MUSIC, MURDER AND FIRE Black Metal the Scandinavian way -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It started when the Norwegian musician Christian Vikernes decided to set fire to some churches as a publicity stunt. It continued because of an unanswered love. It ended with a gruesome murder, and now the fans demand an encore: A story about madness, violence and black metal the Scandinavian way. Crystal clear water flows through the fjord and the sky is as blue as nowhere else on this earth - maybe because man hasn't fully conquered this paradise on the west coast of Norway yet. The Norwegians call this region near Bergen 'the gates to the fjords'. It's just a few hundred more kilometers to the North Cape and the more you drive northwards the more you leave civilization behind. Just behind Bergen people have drilled tunnels through the mountains that lead from one fjord to another. Then you reach the last outpost of civilization in paradise. It looks like a youth hostel: white houses with red roofs. They're built low, so they won't attract too much attention. The young man, that comes walking towards me through the corridor in one of the buildings, looks quite angelic. He shakes my hand politely: Christian Vikernes, 21 years old, slender and a rockstar in Norway. His hair is cut short and he's wearing a worn out T-shirt, army pants and shining polished boots. When Vikernes, only member of the metal band Burzum, looks out the window, through the trees he has a view on a high wall with watchtowers and search lights. For the youth hostel is a prison. Vikernes was prosecuted for robbery, illegal possession of explosives, grave desecration and arson. But he was convicted for the severest of all of his crimes: murder. "The man I murdered was my enemy," Vikernes says, "What else should I have done with him?" Enemies should fight each other, he thinks, and only the strong will survive. By the way, only the strong have the right to live. You should kill the old and sick. But unfortunately democracy protects all life. That's why he is against democracy. Vikernes really means all this. He sits in his chair motionless, hands on the table. He speaks with a cold, toneless voice. It sounds like a tape is being played. "Most people are stupid. They shouldn't have any right to speak." he says. "Just let me become dictator of Scandinavia." But first the youngster with the soft face has to do his time. The next twenty years he'll spend his time in the prison that looks like a youth hostel in paradise. How Vikernes -who's seen by the Norwegians as a devil- got there, is a remarkable story to say the least. It started in the spring of '73, when he was born in Bergen. His mother Lene was a secretary, his father Lars was an electronic-engineer - a very normal family as everybody thought. But his father used to beat his wife when he was in a bad mood and he also beat his son. Christian tried to avoid getting hit as best as he could. He was a loner at school. At home he liked to sit alone in his room and let toy soldiers battle against each other. Later on he fought his battles with video games and when he didn't feel like playing, he read The Lord of the Rings; of all the creatures that appeared in Tolkien's book, he like the Orcs the most, the evil ones. When Christian was 14 years old, his mother was fed up with her violent husband and got a divorce. From then on she tried to make up for the lack love for her son by giving him presents. She bought him a guitar. He used to play on that instrument for hours, sometimes for days. The harder he played, the more he enjoyed it. He founded his first band: Uruk-Hai. He got that name from Lord of the Rings, it was the name of the demon race. He left school because he wanted to have more time for his music. He still was the only member of Uruk-Hai, because in a small town like Bergen it isn't very easy to find other young boys who also want to play hard and fast rock. But that didn't bother him. At least no one could intervene with his musical direction, when he stayed alone in his band. But the man that his mother married shortly after the divorce did try to intervene. Christian should just cut his hair and try to find a job. But most of all he shouldn't take that damn music so seriously. Not take his music seriously? Lunacy! Music had become the most important thing in his world for Vikernes. Why couldn't that man leave him alone, like a stepfather should do? In '89 Vikernes met a young man from Oslo at a friend's place who was four years older than him. He had long black hair and wore black clothes and his name was Oystein Aarseth, but didn't want to be called like that. His friends had to call him Euronymous. He found that name in Greek mythology: Euronymous, prince of death. Aarseth ran a record shop in Olso, named Helvete (Hell), and a small record label, Deathlike Silence. Aarseth said, he only released albums by bands who were pure evil. And he also had his own band: Mayhem. That band wanted to be just as evil as their English model Venom, a band that sang about death and the devil, played hard, fast rock and set the standards for the genre black metal in '82 already. But it wasn't enough to walk around with long hair in black clothes and play in a black metal band, according to Aarseth. At least not in Norway, where so many people were so understanding for everything that was organized by young people. That's why Aarseth had sown badges of the National People's Army on his clothes and became member of a small communist party. And when Mayhem occasionally toured, they only went to the DDR, to Leipzig and Dresden. Vikernes didn't understand why communism appealed to Aarseth, but he was fascinated when he listened to his new acquaintance speak full of praise about the devil, cursed christians and philosophized that it was time that the powers of Evil were spread. Vikernes didn't really understand how this should take place, and Aarseth didn't seem to know it either. But Vikernes did understand that he had the wrong first name to be part of the gang. That's why he now calls himself Varg, meaning "wolf". Vikernes traveled to Oslo more and more, to visit Aarseth at Helvete. Customers seldom came there, but always musicians from other Norwegian black metal bands. They stood there for hours, talking, drinking beer and after Aarseth closed the shop at night, they all went to Lusa Lotte Pøbb, the only black metal bar in Oslo. They drank some more there and when they got into an argument, one of them was always right: Aarseth, the boss. Aarseth thought that that Vikernes from Bergen was a nice little fellow. Maybe a bit young, and especially: he didn't drink beer and didn't smoke. But Aarseth liked the fact that Vikernes was fascinated by him and that he admired him. Moreover: Vikernes seemed to be prepared to go along with everything and besides that, he played guitar very well. Vikernes found two musicians in Bergen in the meantime who were into black metal as well. He found Old Funeral with them. They rehearsed regularly and when they thought they were good enough, they did a gig. It was the first time that Vikernes was on stage and he didn't like it at all. All those drunk guys in front of the stage, the way they stupidly looked upwards and banged their heads - all idiots, according to Vikernes. After a few gigs he left Old Funeral. He wanted to make music on his own again. When he was 18, Vikernes moved into a small house for which his mother paid the rent. He hung up blankets in front of the windows, lit candles and played guitar or read books: Norwegian history, sagas and always Tolkien as well. He got two names from Lord of the Rings that he liked: Burzum for his new one-man band and Count Grishnackh became his new artist name. He was also very interested in the history of his ancestors, the Vikings. They worshipped Odin, the god of war, before the christians conquered Scandinavia. Vikernes decided that his band Burzum should make noise just as long till the Scandinavians start worshipping the true god, Odin, again. He started to collect old weapons and decorated his house with knives, swords, battle-axes and an old Stahlhelm of the German Wehrmacht with SS signs on it. Vikernes learned Bergensk, an old dialect that has more than five words for 'war', and not just one like modern Norwegian. War was very important to Vikernes because only a war could free Norway from the christians. The year was '91 and Aarseth too thought something needed to be done at last. Aarseth's followers, the satanic circle, were ready for the battle. He had divided them into an inner and an outer circle. The twelve men of the inner circle, including Vikernes, had to plan actions that would be carried out by the others, a few dozen black metal fans from all over Norway. The first death within the Norwegian black metal scene was in Spring. The singer of Mayhem, Aarseth's band, had blown half his head off with a gun. The other band members found Dead, his artist name, in his bedroom. Aarseth decided to take pictures of the dead man. He drove to Oslo, bought a camera, drove back again and photographed the corpse. The pictures of dead Dead are still very popular in the satanic circle. "We aren't afraid of death. Not even when it involves one of us," he once said. "Dead was a good singer and therefore very important to us," he now says "But even more important is the publicity he gave Mayhem because of his suicide." A bandmember said: "When we found Dead, Aarseth wasn't surprised at all. We searched for his social security papers in vain, because Aarseth was always short of money. I'm sure he had something to do with Dead's death." A few weeks later the satanic circle started a small war against English magazines and musicians. The English had often laughed at the Norwegians because they tried so desperately to be evil and took a band like Venom more serious than themselves. The English thought it was ironic that the Norwegians preferred to team up in a studio and record third class albums instead of playing live like a real rock band. Aarseth was furious and the members of the satanic circle sent death threats to English bands, who certainly shouldn't come to Norway to tour. When English band Paradise Lost came to tour nevertheless, their bus was attacked by a horde of black metal fans. Singer Nick Holmes tells later "Suddenly our bus was surrounded by ten and twelve year olds who started to throw stones. They were kids acting wild. Insane." The satanic circle not only called for war against the English bands, but also against Swedish and Finnish bands who weren't evil enough, Therion for example. Their singer Christopher Johanssen woke up one morning near Stockholm because he heard strange noises and saw his front door was on fire. There was an album sleeve of Burzum on the door, pinned down with a dagger. "Count Grishnackh was here and will return", it was written. Four days later Johanssen received a letter: "Hello victim, I just came back from Sweden. I think I lost an album sleeve and a match there. I shall return." The police arrested the 18 year old Suuvi Prurunen. She confessed that she lit the fire. When the police searched her home they found her diary, which said that she was member of the satanic circle and was ordered by Vikernes to do it. Vikernes was also questioned. He denied knowing Prurunen. Vikernes was released. Prurunen was put in a mental hospital for a year. Vikernes already was the second man within the satanic circle by then, after Aarseth. When he spoke, the other listened. They were gripped when they listened to his enthusiastic stories about Odin. They found it a bit odd though when he cursed foreigners and praised Hitler and Stalin. The satanists did understand that he hated the jews. After all with their religion the jews had driven away the old Germanic gods. What impressed them most was the fact that Vikernes took action as well. In the night of June 6 '92 the first church burned in Fantoft near Bergen. The next morning only a ruin was left. Shortly after that a mini-LP was released by Burzum. It was titled Aske: ash. On the flyers of the album a burnt church was depicted, as well as on the lighters that were distributed by the record company. Shortly after that another church was burnt, in Holmenkollen, later another one, again in Bergen. In '92 there were eight arson attacks on churches in Norway. One fireman died during the extinction of the fire. Vikernes was proud of his actions. He spoke to some journalists in so much detail, that the police became interested in him. Vikernes denied everything though. The police had no evidence and had to let him go. Aarseth cheered his release. "No one will dare to witness against Grishnackh", he bragged. "Otherwise he will be hit by the terrible wrath of the satanic circle." Friends from Oslo knew Aarseth's joy wasn't real. Vikernes had become the rival of Aarseth. And he had turned into an unpredictable madman. Vikernes wanted to battle for power. He said, Aarseth only was a man of great words. He didn't have the guts for great actions. The time had come for him, Vikernes, to take over the power of the Norwegian black metal horde. And additionally there were two other things he couldn't forgive: Aarseth had taken Ilsa, a 16 year old Swedish girl, away from him and Aarseth still hadn't released Burzum's album, although Vikernes had already given him 40,000 Crowns that he had borrowed from his mother. On August 9 '93 Vikernes borrowed the Volkswagen Golf from his mother and picked up two friends. Andreas Nagelsett and a guy everybody called Snor. Vikernes dropped Nagelsett off at his place. He had to hammer on a typewriter all evening there and play loud music constantly. In other words Nagelsett had to make noise that the neighbors were used to. Vikernes and Snor drove to Oslo. Around midnight they arrived at a rented flat in the part of town called Tøgen. Aarseth had moved to the place a few months before. He had received a lot of mail threats from Swedish and Finnish bands. He had a secret phone number because he didn't want to be bothered anymore and only a few friends knew the new address. Vikernes knew Aarseth wouldn't open the door for him. That's why he had brought Snor along. Snor rang the intercom and when the buzzer sounded, Vikernes slipped past Snor to the fourth floor. Aarseth was standing in the door in his underwear. He had already slept. He was surprised to see Vikernes. Vikernes waved a piece of paper and said he wanted to talk about the record contract. They got into a fight in the house about the Burzum album that still wasn't released, about Ilsa and about the satanic circle. Aarseth went into the kitchen. Vikernes pulled a knife, followed Aarseth and stabbed it in his back. Aarseth fell on the floor, crawled back up and tried to talk Vikernes out of it. But he was unstoppable. He swung and stabbed him again. Aarseth pushed him aside and fled out of the door, down the stairs. Vikernes followed him and stabbed him, again and again. The next morning the neighbors found Aarseth dead in front of the door in a pool of blood. The police officers counted twenty three stabbings. sixteen in the back, the rest in his neck and head. Vikernes and Snor were long gone by then. They had only stopped on their way back to throw away the knife. Back at Vikernes' place they went over the alibi with Nagelsett again, after that Nagelsett and Snor left the appartement. Vikernes wasn't at ease. He had to talk to someone and phoned to the English label Candlelight who took care of the distribution in Britain for Aarseth's label. The owner Lee Barrett answered the phone. "It's me!" Vikernes yelled, "Count Grishnackh. Euronymous is dead. I shall piss on his grave." During the investigation the police spoke to Ilsa, Aarseth's girlfriend. "I know who killed Aarseth," she said, "But I can't tell you. It could cost my life." The police spoke to Snor. He too was afraid of Vikernes, but confessed that he had driven to Oslo on August 9 with him. On August 20 Vikernes was arrested. The police found 150 kilograms of dynamite in his home. Vikernes wanted to use it to blow up the Nidarosdomen church, a national monument from the eleventh century. The police arrested twelve youths ranging from 14 to 22 years old in various Norwegian towns within the next few weeks. They were charged with: grave desecration, robbery, rape and arson. Thirteen churches were burnt down till the Summer of '94. The police also found out there was a grade system for the crimes within the satanic circle. The more points a member scored, the higher his reputation was. Vikernes was held in detention for 9 months in Oslo. Even in prison he longed for the middle ages. When a doctor wanted to take a blood sample with a needle, Vikernes refused. A Viking like he should be pricked with a real dagger. Newspapers and heavy metal magazines tried to get an interview with the "devil". He told in the papers about his contacts with the Ku-Klux-Klan, he wanted to be addressed with "Heil Count Grishnackh" by hard-rock journalist. During the trial Vikernes didn't speak for a long time. His lawyer Tor Erling Staff did. Staff had his own TV show and is Norway's most famous and controversial lawyer. He wanted to convince the court that his client was confused when he killed Aarseth. Two psychologists, who tested Vikernes, denied this. They held him fully responsible. But was he? More than a year after the murder Vikernes has no remorse. "I'm glad I killed that communist pig," he says and he gazes through the window into the paradise. "That coward wanted to flee in stead of take the challenge and fight." Even when Vikernes gets upset, he remains calm. He only became furious some days ago. When he heard he didn't get all the letters from his followers and can't read every book he wants, after he was transferred from Oslo to Bergen. At that moment Vikernes lost control briefly. But the isolated confinement doesn't bother him. Actually nothing bothers him anymore. He has to spend twenty-one years in jail. That's the maximal penalty for murder in Norway. When the female judge spoke the verdict, he didn't move a muscle in his face. Outside the court building young girls waved a picture of Vikernes. The following night two churches burnt down. Five weeks later another one was set ablaze. Odin will never give up. Published in Nieuwe Revu. Translated by Bob Witlox.