Undoubtedly one of those most pivotal metal texts ever penned, the book Lords of Chaos is reportedly undergoing a film adaptation to be directed by Jonas Åkerlund, famous for his music video work with Madonna and Lady Gaga, among others. Lords of Chaos was released in 1998 and was written by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind. The book centers largely around the church burnings and murder scandals in the Norwegian black metal scene in the early nineties — more specifically, the murder of Mayhem guitarist Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth by the ever-controversial Varg Vikernes of Burzum — and also contains a short history of the subgenre and the fascist satanism associated with certain bands. A revised version was published in 2003.
Fittingly, Åkerlund also had a stint as Bathory’s drummer from 1983-1984. Credibility or not, Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher is reported to have denounced the project, telling Rolling Stone the following:
This book Lords of Chaos is fucking crap and that some stupid Swedes are gonna make a movie out of it is not OK. I will do everything I can to stop this film…. Tell the Swedes and the Hollywood people to go fuck themselves.
(Pics via Metalsucks)
The movie will be produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free, RSA, and VICE, with shooting set to begin in Norway in the fall, with Rory Culkin and Caleb Landry Jones (left and right in the above photo) filling the roles of Euronymous and Varg Vikernes. No news yet as to who will fill what role, but if one were to speculate based on facial features: Culkin = Varg, Jones = Euronymous.
-DW