It came as a pleasant surprise to me that the City of Tea Tree Gully Library holds this DVD in its collection.

A somewhat underground form of music: ‘Black Metal’ is a style with heavy, gritty and even dirty sounding riffs, often with fast drumming that incorporates blast or thrash beats.
While there are a wide variety of themes attached to different Black Metal bands, the main focus of the genre is atmosphere: creating music that evokes a certain feeling.

Until the light takes us features Frost (Satyricon), Fenriz (Darkthrone) and the infamous Varg Vikernes (Burzum), a Black Metal musician who was released from prison in 2009 after serving almost 16 years. He was convicted of murdering fellow musician Øystein Aarseth (Mayhem) in 1993.

The main body of the DVD is interviews and explanations about the music, using still photography and old footage. It goes through the grim early days of the Norwegian scene, with emphasis on the murders and church burnings, and helps explain how the mistakes of its pioneers have (for better or worse) shaped the present day scene.

I personally listen to Black Metal for the atmosphere, rather than the often anti-christian or satanic themes, and contrary to the image that is often thrust into the public’s view, there are many great Black Metal bands that have no such controversial viewpoints. (Immortal) is one such example, a Black Metal band whose lyrics centre around ‘Ravendark’, a mythical king of cold and ice.

Viewer Warning – R18+ DVD containing strong themes that may distress some viewers.