Black Metal Inner Circle

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The Black Metal Inner Circle was a group comprising members of the second wave of Norwegian black metal. They were influential, both musically and socially, on the emerging black metal scene of the early 1990s. The group later was the focus of controversy, firstly due to crimes committed and attributed to some of its members and secondly because of the agenda of these members to violently expel and supplant Christianity with alternative ideologies; for instance Varg Vikernes adhered to paganism and Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous) was an occultist and a Satanist (of the inverse-Christian variant). Because of this, some look at the Black Circle as a terrorist group, although others dispute this.

The group was formed around 1990 by Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous) of Mayhem, in the basement of his record store, Helvete (which translates as "Hell" in Norwegian). Notable members of the inner circle included Mayhem vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin (Dead), Varg Vikernes of Burzum, as well as Bård Faust of Emperor, Satyr of Satyricon and Samoth from Emperor (interestingly, Ishahn from Emperor later acknowledged respect as well as influence from the teachings of LaVey in later interviews).

The group's beliefs were a mixture of isolationism, Norse paganism/Norse Mythology and racial superiority, very much dominated by Aarseth's personal ideas. Although most of the group's members were anti-Christian, few held with the biblical belief of a final battle between God and Satan. The satanic philosophy of Anton LaVey was rejected in view of a vengeful satanism. In music publications, Aarseth was often critical of metal scenes and bands outside Norway. He ran an independent record label, Deathlike Silence Records, which promoted some of the emerging black metal bands.

In 1991, Dead committed suicide and the group became even more intense in their beliefs. The historic Fantoft stave church in Fantoft, Norway was burned down by Varg Vikernes on June 6th, 1992, soon followed by attacks on several other Norwegian churches.

Ideological and business disputes arose between Øystein Aarseth and Varg Vikernes. On August 10, 1993, Aarseth was murdered by Varg Vikernes at his home in Oslo following a dispute. It is disputed that Aarseth was planning on killing Varg, and was killed when he tried to attack Vikernes. Vikernes was later arrested and convicted of the murder, along with three counts of arson. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison. The police discovered, among Vikernes' belongings, a list of crimes committed by other members of the group. Eithun received a 14 year sentence for murdering a man in 1992 and a church arson in the same year. Samoth received an 18 month prison sentence for arson in March of 1995.

The crimes and convictions of several Black Metal Circle members brought it to public notoriety in Norway. Overall theories of the group's ideologies and why the crimes were committed were published widely in the Scandinavian press and underground music publications of the time.

Rumours are that around the world a 2nd Black Circle seems to move on, with random acts of violence and arson. All members are anonymous and correspond to each other only through aliases. Although this rumour is believed to be true, it cannot be proven because of it's anonymity, unless it reaches an epic pinnacle like the first Black Circle. The only proven murder of this 2nd circle is the murder of 15 year-old german Sandro Beyer, by the members of the band Absurd.

[edit] Denials of existence

Vikernes has denied the existence of the Black Metal Inner Circle, in his review of "Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock and Roll" ^[1], claiming "First of all the so-called Black Circle was something Euronymous made up because he wanted to make people believe there was such a thing, but it was nonsense and never existed. The media on the other hand believed it existed for a while, but quickly stopped talking about it when they understood it was a fake rumour."

Vikernes has made strong attacks on the media, including the books "Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock and Roll" and "Lords Of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground", both of which claim the existence of the "Black Metal Inner Circle"

[edit] References

• Baddeley, Gavin (1999). Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock and Roll
• Moynihan, Micheal and Didrik Soderlind (1998). Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground