Euronymous
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Øystein Aarseth (March 22, 1968 - August 10, 1993[1]) was a guitarist for the infamous Norwegian black metal band Mayhem who went by the stage name Euronymous. He was founder and owner of the extreme / black metal label Deathlike Silence, as well as the Oslo specialist record shop Helvete, until his murder by musician Varg Vikernes.
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[edit] Music/Instruments
Euronymous played a Gibson Les Paul guitar sunburst color, which is seen in many pictures of him playing. His soloing technique is somewhat similar to that of Trey Azagthoth from Morbid Angel. He stated in various interviews that his main guitar influences were bands such as Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost/Hellhammer, and Sodom. He played on a Marshall Half Stack and used an Ibanez tube screamer pedal as well as a Metal pedal which gave off a unique sound.
[edit] Biography
Aarseth formed the original Mayhem line up in 1983. At the time he was going by the stage name "Destructor" but on joining the band he changed his name to Euronymous, a title taken from a Hellhammer song -- misspelled from Eurynomos, the Hellhammer song misspells the name this way, which is why Euronymous's name is misspelled this way. By the late 80's Aarseth had steered the band towards a satanist stance, and this was to have a profound effect on all of the then-nascent scene members. He became the focal center of the Black Metal Inner Circle. He opposed the teachings of Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey, instead embracing devil-worship as perceived by Christians, deliberately inverting Christian dogma and enacting what was found to be abhorrent and blasphemous: for instance, he was an ardent proponent of sodomy (1). Aarseth apparently did not have a problem with the following of Paganism in the Black Metal scene, however, as the majority of the bands followed this and/or embraced their ancient European/Viking roots.
He opened a record store called Helvete (Norwegian for "Hell") and started his own record label and mailorder, which he named "Deathlike Silence". When Mayhem's vocalist Dead committed suicide in April 1991, Aarseth discovered the corpse and took pictures later used for a bootleg cover, though against Aarseth's wishes. It was widely rumoured that Aarseth consumed portions of Dead's brain, but he dismissed this in an interview, although he claimed he had intended to do so(1). He was also believed to have made a necklace from fragments of Dead's skull. In a recent interview, Hellhammer claimed the necklace was later stolen on tour. The myth further states that black metal band Marduk still has other smaller pieces. "It" from Abruptum also claims to have fragments.
[edit] Death
In 1993, Øystein Aarseth was fatally stabbed by Varg Vikernes, who was going by the alias "Count Grishnackh" at the time. According to official reports Øystein received a total of twenty-three wounds: two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back.
There is much speculation as regards the motive for the murder, Vikernes has stated that the stabbing was motivated mostly by self-defense (see: A Burzum Story)
After Aarseth's death Mayhem continued to record their upcoming album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. However, Euronymous' mother had asked Hellhammer, Mayhem's drummer, to remove the bassline recorded by Varg. Though he promised to personally re-record the bass parts himself, in truth he had no idea how to, and so the final album retained the Varg contributions.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Euronymous' Final Words (Interview) (1) - Euronymous outlines his preferred variant of satanism, as well as what he intended to do with vocalist Dead's brain.
| Mayhem |
|---|
| Necrobutcher | Hellhammer | Attila Csihar | Blasphemer |
| Manheim | Dead | Maniac | Occultus | Euronymous | Count Grishnackh | Blackthorn | Nordgaren |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Deathcrush, 1987 | De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas , 1994 | Wolf's Lair Abyss, 1997 | Grand Declaration of War, 2000 | Chimera, 2004 | Ordo Ad Chao, 2007 |
| Live and compilation releases: Live in Leipzig, 1993 | Out from the Dark, 1996 | Ancient Skin / Necrolust, 1987 | Necrolust / Total Warfare, 1999 | Mediolanum Capta Est, 1999 | European Legions, 2001 | Legions of War, 2003 |
| Demos and bootlegs: Voice of a Tortured Skull, 1986 | Pure Fucking Armageddon , 1986 | Live Zeitz, 1990 | Dawn of the Black Hearts, 1991 |
| Related articles |
| Burzum |
