He was one of the central figures in the early Norwegian Black Metal, a musician, label operator, record shop owners, more: a hub of the scene that he wanted to keep as elitist as possible. There are as many myths, opinions and theories as about Øystein Aarseth alias Euronymous. Books, documentaries, films (“Lords of Chaos”), anthologies, stories and also some interviews and essays, for example by his murderer, the Burzum musician Varg Vikernes, draw an often contradictory picture of the life and early death of Aarseth. At this point we go back to a time when the churches burned in Norway, a small group of bands change the metal scene and the second wave of Black Metal should conjure up and young people were tragically killed.
Euronymous: his childhood
Not too much is known about Aarseth’s childhood. Øystein Aarseth was born on March 22, 1968 and was the eldest son of Helge and Inger Aarseth. He grew up in bourgeois, protected conditions and attended the school in Ski, a small town south of Oslo. In his youth he played violin before later turning the guitar completely. It is also often mentioned that he belonged to the Norwegian state church up to the age of 15 – in view of his, which was soon articulated, completely contrary views a very noticeable biographical fact.
The beginning of Mayhem and Dead’s death
In 1984 Aarseth founded the band with bass player Necrobutcher (Jørn Stubberud) and drummer Kjetil Manheim with which he was supposed to shape the Black Metal: Mayhem. At first he called himself a destructor, later he changed his stage name to Euronymous – inspired by Demon Eurynomos. Two years later, Uhlin alias Dead joined the band, a charismatic and self -destructive young man. Mayhem moved into a remote house near Kråkstad, which served as a rehearsal room and residence. However, living together was characterized by tensions. Again and again there are violent clashes between Dead and Aarseth, supposedly even a dispute in which a knife was involved.
On April 8, 1991 Dead committed suicide. Aarseth found him in the head with cut -open pulse arteries and a shot. Aarseth, the Black Metal story says, did not immediately alert the police. Instead, he photographed the body and is said to have even taken bone pieces later to make amulets from them – again such a myth. The photo of Dead’s body later appeared on the Mayhem-Boatleg-Live album “The Dawn of the Black Hearts”.
Helvete Records
Aarseth founded the Helvete record store in Oslo in 1991. This quickly became the meeting point of the Black Metal scene-and Aarseth the link. It formed the so -called Inner Circle – a loose group of musicians and sympathizers who sent Euronymous as a kind of leading status, even if there are of course different, sometimes contrary perspectives. Bands such as Burzum, Darkthrone, Emperor and Immortal put themselves in the Helvete. The facility was barren, a pentagram and a wrong cross dominated the entrance area. Euronymous was equally an enabled as well as a kind of gatekeeper who wanted nothing to do with Death Metal, who was just popular at the time.
“All trends will die sooner or later, and I greet the death of the trendy ‘Death’ metaller, who in my opinion are only forgeries. I think and hope that in a year only the trendy people are left and the others were back to disco or whatever they” discovered “before they” discovered “Morbid Angel,” he said in 1991 in 1991 In an interview with the “Slayer” fan,a well -known Norwegian magazine.
For him, Metal had something elitist, as he emphasized: “I would like to see a scene in which the music is something cruel and evil from which normal people are afraid, and in which people in the scene are all look like Hellhammer or the old Sarcofago, spines and chains!
Contact with Varg Vikernes and the church burns
Because we had already mentioned the name Burzum: the encounter with their front man and the only member Varg Vikernes alias Count Grishnack should seal Aarseth’s fate. In the beginning, Euronymous was enthusiastic about Vikernes, promised to publish his debut album Burzum on his label Deathlike Silence Productions. But there was a quick argument, more.
The Norwegian Black Metal scene worldwide became really known through a series of church burns. Between 1992 and 1996, more than 50 historical churches went up in flames. Many of these fires were attributed to the area around the Inner Circle.
Vikernes was one of the key figures. In 1992 he was said to have been involved in the arson of the famous Fantoft Stabkirche, and other scene members were also suspected. Euronymous himself, according to Vikernes, later claimed, had celebrated the church fires publicly and played in the foreground. However, he was secretly on the reputation that Vikernes built up. According to Vikernes, Euronymous wanted to keep control of the scene – and saw him a threat to his own position.
Euronymous: Dispute with Varg Vikernes
Vikernes, on the other hand, felt cheated by Aarseth, accused Euronymous of withholding him and promising not to meet him. Vikernes became more and more frustrated. On the other hand, Vikernes claims that, Euronymous is said to have forged plans to humble or even physically. The distrust grew, the risk of escalation as well. Until there was a disaster on August 10, 1993.
The murder of Euronymous
On this day, Varg Vikernes decided to start the hourly drive from Bergen to Oslo together with Snorre “Blackthorn” to visit Euronymous in his apartment. Officially, it should be about the final signature of the termination of the contract between Burzum and Deathlike Silence Productions. However, both of them had the feeling that the other wanted to pass, knit up or even attack him.
There was a dispute. Vikernes killed Euronymous with several knife stings. Euronymous, who still wanted to flee, collapsed in the stairwell and died. Vikernes later claimed to have acted out of self -defense. Euronymous died on August 10, 1993 at the age of 25.
Satanism, worldview and ideology
Euronymous was a member of the communist youth organization Rød Ungdom for a while, but later distanced himself because it seemed too moderate for him. He idealized authoritarian regime such as the Soviet Union under Stalin, Albania or Cambodia under the Red Khmer and wished for a return to a dark, controlled society. At times he showed interest in Marx and Engels and also expressed criticism of the environmental degradation through capitalism.
However, he did not want to write about his ideology, as he explained in the already mentioned interview with the fanzine “Slayer”. For him, Metal had to turn for one thing: for death. “No, that will never happen. Even if I am active in the most extreme communist party here (Albania inspired), I leave it up to the punks to write about it in the texts. Nowadays, tons of tons write texts about” social awareness “and they still dare to call it death metal. Bullshit! I play in a Death Metal Band, or maybe you should call it Black Metal, and the most important thing is death! Bands that claim to play Death Metal but do not deal with death themselves are fakes and can play punk instead ”.
And further: “It is a big trend today to look completely normal with these damned jogging suits and to sing about“ important things ”, and to name Death Metal. These people can die, they have betrayed the scene. Death Metal is something for brutal people who are able to kill, it is not for idiotic children who want a fun hobby after school. I’ll write more about it later. In the end, I just want to say, even if I personally like to deal with the big works by Mao, Stalin and so on. I think the band is much more important, and Death and Black Metal is my life. “
Awards and legacy
Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth remained one of the most formative figures in Black Metal history even after his death. For many, he was the one who gave the Norwegian Black Metal his extreme aesthetics, radicality and his dark ideology. Without him, some say, the scene would never have become what it is known for today. But Euronymous remains an ambivalent figure. Some worship him as a visionary, others see him a manipulator who stood in the center and adorned himself with strange feathers. Some even call him a Poser. However, one thing is certain: Without Øystein Aarseth, the story of the Norwegian Black Metal would have been different.
Øystein Aarseth was buried in the cemetery in ski. Wherever the legendary record store Helvete stood, Neseblod Records is now located, which is considered an unofficial successor. The old basement in which Helvete was located can still be visited today. The words “Black Metal” are still in large letters on the wall. To date, thousands of metal fans-often also called “Blackpacker”-make a pilgrimage to Oslo to visit the locations of the Norwegian Black Metal scene and trace the myth of Euronymous. It remains to be seen whether Euronymous would have liked that.