MAYHEM - Nice Nighttime Music for Tender Maniacs
by Michael Moynihan
Thanks to Michael Moynihan for use of the interview.
For any of you that dont know alot about the history
of the black metal scene, buy Lords Of Chaos and read all about it. It especially covers the
Norweigan events of the early 90's (like Euronymous' death, Dead's
suicide, and all the Church burnings etc.)
Lords Of Chaos was published by Feral House
Despite its frigid location in the icy north, Norway
is a land of fiery passions and explosive temperaments. Norway’s most extreme
contribution to the world of music is no exception. Known as Mayhem, the band
lives up to its nameÑand not merely due to the furious sound, for the group’s
history is as bloodcurdling as anything they sing about.
Formed in 1984 by guitarist Øystein Aarseth, Mayhem
initially emulated the extreme Metal bands of the time like Venom and Bathory
who were pioneering the nascent genre of Black Metal: a vicious substratum of
uncompromising music defined, at least ideologically, by its intense opposition
to Christianity. Mayhem first performed live a year later, and soon inaugurated
their longstanding tradition of surrounding themselves with impaled pigs’ heads
as stage props. In 1986 they released a debut demo-tape, Pure Fucking
Armageddon, issued in a numbered edition of only 100 cassettes and now a rare
collector’s item there are probably quite a few diehard fans on the planet who
would commit murder just to obtain an original copy. In 1987 Mayhem spat
forth its first full-length album, the aptly titled Deathcrush. By this time
they had become the most notorious band in Norway, and underground fanatics in
other countries were starting to take notice. A second album would not be
released until 1994, but they had some justifiable excuses for the delay: by
this point half the band members had perished in violent circumstances. During
this interim Mayhem also played a key role in inspiring a fledgling Norwegian
Black Metal music scene to initiate a wave of church burnings and other
visceral assaults on society which continue to the present day.
The
most infamous member of the Mayhem was Øystein Aarseth himself. Having adopted
the nom de guerre Euronymous (allegedly Greek for ‘the prince of death’), he
set about cultivating a militant Black Metal scene through both music and
propaganda. How much of this was merely self-promotional hype is a subject of
debate, but Aarseth certainly did court real-life disaster with his efforts. An
early singer for Mayhem was Per Ohlin, who adopted the stage name ‘Dead’ And an
apropos title it was, given that only a few years later Dead would take a
shotgun and blast apart his own cranium, leaving behind his apologetic suicide
note: ‘Excuse all the blood.’
Not one
to pass up a ready-made opportunity, Aarseth quickly capitalized on Dead’s
demise for the mythology of Mayhem, encouraging rumors that others in the band
had cooked and eaten parts of their former vocalist’s body after the suicide,
not to mention that they distributed shards of his skull to friends in the
scene to wear as talismanic jewelry. Øystein Aarseth also opened up a record
shop in Oslo to promote extreme and Satanic music. He named his little store
‘Helvete’ Norwegian for ‘hell.’ Although initial plans to operate the shop completely
devoid of light inside (the customers would have to carry torches in order to
see the records on sale) were abandoned, Helvete did become the meeting point
for the important adherents of the burgeoning Black Metal movement, which now
included bands such as Burzum, Darkthrone, Emperor, and Immortal.
It was
probably Burzum’s protagonist Varg Vikernes who sparked the church burning
trend (now a worldwide phenomenon), although it has never been successfully
proven in court that he lit the initial fire. He was, however, convicted of
involvement in subsequent church arsons as well as a brutal slaying. His
victim? Former best friend Øystein Aarseth. After publically exalting death and
destruction for years, Euronymous met an unpleasant fate in the stairwell of
his apartment building in the late summer of 1993. He was found in the early
morning hours lying lifeless in his underwear after having bled to death from
multiple stab wounds. The precise motives for the killing are still a subject
of intense speculation.
Half
the band might have been dead and buried, but Mayhem refused to die. Drummer
‘Hellhammer’ re-enlisted the help of a few early former members, bassist ‘Necro
Butcher’ and vocalist ‘Maniac,’ and recruited a new guitarist, ‘blasphemer’.
Maniac had originally left the band before the Black Metal scene reached its
fully-fledged atrocity exhibition status, but he maintained steady contact with
Aarseth during this period and was able to observe the unfolding events from a
distance. His unique insider/outsider vantage point provides a glimpse into the
development of both the music and the ideologies which went accompanied it
part-and-parcel.
As the
musicians grow older and more mature (most of them began playing in their early
teens), the philosophy of the genre likewise shifts and evolves. In recent
years some proponents of Black Metal have abandoned Satanism in favor of
various strains of indigenous heathenism, while others have gone from
advocating communism, chaos or anarchism to singing nationalist hymns to the
Fatherland (the latter sentiments have a particularly troublesome ring for many
Norwegians, given the occupation of the country by the Germans during WWII).
Not content to restrict his artistic expression solely to the the vicious
cacophony of the reanimated Mayhem, Maniac has also explored other musical
horizons with his atmospheric side-project VoluspŒ. The name derives from an
ancient Norse doomsday prophecy foretelling Ragnarok, or the end of the world
as we know it.
While
nay-sayers will tell you that Black Metal was little more than a fleeting trend
or a flash-in-the-bellfry publicity stunt, the genre is more popular than ever.
First generation bands like Emperor are dominating independent record charts in
Europe, while second generation groups like Dimmu Borgir have even performed on
national television recently for the Norwegian equivalent of the grammy awards
show. The re-formed (but certainly not reformed) Mayhem has released an EP of
sonic terror called Wolf’s Lair Abyss (Misanthropy Records) and completed a
sold-out concert tour of California. They are presently hard at work on their
forthcoming album, A Grand Declaration of War. What follows is a conversation
with Mr. Maniac, who discusses the past, present, and future of Black Metal in
general, and Mayhem in particular.
What do
you recall about the beginning of your relationship to Black Metal, and how did
it come about that you initially joined Mayhem?
This is
really a long time ago, but I will try to recollect my memories as correctly as
possible. My involvement in Mayhem started back in 1985. At that time I was
listening mostly to extreme metal music. I read an interview with Mayhem in a
very early edition of Slayer magazine. It made me very curious, and I
wrote to Euronymous. Our friendship evolved and we visited each other a lot. It
was a very small crowd for this kind of music in Norway then, and most of us
stuck together much of the time. Later in 1986 I recorded a tape, called Septic
Cunts, with only my voice and a rotten guitar. Shortly afterwards I got a
letter from Euronymous in the mail which just stated ‘ENORMOUS,’ and then I
became the vocalist of Mayhem. This is very much the start of it all for me and
my involvement in Black Metal.
How
would you describe the atmosphere in the Black Metal scene back then?
Back in
those first days there was more ‘fun’ involved. We had many a good laugh in our
quest for whatever we were seeking. I mean, we were very interested in dark
things, read a lot of occult literature and watched horror movies when we
didn’t play music. At that ageÑwe were around 17 or 18Ñyou have a very
uncertain view on how the world is and you try to find answers to everything
society was not able to provide. We talked a lot about violence and were
inspired by gruesome things, but in real life it manifested itself in shooting
with airguns at old ladies’ dogs, setting fire to skateboard ramps, etc. At
some point this changed and the ‘jokes’ were gone. I wrote lyrics at that time
very much like the horror movies I watchedÑmostly blood and amputations mixed
with some ‘satanic’ words. You might call it ‘gore lyrics.’
Why did
you leave Mayhem? Did you lose interest in what was going on with Black Metal?
I went
back to school. First I studied very basic History, English, Politics and
Sociology. Then I educated myself as a sound engineer, which is my job today.
Around 1988 I felt that Death Metal had become mainstream and I started
listening much more to all other kinds of musicÑespecially Industrial and
Gothic music. In 1991 I started a band called Status Fatal, very inspired by
Joy Division. However the band fell apart after a year or so, and we only
recorded one demo. I still had quite regular contact with Euronymous as he was
a very good friend of mine. He usually kept me updated on what was happening in
the Black Metal scene and we used to discuss politics. He was a communist as
you are probably aware of, and at that time I was very much into anarchism, so
we had our arguments. I loved bands like Darkthrone and also Burzum when they
released their first albums. Something vibrant and very much alive had come out
of the dying embers of extreme Metal. I also used to visit Helvete, but most of
my contact with Euronymous happened through the mail and by phone. I lived in a
small mountain village and was very happy with that. Reading a lot and slowly
changing my views on things in general and the concept of God, which had been
bothering me for years. So I was very much aware that things were happening,
but I guess I didn’t know how it was really going to manifest itself. Music was
not the most important thing for me at this point. It was also around this time
that I was very frustrated with my life, and I also tried to kill myself, but
my brother found meÑsomething that really made my life even more depressing. I
figured out a lot of things around this time, and today I am very happy to be
alive. Suicide for me now is something very unthinkable and almost disgraceful.
Then one day I was watching the news and a picture of Euronymous popped up on
the screen. Murdered...
How did
it happen that you rejoined Mayhem?
In 1994 me
and Necro Butcher recorded some things for fun called Fleshwounds, and come
summer Hellhammer asks me to join Mayhem again.
In what
ways has the group changed in its musical and lyrical outlook from the early
days?
I would
say that it is a progression, but we have become much more aggressive in our
‘musical language.’ The lyrics are turning more and more away from the occult
approach and into more philosophical things, really without a concept of
"gods" and religion as we know it. I am not a Satanist and I really
can’t write lyrics about something that I do not believe in, although I am very
interested in it. The lyrics for our coming album, Grand Declaration Of War is
much more about how I feel the state of the world is, and that something must
break, something must happen. We still play Black Metal, and we play it the way
I feel Black Metal was and should beÑwithout dreamlike keyboards and female
vocals. We are trying to get through with some aggressive and brutal
viewpoints, at least in the eyes of the moral standards and codices of today’s
western society, we feel that this can not be done with ‘nice nighttime music
for tender lovers.’
In what
ways do you contribute the most to Mayhem?
As I said,
mostly in the lyrics, but also a bit on the musical side. I do the song intros
and this is also a part of Mayhem, as I will continue to do this in the future.
I will also do much of the coming artwork for record-sleeves and merchandise.
Before I lived on the ‘edge of the world,’ so very much of the music was now
done after I had sent the lyrics to the other guys. Now that I have moved back
to Oslo our ideas and viewpoints will merge even more. Our opinion is that
Mayhem should be one being, one beast with four heads.
You
mentioned that the conceptions of the lyrics in Mayhem are changing a lot from
what went on in past years. Can you explain a bit more about these ideas you
have been putting into the lyrics, such as the concepts of God, etc.?
This
question is one I really don’t want to go deeply into. I do not like to explain
my lyrics or analyze them. But I guess it is not analysis you are after... What
I can say is that the lyrics are very personal, especially on the Wolf’s
Lair Abyss E.P. Those lyrics have certain hidden messages and meanings that
we, the whole band, have decided people can try to figure out. The lyrics for
Grand Declaration Of War are much more straightforward in many ways, but
still very personal. My concept of God is not like there is an old man with a
beard and stern eyes. I feel in many ways that the mere word ‘God’ is something
I do not like. We have one life, but that life is eternal. Paradise is not a
place anymore, it has burned down. It is so hard to try thinking of other
meanings of things that has been like ‘standards’ for 2000 years, but that is
what I am trying to do. My lyrics very much reflect my views on the world and
some of the things to change it, or at least to change the mind of the people
who listen to my lyrics. Also the lyrics have become much more militant and do
not so much revolve around mysteries and magic as they used to. I am not a very
fond believer in magic rites and spells. I believe more in physical things, but
of course ‘one soul is eternal.’
What it
your own personal impression of the factors which led to the Black Metal scene
beginning to ‘take action’ with the church burnings and other events in the
early 1990s?
It is hard
for me to say exactly what happened, since I lived very far away from the scene
itself. What I can say is that Euronymous was getting more and more into
extreme communism and the totalitarian regimes in Eastern Europe. He was
talking a lot about executions and extreme demands for action in some way. Also
he was very fed up with the underground the way it worked. People were just
talking and nothing happened. He would like to change that. Other people in the
scene also felt like this. Somewhere it all changed and it might have been with
the first church burnings. I think there is a mechanism within the human soul
that works like a trigger for such things. It also might have something to do
with the fact that in Norway we live in a very ‘protected’ environment where
everything, or at least most things, work. It is a social democratic society,
where extreme things do not happen very often. Lately there’s been a ‘wave’ of
violence in Norway, within the last few days some 5-8 people have been
murdered, and this is the headlines in every paper and TV channel. If this
happened in USA, no one would have cared. In the minds of some of the people in
the scene back then this society was like a straightjacket or something. You
are very much supposed to be and act like everyone else. Not everyone is
willing to do this. Something that lurks in the souls of many a man surfaced
and, in a way, exploded. However this is just me and my thoughts spinning
around this subject. It might have been totally different things that caused
it.
You
seem to imply that a social democratic system as you have in Norway, where
everything is very peaceful and well cared for, may be quite literally
‘backfiring’ in a way. From your own experience do you think a social climate
like in your country might cause some people to react against it in a powerful
way?
My guess
is that this might just be the case. I feel, myself, that it is pretty
suffocating to live in an environment like this. I do not think that the human
race was meant to live in eternal peace. We have some instincts in us which
will not accept this. I will not respect the limitation of the human will, as
it is being forwarded by our political leaders. So the things that happened
triggered a lot of this and it happened all over the country, and also, I know,
with people who were not into Black Metal. Several churches and graveyards have
been desecrated by people outside of the scene. And when gentle dad explodes
with a shotgun, it might also be part of this suffocation, or the fact that he
actually was stark raving mad. If you try to drown someone you get to a point
where the person you’re pushing down either gives up or destroys you.
Also
Norway is different from Sweden or Denmark in that it is, in many respects,
much more conservative...
In Norway
we are more conservative, something that I am very happy about in a way. The
fact that we are still not a part of the European Union has to with something
in the spirit of the Norwegian folk which harbors suspicions about everything
foreign. Unfortunately this is slightly changing now. When our political
leaders wanted us to join the EU, there was a demand that this had to be voted
over, the results came, and we are still not a member.
Are
there differences between Norway and the surrounding Scandinavian lands that
might contribute to outbursts of extreme behavior?
It is an
unwritten law in Norway that says that you should be anonymous, or not try to
be someone, this is also something that might demand extreme actions.
What is
the impulse behind your solo project VoluspŒ?
The main
motivation is my urge and need to work with things outside of Metal. I listen
to a lot of different music and VoluspŒ is very much revolving around my
lyrics. I feel I can write slightly different lyrics in the musical patterns I
design for VoluspŒ. Also I am my own master and can do whatever I want to. For
the time being it is only for me and close friends, but now that I’ve moved
back to Oslo, VoluspŒ will probably be joined by Blasphemer, who is also into
other kinds of music. Then something more might happen. I enjoy very much to
sit in the studio and just mess around with sounds and oscillators. I like to
work with analog equipment in various ways. I have loads of other things
recorded, things that I am not satisfied with, but when I work in the studio I
might suddenly find one simple thing in previous things I have done that I can
use for other songs. I try to put together various soundpatterns merged with my
lyrics and afterwards I can sit back and really think through what I meant with
my lyrics. It makes things clearer when I can view it from another angle.
Besides it is alot of fun to sit in the studio all night.
There
has been a growing tendency toward the imagery of Nationalism and even National
Socialism within Black Metal. How seriously can this be taken?
Many of
these things are because of the shock value (not particularly smart to doÑyou
get banned everywhere), but also very much because we are very interested in
what happened in those fiery years. How do you think the world would look like
if that war had not happened? I read many books on this subject, viewed from
both sides, and I try to figure out how it all occurred. That said, we are
getting more and more militant, but that’s a natural progression of our music
as well as opinions. We are not National Socialists, but we find strength in
many of the dogmas and codes of honour from that time. As I said in one of my
former answers something must happen, something must break. I am not saying
that it necessarily needs to be another Third Reich. But I will not submit to
the moral standards and vices of today’s society. As for nationalism: I see
myself as a nationalist, and if you call yourself that today, you are
automatically a racist and Nazi. I know there is a big difference in these
things. I love my country and I am willing to fight for it. I am not talking
about fighting for the people who run our country, but rather the land itself
and its true spirit. I am very proud to be Norwegian and I do not see anything
wrong in that. Besides, wrong and right are things from the world of
Christendom and that is a religion I truly detest. People might claim that they
are not Christian, but anyway their whole view on the world and the way they
live their lives is totally corrupted by Christendom. My mind is flying now and
I shall try to get back to what you really asked. How can I finish this?
OK...We are not Nazis, but we find things here as well as in a lot of other
literature and events that have happened throughout the entire history of man.
I am reading this book now called Poltava, about the defeat of the
Swedish army against the Russian military in the 18th century. The book is
based on diaries and letters from the Swedish soldiers. The Swedish army
consisted of 49,000 men and only 1300 came back home. It is a very brutal book,
but one of the books I have really enjoyed reading lately. These are chronicles
that inspire me to write music and lyrics, besides numerous other things.
One
thing I noticed in Norway was the presence of a real schizophrenia or
difficulty in dealing with its past during the 1930s. In some ways this is
similar to Germany, but made even more complicated by the whole
Quisling/Terboven affair, and the fact that Norway was occupied. What do you
think about this ongoing ‘problem,’ and will Norway even reconcile its past
with itself?
I do not
know if this ‘wound’ will ever heal. Maybe when all the veterans have died. If
you try to use old Norse symbols today you are a Nazi in the eyes of most
people. A recent research report that was published two days ago shows that one
out of five of the highest ranking officers in the army was pro-Germany when
the war started. This has surprised a lot of people in Norway. It is like we
try again and again to actually see what happened, but no one wants to. It is
best kept a secret, it is enough to know that something really ‘bad’ happened
and that Quisling was the bad guy. It is quite impossible to raise your voice
and try to see it from another viewpoint. I bought Mein Kampf awhile ago
and the person in the bookstore just looked at me with bewildered eyes, as if I
was Adolf Hitler in person. To discuss things like this you have to be either a
professor in history or philosophy or something like that. Ordinary people
should just accept the ‘facts’...
There are many people (often Christians or
conservatives, but frequently Leftists as well) who will try to argue that
music such as Black Metal should be censored or banned, as they claim it
inspires crimes (murder, church burning, etc) and is dangerous to young people
with "impressionable minds." What are your own views on the role of
music like that which you play, and how it relates to the listeners, their
behavior, and "society" in general?
First of all, the effect of Christian talk shows,
music, etc., is more devastating on the youth of today than Black Metal ever
could be. It is brainwashing people into doctrines that are in themeselves the
manifestation of ‘evil.’ It is a threat toward life itself. As for Leftists;
what about the R.A.F., etc., etc.? It is all a matter of which group you end
up in... conformity is the keyword for all those who blame us for having a bad
influence on youth. They can`t stand people who do act and think for themselves
(although this is not to say that there is no conformity within the Black Metal
scene). But what I want to do is to wake people up from dogmatic slumber of any
kind. It destroys cultures. If we have any effect on our fans, then I hope it
is of the sort that awakens people. If anyone will ban us I think that will
just make us stronger. A problem here is of course that a lot of
church-burnings and other actions are done out of ‘conformity’ or as a way to
get ‘credit’ among friends. They hype one another. When that happens we are
just back at point zero. I am myself not a very big fan of actions like these,
I believe there are other ways, but of course these actions has had an effect.
The problems of getting through to people are the same in the Black Metal
scene. People becomes sheep whatever the influences are. I believe very many
things are wrong in society and if I can get some people to realize that, then
I feel we have had the influence we wanted. People have to be made aware of
their sheep-mentality and as soon as that happens I think the Christians,
Leftists, etc., will lose much of their power over people. I think they are
afraid of this. Then we would have no need for ‘evangile des humbles.’
END.