Lords of Chaos

In the 90s, Norwegian Black Metal emerged into the limelight through a combination of highly antisocial behaviour, earsplittingly loud music, intense male introspection, a little bit of Nordic mythology and a little bit of blatant self-exploitation. 25 years later these events form the basis of the biopic “Lords of Chaos”, with Kieran Culkin playing one of the founders of the movement in a tale full of suicide, murder, church burning, self-indulgence, Nazis and bad taste.

This is almost the “24 Hour Party People” of Black Metal, taking the piss out of the performers more than celebrating their artform – although “24 Hour Party People” still had a love for the art that came out of the mayhem that “Lords of Chaos” doesn’t – it’s a bit too eager to write these guys off as a bunch of overindulged idiots, and commercially it probably falls awkwardly between two stools – those who like the music will be annoyed at how much it’s being mocked, while those who don’t won’t be interested in the topic. But for those who are interested in an irreverent take on the subject this has a sarcastic verve and energy that’s quite enjoyable.