Statistically, from 1980 to 2010, Norway was known for the aurora borealis and being the home of lapland. Well thats my own evaluation at least. After Anders Breivik murderous rampage in 2011, that became the its main identifying factor. Now Jonas Åkerlund LORD OF CHAOS sets out to evaluate the growth and suicidal decent there after, of 1990s Norwegian black metal scene. The bands, the blood letting, the bleak tragedy and burning of local churches. One upmanship, satan and his cohorts style…

A young guitarist called Euronymous (Rory Culkin) forms a black metal band called Mayhem. They are new, fresh and become the first black metal band in Norway. When one band member leaves, he is replaced by new drummer Hellhammer (Anthony De La Torre) and they recruit a new vocalist called Dead (Jack Kilmer). When things become darker and Dead becomes suicidal, things descend into a tit for tat war between bands…

LORD OF CHAOS might have set out to reveal the descent of people, stuck in a specific and isolated group, to outdo each other. Parallels can be felt with the rise of social media and the one upmanship of the danger narrative. From climbing buildings to falling off in a single misstep. What Jonas Åkerlund film attempts to do, being more failure than success in the whole, is to extract the humans behind this. What drives them. What defines them and in the end, what causes them to unravel. It works when it allows the scenes to breathe. Culkin can act. He can imbibe a feeling and with Kilmer, they make it both comical, horrific and unsettling. A great skill. When the focus moves to set ups or scenes pivoting narrative, it becomes clunky and veers out of control. Its failure here, makes the whole film become a serious of gruesome deaths and pointless crimes. Though maybe that was what they actually were in the end…

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New interview with writer-director Jonas Åkerlund
• New interviews with actors Sam Coleman, Jason Arnopp and Arion Csihar
• On-stage introduction to the film by Thurston Moore
• Outtakes
• Image galleries
• Original trailer & teasers
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Metal Hammer’s Jonathan Selzer