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"All around the world, I’ve had problems explaining my home country of Norway to people. Even if they imagine they know where this small nation is on the map–somewhere near the North Pole, many say–it is often difficult to find well-known Norwegian exports people can relate to. Nobel Peace prizes, fjords, oil exports, and even chess player Magnus Carlsen, often yield a blank stare and a shake of the head.
Not so with Norwegian metal.
In fact, Norwegian extreme metal music has become one of the country’s biggest cultural exports. People all over the world know the lyrics, life stories and albums of bands like Gorgoroth, Burzum and Darkthrone, as well as newer and more obscure bands.
I’ve met people in tiny villages from Bangladesh to Venezuela who almost self-ignite with excitement the moment I mention Norway.
In the early 1990s Norwegian Black Metal made its shocking entry on to the world stage with church burnings, homicides, stagecraft, with an intensity few had seen before. The growling vocals and intense riffs of metal music made in Norway somehow hit a primal dissonant note all over the planet.
I wanted to photograph the music with the same directness and intensity. I took a flash and photographed Norwegian singers singing, head on."
(Jonas Bendiksen, 2016)

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