Endorsement: Until The Light Takes Us

Until the Light Takes Us is a feature-length documentary on the black metal movement in Norway in the early to mid-1990s. For those of you (not) in the dark, black metal rose to notoriety due to a rash of church burnings, murders, and suicides. However, along with this came an explosion of creative and artistic expression that would define an inexplicable rebellion against modern culture and Christianity, as well as a nihilistic exploration of the human condition.

Until the Light Takes Us opens in Pittsburgh at the Melwood Screening Room this Friday, January 29 until February 2. Opening night festivities include a live set by local black metallurgists Manahaga, accompanied by visuals by R. Henry and atmospherics by Forest Dweller. I will be there.

For those skeptical of the intellectual merits of black metal as a cultural phenomenon, the New York Times recently reported on an academic discourse on the genre that happened in Brooklyn. Read and be enlightened. Most interestingly, black metal is discussed as a part of the natural rite of confession. Hm.

After the jump, TRAILER, a black metal-themed image explosion (courtesy of  Peter Beste's grade-A photo essay book True Norweigan Black Metal), and a couple of songs.