Lords of Chaos trailer: Metal turns into mayhem in new biopic

January 18th 2019, 10:50am

When most people think about black metal from Europe, they image goth-style clothing, thrashing live shows and endless, deep-throated screaming. Intimidating on the surface but mostly all in the name of performance, things got really hairy at the beginning of the craze in the early 90s, when musician Varg Vikernes (Emory Cohen) took things down a violent and destructive path in Norway. The new trailer for LORD OF CHAOS recounts the story of the band Mayhem and their place in the events, centering on bandleader Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth (Rory Culkin) and Vikernes.

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Directed by Jonas Åkerlund and written by him and Dennis Magnusson (based on the book of the same name by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind), CHAOS seems to take a pretty in-depth look at the events, which involved the burning of several churches and, later, murder. The trailer showcases the innocent and even goofy early years of the music scene all before going into the darker elements spurred by Vikernes (who later went to prison for his crimes).

The movie premiered at Sundance last year, and now it’s set for a limited theatrical release on February 8 and an On Demand release on February 22. So far the movie has some excellent reviews, currently at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics praising the authenticity and approach of the filmmakers. Here is the synopsis:

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A teenager's quest to launch Norwegian Black Metal in Oslo in the 1980s results in a very violent outcome. Lords of Chaos tells the true story of True Norwegian Black Metal and its most notorious practitioners – a group of young men with a flair for publicity, church-burning and murder: MAYHEM.

I have a basic understanding of the premise after the boys over at "Last Podcast on the Left" did an excellent series of episodes on the subject and these figures. Anyone who's a fan of true crime should take a listen and explore the story more, because it really is a fascinating tale of young men who simply liked to dress up in makeup and thrash on some instruments, only to get swept in some genuine chaos. LORDS OF CHAOS looks like it does the story justice, so I'll be tuning in when it arrives next month.