Euronymous Beliefs and personality What were some of Euronymous' beliefs? However, Lords of Chaos claims that many who knew Euronymous say "the extreme Satanic image he projected Was the extreme Satanic image all an act? in fact, just that - a projection which bore little resemblance to his real personality". What was Euronymous really like behind the image? Mayhem drummer Kjetil Manheim (who was friends with Euronymous from 1983 until his death) described Euronymous as "blond, health oriented, very good at school. What was Euronymous' personality like? A nice guy, a family guy ... But when we weren't around he could play out his role".
How else did people describe Euronymous?
Besides being a nice guy, how else did people describe Euronymous?
In early 1993, animosity arose between Euronymous and Vikernes, and between Euronymous and the Swedish black metal scene.  On the night of 10 August 1993, Vikernes and Snorre 'Blackthorn' Ruch drove from Bergen to Euronymous' apartment at Toyengata in Oslo. Upon their arrival a confrontation began and Vikernes fatally stabbed Euronymous. His body was found on the stairs outside the apartment with 23 stab wounds - two to the head, five to the neck, and 16 to the back. Euronymous' murder was initially blamed on Swedish black metallers by the media.  It has been speculated that the murder was the result of a power struggle, a financial dispute over Burzum records, or an attempt at "outdoing" the stabbing in Lillehammer. Vikernes denies all of these, claiming that he attacked Euronymous in self-defense. He says that Euronymous had plotted to stun him with an electroshock weapon, tie him up and torture him to death while videotaping the event. Vikernes explains: "If he was talking about it to everybody and anybody I wouldn't have taken it seriously. But he just told a select group of friends, and one of them told me". He said Euronymous planned to use a meeting about an unsigned contract to ambush him. Blackthorn stood outside smoking while Vikernes climbed the stairs to Euronymous' apartment on the fourth floor. Vikernes said he met Euronymous at the door and handed him the contract, but when he stepped forward and confronted Euronymous, Euronymous "panicked" and kicked him in the chest. The two got into a struggle and Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death. Vikernes defends that most of Euronymous' cut wounds were caused by broken glass he had fallen on during the struggle. After the murder, Vikernes and Blackthorn drove back to Bergen. On the way, they stopped at a lake where Vikernes disposed of his bloodstained clothes. The self-defense story is doubted by Faust and other members of the scene.  According to Vikernes, Blackthorn only came along to show Euronymous some new guitar riffs and was "in the wrong place at the wrong time". Blackthorn claims that, in the summer of 1993, he was almost committed to a mental hospital but fled to Bergen and stayed with Vikernes. He said Vikernes planned to murder Euronymous and pressured him into coming along. Blackthorn said of the murder, "I was neither for nor against it. I didn't give a shit about Oystein". Vikernes called Blackthorn's claims a "defense [...] to make sure I couldn't blame him [for the murder]".  Vikernes was arrested on 19 August 1993 in Bergen. Many other members of the scene, including Blackthorn and Faust, were also taken in for questioning. The trial began on 2 May 1994. At the trial it was claimed that he, Blackthorn and another friend had planned the murder. The third person stayed at the apartment in Bergen as an alibi. To make it look like they never left Bergen, he was to rent films, play them in the apartment, and withdraw money from Vikernes' credit card. On 16 May 1994, Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison (Norway's maximum penalty) for the murder of Euronymous, the arson of three churches, the attempted arson of a fourth church, and for the theft and storage of 150 kg of explosives. However, he only confessed to the latter. Two churches were burnt the day he was sentenced, "presumably as a statement of symbolic support". Blackthorn was sentenced to 8 years in prison for being an accomplice.  At Euronymous' funeral, Hellhammer (Mayhem's then-drummer) and Necrobutcher (Mayhem's former bassist) decided to continue with the band and worked on releasing the De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album. Before the release, Euronymous' family asked Hellhammer to remove the bass tracks recorded by Vikernes. Hellhammer said: "I thought it was appropriate that the murderer and victim were on the same record. I put word out that I was re-recording the bass parts, but I never did". The album, which has Euronymous on electric guitar and Vikernes on bass guitar, was finally released in May 1994.  A part of the Norwegian scene considered Vikernes a traitor for murdering Euronymous and turning his back on Satanism in favor of nationalism and Odinism, although Vikernes claims he was never a Satanist and had only used 'Satan' to provoke. They saw Euronymous' death as a significant loss to the scene, and some black metallers "have sworn to avenge Aarseth's death". A few years after the murder, Ihsahn of Emperor said "There's no discipline in the scene anymore, like earlier on around the shop". After his death, a new generation of musicians tried to gain credibility by 'hyping-up' Euronymous, although he was also hailed as "the King" or "Godfather of Black Metal" by bands that had emerged before this new generation. However, many of Euronymous' friends and bandmates "speak of the killing with a tone of indifference". Lords of Chaos remarks: "what is striking [...] is how little they care about the lives or deaths of one another". In the book, Hellhammer, Ihsahn and Samoth claim that Euronymous' death did not affect or at least not shock them. Anders Odden (a friend of Euronymous at the time) said of the murder: "It wasn't odd that he ended up getting killed. He thought he could threaten to kill people without it having any consequences". He added: "I think many people felt relief once he was gone". Writer and musician Erlend Erichsen agreed, saying "Nobody was there to boss them about. The 'black metal police' were gone".  The book Lords of Chaos says of Euronymous:  He was always dressed in black from head to foot, his hair dyed black for added effect. He sported long, aristocratic mustaches and wore knee-high boots. His black leather biker jacket was decorated with badges [...] When talking, he seemed stern and serious, sometimes with pomposity verging on the theatrical".  In interviews, Euronymous claimed to be against individualism, compassion, peace, happiness and fun. He claimed he wanted to spread hatred, sorrow and evil. In a 1993 interview he said "There is NOTHING which is too sick, evil or perverted". Metalion (who knew Euronymous since 1985 and considered him to be his best friend) said that Euronymous "was always telling what he thought, following his own instincts [...] worshipping death and being extreme". Ihsahn, who frequented Helvete, said that "if you were trusted, if they knew you were serious in your views, you were accepted" there, which was important to be a part of the Helvete scene.  However, Lords of Chaos claims that many who knew Euronymous say "the extreme Satanic image he projected was, in fact, just that - a projection which bore little resemblance to his real personality". They include Kjetil Manheim, Vikernes and Blackthorn. Faust said that with Euronymous, "there was a lot of smoke but not so much fire". When asked why Euronymous made such extreme statements to the press, Ihsahn said: "I think that was very much to create fear among people". He added that the scene "wanted to be in opposition to society" and "tried to concentrate more on just being 'evil' than having a real Satanic philosophy". Mayhem drummer Kjetil Manheim (who was friends with Euronymous from 1983 until his death) described Euronymous as "blond, health oriented, very good at school. He worked-out a lot, didn't smoke, didn't drink ... That was the Oystein we knew. A nice guy, a family guy ... But when we weren't around he could play out his role". Manheim claimed that Euronymous became "extreme" towards the end of his life: "He liked telling people that they were worthless; [that] he was the best. He was all 'I define black metal. Black metal is me!' ... I think he was trapped in the image of Mayhem. He became a megalomaniac". In the documentary Pure Fucking Mayhem he said "Oystein's daily life was a total theater" that was based on the black metal "archetype" of 'Euronymous'. CANNOTANSWER
Manheim claimed that Euronymous became "extreme" towards the end of his life:
Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician. Euronymous was a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem and was the only constant member from the band's formation in 1984 until his death in 1993. He was also founder and owner of the extreme metal record label Deathlike Silence Productions and record shop Helvete.

Euronymous professed to being a Theistic Satanist and was known for making extreme misanthropic statements. He presented himself as leading a militant cult-like group known as the "Black Metal Inner Circle".

In August 1993, he was killed by fellow musician and former bandmate Varg Vikernes.

Biography

1984–1991
Aarseth formed Mayhem in 1984 along with bassist Necrobutcher (Jørn Stubberud) and drummer Kjetil Manheim. At the time he was going by the stage name Destructor but later changed his name to Euronymous, derived from the demon Eurynomos which inspired the Hellhammer song of the same name.

In summer 1986, Euronymous, Necrobutcher and Jon "Metalion" Kristiansen visited the German thrash metal band Assassin and recorded the Metalion in the Park demo under the name Checker Patrol, Metalion contributing background vocals to the title song "Metalion in the Park".

In 1988, Per "Dead" Ohlin became Mayhem's vocalist and Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg became its drummer. By 1991, Dead, Euronymous and Hellhammer were living in a house in the woods near Kråkstad, which was used as a place for the band to rehearse. Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher said that, after living together for a while, Dead and Euronymous "got on each other's nerves a lot" and "weren't really friends at the end". Hellhammer recalls that Dead once went outside to sleep in the woods because Euronymous was playing synth music that Dead hated. Euronymous then went outside and began shooting into the air with a shotgun. Varg Vikernes claims that Dead once stabbed Euronymous with a knife.

On 8 April 1991, Dead was found deceased by Euronymous at his home with slit wrists and a shotgun wound to the head. His death was considered suicide. Before calling the police, Euronymous went to a shop and bought a disposable camera with which he photographed the body, after rearranging some items. One of these photographs was later used as the cover of a bootleg live album: The Dawn of the Black Hearts. Necrobutcher recalls how Euronymous told him of the suicide:Øystein called me up the next day ... and says, "Dead has done something really cool! He killed himself". I thought, have you lost it? What do you mean cool? He says, "Relax, I have photos of everything". I was in shock and grief. He was just thinking how to exploit it. So I told him, "OK. Don't even fucking call me before you destroy those pictures".

Euronymous used Dead's suicide to foster Mayhem's "evil" image and claimed Dead had killed himself because black metal had become "trendy" and commercialized. In time, rumors spread that Euronymous had made a stew with bits of Dead's brain and had made necklaces with bits of his skull. The band later denied the former rumor but confirmed that the latter was true. Moreover, Euronymous claimed to have given these necklaces to musicians he deemed worthy, which was confirmed by several other members of the scene, like Bård "Faust" Eithun, and Metalion. Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson of Marduk also confirmed this and that he also owns a piece of Dead's brain matter as well as lead from the shotgun shot, all which were gifted to him by Euronymous.

Necrobutcher later speculated that taking the photographs and forcing others to see them was a way for Euronymous to cope with the shock of seeing his friend dead. He claimed that Euronymous "went into a fantasy world". Faust of Emperor believes that Dead's suicide "marked the point at which, under Euronymous' direction, the black metal scene began its obsession with all things satanic and evil". Kjetil Manheim said that, after the suicide, Euronymous "tried to be as extreme as he had talked about". The suicide caused a rift between Euronymous and some of his friends, who were disgusted by his attitude towards Dead before the suicide, and his behavior afterwards. Necrobutcher ended his friendship with Euronymous. Thus, after the suicide, Mayhem was left with only two members: guitarist Euronymous and drummer Hellhammer. Stian "Occultus" Johannsen was recruited as Mayhem's new singer and bassist. However, this was short-lived; he left the band after receiving a death threat from Euronymous.

1991–1993

During May–June 1991, Euronymous opened a record shop named "Helvete" (Norwegian for "hell") at Schweigaards gate 56 in Oslo. Norwegian black metal musicians often met in the shop's basement, including the two members of Mayhem, the members of Emperor, Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes of Burzum, and Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch of Thorns. Euronymous also started an independent record label called Deathlike Silence Productions, which was based at Helvete. It released albums by Norwegian bands Mayhem and Burzum, and Swedish bands Merciless and Abruptum. Euronymous, Varg and Emperor guitarist Tomas "Samoth" Haugen all lived at Helvete at various times. Emperor drummer Faust also lived and worked there. The shop's walls were painted black and bedecked with medieval weapons, posters of bands and picture discs, while its window featured a polystyrene tombstone.

According to Occultus, the space that Euronymous rented "was far too big and the rent was too high. That's the reason why it never did well". Only a small part of the building was used for the shop itself. Nevertheless, it became the focal point of the Norwegian black metal scene. Metalion, writer of the fanzine Slayer, said that the opening of Helvete was "the creation of the whole Norwegian Black Metal scene". Daniel Ekeroth wrote in 2008,
Within just a few months [of Helvete opening], many young musicians had become obsessed with Euronymous and his ideas, and soon a lot of Norwegian death metal bands transformed into black metal bands. Amputation became Immortal, Thou Shalt Suffer turned into Emperor, and Darkthrone swapped their Swedish-inspired death metal for primitive black metal. Most notoriously, Old Funeral's guitar player Kristian (later renamed as Varg) Vikernes had already left the band to form his own creation, Burzum.

Euronymous helped many younger bands in the scene, especially Emperor and Enslaved, both of whom he recommended to Candlelight Records. Ihsahn of Emperor said that "if you were trusted, if they knew you were serious in your views, you were accepted" by the Helvete scene. Euronymous took Vikernes, who was five years younger than him, under his wing: inviting him to play bass with Mayhem and offering to release his music as Burzum. However, it has been claimed that their friendship turned to rivalry. Looking back, Faust said: "It sounds really silly, but I think there was a little bit of a contest between them to see who could be more evil. It created a very difficult situation, especially for Euronymous, who wanted the glamour and the showbiz. With him, there was a lot of smoke but not so much fire".

On 6 June 1992, the Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen was destroyed by arson. Vikernes was strongly suspected as the culprit but was never convicted. There followed a wave of church burnings across Norway perpetrated by musicians and fans of the Norwegian black metal scene. Euronymous was present at the burning of Holmenkollen Chapel together with Vikernes and Faust, who were convicted for the arson after Euronymous was dead. Faust says he believes that Euronymous got involved because he "felt he had to prove that he could be a part of it and not just in the background". To coincide with the release of Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Vikernes and Euronymous had allegedly plotted to bomb Nidaros Cathedral, which appears on the album cover. Euronymous' death in August 1993 put an end to this plan and stalled the album's release. In a 1993 interview on a Swedish radio show, Euronymous said of the church burnings:They [Christians] must feel that there is a dark, evil power present that they have to fight, which…will make them more extreme. We also believe that when a church burns it's not only Christians who suffer, but people in general. Imagine a beautiful old stave church...what happens when it burns? The Christians feel despair, God's house is destroyed and ordinary people will suffer from grief because something beautiful was destroyed. So you end up spreading grief and despair, which is a good thing.

In January 1993, an article in one of Norway's biggest newspapers, Bergens Tidende, brought the black metal scene into the media spotlight. Varg Vikernes (using his pseudonym Count Grishnackh) gave an anonymous interview to a journalist from the newspaper, in which he claimed to have burnt the churches and killed a man in Lillehammer. According to Vikernes, the anonymous interview was planned by himself and Euronymous. The goal, he says, was to scare people, promote black metal and get more customers for Helvete. He added that the interview revealed nothing that could prove his involvement in any crime. However, by the time the article was printed, Vikernes had already been arrested. Some of the other scene members were also arrested and questioned, but all were released for lack of evidence. Vikernes himself was released in March 1993, also for lack of evidence. That month, Kerrang! published an article about the Norwegian black metal scene. In it, Euronymous and Vikernes presented themselves as leaders of a militant, cult-like group of "Satanic terrorists". Euronymous claimed that Helvete helps fund its activities, but said that he is not directly involved in its crimes, because if he were caught the organization would fall apart.

After the Bergens Tidende episode, Euronymous decided to shut Helvete as it began to draw the attention of the police and media. Vikernes and the authors of Lords of Chaos claim that Euronymous' parents pressured him into shutting Helvete.

Murder

In early 1993, animosity arose between Euronymous and Vikernes, as well as between Euronymous and some members of the Swedish black metal scene.

On the night of 10 August 1993, Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death at his apartment in Oslo. The murder was initially blamed on Swedish black metallers by the media. It has been speculated that the murder was the result of a power struggle, a financial dispute over Burzum records (Euronymous owed Vikernes a large sum of royalty payments), or an attempt at "outdoing" the stabbing in Lillehammer. Vikernes claims that he killed Euronymous in self-defense. He says that Euronymous had plotted to stun him with an electroshock weapon, tie him up, and torture him to death while videotaping the event. Vikernes explains: "If he was talking about it to everybody and anybody I wouldn't have taken it seriously. But he just told a select group of friends, and one of them told me". He said Euronymous planned to use a meeting about an unsigned contract to ambush him.

On the night of the murder, Vikernes and Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch drove from Bergen to Euronymous' apartment at Tøyengata in Oslo. Blackthorn stood outside smoking while Vikernes climbed the stairs to Euronymous' apartment on the fourth floor. Vikernes said he met Euronymous at the door to hand him the signed contract, but when he stepped forward and confronted Euronymous, Euronymous "panicked" and kicked him in the chest. Vikernes claims Euronymous ran into the kitchen to fetch a knife. The two got into a struggle and Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death. His body was found in the stairwell on the first floor with 23 stab wounds—two to the head, five to the neck, and 16 to the back. Vikernes contends that most of Euronymous' wounds were caused by broken glass he had fallen on during the struggle. After the murder, Vikernes and Blackthorn drove back to Bergen. On the way, they stopped at a lake where Vikernes disposed of his bloodstained clothes. This claim of self-defense is doubted by Faust, while Necrobutcher believes Vikernes killed Euronymous due to the death threats he received from him. Necrobutcher also intended to murder Euronymous himself due to him tastelessly capitalizing on Dead's suicide.

Blackthorn claims Vikernes planned to murder Euronymous and pressured him into coming along. He claims that, in the summer of 1993, he was almost committed to a mental hospital but fled to Bergen and stayed with Vikernes. Blackthorn said of the murder, "I was neither for nor against it. I didn't give a shit about Øystein". Vikernes, however, claims that he had not planned the killing and that Blackthorn came along to show Euronymous some new guitar riffs.

Aftermath
Vikernes was arrested on 19 August 1993 in Bergen. Many other members of the scene, including Blackthorn and Faust, were also taken in for questioning. The trial began on 2 May 1994. At the trial it was claimed that Vikernes, Blackthorn, and another friend had planned the murder. The third person stayed at the apartment in Bergen as an alibi. To make it look like they never left Bergen, he was to rent films, play them in the apartment, and withdraw money from Vikernes' credit card. On 16 May 1994, Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison (Norway's maximum penalty) for the murder of Euronymous, the arson of three churches, the attempted arson of a fourth church, and for the theft and storage of 150 kg of explosives. However, he only confessed to the latter. Two churches were burnt the day he was sentenced, "presumably as a statement of symbolic support". Blackthorn was sentenced to 8 years in prison for being an accomplice. Vikernes was released from prison on parole in 2009.

At Euronymous' funeral, Hellhammer (Mayhem's drummer) and Necrobutcher (Mayhem's former bassist) decided to continue with the band and worked on releasing the De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album. Before the release, Euronymous' family asked Hellhammer to remove the bass tracks recorded by Vikernes. Hellhammer said: "I thought it was appropriate that the murderer and victim were on the same record. I put word out that I was rerecording the bass parts, but I never did". The album, which has Euronymous on electric guitar and Vikernes on bass guitar, was finally released in May 1994.

A part of the Norwegian scene considered Vikernes a traitor for murdering Euronymous and turning his back on Satanism in favor of nationalism and Odinism, although Vikernes claims he was never a Satanist and had only used Satan to provoke. They saw Euronymous' death as a significant loss to the scene, and some black metallers "have sworn to avenge Aarseth's death". A few years after the murder, Ihsahn of Emperor said, "There's no discipline in the scene anymore, like earlier on around the shop". After his death, a "cult developed around the memory of Euronymous," and he was hailed by some as "the King" or "Godfather of Black Metal".

A new generation of musicians also tried to gain credibility by riding on the back of his legacy. However, many of Euronymous' friends and bandmates "speak of the killing with a tone of indifference". Lords of Chaos remarks: "what is striking [...] is how little they care about the lives or deaths of one another". In the book, Hellhammer, Ihsahn and Samoth claim that Euronymous' death either did not affect them or did not shock them. Anders Odden (a friend of Euronymous at the time) said of the murder: "It wasn't odd that he ended up getting killed. He thought he could threaten to kill people without it having any consequences". He added: "I think many people felt relief once he was gone". Writer and musician Erlend Erichsen agreed, saying, "Nobody was there to boss them about. The 'black metal police' were gone".

Beliefs and personality
The book Lords of Chaos says of Euronymous:He was always dressed in black from head to foot, his hair dyed black for added effect. He sported long, aristocratic mustaches and wore knee-high boots. His black leather biker jacket was decorated with badges [...] When talking, he seemed stern and serious, sometimes with pomposity verging on the theatrical".

In interviews, Euronymous claimed to be against individualism, compassion, peace, happiness and fun. He claimed he wanted to spread hatred, sorrow and evil. In a 1992 interview, he said "The hardcore [punk] pigs have correctly made themselves guardians of morality, but we must kick them in the face and become guardians of anti-morality". The following year, he told Kill Yourself zine, "There is NOTHING which is too sick, evil or perverted" and claimed "I have no problem with killing someone in cold blood". Metalion (who knew Euronymous since 1985 and considered him his best friend) said Euronymous "was always telling what he thought, following his own instincts [...] worshipping death and being extreme". Euronymous' shop attracted a lot of new young fans, many of whom looked up to and even idolized him.

However, some who knew Euronymous claim that "the extreme Satanic image he projected was, in fact, just that—a projection which bore little resemblance to his real personality". They include Necrobutcher, Kjetil Manheim, Vikernes and Blackthorn. Faust said that with Euronymous, "there was a lot of smoke but not so much fire". When asked why Euronymous made such extreme statements to the press, Ihsahn said: "I think that was very much to create fear among people". He added that the scene "wanted to be in opposition to society" and "tried to concentrate more on just being 'evil' than having a real Satanic philosophy". Mayhem drummer Kjetil Manheim (Euronymous' friend from 1983 until his death) described him as "health oriented ... A nice guy, a family guy," but said that when his older friends weren't around, "he could play out his role". Manheim claimed that Euronymous became "extreme" towards the end of his life: "He liked telling people that they were worthless; that he was the best. He was all 'I define black metal. Black metal is me!' … I think he was trapped in the image of Mayhem. He became a megalomaniac". In the documentary Pure Fucking Mayhem, he said "Øystein's daily life was a total theater" that was based on the black metal "archetype" of Euronymous.

Religion
In interviews, Euronymous said he was a theistic Satanist.
In an interview by Esa Lahdenperä conducted in August 1993, Euronymous stated:
I believe in a horned devil, a personified Satan. In my opinion all the other forms of Satanism are bullshit. [...] Satanism comes from religious Christianity, and there it shall stay. I'm a religious person and I will fight those who misuse His name. People are not supposed to believe in themselves and be individualists. They are supposed to OBEY, to be the SLAVES of religion.

The theistic Satanism espoused by Euronymous was an inversion of Roman Catholic dogma, and he claimed "We praise the evil and we believe blindly in a godly creature just like a Christian". On the relationship between religion and science, he said: "Scientists can't disprove [...] religion. No matter how hard you try, you can't explain the universe. You can't leave out a religious belief."

He opposed the Satanic and occultist teachings of Anton LaVey and Aleister Crowley, for unlike Euronymous, they promoted what he saw as "peace" and commercial frivolity, as well as individualism in contrast to dogma. He said he would "never accept any band which preaches Church of Satan ideas, as they are just a bunch of freedom and life-loving atheists, and they stand exactly the opposite of me". When asked what he thought of Crowley's code of "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law", he answered, "People shall do what WE want them to do. We're against freedom, and forced a band from Rogaland in Norway—Belsebub—to split up."

As noted earlier, some of those who knew Euronymous claim that his "extreme Satanic image" was an act. While Mortiis said that Euronymous "was such a devil worshipper you wouldn't believe it," in the black metal documentary Until the Light Takes Us, Varg Vikernes claimed that Euronymous was not a Satanist. He said: "To Aarseth everything was about image and he wanted to appear extreme. He wanted people to think of him as being extreme; the most extreme of them all. But he didn't want to be extreme and he wasn't really extreme". While Metalion, who was friends with both Vikernes and Euronymous when the latter died, and called Euronymous his best friend, wrote that "some people in our scene read a few books and considered themselves Satanists," he made no such statements about Euronymous. Tenebris (allegedly Jon Nödtveidt) from the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, a Swedish Satanic order formed in 1995, wrote that "back then, in 1991, things mainly concerned black metal and ideological Satanism […] and kind of stood and fell with Euronymous and his shop. Therefore, it vanished with his death in '93".

Over time, some members of the Norwegian scene began to follow Paganism. Vikernes later claimed that Euronymous—"obsessed with this 'Satanist' thing"—disapproved of Vikernes promoting paganism. Euronymous showed no explicit disapproval of paganism though, and released the pagan band Enslaved's first album, Vikingligr Veldi, on Deathlike Silence Productions.

Black metal and death metal
Euronymous said that the term "black metal" can apply to any kind of metal so long as it is "Satanic" and "heavy". He said, "If a band cultivates and worships Satan, it's black metal," and that "in a way, it can be ordinary heavy metal or just noise. What's important is that it's Satanic; that's what makes it black metal". He rejected bands like Immortal being called black metal, "as they are not Satanists," but supported the band nonetheless. As noted earlier, bands who had LaVeyan beliefs were also rejected. When it was pointed out that Venom (the band that coined the term "black metal") only used Satanism as a gimmick, Euronymous said that he and the Black Circle "choose to believe otherwise".

Likewise, Euronymous said that the term death metal can apply to any kind of metal, so long as the band "cultivates and worships death". Euronymous lamented the commercialization and loss of extremity within death metal. He said "Real Death Metal should be something normal people are afraid of, not something mothers can listen to," and "Death Metal is for brutal people who are capable of killing, it's not for idiotic children who want to have [a] funny hobby after school".

Like many others in the black metal scene, Euronymous originally believed that black metal should stay underground. However, he later changed his mind. He believed that the idea of staying underground came from hardcore punk, and said, "Those who scream most about being in 'underground' is also often those who make so bad music that they don't have a chance to get big themselves". He added: "I wouldn't mind making DSP big and earn a million, as long as I don't change my ways of thinking and being. […] If there were one million black metal fans in the world, most of them would be jerks, but there would be really many true and brutal people as well. The bigger we get, the more we can manipulate people into thinking like us".

Politics
Euronymous was interested in totalitarian communist states such as the Soviet Union under Stalin and Romania under Ceaușescu. He collected Eastern Bloc memorabilia, and in the '80s, he was a member of the Norwegian communist youth group Rød Ungdom, which was Marxist–Leninist at the time. He left Rød Ungdom, allegedly because he came to realise that they were "just a bunch of humanists". He said "as I hate people I don't want them to have a good time, I'd like to see them rot under communist dictatorship". He had a fascination with the idea of mass surveillance, secret police and forced disappearance. Mayhem's Attila Csihar said Euronymous was not a communist "in the political sense" but was fascinated by the power communist dictators had over their people.

Hellhammer said "Euronymous wanted to be the most extreme person, and he thought that communism was very extreme", but that he later claimed to be a fascist. In a private letter written in the early '90s, Euronymous claimed that "almost all" Norwegian black metal bands at the time were "more or less Nazis", including Mayhem. He did not, however, use the music of Mayhem to promote any kind of politics.

Instruments
Euronymous' main guitar was a sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar, which he can be seen playing in many pictures. He stated in various interviews that his and Mayhem's main influences were Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Sodom and Destruction, whilst he also liked Iron Maiden, Kiss, Celtic Frost and Metallica. He played through a slightly modified 1981 Marshall Super Lead tube amp and used a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal, as well as a Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal.

Legacy
Euronymous was ranked No. 51 out of The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World.

In March 2012, low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle set up a public poll asking customers to pick a famous Norwegian historic figure whose picture would decorate the aircraft's tail fin. Largely on the strength of international fans, Aarseth was leading the poll, but his name was removed from the campaign at his family's request.

The 2018 film Lords of Chaos, based on the eponymous book, is a semi-fictionalised account of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene told from the perspective of Euronymous. In the film Euronymous is played by Rory Culkin.

Discography
Euronymous played guitar on the following albums except where noted, any additional instruments or credits in notes.

References

Bibliography

External links

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Russian Euronymous fan site

1968 births
1990s murders in Norway
1993 crimes in Norway
1993 deaths
1993 murders in Europe
20th-century guitarists
20th-century Norwegian businesspeople
Black metal guitarists
Crimes involving Satanism or the occult
Deaths by stabbing in Norway
Mayhem (band) members
Male murder victims
Norwegian black metal musicians
Norwegian communists
Norwegian murder victims
Norwegian rock guitarists
Norwegian Sámi people
Norwegian Satanists
People from Egersund
People from Surnadal
People murdered in Norway
Lords of Chaos is a 2018 horror-thriller film directed by Jonas Åkerlund and written by Dennis Magnusson and Åkerlund. Adapted from the 1998 book of the same name, the film is a historical fiction account of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene told from the perspective of Mayhem co-founder Euronymous. It stars Rory Culkin as Euronymous, Emory Cohen as Varg Vikernes, Jack Kilmer as Dead, and Sky Ferreira as Ann-Marit.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2018. It was released in the United States on 8 February 2019 by Gunpowder & Sky, in the United Kingdom on 29 March 2019 by Arrow Films and in Sweden on 5 April 2019 by Nordisk Film. It received positive reviews from critics, but was met with polarizing reception from audiences within the metal community.

Plot
In 1987, a young guitarist called Euronymous forms a black metal band called Mayhem, the first of the genre in their country of Norway, with Necrobutcher on bass, and  Manheim on drums. Manheim leaves and is soon replaced by new drummer Hellhammer and they recruit a new vocalist from Sweden called Dead, who exhibits self-destructive behavior, during their live shows cutting himself and bleeding on the audience and throwing pig heads at the "posers". At a show filmed by their friend Metalion, the band meets a fan named Kristian, whom Euronymous initially looks down on.

While home alone, Dead uses his personal knife to cut his arms and throat, and then uses Euronymous' shotgun to shoot himself in the forehead, leaving behind a suicide note. Euronymous returns home and finds the body but instead of calling the police, he takes photos of the body and moves the knife and shotgun around. After Dead's body is taken to the morgue, Euronymous gives necklaces to the other band members which he claims are pieces of Dead's skull; this disgusts Necrobutcher, prompting him to leave the band.

Soon after, Euronymous starts his own black metal record label and opens a record shop called Helvete ("Hell"), which becomes a social hub for black-metallers like Metalion, Fenriz of Darkthrone, Faust of Emperor, and Kristian (who is now calling himself Varg Vikernes) of Burzum. They become known as the "Black Circle". After being mocked by Euronymous, the very anti-Christian Varg burns down a local church. When challenged by Varg concerning his status as the leader of the Black Circle, Euronymous burns down a church with Faust and Varg accompanying.

Euronymous recruits Varg as bassist, a guitarist called Blackthorn and a Hungarian vocalist, Attila Csihar, to record Mayhem's first album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. A power dispute between Varg and Euronymous arises.

After a wave of church burnings begins, Faust brutally kills a gay man, leading police to link black-metallers to the crimes. Helvete is shut down and Varg is arrested as prime suspect after an interview with a Bergen newspaper in which he boasts of the crimes. He is soon released for lack of evidence. Varg tells Euronymous that he is leaving Mayhem and is starting his own record label. Euronymous reveals that the "skull piece" necklaces were fakes, and that he never intended anyone to follow through on his angry rhetoric, which infuriates Varg.

While packing away things in the shop, Euronymous angrily rants to a peer about wanting to kill Varg, but later calms down and sends him a contract to release their music rights to him. Varg, having heard that Euronymous was making death threats against him, travels to Oslo in the early morning of August 10 to confront him. Telling Euronymous he wants to sign the contract, he enters his apartment and, after a brief conversation, stabs him. Euronymous pleads for his life, but Varg follows him through the apartment to the stairwell outside and stabs him to death. The next day, the news of Euronymous' murder spreads throughout Norway and Varg is soon arrested. He is sent to prison for a maximum of 21 years, guilty of both the murder of Euronymous and the burning of several churches. In a voice-over, Euronymous tells the audience not to feel sorry for him, that he enjoyed his life and invented a new sub-genre of metal.

Cast

Production
Lords of Chaos is based on the 1998 book of the same name. Originally, Japanese director Sion Sono was set to direct a film based on the book, with Jackson Rathbone starring as Varg Vikernes. It would have been Sono's first English-language film. The screenplay was written by Hans Fjellestad (who was earlier reported to be the film's director as well), Ryan Page, Adam Parfrey (the book's publisher), and Sono. In July 2009, Sono stated that filming (in Norway) would begin in August or September and end in December. The film was set to be released in 2010. It was later announced that Rathbone would no longer be playing Vikernes due to scheduling conflicts.

In May 2015, it was announced that former Bathory drummer and film director Jonas Åkerlund would direct the film. The film was set to shoot in the fall of 2015 in Norway, but for unknown reasons, filming did not begin until 2016. The film was shot in Oslo, Norway, with live performance scenes shot in Budapest, Hungary. The live sequences shoot also included filming for the Metallica music video "ManUNkind", starring the cast of the film.

Vikernes, who had already expressed criticisms against the book, stated in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel in 2016 that when approached by the filmmakers, he, along with Mayhem and Darkthrone, denied the rights for their music to be used in the film. In a 2018 interview, Åkerlund said that they had in fact secured the rights to Mayhem's music.

Historical accuracy
Åkerlund described the film as "about truth and lies". In an interview for Dazed, it was reported that Åkerlund consulted "original band merch ... was granted access to key police reports as well as detailed photos of Euronymous's record store Helvete, and the house the band camped out in. ... Åkerlund even used real locations for exterior shots of, among others, Euronymous's flat and a rebuilt church that Vikernes burnt down in Holmenkollen."

Culkin said that he prepared for his role by consulting several associates of Euronymous: "They almost always compared him to a mythological creature: one person said he was kind of like a gnome and another said he was like an evil elf. Because he was small dude but confident in himself and he has this clan around him, people really embellished and lionised him."

In one scene from the film, Dead anachronistically declares, "We are Lords of Chaos." The name actually originates from the unrelated American criminal group whose name was adopted for the book Lords of Chaos. The book's scope was not focused solely on the Norwegian black metal scene.

Jack Kilmer's performance as the band's frontman Dead has received praise for being the most accurate portrayal in the film, with the exception of one scene where he has a cat hanging from his room. The real Dead never killed any cats but did chase them off for fun. Some criticisms were made that the Live in Jessheim scene jumps to Dead's suicide, given a whole year had passed in between both events and Dead and Euronymous' subsequent falling out and animosity was never portrayed apart from one scene in which Euronymous mockingly waves a shotgun in front of Dead and suggests he shoots himself. The time Varg claims Dead stabbed Euronymous was never portrayed in the film.

Release and reception
The first screening on Lords of Chaos was held at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2018 in Park City, Utah. In October 2018, a first-quarter 2019 release window for the United States was announced, with Arrow Films securing the distribution rights in the United Kingdom, where it was released on 29 March 2019. The film was released in the US in theaters on 8 February 2019 and via video on demand on 22 February 2019 by Gunpowder & Sky. In Sweden, it was released on 5 April 2019 by Nordisk Film.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Lords of Chaos holds an approval rating of  based on  reviews, and an average rating of . The site's critics consensus states: "Lords of Chaos presents a grimly compelling dramatization of a real-life music scene whose aggressively nihilistic aesthetic spilled over into fatal acts of violence." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Lowe praised Lords of Chaos as a "vibrant biopic" that "provokes both awe and repulsion". Amy Nicholson of Variety wrote, "Despite Åkerlund's refusal to lionize these immature kids, Lords of Chaos is tremendous fun. ... he can also get great performances out of a young cast". IndieWires Michael Nordine awarded the film a B rating and wrote "Lords of Chaos is frequently unpleasant but oddly compelling—not least because Åkerlund ensures that the film never takes itself as seriously as its subjects did."

Conversely, The A.V. Clubs Katie Rife decried that "Åkerlund's understanding [of the Norwegian black metal scene] is more like contempt". Kory Grow of Rolling Stone wrote: "perhaps the film's worst sin is its tone ... It's not fun. It's not sad. A lot of the time, it's not even all that interesting." Robert Ham of Consequence wrote that "Instead of courting [the black metal] audience, or trying to find some middle ground where [Åkerlund] celebrates the music while rightfully disparaging the actions of some of its worst figureheads, he punches down with a smirk and dismisses the birth of a genre as the product of misspent youth."

The New York Times Manohla Dargis criticised the film for "never establish[ing] a coherent or interesting point of view. The tone unproductively veers from the goofy to the creepy, which creates a sense that [Åkerlund] was still figuring it out in the editing." Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times summarized, "Ultimately it all adds up to a hodgepodge of styles and attitudes with hardly any insight into what made this corrosive clique so magnetic to its adherents."

Reactions from the depicted
Attila Csihar, in a January 2019 interview, stated that the official opinion of the current Mayhem members regarding the film and its creators is a "big fuck you". He pointed out that the film was based on a book and only focused on Mayhem during the 1990s, not the whole black metal scene at the time. He confirmed that some Tormentor songs appear in the film and that he himself is played by his son, Arion Csihar. Attila himself was present during the shooting of the church burning scenes. In a later interview in May 2019, he offered a more nuanced critique of the film, saying that while the film is based on reality, he disagrees with how the story was presented, and that the characters were portrayed as "idiots".

Vikernes harshly criticised the film as "made-up crap", objecting to being portrayed by a Jewish actor and to plot elements, calling the depiction "character murder".

Necrobutcher has provided ambivalent reactions after viewing the film: he praised the production values and the wardrobe accuracy, but noted that the movie was "sad" and "not a good movie", and that viewing the murder scenes had an emotional effect on him. He also addressed Mayhem's initial negative reaction to the announcement of the film, and explained that their intense negative reaction was largely because the band has only been approached after production on the film has started, and that he gave permission to use Mayhem's music in the film after seeing a rough cut. Ultimately he noted that the film had very little impact on the band.

See also
 Until the Light Takes Us, 2008 documentary film about the Norwegian black metal scene
 Murder of Euronymous

Notes

References

External links
 
 
 
 

2018 films
2018 horror thriller films
American films
American horror thriller films
Biographical films about musicians
Black metal
British films
British horror thriller films
English-language Swedish films
Films about musical groups
Films about religion
Films about secret societies
Films about terrorism
Films based on non-fiction books
Films directed by Jonas Åkerlund
Films set in the 1980s
Films set in 1991
Films set in 1992
Films set in 1993
Films set in Norway
Films shot in Norway
Heavy metal films
Horror films based on actual events
Mayhem (band)
Swedish films
Swedish horror thriller films
Thriller films based on actual events Abruptum is a Swedish black metal and dark ambient solo side-project band. It is run by Evil (Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson) of Marduk, but the band was formed in 1989 by IT (a.k.a. Tony Särkkä). All (a.k.a. Jim Berger), Ext and Evil joined the band later.  IT was one of the leaders of the True Satanist Horde, part of the Swedish Black metal scene. Euronymous, co-founder of Mayhem and founder of Deathlike Silence Productions, described Abruptum as "the audial essence of pure black evil".

History
IT had already planned to create the band in 1987, but it was not until 1990 that he found the right members to do it.  The same year, they recorded their first two demos.  After the release of the first demo, they fired their bass player, Ext.  After the release of a 7-inch EP  Evil in 1991 (later re-released by Psychoslaughter), All began to drink heavily and was forced to leave the band. IT then found a new member in "Evil".  Around this time, IT reunited with All to form the side project, Vondur.

Abruptum was signed to Euronymous's label Deathlike Silence Productions, on which they released two albums. Euronymous described them as "the audial essence of pure black evil", and IT considered Euronymous to be "a true ally". After Euronymous's murder, Abruptum contributed the opening track to the compilation album Nordic Metal: A Tribute to Euronymous. Controversy surrounded Abruptum's close relationship with Euronymous, with Varg Vikernes specifically referencing Abruptum when recalling his version of the events and motives leading to the death of Euronymous.  Vikernes, claiming that he killed Euronymous in self-defense, recalled in a 2006 interview:

It has been wrongly rumored IT left the band and the black metal scene altogether in 1996, following numerous threats made to him and to his family. According to IT himself and his sister/manager, that was not at all the reason for his departure from the scene, as he had simply been wanting to leave for some time until he ultimately did. Evil kept Abruptum going and released material on his own record label, Blooddawn Productions, until 2005 when he announced that he had ended Abruptum.

Since Abruptum's disbanding, IT joined an industrial band called 8th Sin, and was briefly involved with the band (Total) War along with All. All worked with IT again in Ophthalamia, but they too eventually disbanded. IT eventually died on 8 February 2017, aged 44. Evil continues his work with Marduk and Death Wolf (formerly known as Devil's Whorehouse), yet brought Abruptum back in 2008, recording and releasing an EP ("Malediction") that same year and a full-length ("Potestates Apocalypsis") in 2011 under his Blooddawn Productions label.

Music themes and style 
While Abruptum is classified as a black metal/dark ambient band, the band took a different approach to their music.  They did not focus on creating any structured songs, and mostly just made noise.  Earlier material had shorter songs but their later releases typically included one or two tracks with more than forty minutes of music.  They primarily used standard drums, guitars, bass, keyboards and other various instruments, but what stood out even more was the screaming, as the band supposedly tortured and cut each other during their recordings.  Whether this is true or not has never really been verified.  This led to Euronymous' now (in)famous distinction of Abruptum as "The Audial Essence of Pure Black Evil".  After IT left the band, Evil changed the band's musical style to more dark ambient/noise and dropped most of the metal sound.

Members

Current member
Evil (Patrik Niclas Morgan Håkansson), Piano, Vocals, Programming (1993–1995, 2000–2005, 2008–present)

Former members
IT – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums, Violin (1989–1997)
All – Vocals (1990–1991)
Ext – Bass (1990)

Discography 
Abruptum (Demo, 1990)
The Satanist Tunes (Demo, 1990)
Evil (7" EP, 1991)
Orchestra of Dark (Same as 'The Satanist Tunes' with additional 'Outro' added, 1991)
Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectere Me (Deathlike Silence Productions, March 15, 1993)
Translation: "I call on obscurity to embrace me."
In Umbra Malitae Ambulabo, in Aeternum in Triumpho Tenebraum (Deathlike Silence Productions, April 1, 1994)
Translation: "Walk in the shadow of evil, in the triumph of darkness forever."
Evil Genius [First Two Demos and 7" EP on one CD; Hellspawn Records, 1995; remastered and re-reissued by Black Lodge Records and Southern Lord Records with a bonus track ('De Profundis Mors Vas Cousumet' from the Nordic Metal compilation) in 2007]
Nordic Metal: A Tribute to Euronymous (Track Contribution: 'De Profundis Mors Vas Consumet', 1995)
Vi Sonas Veris Nigrae Malitiaes (Full Moon Productions, 1997)
De Profundis mors vas Consumet ('Nordic Metal' track + 2 Unreleased Tracks); Blooddawn Productions, 2000)
Translation: "Death from the deep vessel consumes"
Casus Luciferi (Blooddawn Productions, March 15, 2004)
(Rough) Translation: "Lucifer's downfall"
Maledictum (EP) (Blooddawn Productions, 2008)
Translation: "Curse"
Potestates Apocalypsis (Blooddawn Productions, June 2011)
Translation: "Powers of the Apocalypse"

References

External links
Tartarean Desire entry on Abruptum
FMP Entry on Abruptum
Old IT interview from Petrified eZine, 1994

Dark ambient music groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 2005
Musical groups reestablished in 2008
Musical quartets
Noise musical groups
Swedish musical groups
Swedish black metal musical groups