Review of Until the Light Takes Us (2008) by Melvin W — 22 Jul 2011

"Music. Arson. Murder. Art. Black Metal.".

If you think metal bands in America are extreme wait until you see and listen to the people behind the Black Metal scene in Norway. In America we have Slayer, a band who sings lyrics like, "God Hates Us All." In Norway they have Banda like Mayhem, who take a picture of their bandmates dead body after suicide and put it on an album cover. .

This documentary is really about a few members of the Black Metal scene and how they took their extreme views to new heights with the burning of churches. Now if your a fan of metal, like myself, you've already heard of these church burning and the bands involved. Like their music, these bands go way to far just to be extreme. I think I can speak for most in saying that the Black Metal music is pretty horrible. But that's not what this documentary is about. All in all it's about the extremes some of these musicians went to.

For such a fascinating subject as this is, you would expect a entertaining and equally fascinating documentary. Until The Light Takes Us is anything but fascinating and entertaining. It's actually the complete opposite; it's boring. These filmmakers took a subject that you couldn't possibly believe could be boring and they did it. They didn't dive in deep enough. It didn't seem like they wanted to question these people for what they are, complete freaks. It's almost like the filmmakers are afraid of them. They could have taken a chance and really tried to get into the minds and psyche of these musicians, but they didn't. This documentary is really just a blown opportunity. Not worth the watch at all. Other documentaries have talked about it in less detail and with less time and got more out of it then this. Look at Sam Dunn's metal documentary for a better look at the Black Metal scene then this.