Satan rir media
Encyclopedia
Satan rir media is a 1998 Norwegian documentary by Torstein Grude. The film covers the controversy that surrounded black metal
musician Varg Vikernes
in the early 1990s, who not only has been tied to a series of church arsons in Norway, but received widespread media attention for the murder of Mayhem
band member Øystein Aarseth.
(BT), a major Norwegian newspaper, with a story they had done with Vikernes. This story mentioned the torching of churches and a murder which attracted the interest of crime journalist Finn Bjørn Tønder. He persuaded the two to show him the man and eventually met Vikernes, describing him in the documentary as the "weirdest person I think I have ever met in my life". Tønder conducted an interview with Vikernes and promised him full anonymity. According to Vikernes the journalist claimed he needed a photo of Vikernes in order to prove to his colleagues that the interview was real, but that this photo would never be used in the newspaper. The night before the article was published in the newspaper, Vikernes was arrested.
Tønder then went to see if he could confirm the facts independently with hospital and law enforcement. While making several phone calls, Tønder insists he protected the anonymity of his source. However, Vikernes was convinced that Tønder gave information to the police and misrepresented his words in the published article. In the film Svein Erik Krogvold, the main police investigator in the case, said that police got the name directly from Tønder and thus could initiate an arrest of Vikernes. Vikernes was arrested the day the article was printed.
The documentary also shows the development of the Norwegian black metal scene, the inspiration for it, prevailing thoughts and attitudes and ultimately how the Norwegian media contributed to making the scene known worldwide by hyping the Satanist angle and thus inspiring copycat
arson
s.
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
musician Varg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes is a Norwegian black metal musician, writer, philosopher, religious and political activist, arsonist and convicted murderer.Vikernes was born near Bergen, Norway. In 1991, he founded the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became popular within the early Norwegian black metal...
in the early 1990s, who not only has been tied to a series of church arsons in Norway, but received widespread media attention for the murder of Mayhem
Mayhem (band)
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway and regarded as one of the pioneers of the influential Norwegian black metal scene...
band member Øystein Aarseth.
Summary
According to Satan rir media, two (unnamed) trainee journalists had approached the Bergens TidendeBergens Tidende
Bergens Tidende is Norway's fourth largest newspaper and largest newspaper outside Oslo, with a circulation of about 87,000 copies . Founded in 1868, it is a Norwegian-language newspaper published daily in Bergen. It reaches approximately 260,000 readers every day , mainly in the counties of...
(BT), a major Norwegian newspaper, with a story they had done with Vikernes. This story mentioned the torching of churches and a murder which attracted the interest of crime journalist Finn Bjørn Tønder. He persuaded the two to show him the man and eventually met Vikernes, describing him in the documentary as the "weirdest person I think I have ever met in my life". Tønder conducted an interview with Vikernes and promised him full anonymity. According to Vikernes the journalist claimed he needed a photo of Vikernes in order to prove to his colleagues that the interview was real, but that this photo would never be used in the newspaper. The night before the article was published in the newspaper, Vikernes was arrested.
Tønder then went to see if he could confirm the facts independently with hospital and law enforcement. While making several phone calls, Tønder insists he protected the anonymity of his source. However, Vikernes was convinced that Tønder gave information to the police and misrepresented his words in the published article. In the film Svein Erik Krogvold, the main police investigator in the case, said that police got the name directly from Tønder and thus could initiate an arrest of Vikernes. Vikernes was arrested the day the article was printed.
The documentary also shows the development of the Norwegian black metal scene, the inspiration for it, prevailing thoughts and attitudes and ultimately how the Norwegian media contributed to making the scene known worldwide by hyping the Satanist angle and thus inspiring copycat
Copycat crimes
A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modelled or inspired by a previous crime that has been reported in the media or described in fiction.-Copycat effect:...
arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
s.
External links
- Torstein Grude page at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Entry for the Torstein Grude film Lykkejegerne on the webpage of the Nordische Filmtage LübeckNordische FilmtageThe Lübeck Nordic Film Days is a film festival for movies from the Nordic and Baltic countries held annually in Lübeck, Germany, since 1956 on the first weekend in November...
(also mentioning the film Satan rides the Press.)