Kneel Before Gaahl: Looking Into the World of Norwegian Black Metal
I really like the stories behind Norwegian black metal. Probably more than I actually like the music it produces. I just have to admire people that are so dedicated and passionate about the idea that their music represents that they fully immerse their lives in to it. There’s Mayhem, whose lead singer Per Yngve Ohlin aka Dead, used to smell a dead crow he kept in a jar before each show so that he could “sing with the smell of death in his nostrils” and would regularly cut himself with knives and bottles on stage. When he killed himself via wrist slitting and shotgun to the head, his band member took some pictures and made necklaces out of the skull fragments which were given to “truly worthy fans”. To top it off, one of the pictures was stolen and made in to the cover of the bootleg album Dawn Of The Black Hearts. To this day many people say that the Norwegian black metal scene realized it’s true potential when Dead died. That kind of story just blows me away.
Then there is the infamous band Gorgoroth, who in 2004 created a bit of controversy in Krakow when they displayed sheep heads on stakes, a bloodbath of 80 liters of sheep’s blood, satanic symbols, and four naked crucified models on stage (For anyone interested, the DVD of that concert is available on Amazon). And in 2006-2007 lead singer Gaahl spent a 19 month sentence in prison for brutally assaulting and torturing a man in 2002. When he was released, VBS.tv asked him to be the focus of a five-part series titled True Norwegian Black Metal.
So with that, I present you with the entire series. It’s one of the more interesting music documentaries I’ve seen and it’s quite remarkable to get an insight in the business and ideology behind Norwegian black metal.
True Norwegian Black Metal – Full Series (31:30)
Tags: Documentary, feature, Gorgoroth, Mayhem, Metal, Norwegian Black Metal, other
Wow..I’ve never heard music from this band due to that I hear Melodic Death Metal but I actually feel bad for him
I bet he was the best.
I have so many questions Lol Dx
Er..Is that his brain under his head..?
Why’d he kill himself?
And um..Idk..but he looks like he was really suffering to do this to himself..-sigh- Really hard to see though.I heard another singer died in a pentagram with candles.