Artax Film

In 1987, Swedish industrial music veteran Roger Karmanik founded Cold Meat Industry. Over the next decade, the label grew from a bedroom passion project into a world-renowned record company. However, while CMI expanded rapidly, Karmanik’s underground mindset and work methods remained unchanged. Beset by personal and professional struggles, as well as deteriorating mental health, he eventually hit a wall. CMI was declared bankrupt in 2011. But in 2017, as fans from over 40 countries gathered in Stockholm to celebrate the label’s thirtieth anniversary, something unexpected happened.

In the realm of contemporary music, Adam “Nergal” Darski surely needs no further introduction. Yet the guitarist and singer has even made inroads into general pop culture and shaped social discourse, all the while not moving away an iota from the underground ethos his ongoing career is based on. Rising from his humble beginnings in Cold-war Poland to global fame with his band Behemoth, striving for musical excellence throughout the ignominies of life-threatening illness and dubious legal battles, staying deeply spiritual and focused during even the most casual appearances in mundane limelight, it is safe to say the 1977-born has many faces, the sum of which defies categorization. Satanist or dexterous money spinner? Academically certified historian or shallow media figure? Inspired and inspiring spokesperson of a generation or mere agent provocateur? Make your guesses...

A short arthouse documentary about mental illness as seen through the eyes of Niklas Kvarforth of Shining. Cold Void is a personal portrayal of the man behind headlines of suicide, drugs and self-destruction. Addiction, bipolar disorder, passion and schizophrenia.