Murder Music: A History of Black Metal (2007)

Murder Music: A History of Black Metal is a heavy metal music documentary aired on British pay-per-view channel Rockworld TV. Murder Music centers around the controversial black metal subgenre. It was written by renowned metal journalist Malcolm Dome and hosted by Rockworld TV's and Contraband Candy's René Ackermann, who was also the documentary's associate producer.

The main themes of Murder Music are: the musical origins of black metal, from Birmingham, UK heavy metal group Black Sabbath to Newcastle extreme metal pioneers Venom; the anti-Christian sentiment of its practitioners; the controversies surrounding the criminal acts (arson and murder) of the early Norwegian scene; and the paradox of a Christian form of black metal, represented by Scandinavian band Frosthardr.

Musicians from some key contemporary bands in the scene are interviewed, such as Satyricon, Immortal, Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth. Some non-musicians are interviewed as well, including Terrorizer magazine editor Jonathan Selzer and Didrik Søderlind, co-author of the Lords of Chaos book.

Synopsis

The documentary links the origins of black metal to the birth of heavy metal itself with the formation of Black Sabbath, known for its early horror-inspired lyrics, it is even said that bassist Geezer Butler, who wrote many of the band's lyrics is to be considered the "godfather of black metal". It quickly moves to the existence of a similarly-named band, which was also often confused for Sabbath, called Black Widow.

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