Once Upon a Time in Norway

Another World Entertainment

R2 DVD

Web: http://www.anotherworldent.com/

Years ago I read the book “Lords of Chaos” and became fascinated by Norwegian Black Metal. It seems that during the Eighties young Norwegians inspired by bands like Venom mixed extreme expressions of metal music with ideas of Satanism and nihilism and create a unique cultural phenomenon. The genre became quite notorious in the early Nineties even going as far as setting churches on fire and for various murders. While I greatly enjoyed “Lords of Chaos” I always thought that a film would be the best way to actually hear from those involved and get a different angle from the highly biased media coverage.

Once Upon a Time in Norway is a refreshingly honest look at the rise of Black Metal in Norway. While there may be lots of documentaries on all aspects of heavy and black metal what stands out in my mind about Once Upon a Time in Norway is its “lack of agenda”, it does not work to either denounce or promote Black Metal but simply documents the history and allows many of the participants to speak for themselves. It avoids the sensationalism found in most documentaries on the subject and works to offer an even handed overview of the history of Black Metal not simply as music but as a cultural phenomenon.

The documentary is broken up into categories such as Mayhem, Satan and Politics, Underground, Dead, Euronymous, Helvete, Soldiers, Black Metal Police etc, indeed there are thirteen sections in all plus an epilog. These are useful as they are not simply chapter breaks but are focus points for various key subjects of debate and discussion.

Throughout Once Upon a Time in Norway are interviews with Manheim (ex-Mayhem), Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone), priest Rolf Rasmussen, Tchort (Carpathian Forest), Anders Odden (Cadaver) and various others. The interviews are fascinating, offering a wide diversity of onions and attitudes and talking honestly about everything ranging from power struggles, the media to violence and burning Churches. I was extremely impressed with the range of perspectives offered and the intelligence of the presentation of Upon a Time in Norway, it went way beyond the clichés and offered some fascinating insights into the Black Metal culture without attempting to impose a “once size fits all” model on why things occurred the way they did.

By allowing the people involved to speak for themselves, bluntly and honestly, it offers personal views of what occurred, including anecdotes, memories, opinions and analysis. These interviews are for and against and it is nice to note that they have been minimally edited and do not seem to have been unnecessarily interrupted by lots of questions or comments. This is great first hand journalism.

There are some great extended interviews as well and a rather nice insert booklet, it is professionally presented and very highly recommended.

Also see http://www.myspace.com/timeinnorway