Euronymous, Øystein Aarseth, is widely considered a black metal legend and pioneer. His band Mayhem is widely regarded as the first true second wave Norwegian black metal band, and their debut LP "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" is considered, alongside "Transilvanian Hunger", "Fenrir Prowling" and "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss", as one of the best black metal albums ever recorded. Both of that era and of all time. Definitively a defining moment for the entire genre.
But the aura of Euronymous, his "prince of darkness" persona as well as his elaborate fantasies of establishing a "Satanic caliphate" over Scandinavia, were divisive even within the already extreme Norwegian black metal scene - called the "Inner Circle of Darkness" by his peers.
This drama has led to many disputes between Euronymous and members of the black metal "Inner Circle", the most famous - and final - one being with Varg Vikernes, of Burzum. But there were many others, perhaps less dramatic than the conflict that eventually ended Øystein Aarseth's life.
With that said, not all interactions with Euronymous were necessarily negative or conflictual. He was also praised by his fellow musicians, mostly for his vision and foresight, and particularly for the pioneering spirit that Mayhem possessed and that later influenced all black metal.
Compilation of Quotes About Euronymous and Black Metal
Since the black metal scene was, especially at the time of the Inner Circle, relatively small - compared to all the subsequent poser bands who claimed posthumous affiliation with Euronymous to increase their "kvlt" factor, despite never even meeting the man - finding quotes from the top black metal musicians of the era isn't such a complicated affair.
This list is non-exhaustive, obviously, and prioritises direct interviews with the artists over other forms of medium. Most, if not all, of these quotes can be found in the books "War Metal Beast" by Antoine Grand or "Heavy Metal Master Class" by Emile Alquier. Of course, the entirety of the interviews can't be reproduced without permission, but these quotes should be enough to give you context about what other people thought of Euronymous. These are two books I sincerely recommend for anyone attempting to know extreme metal history better.
"The dislike for Euronymous spread in the black metal scene..."
The first "batch" of opinions, if you can call them that, is from three of the musicians who knew him best. Outside of his Mayhem bandmates of course, we will get back to those.
They are in order: Fenriz of Darkthrone, Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir, and Varg Vikernes of Burzum - yes, I know Varg was technically in Mayhem, we'll get to that.
Fenriz: We never really had a problem with anyone in the scene. After Euronymous's death, we did get some threats, and I know that "Ali" or something from Abruptum was very angry at us for a while. [...] He was talking like Euronymous was his best friend when in reality he only met him once, if even that. It was childish. Euronymous held these people in utter contempt.
Fenriz notes that Euronymous had utter disdain, even before his death, for the fans that pretended to know him just for clout. Fenriz here mentions Ali, but the sentiment extends to others we are sure. The next quote is from Silenoz who, alongside Shagrath, composes the duo of Dimmu Borgir - although Hellhammer occasionally plays drums, making it a trio.
Silenoz: We were more interested in playing music. We had met Euronymous before he died - we visited his record shop to buy some records - but we had never been members of the Inner Circle. We didn't like his preachy attitude. [...] I don't mourn his death at all, though I noticed that some people looked up to him as a leader.
At least Silenoz stays within his lane. He doesn't make up elaborate stories of "lifelong" friendship with Aarseth, like others - see Dissection's Jon Nödtveidt and his clique - were prone to doing weeks after his death.
Varg Vikernes: For some months this dislike for Euronymous spread in the metal scene, as more and more people understood what a moron he was, and he blamed me for all of this, and started to hate me. He believed it was my fault people lost their respect for him. In a sense he was right, as I certainly didn't keep my opinions a secret, but I think he brought that upon himself.
This last citation is pretty well known in extreme metal circles. The relationship between Varg and Euronymous deteriorated to the point of no return soon after.
Ihsahn: "Euronymous' evil image was all just theatre!"
The next batch of quotes are from more "minor" players in the scene, such as Ihsahn of Emperor and Satyr of Satyricon. Despite their shortcomings - a love of metalcore, and ability to compromise their artistic vision for... reasons ($)... - they both were actually present in the black metal scene, and even in Helvete in some cases (Euronymous' infamous shop/lair), unlike many trend hoppers that followed in their footsteps.
Ihsahn starts by drilling Euronymous' persona as "fake" and "theatre". This is a grave insult, in black metal circles, where being "trve kvlt" is a commodity valued above all else - and Ihsahn would know, being seen as a "sellout poser" himself by many fans for his post-2000 career trajectory. He also compares Euronymous to Quorthon of Bathory, which is strange considering Emperor's ambiguous relation with the Swedish black metal pioneer (botching the cover of A Fine Day To Day).
Ihsahn: I think his [Euronymous'] evil persona was mostly theatre. [...] It's similar to Quorthon in Bathory. He was inspired by Motörhead and he wanted to sing about girls and driving fast cars, but he was only 16: he didn't have a girlfriend and he definitely didn't have a driver's licence. Ha ha!
As a brief interlude, Ihsahn also mentions a time where he played live in Poland... and saw adult men cry as he was playing a track from In the Nightside Eclipse. He was left "unimpressed" by the alleged "evil satanists" who would cry over a song, like a middle-aged mallgoth version of Taylor Swift groupies. An allegory for Oystein?
Ihsahn: When I was playing in Poland, I saw grown men cry when we played I Am The Black Wizards. [...] It was something. It was bizarre.
So Ihsahn casually drops that he watched grown men cry during Emperor's live sets and was "unimpressed". Ok. Fittingly, he doesn't mention that he himself attempted to appeal to these same "trendies" - to use the original "Inner Circle" terminology - by playing odious "experimental" mallcore on Emperor, and his subsequent solo projects.
Ihsahn: When Euronymous was murdered, we were all very consumed with the whole thing. The attention it got. I think it was both scary and empowering at the same time. There was really no other choice than trying to feel empowered by it.
The Emperor vocalist then mentions the entire black metal scene, "Inner Circle" included, becoming consumed and empowered after the killing of Euronymous. Most fans would say otherwise... if anything, the death of Euronymous marked the beginning of the end for black metal's relevance as a cultural and artistic force in extreme metal.
Satyr: "Euronymous tried to beat me, but he was all talk!"
The next person interviewed about Euronymous is Satyricon's frontman Satyr. He first corrects a misconception, that the black metal bands were into "organised Satanism"... whatever that is. He highlights that some artists would claim to worship the devil, but only because Euronymous told them to do so.
Satyr: At no point did I ever say I was a devil-worshipper or a Satanist. Rather, the contrary, I said that it was too primitive and wasn't my cup of tea, and that it was just religion organised in a slightly more loose way than other forms of religion. Many of those people weren't really into it either, but pretended they were because Euronymous of Mayhem told them to.
He then goes on to mention that, under the seemingly calm exterior of the black metal "inner circle", the reality was that conflicts with the "Godfather" were omnipresent, including with Satyr himself. Nothing new under the sun.
Satyr: I was in conflict with Euronymous. Euronymous tried to beat me. When he realised that he could not intimidate me or spin me round his little finger, when he just realised I was mentally and character-wise completely up for it, he gave me up and tried to win me over instead. The honest truth is I felt a lot of the stuff Euronymous was doing was quite idiotic. He would ask people to do things he would never dare to do himself. And he would do a lot of talking and very little action at times. But I have to say, he had really the gift of foresight.
So the visionary who scared half the scene was secretly all bark, and only Satyr - the real alpha - was boss enough to call the bluff? Sounds like Satyr is subtly flexing on the black metal scene. And who can blame him? He has, at least, much more legitimacy and authority in the black metal scene than many modern trendy bands.
Warkvlt: "I admire his elitism, no matter how stupid..."
Going into deeper and more extreme subgenres of black metal, such as war metal or bestial black metal, these quotes from members of the Norwegian/German band Warkvlt are really interesting. It should be known that Warkvlt are perhaps the only true war metal band to have been in Helvete during the early days of black metal.
Slator: [Euronymous] was always looking over other people's shoulders. It was tiresome. 'Don't use this instrument', 'draw this logo'. Who are you? Are you the boss? [...] Not many people wanted to work with him in the end.
While bassist Slator is critical, frontman and guitarist Heinrich is much more inclined to praise Aarseth's qualities. Fascinatingly, there is a strange link between Warkvlt's Heinrich and Mayhem's Euronymous. I'll let you figure that one out.
Heinrich: 'No fun, no core, no mosh, no trends!' You got to admire his elitism, no matter how stupid it might have been at times. He was also right about certain details, in retrospect, like death metal becoming Scott Burns.
Session guitarist Skoll, who is mostly known for his time with Ulver and Warkvlt, delivers the killing blow, thereby confirming what his once bandmate Slator was saying: Euronymous as an alleged "control freak", but Warkvlt would have none of it.
Skoll: We never liked Euronymous. He thought he could control the whole black metal scene. I know for a fact he tried to pull his [********] with us, and we told him to f[u]ck off.
There is no proof of Skoll, or anyone, openly telling Euronymous to "back off", but this sentiment was certainly shared by many black metallers.
"He was four foot five, wearing a polyester cape... he looked like a Goofball!"
Now we get into the C-tier actors. Those artists whose proximity with Euronymous is dubious, to say the least. We start of with Trym Torson, the Enslaved/Emperor drummer - he picked up after Faust was imprisoned for the murder of a homosexual. It should be noted that his trial happened after Euronymous was dead, so there is no real evidence that he knew Euronymous personally.
Trym Torson: We all knew Euronymous and he was very helpful with supporting us to make a more epic style of music [than typical death metal] [...] Euronymous was the guy who initially gave us the opportunity to record our first album. But after that he started to become weird and distant.
Now we get into even more clownish territory. The fringes of black metal, if they can even be called that - most of these bands "transitioned" into nu-metal and/or metalcore a long while ago. Speaking of nu-metal, the first quote is from the guitarist of Gorgoroth, Roger "Infernus" Tiegs. Not quite the most credible person in black metal - he is a known liar - but his opinion on the scene is included regardless, as it concerns Euronymous directly.
Infernus: He [Euronymous] was charismatic and strong-willed I would say. Maybe one should in retrospect say confused, but he was an early part of the history, forming the direction of a scene, so if we should cut it down to the basics, I would say he had a hard will and charisma. He made himself goals and did what it took to go there.
Keep in mind that Roger "Infernus" Tiegs is known to fabricate lurid stories regarding his involvement in the early Norwegian scene. He for example claimed that he was "best friends" with Varg Vikernes, only for the latter to deny even knowing him. He also claimed Euronymous wanted to sign Gorgoroth to DSP (lol), but no one from Mayhem even knew who he was. So take his comments with a grain of salt.
Moving on to another equally controversial figure: Glen Benton of the death metal turned deathcore band Deicide. He is also known to make up various tales about his "enemies", like the Hoffman brothers, in order to make himself look good by comparison. Once again, take this with a grain of salt.
Glen Benton: I met the guy [Euronymous]. He's like four foot five, wearing this 'Party City' vampire cape made out of polyester. And he's carrying this table leg, like he yanked it off his mom's dining room table and just stuck some nails in it. The whole thing was ridiculous. [...] They brought me backstage and they said : "Uranus (or whatever) from Mayhem is there and wants to meet you." In his broken english, he says (in robotic, foreign accent): "I do not have problem with you, but with this band Gorguts. They are not true death/black metal band." And I'm just sitting there like "Yeah, that's cool man." To me he looked like another goofball fan.
The part that may add some credibility to his statement is that Euronymous did have a problem with various "trendy" death metal bands like Gorguts, as did most of the black metallers of the day. But he also widely despised Deicide, so there's also that.
Sissourlet: "Euronymous was attempting some blackmail operation..."
In this next segment, we get into darker and more controversial territory. Some lesser known information about Oystein Aarseth, the pioneer of Norwegian black metal. The first quote is from Khranial, of brutal death metal infamy, who recounts a well publicised incident that took place in Helvete, in 1992.
Khranial: One time we made Euronymous cry like a b[-]tch. He was pretending to be a prince of darkness. He called himself 'The Godfather' but we called him the Funeral F[-]g. [...] He was a timid boy. He would never have done anything against us.
The blackened death/doom project Sissourlet, comparable to Infester or Incantation, was known for being active in the Oslo scene in the early 1990s. One of the few "non black metal" bands to have been close to Mayhem during the initial years - see Deathcrush -, they are of primordial importance.
Sissourlet: Many people started to suspect in 1993 that Euronymous was attempting some kind of blackmail operation. He was always suggesting others do illegal sh[-]t, but never willing to do anything dangerous himself. [...] At some point, he had a plan to document Grishnackh's activities and send it to the police, using a Swedish psychic as an intermediate. Unfortunately for him, Grishnackh had many friends in the circle, and it didn't end well for Euronymous. [...] This is also how they got Faust, because he [Euronymous] couldn't keep his mouth shut and kept bragging about how he knew the Lillehammer killer.
As crazy as this sounds, this story about Euronymous gathering evidence against Varg Vikernes and other black metal artists was well known, and even confirmed via the mallgoth artist Mortiis, who was once the bassist of Emperor, albeit very briefly. And yes, even the part about a Swedish mystic woman was true!
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' [...] Euronymous had all kinds of schemes to eliminate Vikernes. 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. [...] Nothing really happened until 2 days before [Euronymous'] death, he called again, explaining his plans, mostly telling us / Ilsa to get hold of a Swedish clairvoyant, to deliver evidence to the police.
Why Euronymous would need a clairvoyant to snitch on Vikernes is anyone's guess.
Hellhammer: "Euronymous didn't care much about Mayhem..."
This is the part where we talk about other Mayhem members. The part you've all been waiting for, no doubt. We begin with Hellhammer, who you all know as Mayhem's drummer, once declaring that Euronymous was "cracked in the head" and did everything he could to appear "evil" and "dark"... including bragging about eating parts of Dead's brain, which is quite a tactless action, when your friend or bandmate just committed suicide.
Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg also recalls he - and the band - nearly kicking Euronymous out of Mayhem, as he became such a nuisance. It was shortly before he was killed, so the Mayhem drama was postponed until the release of the seminal De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.
Hellhammer: The more I got to know [Euronymous], the more I understood that he was cracked in the head. I mean, eating other people's brains is very disturbed. [...] He [Euronymous] 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.
Those are some pretty brutal statements indeed. But the Mayhem breakup did happen after the release of DMDS. They eventually reformed in the late 1990s under the moniker "The True Mayhem" with Maniac on vocals.
Necrobutcher: "I was on my way to get Euronymous myself..."
Speaking of Maniac, the original Mayhem vocalist and songwriter, he had the following to say about the death of Euronymous and the subsequent media frenzy.
Maniac: I have never cared much about what was happening at the time [of the killing of Euronymous], I even laughed hard when (national daily) VG published tests that presented nervous parents with questions such as "is your child involved in black-metal?"
Attila Csihar, the other - and current - Mayhem vocalist, had a different view of the Mayhem pioneer. He describes him as "polite" and "kind of gentle"... but was "much smaller" than he originally imagined.
Attila: He seemed very polite, kind of gentle. He always used a typewriter when he sent a letter. Very organised and into this movement. He had some big ideas for the future. I talked to him on the phone and always pictured him as a tall guy, taller than me. Like this big Viking guy. When I met him, he was much smaller.
This polite and friendly behaviour would soon change, for the worse. The fictional "dark prince" character didn't come into being until after Mayhem imploded because of the disastrous "European tour" in 1990 and Ohlin's suicide. And on Euronymous being killed by Varg Vikernes, Snorre "Blackthorns" Ruch has an opinion of his own.
Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch: When I stood outside Øystein's door I heard noise inside and Øystein came out, with Varg on his heels, covered in blood, rushing down the stairway... I realized that this was going to hell. [...] I don't have a bad conscience. Maybe I would feel that if I met his parents. But I haven't met them, so I don't think about it. I don't have any sleepless nights or anything. I regret [going] to jail a bit, though.
Last but certainly not least, Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher delivers his thoughts on Aarseth. Necrobutcher is certainly the person who was closest to Euronymous, and who knew him for the longest time, as they had been together in Mayhem since 1984 - and they were acquainted before that. And the least you can say, is that Necrobutcher goes hard on his ex-friend. No holds barred.
Necrobutcher: Honestly, I was on my way to [kill Euronymous]. I had so much anger built up toward him for everything that had happened. When I saw the morning paper about the murder, my first thought was, 'I need to get rid of all the weapons and drugs in my house because they're going to think it was me.'
Here he is, I believe, mostly talking about Per "Dead" Ohlin's suicide, and the misuse of the corpse by the clout seeking Euronymous. This behaviour severely disgusted Necrobutcher. (And rightfully so!)
But Jørn Stubberud also reveals an interesting and potentially morbid theory he always held about how the Norwegian police knew that Euronymous was making death threats against Vikernes and others, and suspected that something was about to happen soon.
Necrobutcher: Because they bugged Øystein's phone, and he actually talked about killing people before [...] so they probably were thinking to themselves, "We didn't nail this guy for all the church burnings, so let's nail him for murder, and get rid of this f[*]king guy [Varg Vikernes?] at the same time."
This is indeed quite the revelation. Big if true.
This concludes this article and compilation of quotes from black metal musicians, about Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth, perhaps the most famous black metal musician of all time. This article is perhaps a bit longer than usual, simply because there is so much material to cover. As said previously, a lot of this content can be found in books like "War Metal Beast". But stick around for the next documentary. We'll dive into deeper and even more arcane black metal subjects, maybe even some other stuff about Euronymous or Mayhem.
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