As predicted, Mr Vikernes returns with another segment of the saga of his introduction to metal and his unique take on the genre that became one of the pillars of black metal, which increasingly looks like the last interesting thing to come out of music.
47 CommentsTags: Black Metal, burzum, History, varg vikernes
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
Notable Burzum composer, Mayhem member, church burner, and antagonist of all things dualist/Abrahamist Varg Vikernes released his most recent effort, a 150-page history of the black metal experience in Norway as he experienced it from 1991 to 1993.
84 CommentsTags: Black Metal, burzum, Norwegian Black Metal, varg vikernes, weges
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
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
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
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
Varg Vikernes is one of the rare musicians in death/black metal that won’t sell his soul for the dollar. In a new video posted to his Thulean Perspective YouTube channel, Varg has revealed that some scumbag promoter has at one point offered over £ 300,000 for him to do a live Burzum show in London. While many in black metal swore never to play live, almost everyone ranging from Darkthrone to Graveland has given in at some point. But with the most notorious metal musician in the genre’s history, blood is thicker than water and that’s never been more prevalent than now.
47 CommentsTags: Black Metal, blood, burzum, cash grab, culture, divas, ideology, live Burzum, metal, money, purpose, varg vikernes
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
The success of endeavors that carry with them the implication of development or transformation, such as the evolution of an artistic genre (without any relation to the ‘progress’ of dialectical materialism), requires the constant testing of strength, the crossing of one’s boundaries. Contrary to the beliefs of the simple minded, this does not mean that the act of crossing those lines is in itself enough for a fully-formed conclusion to be presented, although there is indeed great value in violation itself. But one could argue that the great weapons of the mind, enacted, come as a result of a full digestion and re-application of invaluable experience and information that comes from the crude testing of strength, directed towards the intuited limits of the yet unexplored.
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Tags: Ambient, Black Metal, classical music, Enslaved, ildjarn, literature, metal, Nihilism, the Four Seasons, varg vikernes, Vivaldi, will to power
