Lords of Chaos

by Michael Moynihan

  I know there are other forms of paganism such as that of the North Amerindians, and I respect them, but they are not for Europeans, they are for Indians. As we say in Napalm Rock: “Let us be wild! Let us be pagans!”

  Kerry Bolton of New Zealand publishes a small journal called The Nexus that counts a significant number of Black Metal readers among its audience. He has assisted in the past with the editing of Key of Alocer, an occult and Black Metal related fanzine also produced in New Zealand, but receiving a substantial readership worldwide. Having been involved in underground agitation for decades, Bolton was also responsible for founding the (since defunct) Black Order, an international occult group dedicated to invoking “the shadow side of Europe,”9 which drew many adherents from the Black Metal scene. The Black Order is not the only such group. A more prevalent organization which seems to draw a large number of members from both Black Metal musicians and fans is the Order of the Jarls of Bælder. They publish a wide range of information on both Satanism and heathenism, and offer courses in physical fitness and “warrior arts.” Kerry Bolton has also contributed to the operations of Bælder, which he sees as allied with his own goals.

  KERRY BOLTON

  YOUR PUBLICATIONS HAVE ALWAYS HAD AN AUDIENCE IN WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE BLACK METAL SCENE. HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT, AND WAS IT CONSCIOUS?

  I began writing from a “Satanic” perspective about the time of what I consider to possibly have been a high point of interest in that subject about six years ago, which seems to have subsided gradually over the last few years. Seeing Satanism as a catalyst for change and a challenge to the status quo politically and culturally, I set up several esoteric orders and several publishing endeavors as I would a political campaign, having had some experience in the latter. Therefore my efforts were quite aboveground and easily accessible.

  Having assessed that there were some serious people in the Metal scene who had a genuine desire to learn and act, a certain amount of my endeavors were with them. Anti-Christianity to some extent, especially with a Nietzschean influence, was tactically utilized, as the preoccupation of much of the Metal youth seems to be with Christianity and purging themselves of it. My efforts were meant to show that Christianity is but one product of the Western malady, and no longer today even the predominant one. Christianity is but one product of the Magian infection of Western culture, the others being plutocracy, liberalism, globalism, egalitarianism, and so forth. As Nietzsche pointed out, these are uprisings against culture.

  I hoped to show a connection between them all and some doctrines which could be utilized in the rebellion many youth intuitively identify with Satanism. ... Since my agenda is to assist with the return of European culture to its “youth” or “Springtime” (in the Spenglerian cyclic sense), in repudiation of our present age of Western senility, it is most apt that any pitch should be aimed at the youth—just as Fascism itself arose as fundamentally a youth movement against the politically, culturally, and socially aged. Much of the support for my various projects continues to come from youth, including metalers.

  MANY BLACK METAL BANDS AND PUBLICATIONS HAVE FLIRTED OR APPEARED TO ENDORSE FASCISTIC/NATIONALIST/RACIST VIEWS. IS THIS MERELY AN ATTEMPT TO SHOCK, OR DOES IT REFLECT SOMETHING DEEPER?

  No doubt many such publications and bands are out to shock as much with fascism as with Satanism. But what if the desire to shock comes from deeper, usually at first unconscious motivations, which might themselves be quite laudable? For all the negativity and often outright childishness often involved, at least the desire to shock indicates a bit of individuality in a world which promotes uniformity even whilst promoting it in the guise of a pseudo-individuality. Often the desire to shock leads to knowledge and situations which induce maturity and something of a “conversion” when one eventually stumbles upon that which is truly rebellious.

  MANY OF THE BLACK METAL PEOPLE APPEAR TO HAVE MADE A SHIFT AWAY FROM SATANISM AND TOWARDS INDIGENOUS HEATHEN RELIGIOUS FORMS, OFTEN COUPLED WITH NATIONALISM.

  Yes, I have noticed a shift to native heathenism, and to nationalism. However, I would say it is heathenism in a “Satanic” context, a version of Satanism that is ethnically and culturally based, rather than of a more cosmopolitan nature of the type one often first encounters. It is a natural and heartening development, since Satanism is itself derived from heathenism. “Satan” takes many forms and is most aptly assessed via the archetypes and collective unconscious of one’s own heritage, rather than wandering through a maze of multicultural esotericism, borrowing from sundry cultures and periods and throwing it all in a rag-bag labelled “modern Satanism.”

  SATANIST LEAFLETS

  BÆLDER FLYER

  Since the thrust of the present civilization in its phase of senility is towards a global plutocracy, with the plutocrats and globalists utilizing consumerism and multiculturalism to break down the different nations and cultures and the archetypes upon which they are based, it is fitting that “new” forms of Satanism are emerging with a nativist heathen basis to challenge this globalism. Anything less and Satanism would be (and in some forms actually is) a symptom of the Old Order’s decadence rather than an “adversary and accuser” of it.

  This move to one’s heritage among Satanists is occurring for the same reasons that many other youth are trying to discover their own heritage—a search for anchorage beyond the nihilism and superficiality offered up by global plutocracy and its world consumer “culture.”

  Satanism and the heathenism from which it ultimately descends are themselves the products of the archetypes and differentiated psyches of nations and peoples, and they therefore spring from the same “occultic” or mystical sources as nationalism itself. Nationalism is the political manifestation of a folk’s collective unconscious; heathenism/Satanism is the spiritual manifestation. Both ascend from the same source. It’s therefore no coincidence that occultism and nationalism /fascism have both claimed common adherents prior to the present interest in both by youth.

  WHAT ARE YOUR OWN VIEWS ON THE BLACK METAL PHENOMENON?

  The major strength, it seems, is the commitment of its performers and fans, making it an enduring phenomenon. Its weakness (which also afflicted skinhead “Oi” music until recently) is not having a focus, a discipline, a long-range view of where it’s going as a potential resistance to the status quo. Therefore, some of the most motivated will strike out blindly at targets which might not be the most appropriate.

  There is also lack of ideological cohesion. I often read interviews, including some with older entertainers and composers, which spout “fascism” out one side of the mouth, and some type of libertarian nihilism out the other side. The rebellious impulse in Metal therefore has yet to synthesize the nihilism with the fascism, and since fascism is a synthesis itself, there’s no reason this cannot eventually be achieved.

  CAN IT BE COMPARED TO ANY OTHER FORMS OF AGITATIONAL MUSIC?

  Yes, it can be compared to the leftist radical songs of the ’60s, though fortunately from the opposite direction, and therefore not quite “kosher” to the music establishment (literally speaking). Of course the establishment will try to buy it off, but that would presumably mean a fundamental departure from its present form and content. The ’60s music genres were thoroughly phony in their radicalism. Unlike Black Metal (and for that matter “Oi,” and much Industrial) the ’60s musicians had no fundamental difference in outlook to the establishment they were supposedly rebelling against. There was most of all an underlying ethnic affinity between the establishment and its phoney critics—whether in music, literature, or the media.

  DO YOU SEE IT BEING ABSORBED INTO THE MAINSTREAM LIKE SO MANY OTHER “UNDERGROUND” ENDEAVORS, AND ENDING UP DIVESTED OF ITS MORE RADICAL ASPECTS?

  Most Black Metalers appear to be worlds apart from the music establishment and a common ground is not likely to be easily reached, if they are to retain their heathen focus. The possibility of being bought off by the music business would most likely be by way of insistin
g on a return to the specifically anti-Christian themes at the expense of the heathen resurgence, since I’m sure many of the executives of the music industry can co-exist well enough and even utilize anti-Christianity, including Satanism, especially if it is of the nature of yet one more superficial American commodity.

  CONVERGENCE OF EXTREMES

  Up until 1997, the connection between figures like Vikernes and extremist political movements appeared to be little more than the use of similar slogans and symbolism. All this has changed. Beyond his role as the driving inspiration behind the rise of church burning, Varg appears now to furnish motivational inspiration to genuine members of the revolutionary right.

  On Saturday, April 12, 1997, Norwegian newspaper headlines were ablaze with a story about the so-called “Einsatzgruppe,” composed of figures from the neo-Nazi scene, which had been raided by the police. Five young men were arrested at Hemnes, a small community 60–70 kilometers from Oslo. The arrests had been made the night of April 8th, and in the following three days investigators uncovered startling information about the group.

  NORWEGIAN HEADLINE: “COUNT’S MOTHER JAILED, PLANNED USE OF FORCE AGAINST POLITICIANS.”

  According to the police, the Einsatzgruppe was plotting direct action against prominent Norwegian politicians, bishops, and public figures. The group’s plans included a scheme to break Varg Vikernes out of jail by force. The Einsatzgruppe had all the trappings of a paramilitary unit: bulletproof vests, steel helmets, cartridge belts, and ski masks. In addition, the police found a list of twelve firearms and a map for a hiding place at a mountain. However, the only weapons the police confiscated right away were some sawed-off shotguns and dynamite with blasting caps.

  The police also found a war chest with 100,000 Norwegian Kroner (close to $20,000). This had been supplied by Lene Bore, Varg Vikernes’s mother. She was also arrested and charged with financing an illegal group. Bore confessed, but claimed she had no idea these people were “right-wing extremists.” She expressed concerns about the treatment her son received in jail, and claimed that he was subjected to violence by his fellow inmates. This was dismissed as unfounded by the prison director. However, it is true that Varg’s jaw had been broken in an altercation with another inmate in late 1996.

  The police speculated that the 100,000 Kroner might have come from Varg Vikernes himself. According to this theory, the money was culled out of the royalties from his substantial record sales. Bore herself claimed the money came from the proceeds from the sale of a house.

  TOM EITERNES ON TV2

  Curiously, Bore could not be prosecuted under Norwegian law—conspiracy to break the law is not illegal if it is done to help a close family member.

  Vikernes was interviewed by the Norwegian channel TV2 and claimed that the police involving his mother in the case was “absurd.” When asked if he and his would-be rescuers were dangerous, he replied: “[We are] nationalists and Odinists—we represent truth. Considering that truth is a threat to the Jew powers, then yes, we are dangerous.” When asked to comment on the confiscated military supplies, he stated that “Big boys have expensive toys.”10

  The TV2 interview caused some controversy over Vikernes’s dress. He had a shaved head, a black bomber jacket of the type favored by neo-Nazi skinheads, a belt buckle with SS insignia, and cut quite a striking figure for the camera. As the case unravelled, the scenario became increasingly outrageous. The group was, according to some sources, aiming to escape with the freed Vikernes to Africa—hardly the hideout of choice for passionate racists.

  Vikernes’s commitment to the group had been revealed quite some time before the Einsatzgruppe made headlines, although very few people, if anyone, realized this. In early 1997 a new Burzum T-shirt design was produced according to Varg’s specifications and sold by his record label, Misanthropy, in England. Due to its imagery it attracted a bit of negative publicity and criticism, although sales were brisk. The shirt was advertised with a photo of an unidentified skinhead modeling the garment. The design featured a Burzum logo and SS death’s-head on the front; the slogan “Support Your Local Einsatz-Kommando” was emblazoned across the back. Most thought it was simply a nasty attempt to be offensive, entirely unaware that Vikernes wasn’t kidding.

  The most prominent member of the Einsatzgruppe was 22-year-old Tom Eiternes. His earlier political career had included starting a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. At the time, he claimed to have received $26,000 in financial support from the American mother organization.

  He had also served a prison sentence for robbing a gun store in Stavanger with four other members of the Einsatzgruppe. The robbery went awry and ended in the near-fatal stabbing of the store clerk. The five neo-Nazis fled towards the border of Sweden in a stolen car. When they reached the border, they found there was a customs post which hadn’t appeared on the map. When customs officials tried to stop their car they just kept driving. The daring fugitives were stopped a little further into Sweden by armed police, and immediately extradited back to Norway.

  While serving his sentence for the robbery and stabbing at Ila prison, Tom Eiternes met Varg Vikernes. Eiternes made public that he had converted to Odinism, presumably after talks with Vikernes. Eiternes broke contact with the Klan and forged an alliance with Vikernes. Right before his escape from prison, Eiternes was interviewed for a TV program about political extremism, where he made a series of statements that give insight into his worldview.

  As one might expect from a National Socialist, he wants a one-party system. For people that have not kept up-to-date on far-right politics, some of his ideas might be surprising. Eiternes has no grudges with immigrants, seeing them as the victims of the situation just like the Norwegians. The criminals are the politicians who encourage large-scale race-mixing. Norwegian politics are controlled by “international Jewry” via the Freemasons and the United Nations. From their bases in Washington, D.C., and Tel Aviv they are plotting the world’s downfall through race-mixing—“a Jewish conspiracy that wants to destroy the white race,” to use his own words in the interview.11 Far-fetched, to be sure, but it all makes sense in the head of Tom Eiternes.

  NORWEGIAN HEADLINE: “GAVE MONEY FOR ESCAPE PLAN: LENE BORE FEARED FOR HER SON’S LIFE”

  This vision of the enemy might predispose him to take his actions one step further, from harassing immigrants to Baader-Meinhof-style urban guerilla warfare directed at leading power figures. To do that, he would need guns.

  When arrested for the robbery, Eiternes and his accomplices claimed that they just wanted to sell the guns for money. However, this story is not very credible. On Eiternes’s shopping list were items like rifles with telescopic sights and guns outfitted with silencers, which are ideal for terrorism. When he was asked directly whether the guns were to be used in a coming race war, Eiternes answered somewhat awkwardly, “That is not necessarily so very far from the truth.”12

  Eiternes stated that he thinks political violence is justified and insisted that it is necessary to defend oneself against the Norwegian regime. His National Socialism is of a radical, revolutionary brand, and he seems to look up to figures like David Lane, a prominent member of American terrorist group The Order, currently serving life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder and robbery.

  VARG IN SKINHEAD STYLE

  Norwegian prisons are far more liberal than their American counterparts. Eiternes was actually able to run away while on a leave from the prison. It was during this period of freedom that the Einsatzgruppe initiated their plans.

  The police were certain the group they had rounded up was a dangerous terrorist organization, a task force ready to embark on an all-out attack on Norwegian public figures. The proof cited was lists of private addresses for Bishops and government figures, including Oslo’s police commissioner, Ingelin Killengreen. The police claimed these records were death lists and that the Einsatzgruppe was planning violent action against the named individuals. The defense, however, claimed that the lists were intended sol
ely for mailing propaganda to these people. Further evidence was an article in the Einsatzgruppe’s possession from the glossy weekly Se og Hør (roughly the Norwegian equivalent of People magazine) with pictures of the homes of these prominent figures. Also found were sketches of the military camp at Heistadmoen near Kongsberg, with the arms depot clearly marked.

  The group was to be charged with Paragraph 104 of the Norwegian penal code, concerning participation in a conspiracy to “disturb the order of society or gain influence in public affairs by sabotage, use of force, or other illegal means.” This carries a maximum sentence of two years, which can be increased to a maximum of six years in grave offenses. An armed unit would certainly constitute a grave offense, therefore it was important for the authorities to uncover the extensive weapons cache that the group was said to possess. In addition to the shotguns and dynamite the police had found so far, in a later raid they discovered a 7.62 mm battle rifle of the kind used by the Norwegian military, a pistol, a rifle, and an old Russian AK-47 Kalashnikov. Parts of a submachinegun were also found. There are rumors of more.

  NORWEGIAN HEADLINE: “HAD WEAPONS AND WILD PLANS”