Lords of Chaos

by Michael Moynihan

  EARLY SLAYER PROMO PHOTO

  MORBID ANGEL

  The two world capitals of Death Metal were the unlikely locations of Tampa, Florida and Stockholm, Sweden. From these extremes of fire and ice, the genre produced its most influential acts: Entombed, Hypocrisy, Dismember, and Unleashed from Sweden; Morbid Angel, Death, Obituary, and Deicide from the swampy netherworld of Florida. Other areas of the States also spat out bands of notoriety—misogynist gore fans Cannibal Corpse from upstate New York, equally rude and savage Autopsy from California—but the two aforementioned cities had specific recording studios and record producers which indelibly shaped the sonic boundaries of the genre. Death Metal eschewed the theatrics of its musical predecessors, instead opting for a “dude-next-door” look which remained unchanged on stage or off. Ripped jeans or sweatpants, high-top sneakers and plain leather jackets became the Death Metal uniform, and band members were assured of never being recognized by fans on the street since they looked no different than a thousand other sallow-faced urban hoods.

  CANNIBAL CORPSE

  A few exceptions came from the overtly Satanic bands who made up a small segment of Death Metal overall. The flamboyant singer of Deicide, Glen Benton, ceremoniously branded an upside-down cross into his forehead, threw bloody entrails into concert crowds, and sported homemade armor on stage; fellow Floridians Morbid Angel began donning paramilitary clothes for their live appearances, courting a neo-fascist demeanor, and reinforcing it with inopportune and illiberal comments in magazine interviews. For the most part however, the genre rested on its laurels of unbridled sonic brutality and lyrical glorification of all things morbid and decaying.

  DISMEMBER

  As Death Metal gained momentum, only a few bands from the Thrash days remained who commanded any respect from the younger generation. Slayer continued to be revered as godfathers of the scene, and in turn the band kept fans interested as they shifted subject matter from juvenile Satanism to an open-ended fascination with violence in general. Serial killers, genocide, religious persecution, and other apocalyptic topics all became grist for Slayer’s lyrical mill. Additionally they often employed the long-standing Metal tradition of invoking specters of Nazism and fascism in their lyrics and packaging. Slayer’s fans were dubbed the “Slaytanic Wehrmacht,” Nazi eagles were incorporated into the band’s logo, songs were penned about Josef “Angel of Death” Mengele, and Jeff Hanneman adorned his guitar with photos of concentration camp corpses. They gained an added following from neo-Nazi skinheads as as a result, but it would be difficult to take much of this seriously upon closer examination of the group—despite his last name, there is nothing remotely “Aryan” about lead singer Tom Araya, who in fact comes from a Hispanic South American background.

  OBITUARY

  DEICIDE

  VIKING DEATH SQUADS

  One Scandinavian Death Metal group in particular set a precedent for certain of the Black Metal bands to appear some years later. This was Stockholm’s Unleashed, who emerged after the breakup of early Swedish Death Metal group Nihilist. Unleashed never concerned themselves with the gory interests of their fellow bands, but instead made a similar discovery to Bathory and drew creative stimulus from the pre-Christian heathenism of their native Sweden.

  From their first CD, Where No Evil Dwells, to the present, Unleashed have dedicated a significant number of their songs to themes drawn from the Viking Age and the old Norse religion. Their live concerts appear no different at first from a typical Death Metal show, until lead singer and bassist Johnny Hedlund starts making fervent declarations on the necessity of destroying the Christian religion of weakness and exhortations that “self preservation is the highest law!” This is certainly not the usual banter of a Metal band between songs, but they are sentiments that would be taken up by prominent Black Metalers soon enough. The band members proudly wear amulets of Mjöllnir, the Hammer of Thor, and at a certain point in every show Hedlund leaves the stage, to return seconds later clutching a huge Viking drinking horn filled with ale (or on special occasions, mead, the traditional sacred honey wine of ancient Europe). He will then dedicate a song, such as “Into Glory Ride,” to his Viking ancestors, drink from the horn and pour some of the libation onto fans in front of the stage. By incorporating such elements of tradition into their performances, Unleashed tap into the same atavistic well of energy which serves as a focal point for many of the most significant Black Metal bands.

  Unleashed are also noteworthy as one of a small handful of Death Metal acts who have managed to survive the demise of the genre they themselves forged. Between 1989–93 Death Metal had become immensely popular worldwide, with bands drawing crowds in the thousands on an average night. The underground had been again pushed above the surface into commercial daylight, and it would—in typical fashion—react with a vengeance. As greedy record labels tried to cash in on the Death Metal trend by signing up untalented bands and releasing an endless stream of mediocre and remarkably unoriginal albums, the market was quickly swamped in a morass of interchangeable sludge. The irritated denizens of the underground began fomenting a new progeny they hoped would prove resistant to all attempts at co-option and dilution.

  UNLEASHED

  THOR’S HAMMER, MJÖLLNIR

  In Norway, bleak clouds on the horizon brought with them cheerless portents of a storm to come. Sweden’s Death Metal underground had for years been in the world spotlight; it was considered the forefront of one of the most extreme varieties of music yet conceived. Norway also had its share of Death Metal bands, with names like Mayhem, Old Funeral, and Darkthrone. The leaders of the Norwegian scene realized—wisely—that in order to grab the attention of minds and souls they would need to willfully take things one step further. The fanciful violence and bloodlust of Death Metal wasn’t anything in itself—it must be made real, and become a means to an end, if it was to hold greater purpose. Otherwise it was nothing more than the audio equivalent of a comic book for kids to aimlessly gloat over. Venom had set an example with their exaggerated blasphemy, and had pointed out organized religion as a worthy target for assault. Raised amidst a complacent acceptance of Christianity as something inherently good, surrounded by an oppressive and numbing social democracy which dominated Norwegian political life, these youths would proudly adopt Black Metal as their own. Picking up where Bathory and Venom had left off, they injected their efforts with a grim seriousness the likes of which even the extreme Metal underground had never dreamt possible. The mistakes of Death and Thrash Metal would not be repeated. No, this would be something else entirely—something so pure and unsparingly severe it would sear a mark in the history books forever.

  LIKE AN OASIS OF HORROR IN A DESERT OF BOREDOM...

  —BAUDELAIRE, “TRAVEL”1

  3

  A BLAZE IN THE NORTHERN SKY

  THE PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS OF BLACK METAL IN NORWAY RESIDE AS MUCH in belief and outlook as they do in the music itself. There is a considerable berth given toward sonic experimentation as long as certain attitudes are prominently displayed by the musicians. At the same time, there is no set “rule book” to be followed, and the boundaries of the ideology shift as time passes. Such changes are usually effected at the hands of the more important members of the scene, for the genre is in many ways entirely defined by the dramatic personalities who have comprised it—and continue to forge its destiny.

  In much the same manner as Venom are considered the fathers of Black Metal worldwide, Mayhem holds a similar position in Norway itself. Their infamy has long since spread into an international cult status. Mayhem were there before anyone else and—albeit in a rather different form—they still exist today. Mayhem will always remain associated with their late founder Øystein Aarseth, aka “Euronymous,” brutally stabbed to death in 1993. Long before this startling setback, the band was already legendary due to all the rumors it had engendered since its inception.

  Synonymous with the rise of Norwegian Black Metal is Slayer magazine, published for the last se
venteen years by Jon “Metalion” Kristiansen out of his home in Sarpsborg, a quiet area not far from Oslo. He has been both observer and participant in the underground world of extreme Metal for as long as anyone in Norway, and his recollections are quite valuable in piecing together the birth pangs and key events of Black Metal there.

  Metalion is quick to proudly point out how important and essential Black and Death Metal are to him, “This is the blood which runs through my veins … this is me, this my destiny … no options—total dedication,” he says.2 His excitement for the music came in 1982, only a year after Venom had released their first singles:

  There was nothing going on in Norway at that time. I was getting into the music all alone, and I was influenced by no one, because no one I knew was interested in this music. It took a few years before I found people who had similar interests in the same music. The first issue of Slayer magazine came out in 1985.3

  MAYHEM

  METALION

  Although Venom had a large cult following in Europe, Black Metal was yet to develop as its own style. During this period Metalion discovered the existence of Mayhem, then a severely raw and primitive Death Metal band, when he met them outside a Motorhead concert that year in the city:

  I met them at the concert and they told me about their band. I was selling my magazine, so I got to know about them. After a few months we came in closer contact. At that time they didn’t even have any demo tapes. They recorded the first one in the summer of ’86—the Pure Fucking Armageddon demo. It was much more extreme than everything else; the sound was very, very primitive and much more brutal. You couldn’t hear anything as extreme as Mayhem at that time.4

  BATHORY ON THE COVER OF AN EARLY ISSUE OF SLAYER

  Mayhem had played only one live show, shortly before Metalion’s chance encounter with them. “But that was nothing…They did only covers of Celtic Frost, Bathory, and Venom I think—no real songs of their own. That was with their original singer, who was called ‘Messiah.’”5 Metalion remembers no other band in Norway with the intensity of Mayhem at the time, although another group called Vomit existed briefly, and had also provided Mayhem with a vocalist and session musicians for some rehearsals.

  Mayhem released a second demo and then their Deathcrush mini-album in 1987, now a much sought-after rarity. It was only at this point the band had managed to build a name for itself and attract a circle of serious fans, for Aarseth was excruciatingly slow in releasing material, either due to financial problems or his insistence on maintaining total control over all aspects of the band’s productions. Likewise there were few live shows, but the ones that did occur are still infamous milestones. Metalion recalls the early image of Mayhem “wasn’t so serious at that time. They just dressed as they were—black hair, leather jackets, black clothes. That was just normal.” 6 Soon enough Aarseth would adopt the concept of wearing “corpsepaint” during concerts and in band photos—stylized black-and-white makeup which created a gruesome, macabre appearance and became one of the trademarks of Norwegian Black Metal.

  MAYHEM LOGO

  CELTIC FROST IN PROTO-CORPSEPAINT

  The origins of this practice are puzzling. More theatrical Metal and Punk performers like King Diamond and Glen Danzig’s Misfits had all worn ghoulish makeup for their live shows in years prior to 1985; Celtic Frost from Switzerland adopted the style as well. One could even trace the seeds of the corpsepaint idea back to how KISS or Alice Cooper appeared during their giant stage spectacles of the ’70s. Metalion has another theory about the specific source:

  I think it was really from a band called Sarcofago from Brazil. A very extreme Metal band, they released an album and Euronymous was totally obsessed with them because they wore lots of spikes and corpsepaint. He said he wanted every band to be like this, because he was so against the Death Metal trend from the USA and Sweden. Death Metal bands would play shows wearing jogging suits and he was totally against that.7

  In 1988, a Swede named Per Yngve Ohlin, alias “Dead,” joined as a new vocalist for Mayhem, having previously been a member of a horror-themed Death Metal group called Morbid. Dead would become the first keynote in the saga of Norse Black Metal when he blew out his brains in 1991, living up to his nickname at the same moment as he died with it. By the time of Dead’s involvement in Mayhem, the Norwegian Black Metal scene in Oslo was beginning to coalesce into a tiny but tangible network of dedicated people. They formed new bands, attended each other’s shows, traded influences, and now had standards of extremity close at hand to measure themselves against.

  MORBID, WITH DEAD ON FAR LEFT

  New fans of the music began to make contact with those in Oslo, and especially with Aarseth. They were often teenagers still living at home in smaller towns and more isolated areas of Norway. An obsession with the same ideals, hatreds, and attitudes was enough to unite disparate young musicians to keep in contact primarily through correspondence and telephone, only meeting in person at an occasional concert when a more popular or mainstream Metal band would play a major city.

  ADVERTISEMENT IN SLAYER FOR FIRST MAYHEM MINI-LP

  On the west coast of Norway stands the old city of Bergen, notable for its aristocratic attitude of independence from other areas of the country—especially Oslo. Bergen was the home of Kristian Vikernes (later to legally change his first name to Varg), a charismatic teenager exploding with enthusiasm for whatever his current fixation happened to be. Having played guitar for years, he joined the Death Metal band Old Funeral, but tired quickly of their superficiality and juvenile concerns. Through playing with the group Vikernes came into contact with many who would become important in the realm of Black Metal. He met the musicians who later formed the band Immortal, as well as the legendary Euronymous. After leaving Old Funeral, Vikernes formed a one-man band in order to have complete control over his own work. Originally called Uruk-Hai after a J.R.R. Tolkien reference, he then changed the name of the project to Burzum, another coinage from Tolkien meaning “darkness.” Metalion recalls Vikernes’s entry into the Black Metal scene at this point:

  Nobody knew who he was. He was starting to talk about his band Burzum at the same time, and all the sudden he had recorded an album, the first Burzum album, and Euronymous was totally excited about it, because it was something extreme and new. They became very close friends.8

  DARK THRONE LOGO

  Burzum was not the only new Black Metal band to appear. An Oslo group, Darkthrone, was beginning to attract attention and played a few shows around this time. Some members of the band still dressed in jogging suits, betraying their Death Metal origins; others began wearing clothes more in line with the developing aesthetics of Black Metal. One of these concerts took place in the left-wing anarchist venue Café Strofal (A play on the Norwegian for “Catastrophic”)—ironic, in retrospect, since their drummer Gylve Nagell, aka “Fenriz,” would later exert significant influence of his own for a series of outspoken fascistic statements. Other groups who soon claimed the Black Metal title for themselves included Immortal (who also emerged from the remains of Old Funeral) and a young group from the Telemark countryside, Emperor. The latter outfit, along with Vikernes, was destined to play an important role in bringing the music genre to the attention of police departments as well as record collectors.

  After the untimely demise of Dead, Euronymous continued plowing ahead with his projects, primary of which was to open a record shop. This was soon realized with the ominous title of Helvete (“Hell”). The shop was housed in too large and costly a space, didn’t ever make much money to speak of, but functioned as an expression of Euronymous himself—it became the focal point of the scene. Metalion is quite clear in his assessment of the importance of the shop to the rest of the bands, and how it served as an extension of Euronymous’s ability to influence those around him:

  The opening of the record store Helvete happened a few months after [Dead’s suicide]. That’s the creation of the whole Norwegian Black Metal scene—it’s connected with that shop,
the influence Euronymous had on the young customers in the shop, and how he convinced them what was real and not real in this world. A lot of the guys in Immortal and Dark Throne were all into normal Death Metal and Euronymous showed them what Black Metal was really like, how things should be, and they followed him. Looking at the first Dark Throne album compared with the second, you can see Euronymous’s influence on the second one, A Blaze in the Northern Sky. That’s the first Norwegian Black Metal album after Deathcrush which was really big and an influence on the rest of the scene. Then followed Immortal, which was a Death Metal band who changed toward Black Metal, also under the influence of Euronymous. Even if they don’t admit it, it’s the truth. Also with Emperor—they had a band called Thou Shalt Suffer, which was Death Metal, and it changed to Emperor, which was Black Metal. The whole Norwegian scene is based on Euronymous and his testimony from this shop. He convinced them what was right and what was wrong. He was always telling what he thought, following his own instincts to the true Black Metal stuff like corpsepaint and spikes, worshipping death, and being extreme. That’s what he was telling everyone about.9