‘Lords Of Chaos’ Movie: The Truth And Lies About The Norwegian Black Metal Band Mayhem

Rory Culkin is typically charismatic as the leader of the True Norwegian Black Metal scene. He formed the groundbreaking band Mayhem, positioning himself as a ghoulish Satanist in a cloak and a quasi-mob boss lording over leathered longhairs in Venom T-shirts. Euronymous took credit for masterminding scenesters’ misdeeds, which rubbed some black metal cats the wrong way. But he wrote the death-by-a-thousand-icicles guitar riffs that inspired countless other bands to raid Mayhem’s crypt of musical ideas.

Alive or dead? He’s dead, stabbed multiple times by rival Varg Vikernes in 1993. He was 25.

Truth: Euronymous indeed took snapshots of Mayhem singer Dead’s dead body, and exploited the tragedy for the band’s publicity. The photo is on the cover of a Mayhem bootleg. Google it. Actually, don’t.

Lies: The film casts Sky Ferreira as Euronymous’ groupie girlfriend and catalyst for personal change. Did she exist? Women are documented almost nowhere in the total sausage fest of TNBM lore.

The most tragic figure in the TNBM saga is Dead, played by Jack Kilmer, son of Val. Dead moved from Sweden to front Mayhem; he sang like a tortured goblin; he was perfect. Bullied as a youngster and obsessed with death, Dead was deeply troubled. He was the first to popularize “corpsepaint,” makeup inspired by KISS and King Diamond, but smeared and smudged so Dead looked more, you know, dead.

Alive or dead? In 1991, Dead slashed his own wrists and throat, then finished the job with a shotgun. He was 22.

Truth: Yes, his suicide note included the grim phrase, “excuse the blood.” Yes, he mailed Euronymous a demo tape with a crucified mouse in the envelope. Yes, he buried his stage clothes in the woods so they reeked of decay. Yes, he kept a dead animal in a bag and huffed away before Mayhem concerts. Yes, he cut himself on stage. This is all true according to multiple accounts.

Lies: The movie hews tightly to the truth, because in Dead’s case, it’s certainly stranger than fiction.

Varg is the villain of the TNBM saga. He’s a racist, nationalist anti-Semite convicted of burning churches and murdering Euronymous. You can probably add narcissist, sociopath and liar to that list as well — to this day, he claims self-defense even though he stabbed Euronymous 23 times, twice in the head. He spent 15 years in prison. Musically, Varg is quite influential; his one-man “band” Burzum produced black metal so good, metalheads twist themselves in knots separating the art from the artist. It no doubt grinds Varg’s lily-white behind that Jewish actor Emory Cohen plays him in the movie. Sweet, sweet irony.

Alive or dead? Alive. Varg currently lives in rural France and has an internet presence that only a Proud Boy could love.

Truth: The movie paints him as a dorkish type who eventually turns malevolent. He usurps Euronymous by following through with their extreme “black metal” ideology. Varg truly believed in it. Euronymous didn’t.

Lies: Varg will say it’s all lies, but who’s going to believe him?

Played by Wilson Gonzalez, Blackthorn isn’t even named in the credits — he’s simply “Varg’s driver,” and portrayed as Varg’s doofus lackey. Ouch.

Alive or dead? Alive. He was imprisoned for being an accomplice to murder, having accompanied Varg to Euronymous’ apartment on that fateful night.

Truth: In the Lords of Chaos book, Blackthorn says he has a history of “psychiatric problems” and that Varg is “very authoritarian” — which may explain why the movie portrays him as easy to push around.

Lies: In Blackthorn’s case, it’s less lies, and more exclusion. The film doesn’t mention that he was Mayhem’s second guitarist, and many credit him as Euronymous’ cohort in creating some of TNBM’s signature sounds. Blackthorn’s own musical project, Thorns, goes unmentioned, despite releasing some demo tapes that were ugly and hissy, and therefore crucial to the movement.

Valter Skarsgard, son of Stellan, plays Faust, a black metal drummer who’s never seen playing drums. Instead, he’s a Euronymous disciple who watches gruesome horror movies, wonders what it would be like to stab someone, and then does exactly that. In 1992, Faust murdered Magne Andreassen in a forest outside Lillehammer after the older gay man made a pass at him.

Alive or dead? Alive. Nine years served.

Truth:  Faust told Euronymous, Varg and a few others about his misdeeds, and walked free for a year. But police nabbed him after Varg bragged to the press about someone in the scene having perpetrated murder. Faust eventually confessed.

Lies: Although Faust is rightly defined by his callous actions, watching the movie, you’d be hard-pressed to know he drummed for Emperor, an internationally popular TNBM band, here curiously ignored. Apparently, Emperor guitarist Thomas “Samoth” Haugen, who did time for being one of Varg’s church-burning buddies, ended up on the cutting room floor.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on twitter: @johnserba.  

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