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Until The Light Takes Us - The Darkest Music Documentary Ever?
Filmposter von Rapid Eye Movies
Authenticity is probably the most renowned criterion for assessing the quality of a documentary. In the case of Until The Light Takes Us, conceived by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell, which deals with the turbulent early days of Norwegian Black Metal, with particular attention to the real actors behind the deeds and their morbid ideologies, authenticity is very much the key term.
Perhaps too authentic for some people, because no sensitive issue is being shied away from here, including suicide, murder, racism and homophobia, so one should be quite aware of what kind of audiovisual event one is getting into with Until The Light Takes Us.
This is certainly not an easy watch due to its disturbing content, yet the film is a real recommendation to all those who are enthusiastic about harsh music and aren´t aversed to extreme subgenres; For others, the depressive, grim mood and explicit content, especially regarding self-mutilation and suicide, could act as a deterrent. But those who are fundamentally interested in music history will also find something to satisfy their needs with this dark, sometimes creepy piece of contemporary music history.
What stands out from watching Until The Light Takes Us is the multi-faceted soundtrack, which not only, as one might initially assume, relies solely on Norwegian Black Metal, but also reveals particularly electronic soundscapes that match the melancholic atmosphere.
For the atmosphere may be even more important to Until The Light Takes Us than authenticity, which can and may be constantly contested in all musical directions. Atmosphere is a fundamental cog in the Black Metal machinery, because the aggression of Thrash Metal and the morbid vein of Death Metal culminate with that otherworldly atmosphere of the traditional sound of Black Metal.
The title of the documentary comes from an album by one of the key characters of the early Norwegian Black Metal; Varg Vikernes of Burzum fame, with the album “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss”. This is a key differentiator from other documentaries on the same subject: Until The Light Takes Us provides a sober and mature look at Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell and Vark Vikernes, the protagonists of this documentary, with a special focus on how Black Metal has evolved as an art form.
Until The Light Takes Us - Cultural Resistance
A heavy-handed melancholy runs its course through Until The Light Takes Us, the title itself already exudes a certain existential heaviness. This melancholy is effectively supported by the miraculous soundtrack, which not only consists of sounds from the very notorious music scene, but also includes other genres such as Electronica.
The eerily beautiful intro track by “Múm” articulates the inherent melancholy and isolation of the protagonists, without a single distorted guitar, without any barrage of blast beats and without the inhuman-sounding vocals, which are common characteristics of Black Metal. Until The Light Takes Us focuses on the two bands “Burzum” and “Darkthrone”, who are among the first bands of the Norwegian scene and whose band leaders lead through the documentary as narrators.
While Fenriz of “Darkthrone” narratives most of the documentary, Varg Vikernes also gets a significant share of airtime. Apart from these two masters, former “Mayhem” members speak, and a few other names within the scene, but the main focus remains mainly on Fenriz and Vikernes.
In front of the camera, the two chat openly about their respective views, motivations and ideas of what defines Norwegian Black Metal.
Their opinions couldn´t be more different: While Fenriz resembles a school clown who rambles on with a contagious euphoria about his love of music in his living room, the murderer and arsonist Varg Vikernes, who was imprisoned for those deeds considers his role in the swamp of crime extremely cold and sober. Vikernes says that the satanic image was a fabrication of the media, that he sees himself as a pagan fighting against ideological alienation.
Until The Light Takes Us completely dispenses with an external narrative thread and instead relies on the voices of the participants; the audience gets the benefit of the doubt from the filmmakers and is supposed to piece the story together on their own and whether it sympathizes with the actors or not.
What both can finally agree on is that they are using this novel expression of extreme metal as a rebellious act against the impending Americanisation, which was spreading at the time, in the form of fast-food chains and the perceived weakness of US death metal because this style of music became too commercialized.
Until The Light Takes Us – Is Black Metal Legitimate Art?
Whether Black Metal has artistic legitimacy despite its terrible initial creative phase is the fundamental question of the two Canadian filmmakers.
Therefore, the soundtrack is brimming with ambient and electronica tracks that emit a similar inner darkness to the scenes presented in Until The Light Takes Us. Human emotions are universal, and we all, wherever we are in the world, have a connection to the gloom, because where there is light, there are also increasing shadows.
Therefore, the intention behind the Norwegian Black Metal scene was to make the material as raw and unpleasant for the broad masses as possible, because the rebellion should be reflected not only in the lyrics but in the entire sound image, therefore the break with the conventions of pleasant music.
Aesthetical habits should also be thrown overboard, as well as regular song structures, the best example here is the Verse - Bridge - Chorus principle and instead the listeners are pushed into an atmospheric pull, from which there is no escape and certainly no joy.
What at first glance seems to be pure teenage fear expressed in musical form, has survived its initial birthing, and established itself as a solid genre in the metal community worldwide. Dozens of bands from all regions of the world were inspired by the Norwegian fires and have been openly carrying the spiritual flame of the rebellion ever since.
Fortunately, the wave of shocking crimes such as church burnings, homicide, and other transgressive behaviour has never seen anything like the initial Scandinavian high and it is now focused on music, not scandals.
Meanwhile, there are art exhibitions about Black Metal, such as one by the US filmmaker Harmony Korine, who was deemed an enfant terrible with his script for Kids in the early 90s and admits being enthralled by the dark music, so much that he has dedicated a whole exhibition to it, which is also featured in the film.
A very disturbing exhibition with a bloody live performance is also integrated in the film, but apart from the exhibitions, the genre has become a more sophisticated art form, in which philosophical and existential theses are addressed impressively, for example the performance of the Norwegian band “Satyricon”, which presents brilliant pieces of their discography in the Oslo Opera House with the attendance of a choir.
Meanwhile, Fenriz condemns the violent crimes of Varg Vikernes to the fullest, yet he admits that his musical work in the form of “Burzum” was integral to the sound of true Norwegian Black Metal, it was only a shame that he gazed into the abyss for too long.
Shortly, Until The Light Takes Us also illustrates what happened to Vikernes after his murder of “Mayhem” founder Euronymous: Maximum imprisonment and conversion to a Neo - Nazi. In short, a despicable person whose art exceeds him as a person and a prime example of whether and how art and artists should be separated.
The ubiquitous darkness is not derived from Norwegian Black Metal, yet this music has devoted itself to the dark and ugly aspects of life and acts as a mouthpiece for our inherent darkness. This is why Black Metal will be remembered.
mukken.com – Until the end of the music
If you've made it this far then you are truly driven by the music and ready to explore every possible facet of the musical spectrum. And so you've come to the right place here on mukken.com! Other features related to the topic "Books & Movies" are just waiting to be read and shared, such as the feature film counterpart to this dark documentary, Lords of Chaos. Of course, there are dozens of other categories that our editors take up and we are working feverishly to constantly expand the range. So don't hesitate and immerse yourself in the colorful world of mukken, where they deliver what the musician's heart desires and what they didn't know before that they could desire.
Originally published on February 2, 2023, updated on March 4, 2023
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