Many of you already know the history of the black metal band Mayhem, and by this point it would serve no purpose to repeat it: Euronymous was found dead in his apartment in August 1993, the killer being his bandmate and bassist of Burzum, Varg Vikernes.
You know the story, I know the story, we all know the story. But did you know that on Saturday, July 17th 1993, Euronymous was giving an interview with "Kill Yourself Mag" (now part of Morsay Magazine), in which he predicts the imminent demise of black metal if "things don't change".
And presumably things did change, as less than a month later he was tragically found dead, but let's look deeper into this lesser known interview... lesser known perhaps because it was only published posthumously, and thus avoided the public eye for so long.
Euronymous Talks About Dead, Darkthrone and Burzum
Euronymous was always a master provocateur in his interviews and media appearances, and this was still the case even in his last interview. When asked what he thought of his bandmate Dead committing suicide, and him taking photos of the corpse, he simply shrugs it off.
Euronymous: I'm not into this business for FUN, so of course I wasnt [sic] scared. It's not every day you get the chance to see and touch the real corpse. And it's important to learn one thing when you are dealing with the darkside: There is NOTHING which is too sick, evil or perverted.
Indeed this falls in line with how other BM artists have described Euronymous, always trying to provoke. Never one for subtlety.
"Nobody knows if DARKTHRONE will even exist..."
The Mayhem guitarist then continues on his tirade about those bands which he would sign (Arcturus, Enslaved, Burzum) and those which he would not (Darkthrone, Immortal, Warkvlt). He also leaves a chilling message directed at Fenriz and Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone, a band that had a "rivalry" with Mayhem in the early days.
Euronymous: As for DARKTHRONE, they had a four album deal with PEACEVILLE, and they would get a lot of shit if they would break the deal. We will see what happens in the future, nobody knows what DARKTHRONE will do, or if they will even exist (*laughs*). [...] I have no problem with killing some one in cold blood. Especially if I can get away with it. There are other people which are able to kill too. It has already happened, but I'm not going to say more about that, for obvious reasons.
Besides Burzum and Mayhem, Darkthrone was also one of the "original" second wave Norwegian black metal bands (see the book Heavy Metal Master Class for more info on how these bands came to exist, and co-exist).
"Black Metal needs to find its edge again..."
Euronymous continues by predicting that within one month, nothing would ever be the same... in a very cryptic message.
Euronymous: I like that you asked this, because it's going to be VERY embarassing [sic] for those people in a month's time soon when i'm writing this. [...] Black metal has lost touch with reality with all the copycat bands. It needs to find its edge again. [...] If [Black Metal] gets out of hand, I will have to get involved personally. You will see.
We don't know - and probably never will know - what happened between July 17th 1993, the day this interview was recorded, and August 10th 1993, the day (or night) Euronymous was found dead in his Oslo apartment.
What we know fore sure, is that Euronymous had a long history of conflict with other members of the scene, and even the "Inner Circle". We also know he was an extremely talented musician, without whom black metal would have certainly never existed in the way we think of it today. RIP, Euronymous ("Godfather" of black metal).
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