'HEX' Brings the Noise: Documentary Follows the Rise of Female Black Metal Band Witch Club Satan

The film, which holds its international premiere at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival on Friday before heading to CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, offers an intimate, three-year look at a band that set out to make a point—and ended up making history .

The story begins in early 2022, when three young women—Nikoline Spjelkavik, Victoria Røising, and Johanna Holt Kleive—met at theatre school in Trondheim . United by a shared vision, they made a three-year pact: they would form a black metal band and use their music to "express women's raw, hidden powers and scream the screams of all women" .

There was just one small problem: none of them knew how to play an instrument .

Undeterred, they threw themselves into the unfamiliar landscape of Norway's extreme metal scene, teaching themselves to play as they went. Early on, they sent a demo tape to Necrobutcher, bassist and co-founder of legendary black metal band Mayhem. Despite their primitive state, he recognized something essential. "The black metal scene needs you," he told them .

Witch Club Satan's mission extends far beyond music. The trio studied the history of Norwegian witch trials, drawing inspiration from the thousands of women executed for witchcraft between the 16th and 18th centuries . They position their project as a reclamation—taking back words historically used to silence women: "witch," "hysterical," "whore" .

"I feel that black metal is a really feminine genre," drummer Johanna Kleive explained in a feature for Metal Hammer. "Because women have screamed throughout history. Many people who have seen us perform tell us it feels like we scream not just one woman's scream, but every woman's scream" .

Their live shows have become legendary for their intensity, incorporating blood, nudity, rituals, and costume changes that drive home the band's themes of female rage and liberation . Their 2024 self-titled debut album, produced by Satyricon/Celtic Frost guitarist Anders Odden, was intentionally released on International Women's Day .

Director Maja Holand, a graduate of the Norwegian Film School with cinematography credits on productions including SKAM, embedded herself with the band for three years, capturing both the ferocity of their performances and the vulnerability behind the masks .

"I'm following Witch Club Satan from their underground beginnings to becoming the world's fastest-growing metal band," Holand said . "The film has evolved into an in-depth exploration of the personal and artistic struggles of Nikoline, Viktoria, and Johanna. To strengthen the connection between the characters' internal journeys and the visual narrative, I delved deeper into their personal stories and the historical context surrounding them" .

The result is a film that interweaves concert footage, behind-the-scenes moments, and a staged witch trial that connects the band's experience to Norway's dark history of persecution .

HEX also represents a technological milestone. It is Norway's first feature-length documentary to use spatial audio—a three-dimensional, immersive sound technology that places viewers inside the sonic experience .

Producer Mari Nilsen Neira of Trondheim-based Herstory explained that the approach was developed through a research collaboration with Nomono and SINTEF, using ambisonic field recording to capture multi-channel audio directly during production . For a film about women who "take up space, scream loudly, and challenge norms," the immersive sound design feels perfectly suited to the subject matter .

HEX had its world premiere on March 2, 2026, as the opening film of Kosmorama – Trondheim International Film Festival . The choice was fitting, as the first shots for the documentary were filmed at Trondheim's Rosendal Theater .

"This is an important film about women who take unconventional paths and dare to claim their space, both in front of and behind the camera," said Silje Engeness, Kosmorama's festival director .

From Trondheim, the film travels to Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival for its international premiere, competing in the Newcomers competition . It will then screen at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen as part of the festival's Sound & Vision strand .

Paris-based sales outfit CAT&Docs, which acquired world rights to the film ahead of its international bow, sees HEX as part of a larger cultural moment .

"This film doesn't just document a band — it documents a reckoning," the company said in a statement . "In reviving the witch as a symbol of resistance, these artists tap into a cultural wave that stretches from underground metal stages to the millions engaging with WitchTok online. It's a reclamation of a figure historically used to silence women, and a bold confrontation of the patriarchal structures embedded in both the scene and society at large. At a time when gender narratives are being fiercely contested, this story feels urgent and necessary" .

For Witch Club Satan, the journey continues. Following the album release and extensive touring—including festival dates across Europe throughout 2025—the band has established itself as a force to be reckoned with . Their music video for "Fresh Blood Fresh Pussy" was nominated for a 2024 Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) for Music Video of the Year .

For director Maja Holand, HEX represents a personal milestone and a professional statement.

"Working on the documentary has led me deeper into the story of Witch Club Satan as a band and their journey within the black metal scene," she reflected . "Hopefully, it will give the audience an opportunity for introspection and inspiration to dare to be more themselves with all that entails" .

HEX screens at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival starting Friday, March 6, 2026, with subsequent screenings at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen.