Hidden Gem: 'Lord of Chaos' Film Review

Photo by Nemesia Production on Unsplash

Lord of Chaos, a 2018 movie directed by Jonas Åkerlund, has intrigued me ever since it was released.

This movie was a modification of the 1998 book of the same title and it’s pretty much a historical fiction of the very early 1990s Norwegian black metal. 

The story is narrated by Øystein Aarseth, mostly known as ‘Euronymous’, the young guitarist and leader of the band Mayhem.

This movie tells us the story of the band who are Norway’s most prominent black metal band, and it focuses on their most troubled period.

It can be gross, mostly revolving around devil worship, suicide, extreme-right terrorism and fascism, murder and acts of ritual arson.  From Pelle’s (Mayhem’s ex-singer) suicide scene, Varg Vikernes (Burzum band-member) burning Scandinavian churches down, and Bård Faust (the band Emperor’s ex-drummer) killing some random guy on the street, the movie is filled with violence.

During the movie we meet side characters like Necrobutcher, Hellhammer, Faust, Fenriz and Varg Vikernes, who were all essential components for the growth of this music genre.

There was a lot of effort put in the smallest of details, however it’s not totally accurate. It only makes sense that one of the most, if not the strangest, stories in metal history has come back to life as one of the most unusual movies you’ll ever see.

There is a lack of metal-focused biographies out there in the film world, with several bands deserving one, and ‘Lord of Chaos’ is a clear example of this. 

But why isn’t this reliable? 

The film opens with: “Based on truth and lies”, so there is on obvious degree of unreliable narration and fact alterations.

Varg Vikernes and Jørn Stubberud (Necrobutcher and Mayhem’s bassist) also ended up calling the film out and accusing them of “making up” scenes and conversations that never happened.

This movie is well made and impressive when it comes to the location, cinematography and the set design. It’s believable enough that the film almost has a documentary-like feel to it at times.

It’s definitely not for the faint hearted.

★★★★☆