THE MISANTHROPE - by Nocturno Culto

‘ You did not want to see too much of the internal humour we have up here on the rock called Norway ’

"The Misanthrope: The Existence Of… Solitude And Chaos" is the film debut by Darkthrone's Nocturno Culto and Nocturno himself describes it as "a strange documentary / fiction film, not suitable for everyone". There's no denying that this is pretty much a vanity project .

To be honest this is a really atypical DVD and something only for the fans of Darkthrone and maybe the fans of the Black Metal scene from Norway. It's an aimless collage of hibernal pictures and band activities from the last couple of years, mostly accompanied by slightly alienating synthesizer horror.

You'll see ice-fishing with Enslaved, dark forests with strange sounds or also the guys who visit Tokyo for an exposition of black metal photography, some few Darkthrone's songs between each scene. There are also some footage from/with other bands like Aura Noir and the Japanese black metal girls from Gallhammer. Connecting all this you find essentially two elements: black and white footage of woods and snow, and several appearances by an old man called Knut, who apparently used to be a fakir at a circus. Hardly anything that he says is ever translated from Norwegian.

The film comes in a DVD-sized jewel case deluxe package, including a bonus audio CD of new music by Nocturno specifically composed for the film, with an un-conformist and interesting cover art and booklet. The images are really amateurish and were all filmed by a handheld numeric camera. The sound is also really average. Extras include stills/photo gallery the promo video for Darkthrone’s Too old too cold and extremely rare vintage videos of performances by the band of Thulcandra and Archipelago.

Nocturno claims: "The initial thought of making a DVD came years back, in 1993. With all the interest around black metal's early years here in Norway, and all the documentaries, books, etc that are being made, I thought that making this DVD would be a fine idea, a totally weird film with no actual information, but with atmosphere and self-irony. It took me almost four years to complete, I just waited for events to happen, and brought my camera with me. Prepare yourself for a journey through various events and shadows of thoughts."

The film itself is only 56 minutes long, with atmosphere and self irony. Don't expect a Darkthrone documentary, this DVD is basically a home video. A cinematic masterpiece this is not. My recommendation: try it if you're an unconditional fan of Darkthrone or if you like David Lynch's movies…

Nocturno's soundtrack is truly ambient and the only song that even bears a shred of semblance to black metal is "Necroposers", sounding like a cross between 70s psychedelia, 80s industrial and 90s black metal riffs. Tracks like the opening "Battlehorns", "The Will to Deny", and "The Solution" are guitar-based promenades through dark ambient, while "The Bastard Son" and "Stay Away" sounding like a hint between 70s prog and krautrock with a little synth shadow.

Check out the mini-site for "The Misanthrope", which features the film trailer, audio samples, gallery, wallpaper, and more information on the package.

Nocturno Culto - The Misanthrope: The Existence of ... Solitude and Chaos (Peaceville/Tyrant Syndicate DVD/CD 2007)

[Disc I – DVD]

CHAPTERS: Icefishing, Intro, Desolate, Sardonic Rehearsals, Ali Baba Winter, Aura Noir Signing, Tokyo, Norway Be My Grave, Ali Baba Summer, Aura Noir Releaseparty, Sardonic Studio, Tyrant Meeting, Endtime,Credits

[DVD EXTRAS]

Stills, Thulcandra, Archipelago, Too Old too Cold

[Disc II – CD]

Battlehorns, The Bastard Son, Lake of Sorrow, Stay Away, Necroposers, The Will to Deny, The Solution

All tracks written by SKJELLUM and published by VILE MUSIC

Product Details

• Actors: Nocturno Culto, Fenriz, Grutle, Cato, Apollyon, Jack Wolfskin, Knut, Peter Beste, Gallhammer, Aura Noir etc
• Format: Color, DVD-Video, Enhanced, NTSC
• Language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Studio: Peaceville Records UK
• DVD Release Date: May 15, 2007
• Website: http://www.peaceville.com/themisanthrope/

An exclusive screening was at Frogner Kino Theatre in Oslo, Norway on Friday, April 6 2007.