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On this page you will find some disturbing and non disturbing information on the greatest genre of metal BLACK METAL
Black Metal Circle
The orginal line-up of Mayhem was Euronymous (lead guitar), Necrobutcher (bass), Messiah (vocals), and Manheim (drums). Mayhem's first ever line-up change happened when legendary vocalist Dead left his band Morbid and replaced Messiah. The band once again ventured into the studio in 1987 and recorded their 3rd demo, DeathCrush. Manheim left the band and the new drummer, Hellhammer, stepped in to take his place.
Euronymous had opened a record store in 1991 in the town of Olso, Norway named Helvete. (HELL when translated in English). At that time the trend in Norway was Death Metal. As much as Euronymous hated trendy music, he sold it anyway in order to buy more EVIL music to sell to those who dared buy it.
In that same year Euronymous also created a small record label, Deathlike Silence, which would only carry EVIL bands which made EVIL music.
But Euronymous wasn't finshed there. He founded the most notorious gang EVER in music history, THE BLACK CIRCLE. The outter part of The Black Circle was made of up of many Norweigen Black Metal bands including Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, and the one man band Burzum, which Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh) founded. The outter circle would command the inner circle (mostly made up of Black Metal fans and Black Metal bands who wanted to join) to do various acts including burning down Christian churches and terrorizing bands from England, Sweden, and Finland. The Circle warned the bands from these countries to not dare step one foot into Norway and tour. When they made that mistake they payed full.
After an already busy 1991 the band then embarked on a now legendary tour in Germany. Their stage presence was unmatched as crowds witnessed the band tossing around pigs heads and watching frontman Dead slice himself up with razor blades and various other cutting materials. Some of the live shows were recorded during the tour on both cassette and video.
Shortly after the tour Dead commited suicide inside of Euronymous' record shop with a shotgun. He felt that the trends he hated so much had won the war Mayhem and many other Black Metal bands and fans were fighting. Euronymous found the body and took pictures of it for future album covers. Occultus had replaced the fallen vocalist, but not for long.
In 1992 the band released an official live album titled Live in Leipzig in memory of their vocalist, Dead.
Necrobutcher had left the band and their were only two members of Mayhem left, Euroynmous and Hellhammer. Nonetheless the band decided to carry on and began writing songs for their first official album. They finished writing and went into the studio with two studio 'session stand ins': Count Grishnackh on bass and Attila, who replaced Occultus, on vocals. Those four men began to record De Mysteriis dom Sathanas
Rumours were running mad concerning problems within the Black Circle. The Count, big mouth and all, had been telling friends about the doings of the Circle. Obviously Euronymous did not like these actions and many verbal fights had broken out between them. An enourmous hatred had begun to sprout between the two. The topics of the arguements included The Count's big mouth and the record contract that Burzum had with Deathlike Silence. It would all come to a tragic end though.
On August 9th, 1993 The Count, a man by the name of Snorre (who at one point was a member of Mayhem for a short time), and Andreas Nagelsett drove to Oslo with one intent: Grishnackh would kill Eurnymous in cold blood. On their way Varg dropped off Nagelsett at his place to make a lot of noise such as typing and playing loud music. Varg wanted it to look like he was home the whole time. When the three men arrived at Togen, The Count knew that Euronymous would not answer the door for him, that's why he took Snorre along. Snorre buzzed the intercom at the apartment complex where Euronymous lived. Euronymous answered the call and when the buzzer sounded Grishnackh slipped through the door and walked his way to the apartment. Euronymous had just woken up and he was surprised to see Varg while standing in his underwear. The Count waived a pieve a paper at Euronymous, that piece a paper was the record contract. Varg claimed that he wanted to discuss the contract and Euronymous let him in. An arguement took place about the Circle, the record contract, and also about a young girl named Ilsa. Varg claimed that Euronymous has stolen the sixteen year old girl from him. Euronymous went to the kitchen and Varg pulled out a knife. In an extremely cowardly manner The Count stabbed Euro in the back, and he fell instantly and began to crawl back up to his feet in an attempt to talk Varg out of it. Euro pushed the Count aside after being stabbed for the second time and ran towards the door to get help. Varg followed him as if he was Jason from the Friday thr 13th horror flicks and stabbed him again.
On the morning of August 10th Euronymous' neighbors found him dead in a pool of blood stabbed a total of tweenty-three times; sixteen in the back and seven to the head and neck. When the body was found Varg and Snorre were long gone.
An investigation instantly began and on August 20th Varg Vikernes was arrested for the murder of Euronymous. Varg was founded guilty and was sentenced to twenty-one years in prison, the maximum penalty in Norway.
Black Metal Bands
Emperor Are the tue gods of black metal not some crappy underground black metal group only three people have heard of. Samoth the guitarist was responsible for the church on the front page (part of the black metal circle) but its not as bad as what mayhem and burzum did. Ihsahan is the frontman and writes some very complex riffs and lyrics. best songs are Inno a Satana. the loss and curse of reverence and i am the black wizards.
Eventually there comes a time when the hype on a band becomes superfluous, and their status alone speaks volumes. Such is the case with Emperor, the black metal gods hailing from Telemark, Norway, who are without doubt the most influential and respected band within their genre, having launched a scene that is now beginning to burn its way out of the underground charnel pit and engulf mainstream metal culture in the blackest of flames.
Beginning life as a trio in the spring of '91 with Samoth (drums/vocals), Ihsahn (guitar) and Mortiis (bass). The band quickly recorded and circulated the now legendary "Wrath of the Tyrant" demo. It was this that brought them to the attention of the then still fledgling Candlelight record label . A deal was inked, Samoth moved to guitar and Bard Faust was recruited for the now vacant drum stool. By the end of the year the band had been once more into the studio to record their half of the "Emperor / Enslaved" split CD which was to eventually surface early in the following year. Mortiis departed for the band, and was after a while replaced by Tchort.
 The press response was justifiably excellent and by the summer of '93 Emperor were record once more, but this time working on their debut full length "In the Nightside Eclipse". By the time of the albums release in 1994 they had become without doubt the most important band in the genre, gathering world wide critical acclaim and a rabid fan base to match.
In autumn of '93 a series of headline grabbing events (which are now quite sufficiently documented. For further reading check "Lords Of Chaos". Emperor would suffer the temporary loss of Samoth and the permanent loss of Faust, due to prison-sentences. However, before Samoth has to do time, the band managed to put together a new line-up, with new bass-player Alver, and a session-drummer.
Even though the band was seriously disturbed by the unpleasant confrontations of the imprisonment's and line-up difficulties, the entity of Emperor came out even stronger in the end. By the time Samoth was paroled, Trym (ex. Enslaved) had joined the band on a permanent basis, and the bones of what would become their most epic and majestic material to date were taking shape By the end of '96, now fully prepared and rehearsed, they were back in the studio. First firing off the "Reverence" EP to announce their return to the fold and then following up in early '97 with what is without doubt the single most ambitious and important black metal release to date......"Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk" . An album of epic savagery. Not only beautiful but bestial in it's wide ranging scope. The press agreed, not only did "Anthems.." feature in just about every "album of the year poll" in all 4 corners of the globe but they actually won the album of the year in both England's Terrorizer AND the U.S Metal Maniacs.
Since the release of the genre defining "Anthems.... " things have moved on again in the Emperor camp. Fresh from triumphant appearances at Dynamo and Milwaukee Metalfest the band announced that bass player Alver would be leaving once all live commitments had been fulfilled. As a result of this, all bass dutes on their latest masterpiece "IX Equilibrium" have been handled by Ihsahn.
The album itself is their single most breathtaking vision to date. Surpassing even the mighty "Anthems..." for it's sheer scope of diversity. Emperor have now moved so far ahead of the field that it would be unfair to even consider them a black metal band any longer. Utilising elements of their more traditional metal roots, operatic vocals and of course their trademark symphonic riffing the band have created an album so mature that it may well take the rest of the competition years to catch up... That's of course if they ever do!. LONG LIVE BLACK METAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darkthrone
Unholy Black Metal
Darkthrone was formed as "Black Death" in 1986 by Gylve Nagell, Ted Skjellum, Ivar Enger and Dag Nilsen.
During the first years they played Death Metal with satanic lyrics. In 1988 they changed their band name to "Darkthrone" and after releasing a couple of demos they recorded their first full-lenght album: "Soulside Journey", which was released on Peaceville.
After the release of "Soulside Journey" they recorded "Goatlord", but this masterpiece was not released before November 1996. Dag Nilsen left the band.
Darkthrone now left the Death Metal concept in advantage for the cold northern Black Metal. They was also heavily influenced by Celtic Frost (which become very clear when listening to "Panzerfaust"). This ment changing their image; corpsepaint und aliases! Gylve Nagell became Fenriz, Ted Skjellum became Nocturno Culto and Ivar Enger became Zephyrous.
In August 1991 Darkthrone went into Creative Studios to record "A Blaze In The Northern Sky". They used several hours setting the sound to get it as hard, ugly and cold as possible, and since they knew what they where doing it ended up sounding great. It was this album which truely set the standard for the Northern Black Metal style. After this release Darkthrone more or less withdrew from the scene. The albums "Transilvanian Hunger" and "Panzerfaust" were recorded in their own studio; Necrohell Studios - which was a 4 track portastudio, too get that fine sound.
Darkthrone stayed on Peaceville for a total of four albums, then they went to Moonfog. This was done because they wanted to work with norwegians only. Zephyrous disappeared after the "Panzerfaust" album, but he neither quit or was fired. Fenriz claims that neither he or Nocturno Culto has heard anything from Zephyrous since the recording of "Panzerfaust".
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| Fenriz - Drums And Satanic Poetry |
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| Nocturno Culto - Lead Guitar And Vocals |
Mayhem
Mayhem was formed in Norway in 1984. The founding members were Øystein Aarseth (aka Euronymous, although he first took the name Destructor, - guitar), Jorn Stubberud (aka Necrobutcher - bass), and Kjetil Manheim (aka Manheim - drums). They took the name Mayhem from the song 'Mayhem With Mercy', originally recorded by black metal originators, Venom. They recorded their first demo, 'Pure Fucking Armageddon' in 1986. This was released in a limited 1000 copies. The demo was extremely brutal, although very low sound quality. In autumn of that same year Mayhem got their first real vocalist in Sven Erik Kristiansen (Maniac). Then in the winter of 1987 Mayhem entered the studio to record the legendary 'Deathcrush' demo. This demo gained Mayhem a cult fanbase. It was later re-released as a mini LP on Euronymous' own Posercorpse/Deathlike Silence Productions label.
Soon after the mini LP was released, Maniac and Manheim left the band. Mayhem recruited a new vocalist, Per Yngve Ohlin (aka Dead, vocalist of the cult Swedish band Morbid), and a new drummer, Jan Axel Von Blomberg (Hellhammer). The band recorded two songs for the CBR 'Projections Of A Stained Mind' compilation album, 'Freezing Moon' and 'Carnage'. The band then toured Turkey and East Germany. This tour was where the legendary show in Leipzig, East Germany took place. That show was released as the 'Live In Leipzig' album.
In April of 1991 Dead committed suicide. Shortly after Dead's suicide, Necrobutcher left the band. Occultus joined the band as vocalist/bassist to replace Dead & Necrobutcher, but left shortly after joining. Euronymous brought in Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh from the one-man band Burzum) to play bass, and Attila Csihar (vocalist for the legendary Hungarian band Tormentor) on vocals. Blackthorn (from legendary band Thorns) joined for a short time as a second guitrist, but left soon after joining. This line up recorded the long awaited first full length Mayhem album 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'. After the album had been recorded, things started to go wrong between Euronymous and Count Grishnackh. The troubles between the two escalated to the highest level, and ended with Grishnack stabbing Euronymous to death. The story of the Euronymous murder, and the Norweigan black metal scene in general from the early 1990's has been told time & time again. I am not going through the whole story here. If you want to read more about all of it, then buy the book Lords Of Chaos.
Now Hellhammer was the only remaining member of Mayhem. The bass tracks on the 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' album were supposedly rerecorded by Hellhammer out of respect for Euronymous. In fact this was not true, and the bass tracks on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, are indeed done by Count Grishnackh. It was finally released in 1993. It was considered to be the final memory of Mayhem.
Mayhem had gained a huge cult following by this time. The chaos in Norways black metal scene in the early 1990's had gained worldwide attention. Unfortunately fans were left with only the few recordings Mayhem had released during their existence, and a slew of bootleg albums. They had become one of the most infamous and legendary bands in the underground metal scene. They were gone but not forgotten.
In 1995, Hellhammer got in touch with Maniac and Necrobutcher. He wanted to reform Mayhem. They recruited a guitarist Necrobutcher knew, Rune Erickson (Blasphemer). Now they had a full line up. They agreed that if the right feeling wasn't there then they would forget the idea of reforming Mayhem. Fortunately, the feeling was there more than ever. In 1997 they recorded the mini LP 'Wolfs Lair Abyss', and proved that they could truly carry on the legacy of Mayhem. They toured Europe, and did a small tour in the United States and Mexico. In November of 1998 the band recorded the full length live album 'Mediolanum Capta Est' in Milano, Italy. Mayhem were definitely back.
The band unleashed a brand new full length album entitled 'Grand Declaration Of War' in 2000. It was quite a different album than their previous efforts. It is Mayhem's vision of black metal for the new millennium. Despite the altered style on the new album it is definitely Mayhem and it pulses with the power that has come through on all their releases. Following the release of the album was the first ever full tour of the United States for the band. Then the band proceeded to tour Europe as well. An official video of a show from Marseille, France was released in February, 2001. The video was released as both DVD & VHS. Following the release of the video, Mayhem released 2 live albums. The first was titled European Legions and featured 7 live tracks from their Grand Declaration of War tour, and 5 pre-production tracks from the GDoW recording sessions. The second live album was titled U.S. Legions and featured 7 different live tracks from the GDoW tour, and the same 5 pre-production
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| Dead And Euronymous |
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir is a melodic black metal band hailing from Norway. Shagrath, Silenoz and Tjodalv initiated the band in 1993. Shortly after, Brynjard Tristan joined to play bass, and Stian Aarstad joined for keyboard duties. Dimmu Borgir was born. They are a band which success is measured with such bands as Emperor, Kreator and Cradle of Filth. I will without a doubt say that Dimmu Borgir is the best black metal band in the world today (webmaster's comment).
Haunting keyboard melodies, aggressive guitar work, destructive drums, grim/raw vocals and a touch of melodic/operatic vocals characterize Dimmu Borgir's sound. They are musically inspired by 80's black metal and heavy metal. Classic composers, like Wagner and Dvorak, also inspire them.
Satyricon
In the early ninety's, during the black metal eruption a legacy was born, Satyricon.. Firstly consisting of 4 members... Satyr (Vocals), Lemarchand (Guitar), Wargod (Bass) and Exhurtum (Drums). They recorded a self-titled demo of 3 tracks. Apparently things didn't work as planned because 2 of the members left the band for reasons unknown.
Satyr and Lemarchand went on to record their second demo "The Forest Is My Throne" and immediately get the well deserved attention and sign to Sweden's 'No Fashion Records'.
Satyricon looses Lemarchand and Satyr recruits Frost on drums. which now are the pillars of the band we call Satyricon. Satyr's obsession with the dark ages and the things accompanied with that make them a very stand-out band among the far too many Satanic and Pagan black metal acts then and now. Up until the release of Intermezzo II all of their albums have revolved around that. They prepare for production of 'Dark Medieval Times', and then lose another member. So now its just Satyr and Frost. But obviously it didn't affect their musical outcomes, They go into the studio to record their debut and they get screwed by the company due to lack of funds. So they end up having to do whatever they can to get the money to make this album. they achieved their goal in the end. Which is all that matters.
Satyricon then signs to Tatra records, But since their musical style didn't fit the label too well, The boys from Oslo started a Sub-label... Moonfog Productions. This is when they really get the ball rolling on their success, They go on to record "The Shadowthrone" which to me is one of the best albums in the genre, Ever... They recruited a 3rd member on this epic. Samoth (Emperor) to play bass and some grand piano. The album was a total success in black metal standards. Since back in those times it wasn't actually the music you'd see sitting on the shelves at some shop that sells soft rock or the latest teen craze band. They later re-release their second demo "The Forest Is My Throne" as a split album with Enslaved.
The next chapter in the Satyricon saga is called "Nemesis Divina"... This is album that got them noticed by people other than the people heavily involved in the scene. It was a complete success. They recruited Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) on guitar. He used the name Kveldluv on the album though. They recorded their first video (Mother North) and I'd have to say I haven't seen a better one in my life. It became a home video because the content was so 'inappropriate' for the mainstream public apparently so no one would have been able to view its splendor if a home video wasn't released. Onward... They toured and toured and built a huge fanbase with this dynamic album and their great live performance. They later released an EP named "Megiddo" of 4 songs. a remix, a re-recording, a live song & a cover. Not something everyone would like but to a big fan it's an OK EP to own.
In 1999, Satyricon signed to Nuclear Blast records (Also known as the label created to popularize extreme metal, but that's my opinion) Some changes occurred in the band. Satyr's infatuation with the middle ages lost its touch with the music. They released a EP named Intermezzo II which wasn't much of an album but more of a teaser of what was to come in the future. It featured 4 tracks, 2 new, a cover and a classic Satyricon song... But the most intriguing is the track "Blessed From Below" which is a pseudo-industrial style song created by the help of Snorre (Thorns). though synthetic in ways it still had the Satyricon touch to it.
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