Lords of Chaos

Lords of Chaos (2018) is a biographical horror drama directed by Jonas Åkerlund and co-written with Dennis Magnusson, inspired by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind’s 1998 book about the Norwegian black metal scene. Rory Culkin stars as Øystein Aarseth, better known as Euronymous, the guitarist and co-founder of Mayhem, whose ambitions to establish an extreme underground music scene become entangled with increasingly destructive events. Jack Kilmer portrays Swedish vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin, known as Dead, while Emory Cohen plays Varg Vikernes, the musician behind Burzum who eventually murders Euronymous. Anthony De La Torre appears as Mayhem drummer Hellhammer, Jonathan Barnwell as bassist Necrobutcher, and Valter Skarsgård as Emperor drummer Faust. The film follows the emergence of Norwegian black metal from the late 1980s to 1993, focusing on the relationships, rivalries, church burnings and murders associated with the scene. Åkerlund, who briefly played drums in the Swedish band Bathory during the 1980s, approached the story as a combination of documented events and dramatic fiction rather than a strictly historical reconstruction. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018, the film attracted considerable controversy over its portrayal of real musicians and events.

Lords of Chaos was filmed primarily in Budapest, Hungary, with additional location filming in Oslo, Norway, in November 2016. Although the story takes place almost entirely in Norway, Budapest became the principal production base because of the considerably lower costs of filming there. Åkerlund originally wanted to shoot the entire film in Norway but eventually decided to recreate much of late-1980s and early-1990s Oslo using Hungarian streets, buildings and studio interiors. Production designer Emma Fairley worked with the director to reconstruct the environments associated with the original black metal scene, including the Helvete record shop, Mayhem’s rehearsal house and the venues where the band performed. However, the Norwegian filming also included several important locations directly connected to the story, including Gol Stave Church, Holmenkollen Chapel and the building that once housed Helvete. Other Oslo locations were selected for their appearance rather than their historical associations.

One of the earliest scenes was filmed at Kragstøtten, a historic viewpoint beside Voksenkollveien in the wooded hills above Oslo. Approximately six minutes into the film, Euronymous, Necrobutcher and Hellhammer are travelling by car when they examine a package sent by the Swedish vocalist Dead, who hopes to join Mayhem. Along with a letter and a cassette containing music by his previous band Morbid, the package contains a dead mouse attached to a small wooden cross. The musicians react to the unusual gift before stopping at a roadside viewpoint overlooking the city and Oslofjord. They remain inside the car and play the cassette, listening with increasing enthusiasm to the voice of their prospective new singer.

The scene makes extensive use of the actual parking area at Kragstøtten, where another car is already parked and a family is enjoying the view. The contrast between the peaceful surroundings and the behaviour of the musicians provides a moment of dark humour, particularly when they shout insults towards the family before driving away. The bronze statue of Hans Hagerup Krag is briefly visible beside the road, confirming the location. Krag was a Norwegian engineer and Director of Public Roads who helped develop access to the hills surrounding Holmenkollen during the late nineteenth century. The monument, created by sculptor Gustav Lærum and unveiled in 1909, depicts Krag standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking the landscape. Its appearance makes this one of the film’s more easily identifiable Oslo locations, although the scene itself has no direct connection to the actual history of the monument.

Another central location in the story is the house where the members of Mayhem lived and rehearsed near Kråkstad, south of Oslo. The secluded property became infamous after Dead died by suicide there on 8 April 1991. In the film, the house provides the setting for rehearsals, photographs and increasingly disturbing behaviour as the musicians develop their identity. The production recreated details of the original building using historical photographs and accounts from people familiar with the band. Jack Kilmer later described the difficult conditions during the filming of the suicide sequence, which involved spending several hours lying in artificial blood in a cold, unpleasant environment. He had also spoken with Dead’s brother Anders Ohlin while preparing for the role and was given access to personal belongings and original clothing. Some garments were considered too fragile to use and had to be reproduced. Although the actual house was an important historical reference, the available documentation does not establish that the sequence was filmed at the original property.

Helvete, the record shop established by Euronymous at Schweigaards gate 56 in Oslo’s Gamlebyen district in 1991, is another important setting. The shop became a meeting place for musicians associated with Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor, Thorns and the emerging Norwegian black metal scene. Euronymous also operated Deathlike Silence Productions from the premises. Its basement became particularly recognisable through photographs showing musicians standing beside the large Black Metal graffiti painted on one of the concrete walls. After Helvete closed in 1993, the building passed through several different uses. In 2013, Neseblod Records moved into a neighbouring ground-floor unit and gained access to the historic basement.

Although the film includes numerous scenes set inside and outside Helvete, the production generally used a separate location that had been decorated to resemble the original record shop. Åkerlund studied historical photographs to recreate the shop’s appearance, including its records, posters, instruments and occult decorations. Rory Culkin also visited the surviving basement in Oslo during production, where he saw the Black Metal graffiti and some of the equipment associated with Euronymous. The shop interiors used in the film were reconstructed separately, allowing the filmmakers to reproduce the crowded atmosphere of the original premises without depending entirely on the surviving building.

The real Helvete building nevertheless makes a brief appearance in Lords of Chaos, although not in the way viewers might expect. Approximately 48 minutes into the film, Euronymous is seen walking along Schweigaards gate, passing the present-day Neseblod Records storefront and the neighbouring business that occupied Helvete’s original street-level entrance. At the time of filming, the neighbouring premises were occupied by a business called Det daglige brød. The building is not identified as Helvete, and the scene does not involve the characters entering the shop. Instead, the historic address appears as an ordinary Oslo street location. This is particularly unusual because the actual building associated with Euronymous is visible while the scenes portraying his record shop were filmed elsewhere. No footage of the surviving Helvete basement appears in this particular street sequence.

Several of the film’s musical performances were recreated in Budapest, including Mayhem’s early concerts featuring Dead. One of the principal historical references was the band’s performance at Folkets Hus in Jessheim on 3 February 1990, one of the few documented Mayhem concerts from this period. The filmmakers studied surviving photographs and recordings to reproduce the band’s stage appearance, including corpse paint, leather clothing, instruments and disturbing stage decorations. Members of the Hungarian black metal band Bornholm helped the actors prepare their performances, teaching them how to handle their instruments convincingly. Folkets Hus in Jessheim was therefore an important reference for the production, but the concert itself was reconstructed in Hungary rather than filmed at the original venue.

The recreated Mayhem performance also led to an unusual collaboration with Metallica. During the Budapest filming, Åkerlund was approached about directing a music video for “ManUNkind”, from Metallica’s album Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016). Instead of creating an unrelated production, he used the actors, costumes and concert setting already prepared for Lords of Chaos. The cast portraying Mayhem performed the Metallica song while dressed as the Norwegian musicians, creating a video that resembles an early black metal concert despite featuring music by a very different band. Released in November 2016, the video appeared almost two years before the film premiered and remains an unusual example of a feature film’s reconstructed historical setting being used for a separate music video.

One of the most significant Norwegian filming locations is Gol Stave Church, situated at Norsk Folkemuseum on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo. The medieval wooden church was originally constructed around 1200 in the village of Gol in Hallingdal and moved to Oslo during the 1880s. Its present appearance is partly the result of a nineteenth-century reconstruction, with steep overlapping roofs, carved dragon heads and an elaborate wooden entrance. In Lords of Chaos, the church represents Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen, which was destroyed by arson on 6 June 1992. Although the two churches share architectural features, they are separate historic buildings, and the film uses the preserved Gol church as a substitute for the original Fantoft church.

The Gol Stave Church sequence appears approximately 43 minutes into the film. Varg Vikernes, played by Emory Cohen, walks along the gravel path towards the church carrying a rabbit or hare. He places the animal and his backpack outside the entrance before removing a crowbar and forcing his way inside. The camera repeatedly shows the actual building, including its distinctive entrance and ornamental details. When Vikernes emerges, smoke begins drifting through the doorway and light can be seen inside the church. He walks away as the camera returns to a wider view of the building, now surrounded by smoke. All of these shots use the real Gol Stave Church and its surrounding grounds. The scene contains no interior footage, and the preserved medieval building is never shown physically burning. The impression of a fire beginning inside is created through smoke and lighting effects.

This distinction is particularly important because the film’s actual church-destruction scenes were produced using large artificial structures in Hungary. Rather than risking damage to historic Norwegian buildings, Åkerlund combined footage of real churches with separately filmed interiors and destructive fire sequences. The use of Gol Stave Church provides an authentic Norwegian architectural setting for the fictionalised reconstruction of the Fantoft arson, while the more spectacular images of burning churches were created elsewhere. The real Gol church remains preserved at Norsk Folkemuseum, while the original Fantoft Stave Church was destroyed and subsequently replaced by a reconstruction in Bergen.

Holmenkollen Chapel is another genuine Oslo location used extensively during the church-burning sequences. The wooden chapel stands on a wooded hillside at Holmenkollveien 142, close to the famous Holmenkollen Ski Jump. The original building was designed by architect Holger Sinding-Larsen and completed in 1903, drawing inspiration from traditional Norwegian stave churches. It was destroyed by arson on 23 August 1992, an attack for which Varg Vikernes and Bård Eithun were later convicted. The chapel was subsequently reconstructed using the original architectural drawings and reopened in 1996. It was therefore the rebuilt chapel, rather than the building destroyed in 1992, that appeared in Lords of Chaos.

The sequence takes place approximately one hour into the film, following a conversation in which Faust admits to having murdered a man in Lillehammer. In the film’s dramatisation, Vikernes suggests celebrating by setting fire to a church, and Euronymous and Faust accompany him. The three men are seen approaching the actual Holmenkollen Chapel along a sloping path through the surrounding woodland. The building’s dark timber exterior, steep roofs and distinctive tower are clearly visible. Instead of entering through the main doorway at the top of the broad stone staircase, they approach a smaller side entrance and force their way inside.

The interior scenes depicting the men preparing and starting the fire were staged separately, using controlled sets for the destructive effects. The film subsequently returns to the real Holmenkollen Chapel as the three men escape through the same side entrance. Smoke and a glow from the windows create the appearance of a fire developing inside the building. Rather than running directly away, the characters move towards the front, climb the accessible ramp and then descend the broad stone steps beneath the main entrance. These movements show several distinctive features of the actual chapel, including the entrance arrangements and surrounding hillside.

The sequence then cuts to a wider shot from behind the three men as they stop and look back at the burning church. Although the building is intended to be the same, the landscape is noticeably different. The uneven rocky hillside surrounding the real Holmenkollen Chapel is replaced by comparatively flat ground, with longer grass and a more open arrangement of trees. This final view was filmed at a separate location, using a purpose-built structure that could be set alight. The sequence therefore combines footage from the actual reconstructed chapel in Oslo with staged interiors and a burning church façade filmed elsewhere. The real Holmenkollen Chapel was not damaged during production. The participation of Euronymous in the arson is also part of the film’s dramatisation rather than an independently established account of the historical incident.

The elaborate church-burning sequences were among the most technically demanding parts of the production. Åkerlund preferred practical fire effects to entirely computer-generated flames and commissioned large structures that could be burned under controlled conditions. One of the churches had originally been constructed for another film and was purchased, stored and modified for Lords of Chaos. Another was essentially a large freestanding façade rather than a complete building. Although sometimes described as miniatures, the constructions were enormous, with Åkerlund estimating that one stood approximately twenty metres high. Some of the materials used in their construction came from discarded sets associated with Blade Runner 2049 (2017), which was also being filmed in Budapest. The resulting structures were deliberately destroyed while cameras captured the flames and collapsing wood.

Budapest supplied many additional locations for scenes supposedly taking place in Norway. Streets, residential buildings and interiors were selected for their ability to resemble late-1980s and early-1990s Oslo. The production replaced signs, introduced period vehicles and concealed modern architectural features wherever possible. Some recognisable Hungarian buildings nevertheless appear in the film, including Budapest’s Nyugati railway station. Åkerlund acknowledged that recreating Oslo in another country required considerable work, particularly because the original streets had to reflect a period more than twenty years before filming. The finished film therefore contains a mixture of actual Norwegian settings, Hungarian substitutes and specially constructed interiors.

Another significant Norwegian location was Tøyengata in eastern Oslo, where filming took place on 18 November 2016. The production attracted attention from the Norwegian press because the crew was working close to the apartment building where Euronymous had been murdered by Varg Vikernes on 10 August 1993. Dagbladet photographed Emory Cohen in costume as Vikernes while he entered a car, with Åkerlund and other crew members working nearby. The street footage provided the production with an authentic Oslo setting connected to the final part of the story. The actual apartment building and its stairwell were also visited by members of the production, including Åkerlund and Culkin, who later described the disturbing experience of standing where the murder had taken place.

The murder sequence itself was recreated using carefully prepared interiors and practical effects. The production reconstructed details of Euronymous’ apartment, including records, demo cassettes, music equipment and other objects associated with his life. The violent confrontation between Euronymous and Vikernes required prosthetic make-up, artificial blood and precisely choreographed action. Åkerlund explained that many of the film’s effects relied on traditional techniques, including rubber prosthetics and concealed pumps, rather than replacing the violence entirely with digital imagery. By combining the reconstructed interior with the genuine Oslo surroundings, the filmmakers connected the fictionalised confrontation to the historical location without filming every part of the sequence inside the original building.

The production also recreated several well-known photographs associated with the early black metal scene. Historical pictures, band merchandise, instruments, clothing and police records were studied to establish the appearance of the musicians and their surroundings. Åkerlund placed considerable importance on details such as shirts, footwear, hairstyles and the arrangement of objects in rooms, even while acknowledging that the film’s dialogue and relationships were dramatised. Actors also met or received information from people connected to the original scene. The reconstruction of the Kerrang! magazine offices in Budapest provided another unusual connection to the historical record, when British journalist Jason Arnopp was invited to portray himself and recreate part of a telephone interview he had conducted with Euronymous in 1993.

Lords of Chaos was released internationally during 2018 and 2019, receiving both critical attention and strong criticism from musicians and others associated with the original Norwegian black metal scene. Åkerlund maintained that he was presenting his own interpretation of the events rather than producing a documentary. The film’s locations reflect that approach. Kragstøtten, Gol Stave Church, Holmenkollen Chapel, Schweigaards gate and Tøyengata provide recognisable Oslo settings, while Budapest supplies the reconstructed record shop, concert venues, domestic interiors and large-scale destructive effects. Some of the real locations represent the places where historical events occurred, while others stand in for entirely different sites. This mixture of authentic Norwegian streets and buildings, carefully recreated interiors and elaborate practical effects is central to the film’s attempt to reconstruct the atmosphere of the early Norwegian black metal scene.

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