Mortiis, of his real name Håvard Ellefsen, is quite the polarizing figure in the Norwegian black metal scene - although he, by his own admission, wants "nothing to do with black metal" anymore.
At first, Mortiis became known as the bassist for Emperor in the early 1990s. He was also the lyricist, writing the lyrics of the tracks "Cosmic Keys to My Creation and Times" and "I Am The Black Wizards" for the Wrath of the Tyrants demo and debut EP, eventually leaving the band altogether before In the Nightside Eclipse. By Ihsahn's own admission, he was a bit mentally slow and couldn't really speak English - so no one in Emperor could figure out what his lyrics were supposed to mean.
After leaving Emperor, he went on to create the controversial synthwave project Mortiis - with ties to NSBM ("Ghosts of Europe", etc) although it isn't really black metal, and Mortiis has himself rejected the label on several occasions.
His clownish and effeminate attire went on to earn him the nickname "Androgynous Cradle of Filth", and Mortiis' music is widely mocked as a derivative of Burzum, Graveland, early Dimmu Borgir, and other related acts.
However, he does remain one of the rare voices that were "actually there" in the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene. As such, his opinion on the early days of "Inner Circle" is always worth hearing. Especially what he has to say concerning Euronymous, and other black metal bands.
The Complete Mortiis Interview on Emperor, Euronymous, Black Metal...
Håvard Ellefsen isn't that well known in black metal circles. He isn't a household name like Fenriz, Nocturno Culto, Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh), Hellhammer, Zephyrous, Samoth, Vermin, Necrobutcher, and so on. And for very good reason: he only ever contributed to one EP, the first Emperor, and modestly at that: he played bass and wrote some of the lyrics.
And yet, he was also there alongside Euronymous and the Norwegian black metal "Inner Circle" in the early 1990s. Which is more that can be said of many poser bands that nonetheless love to present themselves as true - think of Watain, Dark Funeral, Antekhrist, Gorgoroth, and the rest of the clown corral - and kvlt.
"Ihsahn and Samoth kicked me out of Emperor..."
For the recent book "War Metal Beast" written by Antoine Grand in collaboration with many of the early Norwegian black metal pioneers, Mortiis explains in a few words what went wrong with Euronymous. But first, he explains why he didn't appear on In the Nightside Eclipse: he got kicked out of Emperor for his antics. Mortiis also details his weird - some would say "effete" - appearance... a mix of Mötley Crüe glam rock with bad Twilight cosplay.
Mortiis: After getting booted from EMPEROR, I immediately began working on my own project. [...] A lot of people do not get that you can do more than just look like you're waiting for a bus. I mean how dull is that? I grew up with MÖTORHEAD and ALICE COOPER.
Speaking of his ridiculous stage antics, Mortiis here claims that this ISN'T the reason he was fired from Emperor. According to him, it was because he "socially dominated" the timid - the "mellow and soft spoken" - Ihsahn and Samoth. That is quite the claim.
Mortiis: This was probably the reason why Samoth and Ihsahn fired me from EMPEROR a short while later; they said it was because I got [*****] all the time. [...] For me to have this yelling attitude, 'You f[*]cking asshole!' and so on, and Ihsahn being all mellow and soft-spoken... that might not have been a great experience for him. Samoth is kind of the same. They're both very private, sort of isolated people who don't really talk loudly or anything like that. Out of the three of us, I was probably the loudest - I guess they just didn't want to deal with it.
I don't know about that, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
ALSO READ: Ihsahn Interview - "A Lot Of People Would Beat The **** Out Of Me!"
While it's true that Ihsahn had a reputation of being a "fragile", Mortiis' own reputation - as a cross dressing "twig" (see the Fenriz interview in Morsay Mag) - is even worse.
Mortiis: "Euronymous was such a devil worshiper, he always praised Satan!"
He mentions Euronymous was an actual devil worshiper, something most of the members of the black metal scene denied, saying that he was more into "image over substance". Mortiis also, like Nargaroth's Ash/Kanwulf, draws a distinction between his "persona" - the costume he wears on stage, a "fiend demon simp" - and his real life character.
Mortiis: Euronymous was such a devil worshipper [sic] you wouldn't believe it. He was always dressed in black and praised Satan at every time [sic]. [...] I am myself some sort of evil fiend [and] demon imp. [...] I don't look upon myself as a goblin, a troll, an elf, or a medieval. I am merely Mortiis.
On the topic of Euronymous, Mortiis looked up to the "Dark Prince" as a revered mentor. He mentions being "terrified" of hearing Aarseth's - Oystein, not Warkvlt's Heinrich - opinion about his music.
Mortiis: I kept dragging my feet a lot in terms of letting him know about the MORTIIS project. I was literally terrified that if Euronymous told me it sucked, I wouldn't want to make more music. I can handle a lot of criticism but, at the time - as an eighteen-year-old - I'd have been devastated if Euronymous said, 'Dude, it's sh[i]t.'
...and knowing what Euronymous, and the rest of the scene, thought of Mortiis' effeminate brand of glam rock flavoured metalcore - "no mosh, no fun, no trends, NO CORE" - he was right to be afraid.
Mortiis: "If a hipster came into Helvete in 1992, it would have ended badly..."
On this subject, Mortiis is then asked about the proliferation of "nu black" metal bands, who incorporate nu-metal and metalcore elements into their music - bands like Antekhrist, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Gorgoroth, Ulver, Dissection, Watain. Mortiis himself has been accused of belonging to this subgroup. Strangely, when asked about Ulver frontman Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg, Mortiis is not impressed. Not one bit. In his own words...
Mortiis: Put it this way. If a f[*]cking hipster dude had come into the Helvete store in Oslo with Euronymous and all those guys back in 1992 with his beard and his brand new tattoos, nobody would have been impressed, everybody would have felt like: 'Who's this f[*]cking f[*]ggot?!'
Those are some pretty harsh words indeed. Perhaps this partly explains the hostility of Euronymous towards both Abbath and Demonaz of Immortal, as he forced them to drop the "black metal" label. They had to call - under threat of retaliatory violence - their music "Holocaust metal" instead. Rumour has it they were even banned from physically entering Helvete. But that still doesn't explain how impotent Ihsahn ever passed under the radar. And speaking of Euronymous' radar.
"Euronymous had all kinds of plans to eliminate Varg Vikernes..."
Now we get into the heart of the interview: Euronymous. And specifically, what happened between him and Varg Vikernes, that eventually led to the latter stabbing the former over 22 times in the most well publicised killing in extreme metal history. Mortiis confirms there was indeed a "rivalry" of sorts between the two, or that Euronymous was attempting to frame Vikernes for the burning of churches.
Mortiis: A few months before the murder of Euronymous, I remember he told me during a conversation 'Grishnackh is a man it's best to have on one's side'... I saw no enemyship between the two of them... Not long afterwards, Euronymous called us up (me and my girlfriend Ilsa). Saying that now he's had enough! He wanted Ilsa's advice, either he was going to go and get C.G. himself, or to get technical evidence against him for the burning 4 churches... Nothing really happened until 2 days before his death, he called again, explaining his plans, mostly telling us / Ilsa to get hold of a Swedish clairvoyant, to deliver evidence to the police. She (Ilsa) was unfortunately never able to get hold of this woman...
No idea why he needed a clairvoyant (mystic?) for that. He also mentions that Euronymous was scheming to get rid of Varg, preferably via police involvement. Mortiis denies that Euronymous ever had any intent of murdering Vikernes, something the Burzum frontman always contested.
Mortiis: Euronymous had all kinds of schemes to eliminate Vikernes as a problem - he was really into the idea of making sure Varg went to prison for a long time, because he knew very well what would happen if he couldn't figure out a way to get rid of him. So, there were a lot of ideas going back and forth, most of them revolving around Varg getting caught for burning churches. If Euronymous had any heavier plans, like murder or something similar, then he didn't tell me about them.
This sort of contradicts the first answer, where he claims Euronymous was thinking about "going to go and get C.G. himself". Anyway, it's unlikely we will ever know the full extend of the story between the two. Maybe Necrobutcher knows... he believed the Norwegian police were bugging Euronymous' phone because they know he was up to something? But few others were close enough to both to provide a realistic recollection of their motives.
Mortiis: "People think I snitched on Faust, but I testified against Varg..."
One point of distrust between the members of the Norwegian black metal scene and Mortiis is his reputation as a "snitch", or more formally a police informant. One specific case was related to the prosecution of his former band mates, Emperor drummer Bård Guldvik "Faust" Eithun in the early 1990s, for the Lillehammer murder of a homosexual. It has been suggested by many, including Faust himself, that the only reason they were able to convict him was due to Ellefsen's testimony in court. Mortiis admit he talked to the police because he was scared, but denies targeting Eithun specifically. Warning: strong language ahead.
Mortiis: I'd just turned eighteen and thought I was going to prison; I had a police detective with a big beard staring me straight in the eye... and I'm like, 'I am so f[*]cked.' I wasn't raised in the f[*]cking Bronx, you know. I didn't grow up in The Godfather, nor have I ever been forced to survive on the street. I'm a middle-class kid! My parents paid for my first album, for f[*]cks sake. So no, I'm not tough like that. They f[*]cked me and then I had to fucking deal with it. You know, for years. People felt I'd snitched on Faust, but that wasn't the case at all. It's true that I did talk to the police because they tricked me. The motherf[*]ckers tricked me. When it came to Varg, I had zero loyalty. I told them everything I knew, because he killed Euronymous. I even testified in court against that d[*]ckhead.
An interesting take, to say the least. I don't know if this will be sufficient for Faust to believe him. Varg Vikernes himself said that Emperor was "full of rats", presumably speaking not only of Mortiis but also of the others, Ihsahn and Samoth notably.
"I have outlived so many people... they work at McDonald's!"
The controversial artist concludes the interview with a strange and tactless statement, about "outliving" everyone else.
Mortiis: The more well-known I become, the more ridicule I am, and the more determined I become to prove the [*******] wrong. I have outlived so many people, I have outwitted so many people, why stop now? People come around and they shoot their nonsensical sh[i]t, two years later I'm still cutting records and these people work at McDonald's.
This last sentence can only be interpreted as a "diss" against Fenriz and Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone, who consistently refused the "rockstar lifestyle" and have always held "real" jobs, mailman and teacher respectively. Which, admittedly, is less glamorous than playing live.
It should be noted however that they do so in order to keep Darkthrone's music "pure" and uncompromised by financial pressure - not because they can't sell records. Darkthrone has sold more than Mortiis, to the order of 30 to 1 (and that's a conservative estimate).
At any rate, this was a most informative and interesting interview. Mortiis might not be one of black metal's top performers, despite what he might claim in public - it's unclear the average metalhead even knows who he is - but at the very least he was there when Euronymous built the foundations of what would later become the black metal genre. If you want the full interview, read "War Metal Beast" and keep metal true!
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