Black Metal Satanica

Striving to provide black metal with its own documentary a la Get Thrashed or A Headbanger's Journey, director Mats Lundberg offers Black Metal Satanica, an in-depth profiling of the Scandinavian scene that spawned acts such as Immortal, Burzum and Mayhem. It covers the genre from its earliest incarnation through to the Viking-inspired aesthetics, the church burnings and murders in the '90s, along with looks at second and third-generation bands. Interviews with the aforementioned acts as well as Watain, Mordichrist and more offer insider opinions on the state of black metal. But, because it's such a specific sub-genre of heavy metal with a devout clan of fans who will likely know much of this history already, the 80-minute documentary becomes somewhat redundant. Unless one inadvertently stumbles across Black Metal Satanica, there are few revelations and it's unlikely the average citizen will be intrigued to learn about corpse paint-wearing buffoons draped in leather and sporting cartoonish weaponry. If one embraces Black Metal Satanica as more fodder for an already-undying devotion to the scene, this DVD is essential. Those hoping for fresh insights into the cryptic world of anti-Christian acts and satanic bands would still be best served to stick with a copy of Lords Of Chaos.