Euronymous
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| Euronymous | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Øystein Aarseth |
| Born | March 22, 1968 Egersund, Norway |
| Died | August 10, 1993 (aged 25) Oslo, Norway |
| Genre(s) | Black metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician (guitarist) |
| Instrument(s) | Electric guitar |
| Years active | 1983–1993 |
| Associated acts | Mayhem Burzum L.E.G.O. Checker Patrol Horn |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Gibson Cherry Sunburst Classic Les Paul | |
Øystein Aarseth (March 22, 1968 - August 10, 1993[1]) Born in Egersund; was a guitarist for the 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 Productions, as well as the Oslo specialist record shop Helvete, until his murder by fellow musician Varg Vikernes.
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[edit] Biography
Before founding Mayhem, he was in L.E.G.O. and Checker Patrol with Necrobutcher. He released one demo with Checker Patrol and none with L.E.G.O., although there is a very rare video of that band.[citation needed] 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 by both Aarseth and Hellhammer.
He opened a record store called Helvete (Norwegian for "Hell") and started his own record label and mailorder, which he named Deathlike Silence Productions. 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.[citation needed] He was also believed to have made a necklace from fragments of Dead's skull.[citation needed] In a recent interview, Hellhammer claimed the necklace was later stolen on tour.[citation needed] The story further says that black metal band Marduk still has other smaller pieces.[citation needed] "It" from Abruptum also claims to have fragments.[citation needed]
[edit] Beliefs
Aarseth was a practitioner of theistic Satanism and also a proponent of violence, totalitarianism and state terrorism - factors which would motivate his desire to incite religious fanaticism in a religiously liberal Scandinavia. Although he did not use the music of Mayhem to promote his political leanings, he saw them as mutually compatible with black metal - influenced by the repressive nature of his Satanism as well as his intense misanthropy; all traits which have since apparently been shunned by the majority of black metal musicians in spite of their respect for his role in developing the genre. He admittedly held a disdain for individualism; a mindset which later on would be a motivating factor for the hostility of many black metal musicians towards Right-Hand Path religions. Nevertheless, his beliefs were to have a profound effect on the then-nascent black metal participants.
'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.' - Euronymous, in an interview by Esa Lahdenpera[2]
[edit] Communism
An admirer of communist dictators such as Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, Euronymous was a member of Rød Ungdom, where according to fellow black metal musician Frost, he may have honed his leadership skills of which he would utilize in the early Norwegian black metal scene, where he allegedly led a Black Metal Inner Circle. However, given the divisions within Communism between those who sought the eventual dissolution of the state as envisioned by Karl Marx and those who saw the preservation of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat as it remained under Stalin, the extent to which Euronymous genuinely supported communism would of course be questionable, as given his inclination towards Stalinism and violence - as well as an apparent belief that bands such as Venom were genuinely 'evil' - it is most likely he would have rejected the Communism as envisioned by Marx.
[edit] Satanism
Ostensibly, the theistic Satanism embraced by Euronymous was a deliberate fundamental inversion of Roman Catholic dogma, fully supporting what was found to be abhorrent and blasphemous: for instance, he was an ardent proponent of sodomy, rape and murder simply because they were "evil" acts. He opposed the teachings of Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey, for unlike Euronymous they promoted what he saw as 'peace', and commercial frivolity, as well as individualism in contrast to precedence of dogma (although Crowley and LaVey both included dogma in their belief systems, they were also naturally opposed to the subservience that Euronymous promoted).
"Euronymous had this total Satan attitude. I didn't have that- he had that. he was such a devil worshipper you wouldn't believe it." (Source: Christe, Ian. Sound of the Beast: the Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2004.)
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. However, Varg Vikernes (who was going by the stage name "Count Grishnackh" at the time) later claimed that Aarseth - determined to promote Satanism and incite intense Christian opposition - disapproved of Vikernes' desire to encourage Paganism. [3] [4][5].
[edit] Death
In 1993, Øystein Aarseth was fatally stabbed by Vikernes. According to official reports Aarseth received a total of twenty-three wounds: two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back. According to Vikernes, however, a majority of the wounds resulted from Aarseth repeatedly falling on broken glass.
There is much speculation regarding the motive for the murder, but Vikernes has stated that the stabbing was motivated mostly by self-defense.[6] Vikernes is currently serving a 21 year sentence at Tromsø maximum security prison in Norway for the murder of Øystein Aarseth.
After Aarseth's murder Mayhem released their album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Before the release Euronymous' mother had asked Hellhammer, Mayhem's drummer, to remove the bass parts recorded by Vikernes. Although Blomberg promised to personally re-record the bass parts, in truth he had no idea how to and the final album retained Vikernes' contributions mixed with a softer dynamic than the original.[citation needed]
[edit] Music/instruments
Euronymous played a Standard sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitar, which can be 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, Slayer, Celtic Frost/Hellhammer, and Sodom. He played through a Marshall Half Stack and used an Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal as well as a Metal Master distortion pedal to create a unique sound.[citation needed]
[edit] Discography
- 1986 – Pure Fucking Armageddon
- 1987 – Deathrehearsal
- 1987 – Deathcrush
- 1993 – Live in Leipzig (live album recorded in 1990)
- 1994 – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
- 1995 – Dawn of the Black Hearts (live album recorded in 1990)
- 1995 – Out from the Dark (recorded in 1991)
- 1996 – Freezing Moon/Carnage (recorded in 1990)
He also released a demo with Checker Patrol in 1986.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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