Hellhammer has always been seen as the undisputed king of black metal drumming. Sort of like the black metal equivalent to Pete Sandoval (of Morbid Angel and Terrorizer). And rightfully so, as no drummer as ever come close to delivering anything even resembling the unique blend of technicality and sheer aggression that Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) lashes out on the drum kit.
And there is a paradox here somewhere. The loudest man on drums is also the quietest and most discrete in interviews. A Hellhammer interview is something to be cherished, as he is a man of very few words... some poetic spirit might say that he "lets Mayhem's music speak" for itself.
Still, there are many things one can learn by listening to such an important black metal figure. That's why we compiled what is perhaps the most comprehensive and exhaustive interview of Hellhammer ever recorded. In this, he covers the entirety of his time with Mayhem, and with other bands as well. No stone is left unmaterialized (sorry for the inside joke) unturned, and all controversies of the early days of black metal are brought to a new light... let's go!
The Complete Hellhammer Interview on Mayhem and Black Metal
In an interview uncovered in the legendary "Heavy Metal Master Class" best-seller by Emile Alquier (with the collaboration of Antoine Grand), Hellhammer reminisces on his time with the equally legendary band Mayhem. There are also parts about his time in Dimmu Borgir, but since this post in mainly about Mayhem, we will just include those relevant to Mayhem and the early days of black metal history. You can read the book in your own time.
The first question is about Dead and Euronymous... of course, it's relevant, as the two closest relatives (D. Ohlin and H. Aarseth) have recently began playing in Morbid, the legendary death metal band that initially launched Dead's metal career.
Hellhammer here contrasts Dead's introversion with Euronymous' bombastic spirit.
Hellhammer: He [Dead] was a very strange personality [...] depressed, melancholic and dark. [...] Euronymous was quite a social person, contrary to Dead who was as antisocial as one can be. It was obvious that he was [mentally ill], although you didn't notice that from him in everyday life.
Hellhammer again doesn't mince his words when talking about Euronymous' forceful spirit that was "imposed" on other band members, even as they had other ideas of their own.
Hellhammer:He [Euronymous] tried to force his concepts onto the rest of the band. A lot was good, a lot wasn't so good. A lot of things just fell apart when he died... Frankly, I didn't care too much about it. [...] He was a very egocentric person. He wasn't like that at first, but he turned that way. I didn't care too much about it to begin with, but when I saw how he was carrying on, sending out pictures of only himself or pictures that only he looked good in, that started to bug me a little.
Those semi-gruesome anecdotes about Euronymous make excellent copy. Hellhammer's point is quieter but more damning: chaos made headlines, but it didn't make better music. He much prefers the latter.
Also read: "Euronymous Was Cracked In the Head!" the full MAYHEM interview with Voice Metal.
This wasn't the first time Euronymous' behaviour, particularly towards former vocalist Dead, was pointed out by other Mayhem members. Although many disliked the person, everyone does agree that his "influence" on the genre was close to legendary in its own right.
"Euronymous had a very egoistical way of thinking... this pissed of Count Grishnackh!"
On the rivalry-turned-homicide between Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh) and (Øystein Aarseth) Euronymous, also involving Snorre "Blackthorne/Thorns" Ruch, the newest Mayhem guitarist, Hellhammer has this to say.
Hellhammer: The thing that I think pissed Count Grishnackh off was Euronymous' egoistic thinking. I was kind of in the middle of it. I heard things from Varg saying 'Ah, this sucker...' and I heard things from Euronymous saying 'I really need to kill this idiot' and stuff like that. So I just thought, if they want to fight, let them fight. Because I knew it was coming to that. [...] Blackthorne was sh[i]t-scared. I called him the day after. I knew that Euronymous had been killed, but I didn't know who had done it. This Blackthorne guy started to cry, and I said 'Hey! What the f*** is this?' [...] It was hopeless talking to him, so I just hung up. The next day, I was talking to Grishnackh and he told me that Blackthorne was lying on the couch and that he couldn't eat, he couldn't talk or anything. He was in a very traumatic state of mind. Naturally, I started to ask myself why. But at that time there was a battle between bands from Norway, Sweden and Finland, so I and a lot of other people thought that it must have been some of those guys. It really came as a surprise to me when I heard that both Grishnackh and Blackthorne were involved.
This corroborates Varg's claims that Snorre Ruch "broke down" mentally and admitted the killing of Euronymous, which led to a chain of musicians - notably in Emperor and Immortal - "ratting" everyone out. As Varg puts it "this helped the police solve almost all the crimes committed by black metallers in Norway from 1991 to 1993". Damning evidence.
On the subject of "Satanism" and "devil worship", which many members of the original black metal scene claim was a media creation (Varg Vikernes, Fenriz, Satyr, Necrobutcher, King ov Hell, etc.), Hellhammer confirms it in his own way.
Hellhammer: In my opinion, black metal today is just music. I will tell you that neither I nor other members of Mayhem were ever really against religion or anything else. We are primarily interested in music.
Satyr of Satyricon went as far as to research the topic, and pinpointed the origins of the "devil worship" story on a fake article made up by one journalist from BT (Bergen Times) during the 1992-1993 years. He was very vocal about this, and tried to get the interview removed.
Mayhem wanted to kick Euronymous out of the band!
At this point Hellhammer drops this absolute bombshell.
Hellhammer: He [Euronymous] was concentrating more and more on his record label, and I was starting to rehearse more and more with other bands, because I need to practice a lot. He didn't care too much about Mayhem anymore. He was burned out. He wasn't into the band thing anymore, he was just into making money with DSP. We were even considering kicking him out of the band.
That Euronymous was more interested in DSP than Mayhem was well known... but this is the first time I've read that the Mayhem members were thinking of revolting, and taking matters into their own hands by kicking Euronymous out of the band! Euronymous, kicked out of Mayhem...? Wow! Although it's true that his contributions to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas have been overinflated: Varg Vikernes, Snorre Ruch and even Necrobutcher wrote some of the riffs. You can see text written in Norwegian between Varg and Snorre arguing where each riff should go on tracks like Pagan Fears and Cursed in Eternity.
This was something mentioned once by Necrobutcher, but I didn't give it much importance at the time. It is true that toward the end of his life, Euronymous became very obsessed with money... he borrowed money from Varg Vikernes (that he never paid back, obviously) and also attempted to rip-off Occultus on a deal involving imported Blasphemy CDs from Canada.
It seems very interesting to me how all these black metal interviews seem to converge, and the mystery slowly dissipates over the early days of Norwegian black metal... of course, there will always be shadows and some mystique. But thanks to these interviews with the original Mayhem members: Necrobutcher, Hellhammer, Manheim and Attila Csihar, we can slowly, piece by piece, attempt to solve the puzzle.
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