Early Norwegian black metal scene

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"Helvete" redirects here. For the Nasum album, see Helvete (album).

The early Norwegian Black Metal scene was a group of Norwegian black metal enthusiasts in the early 1990s, identified as Black Metal Inner Circle by some. Consisting of youths ranging from late teens to mid-20s, most of such enthusiasts congregated at the record store Helvete in Oslo. It is from this scene that the "Second Wave" of black metal emanated, and possibly where later crimes, that would overshadow this era of black metal, had been conceived and elaborated.

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[edit] Helvete

Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous from Mayhem) had opened an independent outlet, which he called Helvete, in the early summer of 1991.[1]The term Helvete is Norwegian for hell, and originates from the norse expression hels víti, meaning the punishment of Hel.[2] The record store was located in Oslo, Schweigaards gate 56. Several musicians in the scene frequently met in the basement of the record store Helvete, such as Per Yngve Ohlin (Dead) of Mayhem, Varg Vikernes of Burzum, Bård Faust and Samoth of Emperor, and Snorre Ruch of Thorns. It was not only an important gathering place for Norwegian black metal musicians, Euronymous also founded his Deathlike Silence Productions in its basement, releasing some of the most important Norwegian black metal recordings. Bård Faust worked in Helvete and lived at the back of the building,[3] and Samoth also lived there for a time.[4] The store's walls were painted black and decorated with medieval weapons, posters of bands, and picture discs, while its window featured a polystyrene tombstone.[3]

In summer 1993, the store was closed only months before Aarseth's murder committed by Varg Vikernes from Burzum.

[edit] Allegations of Terrorism and a "Black Metal Inner Circle"

The scene later was the focus of controversy due to crimes committed by some of its members; two cases of murder, alleged cannibalism and over a dozen cases of arson. In addition to this, 'satanic' crimes were attributed to the Black Metal scene in the Norwegian media. For example, one Norwegian TV Channel conducted an interview with a woman who claimed that her child was sacrified by 'satanists'.[5] Apparently, most of the members of the scene abhorred Christianity, but whether the church arsons were committed as part of an agenda to violently expel Christianity from Norway and supplant it with alternative ideologies is not clear. Varg Vikernes has described his beliefs as Odalism; judging from various text on www.burzum.org it is some form of racist and eugenic Neopaganism.[6] Øystein Aarseth was an occultist and a Satanist (of the inverse-Christian variant). Because of this, some look at the "Black Circle" as a minor terrorist group, although many others dispute this label.

For example, an online announcement for a fiction film based on true events in the Norwegian black metal music scene in the early 1990s reads: "In an escalating unholy war, black metal bands and their obsessive fans have left a grim legacy of suicide, murder and terrorism spreading from Norway to Germany, Russia, America and beyond. The feature film will focus on the relationship between legendary figures Varg Vikernes and Euronymous and the rest of the 'Black Circle' as they wage war against the powers that be in their native country." [7] [8]

Whereas the scene is often referred to as the Black Metal Inner Circle (particularly by Aarseth), such a term is highly disputable. Not only would it imply that some sort of cult existed at the time, the accounts about it differ strongly: On www.burzum.org, Varg Vikernes has made strong attacks on 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". In his review of Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock and Roll,[9] Vikernes has denied the existence of the Black Metal Inner Circle, 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.'

When asked "What was the Black Circle?" in Lords of Chaos, Bård Faust replied: "It's just a name that was invented for the people who hung out at the shop ... there wasn't anything like members and membership cards and official meetings."[10] Although this is somehow contrary to the image of the black metal scene that Lords of Chaos tries to convey, Bård Faust sticks to his version when Moynihan digs deeper after any "organization".

The group's beliefs were a mixture of isolationism, occultism, Satanism, Norse paganism/Norse Mythology and (in the case of some members) racial superiority, with the former two being embraced by Aarseth himself, whose ideas were dominant in the Inner Circle. 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 (interestingly, Ihsahn from Emperor later acknowledged respect as well as influence from the teachings of LaVey in later interviews). 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.

Notably, in 1991, Per Yngve Ohlin from Mayhem committed suicide in a house he was sharing in Kråkstad with the other members of Mayhem via shotgun blast to the head, which followed a series of self-inflicted lacerations to his arms. Upon discovering the body, Aarseth ran to a convenience store nearby to purchase a disposable camera and photograph Ohlin's body in various positions before calling the police. The pictures were later stolen, and one was used as the cover of a Mayhem bootleg album called Dawn of the Black Hearts. Various rumours have also emerged regarding Euronymous's actions upon discovering the corpse, the most famous being the claim that Euronymous cooked and ate a stew out of fragments of Dead's brain and made several necklaces out of pieces of his skull, passing them on to those he deemed worthy.

In the following years, Helvete began to unravel as a business. After closing the store by summer of 1993, Aarseth found himself in the middle of ideological and business disputes with Varg Vikernes. On August 10, 1993, Aarseth was murdered by Varg at his home in Oslo. It is disputed that Aarseth was planning on killing Varg, however, one morning Varg came into Aarseth's apartment and killed him while he was still in his underwear. Vikernes was later arrested and convicted of the murder, along with three counts of arson. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Additionally, Eithun from Emperor received a 14 year sentence for murdering a man in 1992 and for a church arson in the same year. He served 9 years before being released in 2003. Samoth also received an 18 month sentence for an arson in March 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 through underground music publications at the time.

[edit] Timeline of Church arsons and attempted arsons

Varg Vikernes was found guilty for the arsons of Holmenkollen Chapel, Skjold Church and Åsane Church.[11] Altogether there were 50 cases of arson or attempted arson between 1992 and 1996.[5] Only a few are mentioned in the media that is available in English.

[edit] 1992

[edit] 1993

[edit] List of artists

The following is a list of Norwegian black metal bands that released music during 1991-1993:

[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
  1. ^ In May or June 1991, according to the Interview with Bård Eithun; Lords of Chaos (1998): 66
  2. ^ Norwegian dictionary entry for "Helvete"
  3. ^ a b Campion, Chris. "In the face of death", The Observer, Guardian Unlimited, 2005-02-20. Retrieved on 2007-10-06. 
  4. ^ Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: the Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 271. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f Satan rides the Media. A 1998 Norwegian documentary
  6. ^ Polemizing against Wicca, Vikernes writes on his homepage: "Perhaps eugenics is actually Paganism in practice! Perhaps it is not so strange that the "rabid racists" like me hail the Pagan religion after all? "Oh dear!" He then puts forward a racist interpretation of the Rígsthula, according to which: "Óðinn actually sends Heimdallr to Earth to create a better human race."; www.burzum.org Paganism: Part I - The Ancient Religion
  7. ^ 'Lords Of Chaos' Norwegian Black Metal Movie To Go Into Pre-Production - Nov. 5, 2005 Retrieved on September 10, 2007
  8. ^ Hans Fjellestad Homepage, mentioning a screenplay "Lords of Chaos" as being in pre-production; Retrieved on September 11, 2007
  9. ^ Vikernes, Varg (2004-08-13). A personal review of Gavin Baddeley's book "Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock'n'Roll". Burzum.org. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
  10. ^ LoC 1998:67
  11. ^ Lords of Chaos (1998): 89
  12. ^ a b c d e Lords of Chaos (1998): 79
  13. ^ a b c Lords of Chaos (1998): 78
  14. ^ Lords of Chaos (1998): 113, 269

[edit] See also

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Heavy metal
Regional scenes
Other topics

[edit] External Links