Face-to-face with the titans of Norwegian Black Metal
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum Photos
Black Metal succeeded where Nobel Peace prizes, fjords, oil exports, and even chess player Magnus Carlsen failed: putting Norway firmly on the map.
Few people know much about this cold, sparsely-populated country, a stone’s throw from the North Pole, but the bloodcurdlingly intense Black Metal scene has produced some of Norway’s best-known cultural exports.
Jonas Nordli from Imaginator
Erik Unsgaard from Sarkom
“I’ve met people in tiny villages from Bangladesh to Venezuela who almost self-ignite with excitement the moment I mention Norway,” explains Norwegian Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen, who was struck by the recognition and impact of Black Metal as he travelled the globe on assignments.
In tribute to his homeland’s most well-known cultural export, Jonas set out to document the scene, getting up close and personal with metal titans like Gorgoroth, Burzum and Darkthrone, as well as up and coming new challengers for the Black Metal crown.
Kaahrl Ødemark from The 3rd Attempt
Jimmy “Ofu Khan” Ivan Bergsten from Red Harvest and Waklevören
“In the early 1990s, Norwegian Black Metal made its shocking entry on to the world stage with church burnings, homicides, stagecraft, with an intensity few had seen before,” Jonas explains. “The growling vocals and intense riffs of metal music made in Norway somehow hit a primal dissonant note all over the planet. I wanted to photograph the music with the same directness and intensity. I took a flash and photographed Norwegian singers singing, head on.”
His photo series Singing Norwegian Singers, commissioned by Leica, does exactly what it says on the tin – putting viewers face to face with the icons of Norway’s Black Metal scene, so close that you can see the demonic redness of the camera flash in their eyes and almost feel the flecks of saliva hitting your face.
Øyvind Rasmussen from Skrømt
Sigurd Dybing from Grand Alchemist
Jonas Bendiksen’s Singing Norwegian Singers goes on display at Leica Gallery Mayfair from 17 – 27 October 2016.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
The party starters fighting to revive Stonehenge’s Solstice Free Festival
Free the Stones! delves into the vibrant community that reignites Stonehenge’s Solstice Free Festival, a celebration suppressed for nearly four decades.
Written by: Laura Witucka
Hypnotic Scenes of 90s London Nightlife
Legendary photographer Eddie Otchere looks back at this epic chapter of the capital’s story in new photobook ‘Metalheadz, Blue Note London 1994–1996’
Written by: Miss Rosen
The White Pube: “Artists are skint, knackered and sharing the same 20 quid”
We caught up with the two art rebels to chat about their journey, playing the game that they hate, and why anarchism might be the solution to all of art’s (and the wider world’s) problems.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The Chinese youth movement ditching big cities for the coast
In ’Fissure of a Sweetdream’ photographer Jialin Yan documents the growing number of Chinese young people turning their backs on careerist grind in favour of a slower pace of life on Hainan Island.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The LGBT Travellers fundraising for survival
This Christmas, Traveller Pride are raising money to continue supporting LGBT Travellers (used inclusively) across the country through the festive season and on into next year, here’s how you can support them.
Written by: Percy Henderson
The fight to save Bristol’s radical heart
As the city’s Turbo Island comes under threat activists and community members are rallying round to try and stop the tide of gentrification.
Written by: Ruby Conway