Svartediket (World's first black metal musical)

I have never liked black metal music, it's just not my cup of tea. Yet two nights ago I went to see the world's first black metal musical.
AMAZING!! I was so impressed! And the music wasn't bad. Of course it wasn't legit black metal but close.
What intrigued me the most was the story. It is sickening, dark, mysterious, and true. And it takes place here in Bergen, the city in which I am living in.
Svartediket literally means, black gulch. It is a lake that lies in between two out of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen, and is the city's main water supply.

This is a blurb I found about Svartediket: "Not since the Black plague(“Svartedauden”) in 1349 sailed into the harbor of Bergen, a new black plague shall be spread in Europe. The Norwegian black metal capitol Bergen has with great success been hiding for its tourists the fact that the towns drinking water Svartediket(”Blackgulch”) is the “golden gate” for suicides.

In 2006 a local plague broke out and over 1000 people got very sick. The local authorities told the citizens that it was bacteria called ‘Giardia’ that they had found in the drinking water of Svartediket. Desperately they tried to hide the fact that this bacteria is caused by decaying of corpses.

The citizens of Bergen have been ‘Drinking the dead’ for a long time and its the main inspiration behind SVARTEDIKET...a true norwegian black metal musical. Historical evidence indicate that until late 18th-century they used to drown unwanted children in the water. With this grim plot in their minds Arild Brakstad and Arne Longvastøl in 2005 set out to make a project that could challenge both the theater and Black metal scene.

Having the ambition to rise above local theater scene the artist found as they ‘drowned” themselves into the making of Svartediket that the story had profound parallel’s with japanese horror style and also could give an deeper explanation to where all this black metal kids from Bergen has risen from (....the dead)" (www.myspace.com/svartediketmusical).

Luckily, the water I drink at home does not come from Svartediket, but I am disgustedly sure that I have drunk dead body water while here in Bergen. No, just kidding, the outbreak was caused by fecal contamination of Svartediket due to elevated water consumption. The myth about drinking the dead just adds more darkness to the story.

Here are a few videos I found on youtube:




The soundtrack is also really good. Of course it is black metal inspired so if you do not like that type of music I wouldn't recommend it. But if you are open minded then check it out! There are actually some very beautiful songs if you listen to all 17 tracks. I recommend it to those looking for something a little different, especially vocally. If you can get by them you will find some very good folk music too.
What I thought was cool was that a very well known Norwegian vocalist was in the musical as well. He is known as Gaahl from the black metal band Gorgoroth, based here in Bergen. So when he sang, it was really creepy and impressive at the same time. His scream gives goosebumps. This is how he would perform with Gorgoroth and then how he looks like in the musical as Heimdall, an æsir god in Norse mythology.


The next video is a song by Gorgoroth, I warn all readers/viewers that it is explicit/uncensored. I only upload it to offer you something new and so you can hear his creepy voice!


I will probably have the chance to see Vibeke this week, the actress who plays Aslla in the musical! She is a good friend of Anna, my host mom.
This is her normally and also how she looks like in the musical. She did an amazing job at altering her voice for the songs.



I want to do more research on Svartediket and the true story behind the plot of the musical. The plot rises from some old diaries found in Pennsylvania which describe the true happenings that took place in those times. I will write more about it later, as I am deeply intrigued and disturbed about the actual history behind Svartediket.

I will also take a hike up to the lake within the next few weeks. My friends and I have even talked about maybe camping up there one night So we will see if that plan ever carries out...
Until next time! Hadet!

Naked ladies, beaners and meat!!

These past two weeks have been a blast! I got to see old friends, I went dancing, bonded with my new host family and got to see my old host family as well!!
On Friday the 10th, I went to Bergen center with my new host family because the city was having a kulturnatt, a culture night. Where most of the museums had free entrance, there were many free shows and free walking tours and a food festival! Yes, I did go to that first! There I ate a juicy hot dog that resulted with me being sick all night long.
But apart from that, we went to several museums and went and saw a bit of a free dance show/concert. Afterwards, Robert went back home with all three girls and I stayed with Anna and her cousin. We went to one museum that was not that interesting except for some huge glasses made from the remains of a demolished house. Huge as in 10ft long glasses!
Then we went and had a glass of wine and went to see flamenco dancing, or should I say attempted flamenco dancing and then figure drawing with a naked model. I had never done figure drawing with a nude person. It was actually pretty hard because it was timed. The night was lots of fun. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures but I did find a video on youtube that user:toresteinset uploaded!

On Saturday was the "Mexicanos en Bergen's" party in a bar called Tonga Bar. We had it reserved for 3 hours, afterwards the general public could come in. It was great to see old friends and meet lots of new ones! The music and the dancing were just a plus!

On Sunday I was invited to have dinner with Stig and Zoyla, where they stuffed me with meat! My new host family is vegetarian therefore no meat for Mariana while I am there. But I honestly don't mind. I got used to no red meat while working in Costa Rica. Costa Rica Outward Bounds protests against the destruction of the rainforest for making more room for cattle breeding. Therefore we do not eat red meat while working with Costa Rica Outward Bounds. So i got used to it, and don't mind. Actually the few times I have had my meat fix, I have had bad stomach aches. So that says something!
Other than that I have been working and pretty soon I will start my Norwegian classes again! I got a haircut the other day and now it is SHORT! No pictures yet but I will hopefully take some as soon as I get my camera fixed. All the best, hadet!

I'm Back

Yes ladies and gentlemen I am back! After 3 months of being in beautiful Costa Rica,
I flew in yesterday at around 18:30. The flight was just as interesting as my first one!(Read my Jan. 20, 2010 blog) My first flight, from LA to London, was on a humongous Boeing 747, with three columns, 10 people per row, three on each side and four in the middle. I had an aisle seat in the middle row. Two seats down was an older Iranian woman. Luckily no one sat between us, so I had room to put my feet up and maybe lie down in the two seats that I obviously had, she could keep her two seats, common reasoning right?. Well no, first she just lies down without asking if she can take up all three seats and put her head just centimeters from my lap, two, I think she was...no, I lie I KNOW she was sick because she kept coughing. But not one of those dry throat coughs, or even the I-have-a-weird-scratchy-feeling-in-my-throat kind. No, this was the Watch-out-for-anyone-within-the-feet-five-splash-zone type of cough. THEN!! (yes it must be in all caps) THEN!,(and written twice for emphasis), she pukes. Sick, dying, greedy, selfish, puking old women should not be allowed on planes. I'm just saying.
On the plane ride from London to Oslo I took up the last row that was unoccupied, lied down and fell asleep. Uneventful yet peaceful.
On my last plane ride from Oslo to Bergen, I was in the first row, and sat in between this old business man and then a chatty but quirky British woman that looked like Edith Piaf but the movie version...in case you don't know what she looks like here is a picture:

I very much like the new family I am working with. The mom's name is Anna, her husband is Robert, and their three lovely daughters are, from oldest to youngest, Alva(9), Ulrikke(7) and Kaisa(11 months), and I mustn't forget Misou, the cat.
I don't have any pictures with the girls yet since my camera stopped working when I was in Panama this summer. But Alva did record herself singing the song Fame. Mind you this is not what she really looks like, she wanted to add a weird effect to the video, but it's still really cute!



This weekend is going to be lots of fun! On Friday I am going into the center with Anna and her cousin to a festival/fair. There are concerts and different shows and events going on around the whole city and many of them for free, so I believe I will be introduced to what I have never heard of before: Black metal musical....apparently it's cool and entertaining....we'll see!!! I'm excited though.
Saturday I am going to a Mexican party celebrating our bicentennial anniversary of our independence and our centennial anniversary of our revolution.
And on Sunday I am going to see Zoyla and hopefully Stig and Sebastian! My last host family!!!
So much to look forward to!!
Ill tell you all about it later! Hadet!!!!