Satan
Rides the Media
INTRO: "The
full story about the "satanic" crimes the started
in the early 90's at Norway. Anonimous youths, which named themselves "satanists" in
the media, were suspected to have burned down the churches.
As
the news started to spread across Europe, youths in other countries
comitted crimes
they claimed were inspired by the mysterious
norwegian "satanists",
and their special music: "black metal". This was the start
of a story that still goes on in Europe."
Includes
the story
of the murder of Euronimous (guitar player in Mayhem
and record store owner), the
arrests and trials of Vark Vikernes of
Burzum fame.
Interviews with:
– Several reporters, investigators and police officers that dealt with
these crimes,
• Jan Axel von Blomberg (Hellhammer), co-founder of the norwegian
Black Metal pioneers Mayhem, now also Arcturus, Dimmu Borgir, The Kovenant, Winds,
etc.;
• Jørn Stubberud (Necrobutcher), bassplayer in Mayhem;
• Jørn Inge Thunsberg, guitarplayer in Hades,
convicted of burning down a the Åsane chruch;
• Asbjorn Dyrendal, professor of religious history;
• Malcolm Dome, journalist from Kerrang Magazine;
• Tiziana Stupia, manager of Misanthropy Records who made fortune on the
expense of Burzum;
• "The guitarrist in Mayhem" who accompanied Vikernes to Oslo
on the night of the murder of Euronimous;
• And finally, last but not least, Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh):
a lot of talk from the main man himself. Murderer by knife of Øisten
Aarseth (Euronimous) and church burner . Including the narration of the night
when he murdered Euronimous, his relation with Euronimous, the Black Metal scene,
the media, justification for christian burnings and attacks on xianity, and so
on.
– Several shootings of the trials of Varg Vikernes;
– The smile on the face of Vark Vikernes when the sentence for 21 years
in jail was decreed;
– Photo shoots of Euronimous's store and "satanists den",
Helvete;
– Photo shoots of "satanic" graffitis;
– Lot's of early Black Metal scene imagery and photos;
– Mayhem live;
– Early Anton Szandor LaVey's Satanic ritual;
– Churches burning and firefighters (one of them died);
– Burned churches and desecrated graveyards;
– Tons of newspaper articles and headlines - with translation;
– Shots of TV broadcasts with brutal headlines like child sacrifices, murder
of an homosexual, etc.;
– Protestant/ christian masses and reactions;
– etecetera.
52 minutes. English subtitles.
This was a special
news broadcast that went on in the norwegian television.
Review:
SATAN RIDES THE MEDIA
A Documentary by Torstein Grude/VIDEO
Subfilm in co-production with TV2
The
events related to Norwegian black metal in the early 90s have already
been documented in the "Lords of Chaos" book by Michael Moynihan, but "Satan
Rides the Media" is probably the first documentary dealing with the
subject. It is a 52-minute developing story- a little bit in the Discovery
channel crime-story
style- about church burnings and the murder of Euronymous. The story includes
interviews with people involved (Varg Vikernes), black metal bands (Mayhem
and Hades), journalists covering the case, policemen, and Satanism researchers.
The main focus is on how the media covered church burnings and
the subsequent murder, indirectly blaming journalists for
representing Varg as a guru and
influencing young kids to burn a few more churches. While the media's
working methods for this case do not differ much from other
cases, and the documentary
does not break any new ground here, it adds a visual side to a well-known
story that many non-Norwegians in the metal underground have
only read or heard about.
Some of the episodes that are worth mentioning include scenes with Varg
Vikernes in court, Vannesa Warwick announcing the first appearance
of Burzum's clip
on MTV, and the truly evil-breathing Mayhem live shows. People into metal and particularly into black metal, will probably
miss the depth of Moynihan's book, but the above-mentioned
visuals compensate for that,
even if there could have been more of them instead of frequent short interviews
with journalists, who care more about what their newspapers write about
and the subsequent impact on society and much less about
the artistic side of black
metal, viewing black metal as another form of rebellious youth culture
trying to attract attention.
As an extensive crime-story, the documentary provides adequate coverage,
starting with an interview with the journalist who wrote the first article
about Varg
in BT, one of the biggest Norwegian national newspapers. The documentary
is not likely to convert outsiders to black metal, because during its 52
minutes-
save the 30 seconds of Mayhem live episodes- it does not show black metal
from any attractive angle (even though the genre had an undeniably thought-provoking
element that much of current mainstream lacks). The movie justifies its
title
well, exposing the media's willingness to jump on hot trends, and it provides
an effective and rather objective insight into a part of Norway's social
happenings between 1992 and 1996. I am certainly happy to have this video
and it will
be nice to watch it every now and then. Even 50 years from now.
[in:
Edge of Time magazine]
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