Lords Of Chaos

I love mayhem but the lore in this ain't that Accurate but fun to watch

I read the Moynihan book 20 years ago and used to be into heavy metal in the 90s. I even bought the mysteris dom santanis album back then not knowing much about these people. We didn’t have so much information available and internet was still in the infancy stage. I ordered it through the catalog and mail.The film had plenty of truths and not truths as it states. There was no girlfriend, haircut, people were misrepresented, etc. I guarantee these guys had no girlfriends! Overall, it gave an impression of this small scene of maybe 100 people in Oslo who made a big negative impact across the world. These people are all seriously disturbed. Back then, psychology and mental health wasn’t what it is today. It is very clear that “dead” belonged in a mental institute. Many others probably did too. All very violent, negative and destructive people. These guys all came from relatively well-off families who can afford to spend so much time on this nonsense black metal scene. It appears that most grew out of it, but the band Mayhem continues. Some of the people are still involved in this music scene or became neo Nazis. They all have complained about the accuracy of this film. These are not the type of people you would invite into your home.I liked watching the film even though it has plenty of inaccuracies. Nobody should feel any sympathy for these people. Their character and their conduct is as good as their so called music. Norwegian black metal is garbage and there is very little talent there. These guys destroyed old churches and hurt a lot of people and families for what? They don’t even know what they believe in! They think murdering a gay person and their bandmate committing suicide is cool or funny. Rotten people. I’m sorry to say that I wasted some time and money on Mayhem in the past. Knowing the story and reading the book, I recommend it as entertainment and I enjoyed the film. It's even more likable since the fans and band members are all upset about this film :)

Rarely do I see a film about a band I like, mostly because they’re not “iconic” enough to be made into them. But getting to know one of my favorite bands through the lens of film and acting is an experience that transports you into “one of the band”The theatrical elements and little added timelines made the movie fun, it made you know the creator of this film didn’t just want to make a crazy story with a crazy timeline and crazy thing’s happening, he wanted to emulate what a real day would look like. Will always be on my watch list.

But first an advisory:As you're reading reviews for Lords of Chaos, please be aware that any review claiming this film doesn't feature the music of Mayhem is factually wrong, and that the reviewer has likely never viewed the film. Check the IMDB page for the soundtrack if you're still skeptical. One of the concert scenes features roughly half of Freezing Moon, and several other songs from De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas are featured in some capacity (however briefly). Even Deathcrush makes a brief appearance. So get your facts straight people! (Varg Vikernes on his YouTube channel has made clear in no uncertain terms his disdain for this film, and I think it's fairly clear that some of the review bombing happening here is the direct result of Varg's comments. So take that for what it's worth. Is Lords of Chaos the new Citizen Kain? Not by a long shot, but someone bothering to write a review should at least have seen the film, ya know?)And now the review:Your enjoyment of the Lords of Chaos will likely depend on three factors, and I've tried to reflect this in my rating:Historical Accuracy:Are you hoping to see a factually accurate depiction of the events surrounding the Norwegian black metal scene of the 90's? That's not exactly what you're going to get here. The characters presented in Lords of Chaos are pretty much a fictional pastiche of the actual people involved in the scene. Was the historical Euronymous a 'sensitive artistic type yearning to be understood'? Well … all signs point to a resounding 'no', at least if basically every other source is to be believed (including Euronymous in his own words, lol). So that's a bit of a tough pill to swallow if you have a passing familiarity with the history. The events themselves are painted in broad strokes, but they do hit upon the major beats, and I won't lie – it's fun to see these events play out in dramatized form. Bottom line though: this isn't a documentary. If that's what you're after then check out Until the Light Takes Us, or better yet pick up a book. There are several available. Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries is a voluminous accounting of the entire scene from someone who was at ground zero from the very beginning. So maybe start there.Entertainment Value:Now that we have an understanding that Lord of Chaos should not be viewed as a documentary, is it actually entertaining? As a longtime metalhead myself, I found it to be very much so. The number of fictional films that 'get it right' in terms of 'metal music and its fans' is abysmally small, and Lords of Chaos, while not perfect, plays out as an homage to one of the most notorious tales in all of metal. Outside of the 'edgelord theatrics' present in the 90's black metal scene (which, let's be honest, aren't terribly exaggerated here), Lords of Chaos does effectively convey some of the 'metalhead experience'. Belonging to a sub-culture existing outside the mainstream, the hedonism and exhilaration of partying with your metalhead friends, the fantastic rush of taking part in a live show; all of these things are well represented. The more serious elements of the story (Dead's suicide, the murder of Euronymous, etc.) are presented in visceral and unflinching fashion; a respectable decision given the history of framing these events in terms of tabloid sensationalism. At the end of the day though, Lords of Chaos should be viewed for what it is – a product of the entertainment industry intended for mass consumption - and from that perspective it's fairly impressive that it's even as good as it is."The Varg Factor":I mentioned this at the beginning, but I'm going to bump my review up by half a star to counter balance the review bombing by Varg fanboys, some of whom have clearly never watched the film. Varg loves to talk about the events depicted in this film at great length on his YouTube channel. Some of it is quite interesting, although you do need to be willing to swallow Varg's version of events, which invariably paint Varg in a favorable light, whilst nearly every other person and aspect of the scene is depicted unfavorably. Varg also tends to indulge in thinly veiled anti-Semitism and racism, so if you'd prefer to not give him clicks, that's a perfectly reasonable decision. At any rate, he hates nearly every aspect of this film, although I'd be vaguely surprised if he's actually watched it. (To be fair though, I do think the 'characters' of Varg and Euronymous represent the greatest liberties taken in the film as neither of them jive with actual interviews and footage from the time). So take that for what it's worth.Is Lords of Chaos the greatest movie you'll see this year? Not even close. Is it unremarkable garbage? Nah, in fact it's probably one of the better fictionalized accounts of black metal committed to film – not that there's incredibly deep competition in this regard. Are you a bored metalhead looking for a fun way to kill a couple of hours at home? You could do a lot worse than Lords of Chaos.

I'm a huge horror movie and metal music snob so this movie was PERFECT. The story of Mayhem is wild as is, but this movie didn't hold back.The soundtrack was awesome and the whole movie kept the sinister, black metal vibes from start to finish. There aren't many movies that made my stomach churn or feel uncomfortable before but this one did in a couple different scenes.I crave the feelings this movie gives me often and find myself watching it every other month or so.5 Stars for me without a doubt and that's not common for my taste. I highly recommend!