The early Norwegian black metal scene was a music scene and subculture in Norway during the early 1990s, based around black metal. Identified by some as a cult – “The Black Circle” or “Black Metal Inner Circle” – it consisted of youths ranging from late teens to mid-twenties, many of whom gathered at the record shop Helvete (‘Hell’) in Oslo. It is from this scene that the “second wave” of black metal emanated.
The scene was the focus of controversy due to the strong anti-Christian beliefs of its members and the crimes they committed. There were two cases of murder, over two-dozen cases of arson, and other alledgedly “Satanically-motivated” crimes. The scene drew the gaze of the Norwegian and international media, who often exaggerated the claims surrounding its members. For example, one Norwegian TV channel aired an interview with a woman who claimed that “Satanists” had sacrificed her child and killed her dog.[1]
During the 1980s, black metal was a loose term used to describe a handful of extreme metal bands who shared traits such as “shrieked” vocals, high-pitched guitar tones, raw recording, and “Satanic” lyrics, although most of the “first wave” bands only referred to Satanism for shock value.[2] During 1990–1992 a number of Norwegian artists, who were strongly influenced by those bands, began performing and releasing a new kind of black metal music. The surge of interest and popularity that followed is often referred to as the “second wave of black metal”. The Norwegian bands developed the style of their 1980s forebears as a distinct genre of heavy metal music. This was partly thanks to a new style of guitar playing developed by Snorre 'Blackthorn' Ruch of Stigma Diabolicum/Thorns and Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth of Mayhem.[3] Gylve 'Fenriz' Nagell of Darkthrone has credited them with this innovation in a number of interviews. He described it as being “derived from Bathory”[4] and noted that “those kinds of riffs became the new order for a lot of bands in the ‘90s”.[5]
Visually, the dark themes of their music was complemented with corpsepaint, which became a way for black metal artists to distinguish themselves from other metal bands of the time.[6]
On 8 April 1991, Mayhem vocalist Per Yngve 'Dead' Ohlin committed suicide while alone in a house shared by the band.[7][8] While fellow musicians often described Dead as odd and introverted off-stage, his on-stage persona was very different. He went to great lengths to make himself look like a corpse and would cut his arms while singing.[3][9]
He was found with slit wrists and a shotgun wound to the head, by Mayhem guitarist Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth. Dead’s suicide note apologized for firing the weapon indoors and ended: “Excuse all the blood”.[8] Before calling the police, Euronymous allegedly went to a nearby shop and bought a disposable camera with which he photographed the body, after re-arranging some items.[10] One of these photographs was later used as the cover of a bootleg live album called Dawn of the Black Hearts.[11]
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.[6][7] The band later denied the former rumor, but confirmed that the latter was true.[9] Moreover, Euronymous claimed to have given these necklaces to musicians he deemed worthy.[12] Mayhem bassist Jørn 'Necrobutcher' Stubberud noted that “people became more aware of the [black metal] scene after Dead had shot himself ... I think it was Dead's suicide that really changed the scene”.[13] Emperor drummer Bård 'Faust' Eithun believes that Dead's suicide "marked the point at which, under Euronymous's direction, the black metal scene began its obsession with all things satanic and evil".[3]
Two other members of the scene would later commit suicide: Erik 'Grim' Brødreskift (of Immortal, Borknagar, Gorgoroth) in 1999[14][15][16] and Espen 'Storm' Andersen (of Strid) in 2001.[17]
During May–June 1991,[18] Euronymous opened a record shop which he called Helvete.[19] The term Helvete is Norwegian for ‘Hell’, and comes from the Norse hels víti, meaning ‘Hel’s punishment’.[20] The shop was at Schweigaards gate 56 in Oslo. Norwegian black metal musicians often met in the shop’s basement, including the members of Mayhem, the members of Emperor, Varg Vikernes of Burzum, and Snorre 'Blackthorn' Ruch of Thorns. Euronymous also founded 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,[4] and Emperor guitarist Tomas 'Samoth' Haugen[21] all lived in the shop at one point. Emperor drummer Bård 'Faust' Eithun also lived and worked there.[3][4] 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.[3] The shop was shut in january 1993.
Shop-owner Euronymous was “the central figure involved in the formation of the Norwegian black metal scene”,[22] which he “almost single-handedly founded”.[23] He also influenced its ideology,[22][24] which was described by Benjamin Hedge Olson as “hard-line, misanthropic devil worship”.[25] Euronymous believed that LaVeyan Satanism was no real Satanism, and only bands who were Theistic Satanists could be called “black metal”[26] and this belief was adopted by other important members of the Norwegian scene, like Faust of Emperor.[27] At the time, bands with a style similar to Norwegian black metal, but without Satanic lyrics, tended to use other terms for their music.[28][29][30] In retrospect, Metalion wrote: "In the past, people just wrote about Satan, but now people meant it. I believe it was serious—maybe not all the Satanism, but definitely the approach to the music and the lifestyle. It was certainly more destructive than metal had been in the past".[31] Tenebris from the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, a Swedish Satanic order, wrote that the Norwegian scene "meant a lot as long as it lasted. Back then, in 1991, things mainly concerned black metal and ideological Satanism (not so much practical Satanism, but anyway...) [...] It grew quickly to to become a sort of black metal army […] and kind of stood and fell with Euronymous and his shop. Therefore, it vanished with his death in '93 [...] Sadly enough, many people involved at the time betrayed their ideals and lost their interest when things fell apart. Like it was nothing more than a hype of temporary nature".[32]
Those who gathered at Helvete have been referred to as “The Black Circle” or “Black Metal Inner Circle”. Faust claims that the name was invented by Euronymous.[4] The name is sometimes widened to inhold the whole Norwegian black metal scene. However, such a term is highly disputable. Not only would it imply that the group was some kind of cult, the accounts about it differ greatly. The books Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock and Roll and Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground both claim the existence of “The Black Circle”. For example, an online announcement for a film based on Lords of Chaos 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.[33][34]
However, in his review of Lucifer Rising, Varg Vikernes denied its existence, 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 rumor.[35]
Likewise, when asked in Lords of Chaos “What was the Black Circle?”, Bård 'Faust' Eithun answered:
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.[36]
The opening of Helvete led to the black metal style spreading among Norwegian bands. As 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 Vikernes had already left the band to form his own creation, Burzum.[37]
Musicians and fans of the Norwegian black metal scene took part in over 50 arsons of Christian churches from 1992 to 1996.[1][1][19] Some of the buildings were hundreds of years old, and widely regarded as important historical landmarks. One of the first and most notable was Norway’s Fantoft stave church, which the police believed was burnt by Varg Vikernes.[1] In May 1994 he was found guilty for the burnings of Holmenkollen Chapel, Skjold Church and Åsane Church.[4][38] To coincide with the release of Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Vikernes and Euronymous had plotted to blow up Nidaros Cathedral, which appears on the album cover. Euronymous's murder in August 1993 put an end to this plan and stalled the album’s release.[7] The musicians Samoth,[39] Faust[40] and Jørn Inge Tunsberg[1] were also convicted for church arsons.
Today, opinions on the church burnings differ within the black metal community. Guitarist Infernus and former vocalist Gaahl of the band Gorgoroth have praised the church burnings in interviews, with the latter saying “there should have been more of them, and there will be more of them”.[12] However, Necrobutcher and Kjetil Manheim of Mayhem have berated the church burnings, with the latter claiming “It was just people trying to gain acceptance within a strict group [the black metal scene] … they wanted some sort of approval and status”.[7]
The following is a partial list of the church arsons:
1992:
1993:
1994:
1995:
On 21 August 1992, Bård 'Faust' Eithun stabbed-to-death Magne Andreassen, a gay man, in a forest just outside Lillehammer.[4] Police initially had no suspects, and Faust remained free for about a year. The murder, however, was an ‘open secret’ within the Norwegian scene around Helvete.[48]
In late January 1993, Varg Vikernes of Burzum was interviewed by a journalist from Bergens Tidende. Vikernes had requested the interview to get publicity for the black metal scene and for Euronymous's record shop Helvete. However, the interview led to a police investigation and Vikernes was put under arrest for a week. Faust was also arrested and charged with the Andreassen murder. Euronymous decided to shut Helvete due to this negative attention.
On 10 August 1993, Vikernes and Snorre 'Blackthorn' Ruch traveled from Bergen to Euronymous's apartment at Tøyengata[8] (English: Tøyen Street) in Oslo. Upon their arrival a confrontation began, which ended with Vikernes fatally stabbing Euronymous. His body was found outside the apartment with 23 cut wounds – two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back.[49]
It has been speculated that the murder was the result of a power struggle, a financial dispute over Burzum records, or an attempt at “out doing” the stabbing in Lillehammer.[50] Vikernes claims that Euronymous had plotted to torture him to death and videotape the event – using a meeting about an unsigned contract as a pretext.[4][51] On the night of the murder, Vikernes claims he intended to hand Euronymous the signed contract and “tell him to fuck off”, but that Euronymous attacked him first.[51] Moreover, Vikernes defends that most of Euronymous's cut wounds were caused by broken glass he had fallen on during the struggle.[51] This version is doubted by Faust and other members of the scene.[52]
Whatever the circumstances, Vikernes was arrested within days and in May 1994 was sentenced to 21 years in prison (Norway's maximum penalty) for the murder and for four church arsons. Vikernes smiled when his verdict was read and the picture was widely reprinted in the news media.[51] That month saw the release of Mayhem's album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, which has Euronymous on electric guitar and Vikernes on bass guitar.[3] Before the release, Euronymous's family had asked Mayhem's drummer, 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".[3]
In 2003, Vikernes failed to return to Tønsberg prison after being given a short leave. He was re-arrested shortly after while driving a stolen car with various weapons.[53] He was released from prison on parole in May 2009.
Many recall a strong rivalry between Norwegian black metal and Swedish death metal scenes. Fenriz and Tchort have noted that Norwegian black metal musicians had become “fed up with the whole death metal scene”[54] and that “death metal was very uncool in Oslo” at the time.[7] A number of times, Euronymous sent death threats to some of the more ‘mainstream’ death metal groups in Europe.[7] Allegedly, a group of Norwegian black metal fans even plotted to kidnap and murder certain Swedish death metal musicians.[7]
There was also rivalry between Norwegian and Finnish black metal bands. Impaled Nazarene printed “No orders from Norway accepted” and “Kuolema Norjan kusipäille!” (‘Death to the arseholes of Norway!’) on early pressings of their first album and innuendo and snarky comments were made in fanzines. Beherit's mainman 'Nuclear Holocausto' used the rivalry to play a series of telephone pranks on Mika Luttinen (of Impaled Nazarene) in which he would call him in the dead of the night playing nursery rhymes at high speed on a cassette recorder. At the time, Luttinen upheld that the messages were threats from Norwegian black metallers.[55]
The following is a list of Norwegian artists that released black metal music during 1991–1993:
| Band | Formed | From |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient | 1992 | Eidsvåg, Nesset |
| Arcturus | 1987 | Oslo |
| Burzum | 1991 | Bergen, Hordaland |
| Carpathian Forest (aka Enthrone) | 1990 | Sandnes, Rogaland |
| Darkthrone | 1987 | Kolbotn, Oppegård |
| Emperor | 1991 | Notodden, Telemark |
| Enslaved | 1991 | Haugesund, Rogaland |
| Fimbulwinter | 1992 | Oslo |
| Gorgoroth | 1992 | Bergen, Hordaland |
| Hades/Hades Almighty | 1992 | Bergen, Hordaland |
| Ildjarn | 1992 | Bø, Telemark |
| Immortal | 1990 | Bergen, Hordaland |
| Mayhem | 1984 | Oslo |
| Satyricon | 1991 | Oslo |
| Thorns (aka Stigma Diabolicum) | 1989 | Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag |
| Thou Shalt Suffer | 1991 | Notodden, Telemark |
| Ulver | 1993 | Oslo |
The following is a list of black metal recordings and releases by the aforesaid bands during 1991–1993. Releases in bold are albums, whilst the rest are demos and extended plays.
| Year/Month | Band | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987-08 | Mayhem | Deathcrush | |
| 1989-12 | Stigma Diabolicum | Luna de nocturnus | |
| 1990-03 | Stigma Diabolicum | Lacus de luna | |
| 1990-11 | Mayhem | Live in Leipzig | recorded live on 26/11/1990 but not released officially until July 1993 |
|
|
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| 1991-?? | Mayhem | Freezing Moon and Carnage | these songs feature Dead as vocalist and appeared on the 1991 Projections of a Stained Mind compilation |
| 1991-05 | Burzum | Burzum Demo I | |
| 1991-06 | Thorns | Grymyrk | |
| 1991-07 | Thou Shalt Suffer | Open the Mysteries of Your Creation | |
| 1991-07 | Enthrone | Black Wings | |
| 1991-07 | Arcturus | My Angel | |
| 1991-08 | Darkthrone | A Blaze in the Northern Sky | recorded in August 1991[56] but not released until February 1992 |
| 1991-09 | Burzum | Burzum Demo II | |
| 1991-10 | Immortal | Immortal | |
| 1991-10 | Thou Shalt Suffer | Into the Woods of Belial | |
| 1991-12 | Enslaved | Nema | |
|
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| 1992-02 | Ildjarn | Unknown Truths | |
| 1992-03 | Burzum | Burzum | |
| 1992-04 | Burzum | Det Som Engang Var | recorded in April 1992 but not released until August 1993[57] |
| 1992-06 | Satyricon | All Evil | |
| 1992-06 | Enslaved | Yggdrasill | |
| 1992-06 | Darkthrone | Under a Funeral Moon | recorded in June 1992 but not released until June 1993 |
| 1992-07 | Immortal | Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism | |
| 1992-07 | Emperor | Wrath of the Tyrant | |
| 1992-08 | Burzum | Aske | recorded in August 1992 but not released until March 1993[58] |
| 1992-09 | Carpathian Forest | Bloodlust & Perversion | |
| 1992-09 | Burzum | Hvis Lyset Tar Oss | recorded in September 1992 but not released until April 1994[59] |
| 1992-12 | Fimbulwinter | Fimbulwinter Demo | re-released as a full-length album, Servants of Sorcery, in 1994 |
| 1992-?? | Thorns | Trøndertun | |
|
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| 1993-01 | Ildjarn | Ildjarn Demo | |
| 1993-03 | Burzum | Filosofem | recorded in March 1993 but not released until January 1996[60] |
| 1993-03 | Satyricon | The Forest Is My Throne | |
| 1993-04 | Gorgoroth | A Sorcery Written in Blood | |
| 1993-05 | Ildjarn | Norse | |
| 1993-06 | Hades Almighty | Alone Walkyng | |
| 1993-08 | Ancient | Eerily Howling Winds | |
| 1993-09 | Satyricon | Dark Medieval Times | recorded in Aug–Sep 1993[61] and released in early 1994 |
| 1993-10 | Emperor | Emperor | |
| 1993-10 | Enslaved | Hordanes Land | |
| 1993-11 | Immortal | Pure Holocaust | |
| 1993-11 | Ulver | Vargnatt | |
| 1993-12 | Darkthrone | Transilvanian Hunger | recorded in Nov–Dec 1993[62] and released in February 1994 |
| 1993-?? | Carpathian Forest | Journey through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern | |
| 1992-??-1993-?? | Mayhem | De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas | recorded in 1992/1993[63] but not released until 1994 |
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