Salt Lake Tribune Review
Death-metal music doesn't get any deathier than Norwegian Black Metal, especially when you consider that one of its stars - Varg Vikernes (who is interviewed in this documentary) - is serving time for murdering a fellow musician and being involved in a series of church burnings. With a rich vein of material like that, directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell commit cinematic incompetence by creating a movie so tedious and uninvolving. There is some rare early footage of some of the supposedly legendary bands of the Norwegian scene, but it's not presented with any context - and there's precious little of the actual music heard. This may be the first headbangers' movie that will put hard-rock fans to sleep.
-- Sean P. Means
The rundown: Norway's "black metal" scene, some of whose participants have been involved in murder, is chronicled in this inept documentary. Subtitled; 93 minutes. (SPM)
Synopsis: The film examines the birth and explosive arc of black metal through the eyes of the scene's leaders, who tried to change the world using music and symbolic acts of violence. Three men lead the scene: one is dead, one is in jail for killing him and inciting a wave of church arson, and one continues to release albums in the genre they created. The musicians blur the line between music, art, activism and terror. Part post modern art movement, part terrorist movement, and part rock scene, the film tells a story unlike any other.
