EMPEROR
WHY NORWAY?
It is difficult to offer an explanation of how Norway, a country on the outskirts of Europe with less than 4.5 million people, should become the epicenter of blasphemous Black Metal. The theories might range from the most prosaic to the spectacularly speculative. For example, one of the reasons suggested for why so many churches burned in Norway is that, compared to other Scandinavian countries, a much higher percentage of Norwegian churches are constructed of wood. It is much easier to set fire to a wooden church than one of stone—but even then it is not an entirely simple affair, as many failed arson attempts have proven.
There is an early example of church arson with diabolical overtones which was recorded in 1739. An eighteen-year-old youth from the Norwegian coastal city of Kristiansand named Anders Suhm allegedly renounced his baptism, blasphemed against God, and offered himself to the Devil. He also attempted unsuccessfully to set fire to a church. He was charged under Norway’s strict blasphemy laws, which allowed for capital punishment. And even though beheading was rarely used for such offenses, Suhm ran away rather than face trial and was never heard of again. However, the case of Anders Suhm seems to be an isolated occurrence, and there is no evidence that would suggest a deep-seated Satanic tradition in Norway.
Since anti-Christian actions have played an important part in Black Metal, it might be useful to look at how Christianity functions in Norwegian society. Norway’s official religion is Protestantism, organized through a Norwegian Church under the State. This has deep historical roots and a membership encompassing approximately 88% of Norway’s population. However, only about 2-3% of the population are involved enough to attend regular church services. A saying goes that most Norwegians will visit church on three occasions in their lives—and on two of them, they will be carried in. Many Norwegians retain their membership in the Church “just in case,” but will not actually sit and listen to sermons. There are also laws on the books that require half of the government at any given time to be members of this Church. However, apart from these formalities, the Church’s role has been steadily diminishing in Norwegian society.
BLACK METAL MAKES HEADLINES: “THE CHURCH FIRE WAS SET. SATANIST ALARM FOR PENTECOST”
The lack of religious fervor in the formal, State-run institutions has left a vacuum that is being filled by all kinds of religious and secular orientations. Evangelism is strong in Norway; few other countries have sent out more missionaries per capita. The Evangelical culture is particularly active on the southern and western coasts, where the Christian denominations tend to be extremely conservative. Here, drinking alcohol and sometimes even dancing is frowned upon. In the North, especially in Lappish areas, Christian communities exist which enact strict taboos against owning curtains and TV sets. An example of the conservative Christian influence in Norway was the banning of Monty Python’s classic comedy The Life of Brian as blasphemous. The amicable rivalry and fun-making between Norwegians and Swedes led to the movie being advertised in Sweden as “a film so funny it’s banned in Norway.”
The cultural legacy of Norwegian folktales presents a grotesque world of trolls, witches, and foreboding forests. These have had a profound influence on many younger Black Metal groups. Some bands, like Ulver, have altogether dropped traditional Black Metal imagery and symbolism for “trollish” atmospheres. Today there even exists a band called Troll. Modern folklore has had a more difficult time in Norway and horror culture has never been allowed a place here. While America has figures like Edgar Allan Poe as a part of the literary heritage, and slasher movies are screened on National TV, Norway’s otherwise highly prolific movie industry has produced but one horror film in its seventy-year history. Horror films from abroad are routinely heavily censored, if not banned outright. This taboo against violence and horror permeates every part of Norwegian media. In one case, Norwegian National Broadcasting stopped a transmission of the popular children’s TV series Colargol the Singing Bear on the grounds that the particular episode featured a gun.
The resulting void from cultural censorship of violence and the macabre may have made a significant contribution to Black Metal’s overweening appetite for such imagery. When denied something, one tends to gorge on it when access is finally gained. Black Metal adherents tend to be those in their late teens to early twenties who have recently gained a relative degree of freedom and independence from their parents and other moral authorities. They are finally in a position to indulge their own interests without the interference of those who might frown upon such behavior.
PLATE FROM A NORWEGIAN FAIRYTALE BOOK
The cultural distance from Europe might be part of the explanation why Black Metal was carried to its logical, or illogical, conclusion in Norway. Early Black Metal bands like Venom might not have been very serious about their image, but many young Norwegians may been unable to realize this. So when Venom were tongue-in-cheek, Norwegian kids took them dead seriously. Similar things have happened before. The Sex Pistols, for example, being the product of a smart manager who knew how to make a buck off Rock music, spawned a generation of bands who took Punk Rock, and the anarcho-politics that had been convenient slogans for the Pistols, very earnestly indeed. One strange aspect of the Black Metal mentality of the earlier days was the insistence on suffering. Unlike other belief systems, where damnation is usually reserved for one’s enemies, the Black Metalers thought that they, too, deserved eternal torment. They were also eager to begin this suffering long before meeting their master in hell.
CARTOON SATIRIZING BLACK METAL’S HUMORLESSNESS
This gave rise to popular jokes like: “Why don’t Satanists drive cars? Because walking is really hellish.” Funny enough, to be sure, but reality was more bizarre. In an interview the February, 1993, edition of the now defunct Norwegian magazine Rock Furore, Varg Vikernes talked about his arrest for suspected church burning. When asked if this world wasn’t already hellish enough, and therefore no grounds existed for romanticizing a metaphysical Hell, Vikernes lashed out against the prison system:
It’s much too nice here. It’s not hell at all. In this country prisoners get a bed, toilet, and shower. It’s completely ridiculous. I asked the police to throw me in a real dungeon, and also encouraged them to use violence.10
There is no one satisfactory explanation why the music reached such an epidemic proportion in Norway and was taken to such extremes. The only reasonable solution to the puzzle of Black Metal lies in all of these pieces forming a whole. Those who have attempted to understand Black Metal generally agree upon this.
Martin Alvsvåg is a graduate from the Theological Seminary in Oslo. His thesis about Black Metal was reworked into the book Rock and Satanism. Alvsvåg is one of the few in Christian circles in Norway—indeed one of the few from any background—who has taken the time to look at the subject closely. In addition to his research he has also encountered Black Metal through his work with young people in other Church contexts.
MARTIN ALVSVÅG
IS THERE A SIMPLE EXPLANATION FOR THE RISE OF NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL?
I don’t think its right to point to one specific factor. It might just have been that Norway came up with one or two good Black Metal bands that gave Norwegian Metal a good name abroad and made it easier to sell. This would have been very conducive for a scene to be established.
IS THERE SOMETHING TO THE NORWEGIAN HISTORY OR PSYCHE THAT WOULD HELP PEOPLE MAKE GOOD DARK MUSIC HERE?
Some of the Black Metal people themselves seem to feel it’s the fact that we have dark woods and long winters with virtually no light. This might make people attracted to darkness. On the other hand, Norway is the land of the midnight sun so I think it’s a bit more complicated.
THIS COUNTRY IS A VERY SAFE PLACE TO GROW UP. COULD THIS HAVE UNDESIRED CONSEQUENCES?
I think Norway, being a very wealthy country with a high standard of living, makes young kids very blasé. It’s not enough to just play pinball anymore. They need something strong, an
d Black Metal provides really strong impulses if you get into it. They’re looking for something more in life than what they have already, and might feel that it’s better to identify with evil than not to identify with anything at all. Black Metal is something strong that gives you respect and a sense of belonging in certain circles.
Ketil Sveen is one of the founders of the record label Voices of Wonder. His company has been involved with selling Black Metal music since 1991, when it started distributing the releases on Øystein Aarseth’s label Deathlike Silence Productions. While Black Metal has often done its best to avoid commercial recognition, without record sales most of the bands would quickly cease to exist. Sveen was able to explain its development from the angle of the independent music business.
KETIL SVEEN
IS BLACK METAL AS POPULAR IN NORWAY AS IT WOULD APPEAR?
Black Metal has never really been that big in Norway, compared to how it sells abroad. One of the reasons that it appeals so much to foreign audiences might be that, for them, Norway and the Far North are really exotic. In Norway, it’s basically been a circle of musicians and lots of bands.
WHERE IS IT MOST SUCCESSFUL?
Black Metal sells a little everywhere. If you are in a Pop or Rock band, it has traditionally been very important to be from the US or England to get really big. That’s not so important in Metal. You can even be from a country like Brazil—look at Sepultura.
HAS THE DEMAND FOR THE MUSIC CHANGED OVER RECENT YEARS?
A few years ago, you could record anything and label it Norwegian Black Metal, and it would sell. Today, people are far more critical. Shoddily recorded and bad records won’t sell. All musical waves will develop after a while; Punk matured, too.
Due to its excesses, Black Metal has become synonymous with Scandinavia, and Norway in particular. Somehow, through a combination of subtle and not-so-subtle factors, it coagulated and took shape. The drive toward violence could have just as easily been dissipated in less cathartic ways if the same people had become involved in an already established genre like Hardcore Punk instead. But this was not to be. With a frozen yet fertile garden in place, all it took was the effort of a few visionaries to sow the seeds of barbarity.
The scene owes itself to Euronymous more than anyone, that is beyond doubt. As he is no longer here to speak, we shall never know how deeply or seriously aware Øystein Aarseth was of the monster he was bringing to life. But animate it he did, and therefore his activities and associations deserve a closer scrutiny in order to reveal the path of the sparks which ignited the blaze in the northern sky.
A MAN’S DEAD BODY MUST ALWAYS HAVE BEEN A SOURCE OF INTEREST TO THOSE WHOSE COMPANION HE WAS WHILE HE LIVED...
—GEORGES BATAILLE, DEATH AND SENSUALITY 1
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MAYHEM IN THE DEAD ZONE
MANY WILL ATTEST THE VERACITY OF THE OLD ADAGE, “BE CAREFUL WHAT you wish—it may come true,” and for those who descend into the netherworlds of the occult it assumes even more portentous weight. A sensible magician who has opened up the currents of the supernatural knows that the smallest signs may be omens of a future miracle or catastrophe, and indeed every name, symbol, and event may have hidden meaning beyond the ken of the common man. In the realm of Black Metal, so thoroughly impregnated with the iconography of the occult by its perpetrators, names and pseudonyms appear to achieve a magical significance, and become indelibly welded to the personalities of their bearers—nomen est omen. This can be a blessing or curse, depending on the elements involved.
Do the names eerily reflect the karma of the personalities they denote? Or are the people destined to fulfill the fate foretold in titles they (ir)reverently adopt? These are questions that will never be answered. Regardless, in the case of Øystein Aarseth and his band Mayhem, the connection between such elements and outcomes is startling.
Mayhem began in 1984, inspired by the likes of Black Metal pioneers Venom, and later Bathory and Hellhammer. Judging from an early issue of Metalion’s Slayer magazine, Aarseth initially adopted “Destructor” for his stage name as guitarist. The other members of the earliest incarnation of the band were bassist “Necro Butcher,” “Manheim” on drums, and lead vocalist “Messiah.” Not long after this Aarseth took on “Euronymous” as his own personal mantle—presumably it sounded less comical and more exotic than his previous pseudonym. His new name was a Greek title mentioned in occult reference books as corresponding to a “prince of death.”
MAYHEM CIRCA 1986
In early interviews Mayhem always refer to themselves as “Total” Death Metal, although in the fashion of many other Norwegian groups, Aarseth would later claim the band exclusively played Black Metal from the beginning. There was also no religious angle to Mayhem, beyond band members sprinkling their signatures with upside-down crosses. Their image mainly emphasized an obsession with death, violence, and having “a fuckin’ good time.”2
HELLHAMMER
Mayhem played their first show in 1985. Their debut demo tape, Pure Fucking Armageddon, appeared a year later in a limited edition of 100 numbered copies. By 1987 someone called “Maniac” replaced the previous singer, whom Aarseth henceforth referred to as a “former session vocalist,” despite his appearance on the demo as well as the first proper release, that year’s Deathcrush mini-LP. Released in an edition of 1,000 on their own label Posercorpse Music, the vinyl sold out fairly soon, demonstrating Mayhem’s small but increasing position of importance in the underground. Aarseth commanded a powerful role among disenchanted younger music fans, as Mayhem was considered the most extreme band existing in an otherwise quiet, conservative land. After the release of Deathcrush, vocal duties were exchanged once again and Dead, the distinctive singer for the Stockholm cult act Morbid, joined Mayhem and moved to Oslo. A new drummer was found in Jan Axel “Hellhammer” Blomberg, one of the most talented musicians in the underground. Even with the mini-LP selling briskly, and Mayhem’s bestial reputation increasing, the band and its members remained dirt poor.
NECRO BUTCHER
HELLHAMMER
HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH MAYHEM?
I started out in Mayhem in 1988 —early, together with Dead.
YOU KNEW HIM?
I didn’t know him before—he was a Swedish guy—but we joined Mayhem at about the same time. I’d heard from some friends of mine that Mayhem was seeking a new drummer. I hadn’t heard about Mayhem back then, but people had said it was the real stuff.
DEAD ONSTAGE
MAYHEM LIVE ONSTAGE
I got in contact with Euronymous, and he wanted to hear a demo tape, so I brought one to the meeting and he said, “Yes, of course!” and was very pleased with it. Then I just moved to Ski, outside Oslo, where they were living and rehearsing. Dead had started out in the band a few months earlier than me.
EURONYMOUS
HOW LONG WAS IT BEFORE HE WAS LITERALLY DEAD?
It was in April, 1991, three years later.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE HIM?
He was a very strange personality. He was from Sweden, the old vocalist in a band called Morbid—some of the guys play in the shit band Entombed now. But he was an okay guy, a very nice fellow, but a bit melancholic and depressive.
WHAT WERE THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS DEATH?
Me and Euro and Dead were living in an old house outside of Oslo where we rehearsed, but I was at my parent’s house in Oslo when it happened. I was planning to go back, but Euronymous called me and said, “You can’t go back because the police have closed the house.”
“Why?” I said.
“Because Dead has gone home.”
“He went back to Sweden?” I asked.
“No, he blew his brains out.”
Euronymous found him. We only had one key to the door and it was locked, and he had to go in the window. The only window that was open was in Dead’s room, so he climbed in there and found him with half of his head blown away. So he went out and drove to the nearest store to buy a camera to take some picture
s of him, and then he called the police.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PHOTOS?
We had them the whole time, but when Euronymous was killed his father found them in his apartment and threw them away.
DEAD AND EURONYMOUS CIRCA 1990
EURONYMOUS
BUT YOU SAW THEM?
Yes, I was the one who took them to be developed. They were in color, real sharp photos. Dead was sitting half up, with the shotgun on his knee. His brain had fallen out and was lying on the bed. Euronymous was taking pictures from above, with details of the skull.
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