To Hell and Back Again: My Black Metal Story (Norway 1991-1993)
by Varg Vikernes
150 pages, Ancestral Cult Productions, $13
Tags: Black Metal, burzum, Euronymous, mayhem, multiple stab wounds, norway, varg vikernes
Analysis – Mayhem “Life Eternal”
Let us momentarily forget the ridiculous circus act that surrounds the legacy of Mayhem at this time and focus on what earned the band all the praise they deserve. “Life Eternal” provides a particularly interesting example composition because it consists of a collaboration between multiple musicians during the long creative process that led to the release of the album. Featuring the final lyrics Dead ever wrote as a parting gift and some incredible ideas from Varg Vikernes and a large number of ideas from so many other musicians, it encapsulates the original vision that the Norwegian Black metal originally possessed in its purest form.
3 CommentsTags: analysis, attila csihar, Blackthorn, classic, de mysteriis dom sathanas, Dead, Euronymous, legendary, life eternal, mayhem, varg vikernes
Lords Of Chaos (2018)
In an industry crammed with anti-hero biopics, Lords of Chaos follows the self-destructive rock star trope while sensationalizing the events that occurred during the black metal movement in Norway. Instead of simplifying the story to tell a more accurate tale of actual events, it adopts the more complex and clunky Hollywood cliché of the anti-hero rockstar who must “confront his own demons” instead of the more interesting story, as happened in real life, of a clash over artistic, philosophical, and personal differences. (more…)
7 CommentsTags: attila csihar, Blackthorn, burzum, Euronymous, faust, hellhammer, Jonas Akerlund, lords of chaos, mayhem, mental retardation, Metalion, movie, varg vikernes
Some Brief Thoughts : Mayhem – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
After having built up a legacy for over a quarter of a century, it seems fitting to briefly revisit a few thoughts on the genre-defining De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.
11 CommentsTags: 1990s, attila csihar, Black Metal, de mysteriis dom sathanas, Dead, Euronymous, hellhammer, mayhem, noktorn, norway, snorre ruch, some brief thoughts, varg vikernes
Overview On Creativity : The Plasticity-Divergence-Convergence Model
On the Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, the young programmer protagonist, under the instructions of an Aldous Huxley inspired game developer, has the option of picking up a record by Tangerine Dream – Phaedra. As the young programmer and the viewer struggle with paradox in order to finish his game, we find a chance to do a casual DMU reflection on the parallels between metal and game programming, madness and the collapse of western civilization by substituting learning for entertainment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URssLwPXkVk
11 CommentsTags: Bandersnatch, Black Mirror, cannibal corpse, convergence, Creativity, cryptopsy, de mysteriis dom sathanas, Dead, divergence, Euronymous, gorguts, Jon Levasseur, Luc Lemay, mayhem, Phaedra, plasticity, psychology, tangerine dream
Norway’s Wordless Abyss
Studies have shown that listening to instrumental music while writing, studying, doing accounting, or any other productive task can increase stimulation without the distraction that the words of vocals provide. But for Hessian, Templar, Heathen and other true metalheads instrumental works can be difficult to come by as extreme metal has not dabbled much into the realms of instrumental savagery. But thanks to the necrophiliac obsession that many have had with Norwegian black metal and its culture, there are a few enjoyable demos and early rehearsals from Norway’s finest that can provide a motivational grim instrumental experience without demanding too much from the attention of the listener.
Join me if you will for a vocal-less adventure through some of Norway’s best kept foreboding hidden secrets.
2 CommentsTags: 1990s, Black Metal, Blackthorn, burzum, darkthrone, death metal, demo, Euronymous, Grymyrk, hellhammer, instrumental metal, low fidelity, mayhem, norway, Norwegian Black Metal, rehearsal tapes, Thorns, varg vikernes
NIGHTMARE: LORDS OF CHAOS MOVIE COMPLETED, PREMIERED AT SUNDANCE
It’s actually happening. After decades of “will they” speculation, directors picking up and dropping the project, rumors of Twilight actors playing Varg Vikernes, and a boycott by virtually every member of the original scene the Rory Culkin led bastardization of Norway’s finest Lords of Chaos premiered at Sundance this week. In the ultimate defeat, death, and burial of Norweigian black metal- a movement opposed to everything commercial, financial, and mainstream- we will soon see a polished Hollywood narrative of this beloved movement pollution theaters across the globe.
Tags: Black Metal, disaster, disgrace, embarassment, Euronymous, Hollywood, lords of chaos, mayhem, nightmare, norway, Norwegian Black Metal, Rory Culkin, varg vikernes
Deadhead #6 Zine Reprinted
Schattenmann Publishings has reprinted the sixth issue of the Deadhead Fanzine featuring interviews with Mike Browning and Richard Brunelle from Morbid Angel about the band’s earliest days when they wrote their best material. The original pressing sold out quickly so get yours while it is still available. Schattenmann is planning to recreate and republish other back issues of the Deadhead zine in the future too.
1 CommentTags: afterlife productions, deadhead fanzine, Euronymous, fanzines, Interviews, mayhem, mike browning, morbid angel, repress, richard brunelle, schattenmann publishings, slaughter, venom, zine, zines
Metal Will Never Die
Online music magazine Perfect Sound Forever (nice job stealing the 1980s advertising slogan for the then new CD format) recently posted a piece entitled “Metal For the New Millennium” by an idiotic hipster named Cam Netland who said that metal was a limited music genre as result of being a “as an offset of rock music”. Netland claims that metal became “more hardcore” as a result of the “radicalization” of other genres in this period citing staid examples such as Bad Brains (softened hardcore punk for idiotic affirmative action multi-culturalists) and Public Enemy (rap made into pop music with tough street gang lyrics to make suburban white jocks feel good about their short penises). He goes onto claim that metal is divided into many “micro-genres” and that the new millennium has seen the rise of many new ones such as what Neton terms Babymetal‘s grass-eater Japanese pop music, djent (random post-hardcore jazz fusion) Deafheaven‘s “blackgaze” (screamo pretending to be tough that is neither black metal nor shoegaze), and Vektor‘s random techno speed metal idiocy. Netland cites such turd non-metal albums as Mastodon – Leviathan (alternative rock), Converge – Jane Doe (post-hardcore math rock), and System of a Down – Toxicity (nu-“metal” which is in actuality of course rap rock).
39 CommentsTags: Ancient, Black Metal, black sabbath, burzum, cam netland, Euronymous, hipsters, mayhem, metal history, metallica, music theory, perfect sound forever, sammath, sodom
Varg on Killing Euronymous
Varg Vikernes of Burzum posted a video a while back about how he was convicted for the “murder” of Mayhem mastermind Euronymous. Varg states again that Euronymous had long planned to kidnap, torture, and murder him in the forests, that he stabbed Euronymous in self-defense, and that most of Euronymous’s 23 wounds were from broken glass he fell on. Want to know how Varg was set up by the Norwegian legal system and how his lawyer did an inadequate job defending him from the falsified evidence thrown at him? Let’s find out!
6 CommentsTags: Black Metal, burzum, Euronymous, mayhem, metal history, norway, varg vikernes
