True Norwegian Black Metal

[PHOTO BY PETER BESTE]

Continuing today’s black metal theme, and indeed in direct contrast to Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's vision; I stumbled upon this, unbelievably, whilst reading an article on the BBC website this morning about photographer Simon Wheatley’s work on documenting London’s grime scene. One reader decided to comment and pointed other readers in the direction of Peter Beste’s working capturing images of the Norwegian black metal scene. I’m not a massive follower of black metal so I wasn’t aware of this thing when it first came out – but my word, this is a stunning catalogue of work by Beste.

He’s worked at capturing the imagery of some of Norwegian black metal’s most iconic names in some visually striking settings.  The likes of Abbath from Immortal, Mayhem, Enslaved, Fenriz from Darkthrone and many, many more besides are all featured here, in what is an impressive portfolio of work. It captures everything that the scene is – cold, grim, menacing, haunting, and numerous other superlatives that escape me right now.

There’s also a book that accompanies this, called ‘True Norwegian Black Metal’. According to Beste’s site, the book is currently sold out, although if you contact him you can get on the waiting list for one. Nonetheless, there’s plenty to browse through in the meantime, so why not go over and take a look?

Peter Beste Photography: True Norwegian Black Metal

Peter Clegg