(Peter Beste
Maniac of Mayhem, Røros, Norway, 2004
Gelatin Silver, printed 2008; edition of 10
20 x 16 inches [image taken from stevenkashergallery])
You know, sometimes I come across a picture or a music video on the YouTube that just brings back memories. Yesterday I was searching for the Chuck Norris Action Jeans and ended up spending quite some time at PCL Link Dump, which could also be called ‘Time Dump’ (which is a good thing in internet world), by the way, which has a huge collection of artifacts of popular culture, like vintage movie posters, vintage photographs, etc. On it, there is a post on the work by Peter Beste (official website), who spend some time in Norway to photograph members of the Black Metal scene. Here’s a snip from the press release:
In the last two decades a bizarre and violent musical subculture called Black Metal has emerged in Norway. It has its roots in a heady blend of splatter movies, heavy metal music, Satanism, Pagan mythology and adolescent angst. In the early-mid 1990’s, members of this extremist underground committed murder, burned down medieval wooden churches, and desecrated graveyards. What started as juvenile frenzy came to symbolize the start of a war against Christianity, a return to the worship of the ancient Norse gods, and the complete rejection of mainstream society.
Apart from the fact that the pictures a great on a technical and content level, I couldn’t help but smile. Why? Because I remembered my own past black metal self (minus the racism and satanism and killing each other) and because some pictures show a self-irony on the part of the musicians – however, I could also just read this into it. Beste seems to be interested in these specific musical subcultures. According to his website, another photo project of his involved Houston Rap Culture which is also definitely worth checking out. Below you’ll find a video interview with Beste on his work in Norway. If that got you interested, consider grabbing a copy of the highly acclaimed Lords of Chaos book on Black Metal in Norway by Peter Moynihan. It’s on my To-Read list for quite a while now and is one of those books I definitely want to read at some point. (image to the left is Nattefrost of Carpathian Forest, Sandness, 2002, taken from stevenkashergallery)
But enough talk, here’s the video after the jump (it’s in half Norwegian and English, w/ subtitles in Norwegian, but Beste’s statements are in English), which includes live material that is definitely NSFW.
UPDATE: Interesting documentary on Black Metal by Music World can be found here. It’s somewhat sensational and the interviewers are pretty obnoxious, but it still gives you an impression of Gorgoroth’s lead singers life and philosophy.
Filed under: Documentary, Photography , blackmetal, gallery, interview, metal, music, NSFW, Photography, subculture, video
