHEM, and owner of the local record shop which specialized in metal music, Helvete, which served as ground zero for the Black Metal movement. Sadly, original MAYHEM frontman Per Yngve Ohlin, aka Dead, couldn't participate in the film. He committed suicide, via shotgun back in '91. As the story goes, Dead was found by two of his band mates, the then still living Oystein and their drummer Jan Axel Blomberg, aka Hellhammer, who himself makes a pretty unforgettable appearance in the film. Apparently, they then proceeded to take pictures of Dead's mutilated corpse (one of the photos ended up being a MAYHEM album cover) and keeping fragments from his skull, which Hellhammer would later make into a commemorative necklace.
Also, hanging out at the Helvete record shop at the time was DARKTHRONE leader Fenriz, who figures heavily in the film. As a kind of guide, he takes us around Norway, where we follow him to places like his local pub, an art gallery showing of pictures from the BM scene, and to a flea market where he searches for albums, and explains how it was there that DARKTHRONE bought the half-broken 4-track they recorded their now-legendary first works on. 
Mainly comprised of testimonials from the true progenitors of the scene, Fenriz is well spoken, bright, and gregarious. He seems to easily be the sanest, most well-adjusted one of the bunch. Varg, on the other hand, always the Nationalist, relates his militant outlook with a stern and slick delivery.F or the first time on film, Vikernes also gives a vivid account of the events that led him to fatally stabbing MAYHEM's Oystein.  Also featured is Frost, guitarist of SATYRICON, as he does a performance art trip, sans-band, in Paris that's pretty, um, brutal.  UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US also serves to dispel the still lingering misnomer that true BM is Satanic. It is not.  It is based much more in Paganism, and at times, in it's most extreme, Nationalism.  In true Norwegian BM you are far more likely to hear a song about the glory of the winters' forest, or about pride and lineage, than a litany to the Goat of Mendes.
Considering the true Norwegian BM scene is indeed a fairly closed one, I'm surprised a couple of non-metalhead Yankees were able to get the usually elitist and reclusive musicians to open up, and be so candid. Thankfully, the directors' ambiguous eye, and non-judgemental approach, keeps it from being a fannish love letter, nor a condemning diatribe. But, admittedly, with it's downright titillating subject matter  it's one hell of an entertaining piece of documentary film making. From the more laid-back outlook of the affable Fenriz, or the Nationalist rhetoric of Vikernes, UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US basically points the camera and let's the viewer decide what they may or may not agree with. The films agenda seems to only be to dispense information, and help the viewer understand the motivations and circumstances behind the sensationalistic events,that occurred within the true Norwegian BM's inner circle in the early to mid 1990's. If there is one thing missing from the film for me though, is the absence of some of the news media who originally had reported on the events, and the law enforcement officials who put these guys away. I'd have liked to have seen them lend their modern perspective on it, now, close to 20 years later.

Were these just creative kids with too much time on their hands, and misdirected aggression? Or was it a valid movement of activists/terrorists (you be the judge) rallying against the commercialization and subjugation of their country, by corporate entities and theological juggernauts such as McDonald's and Christianity?

There's also a very bizarre cameo by filmmaker Harmony Korine, that I won't even try to explain. But I will say that this cameo alone is worth the price of admission.

Wow. Just. Wow.

Speaking of Harmony Korine, both he and director Sion Sonno (Suicide Club, Strange Circus) have films in production based on the the incidents within the early 90's Norwegian BM scene.  No surprise the story is picking up not one, but two adaptions. It's the perfect tale of rebellious youth, the dangerous young. Timeless. But before you seen an interpretation, see the documentation.
UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US opens today, December 4'th, in NYC, Providence, and Grand Rapids.. Then on December 11'th, it hits LA.

For more more cities, theater, and ticket information go to UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US.

Updated openings and theaters listings:

New York, NY - starts Dec 4th @ Cinema Village on 12th St.
Austin, TX - starts Nov 20 @ Alamo Ritz, downtown
New Orleans, LA starts Nov 24 @ Zeitgeist
Detroit, MI starts Nov 27 @ Burton Theater
Grand Rapids, MI starts Dec 4 @ Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA)
Providence, RI starts Dec 4 @ Cable Car Cinema
Los Angeles, CA starts Dec 11 @ Laemmle Sunset 5
Houston, TX starts Dec 10 @ Alamo Drafthouse West Oaks
CHICAGO! starts Jan 8 @ the Gene Siskel Film Center
SEATTLE! starts Jan 15th @ Grand Illusion Cinema
MILWAUKEE! starts Jan 22 @ Times Cinema
Denver, CO starts 1/29 @ Starz Theater

Canadian Premiere: Jan 15th, the film will be projected onto a giant ICE SCREEN in Winnipeg.  More details TBA.  AND more cities nearly finalized.