Satan Rides The Media: A Varg Vikernes Documentary
Submitted by
Chris DeLine
on May 22, 2007 – 10:00 am2 Comments
This 1998 documentary does little to expand on what is now commonly known to black metal fans familiar with Varg Vikernes, Øystein Aarseth and the Norwegian church burnings of the early to mid 1990s however it does provide a lot of footage that adds weight to the story. Along those lines, the film takes time to elaborate on why black metal truly has little to do with Satanism and why the genre is far from the quasi-religion that came to a head in the 1960s. I also implore you to go back and take a look at the documentary that Peter Beste did for VBS as it offers a different side to the music, one that isn’t often explored.
previously – VBS: True Norwegian Black Metal
The video is thin, hollow, and completely devoid of ANY of the substance behind the spectacle. It’s a media orgy of self promotion and the commodification of fear. Read the book Lords of Chaos to get a glimpse of at least some of the real reasons and meaning behind what’s going on here. The book is pretty good. The video is a joke by comparison. Instead, why not watch a cheap Vincent Price movie to scare yourself. Well, I guess the video isn’t entirely worthless: it can always serve as a bad example of media coverage – the whores that they are. Kind of like this site’s decision to run this subject.
You’re suggesting that I’m a ‘media whore’ because I posted the documentary? I believe that the footage explains a side that isn’t seen in retrospect by those who are either beginning to learn about the subject or fans who weren’t alive at the time to experience it first hand (obviously neither of these statements explain you). I’ve read Lords of Chaos and it’s a phenomenally rich book, loaded with well researched history and information. That being said, to claim a visual account of something is entirely different than what the book offers, and that was the purpose of posting the documentary.
Plus, there are dozens of better excuses for calling me a media whore.