Lysekloster, or Lyse Abbey, is the ruin of a medieval Cistercian monastery at Lysefjorden in Bjørnafjorden municipality, approximately 27 kilometres south of central Bergen. Known in the Middle Ages as Coenobium Vallis Lucidae, meaning “the monastery in the valley of light”, it was founded in 1146 by monks from Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire and became the first Cistercian monastery in Norway. The monastery was dissolved during the Reformation in 1536, and much of its stone was later reused in other buildings. The surviving ruins include sections of the church, cloister and monastic buildings.

The ruins have a strong connection with the early Bergen extreme metal scene. Around 1989, Old Funeral held a photo session at Lysekloster during the period when the band included guitarist Tore Bratseth, bassist and vocalist Olve Eikemo – later known as Abbath – and drummer Jan Atle “Padden” Åserød. One of the photographs, showing the three musicians among the monastery ruins, was later used on the cover of the 1998 compilation “Join the Funeral Procession”. The same photograph also appeared inside the sleeve of the 1999 compilation “The Older Ones”.

A few years later, Lysekloster became closely associated with Immortal. Photographs for the band’s debut album, “Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism” (1992), were taken among the ruins, including the photograph used on the album cover.

The ruins were also used in early 1993 for “The Call of the Wintermoon”, the earliest music videos from the Norwegian black metal movement. The video was produced in connection with Immortal’s appearance on TV 2’s afternoon programme “God ettermiddag, Norge!”, where Abbath, Demonaz and drummer Kolgrim were interviewed by Kjersti Bergesen.

The production was extremely rushed. Abbath later recalled that the footage had to be shot in approximately two hours because the video was intended for television that same evening. During the TV interview, the band also complained that they had not been given enough time or freedom to realise several of the ideas they had wanted to include. They had expected greater involvement in the production and were clearly dissatisfied with the finished result.

The video shows Abbath, Demonaz and Kolgrim in corpse paint among the ruins and surrounding woodland, carrying weapons, running through the landscape and breathing fire. Kolgrim – Jan Atle “Padden” Åserød, formerly of Old Funeral – had replaced Armagedda after the recording of “Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism”. He therefore appears both in the music video and in the television interview, although Armagedda had played the drums on the album itself.

“The Call of the Wintermoon” later became notorious for its unintentionally comic appearance. Scenes of Immortal running through the woods in full black metal attire were widely circulated and parodied, particularly after the rise of online video. One of the best-known edits replaced the original soundtrack with the theme from “The Benny Hill Show”, helping turn the video into one of the most recognisable black metal memes. The band initially disliked the ridicule, although Demonaz has later said that he eventually learned to laugh at it himself.

The connection continued more than three decades later with Bergen heavy and sleaze metal band Notörious. In 2024, the band filmed the music video for “Eternal Fire” at Lysekloster. The song appears on their second album, “Marching On”, and the video once again used the medieval ruins as a backdrop for a Bergen metal band.

ADDRESS:
Edne 121, 5215 Lysekloster, Norway

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