Euronymous facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Euronymous
Euronymous (right) with Dead
Background information
Birth name	Øystein Aarseth
Also known as	Euronymous, Destructor (Formerly)
Born	22 March 1968 Surnadal, Norway
Died	10 August 1993(1993-08-10) (aged 25) Oslo, Norway
Genres	Black metal
Occupation(s)	Guitarist
Years active	1984–1993
Labels	Deathlike Silence Productions

Øystein Aarseth (22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem and was the only constant member from the band's formation in 1984 until his death in 1993. He was also founder and owner of the extreme metal record label Deathlike Silence Productions and record shop Helvete.

Euronymous presented himself as leading a militant cult-like group known as the "Black Metal Inner Circle".

In August 1993, he was murdered by fellow musician and former bandmate Varg Vikernes.

Biography

1984–1991

Aarseth formed Mayhem in 1984 along with bassist Necrobutcher (Jørn Stubberud) and drummer Kjetil Manheim. At the time he was going by the stage name Destructor but later changed his name to Euronymous, derived from the demon Eurynomos which inspired the Hellhammer song of the same name.

In summer 1986, Euronymous, Necrobutcher and Jon "Metalion" Kristiansen visited the German thrash metal band Assassin and recorded the Metalion in the Park demo under the name Checker Patrol, Metalion contributing background vocals to the title song "Metalion in the Park".

In 1988, Per "Dead" Ohlin became Mayhem's vocalist and Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg became its drummer. By 1991, Dead, Euronymous and Hellhammer were living in a house in the woods near Kråkstad, which was used as a place for the band to rehearse. Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher said that, after living together for a while, Dead and Euronymous "got on each other's nerves a lot" and "weren't really friends at the end".

On 8 April 1991, Dead was found deceased by Euronymous at his home. Euronymous used Dead's death to foster Mayhem's "evil" image.

Stian "Occultus" Johannsen was recruited as Mayhem's new singer and bassist. However, this was short-lived; he left the band after receiving a death threat from Euronymous.

1991–1993

The basement of Euronymous' former record shop, showing graffiti from the early 1990s

During May–June 1991, Euronymous opened a record shop named "Helvete" (Norwegian for "hell") at Schweigaards gate 56 in Oslo. Norwegian black metal musicians often met in the shop's basement, including the two members of Mayhem, the members of Emperor, Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes of Burzum, and Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch of Thorns. Euronymous also started an independent record label called Deathlike Silence Productions, which was based at Helvete. It released albums by Norwegian bands Mayhem and Burzum, and Swedish bands Merciless and Abruptum. Euronymous, Varg and Emperor guitarist Tomas "Samoth" Haugen all lived at Helvete at various times. Emperor drummer Faust also lived and worked there. The shop's walls were painted black and bedecked with medieval weapons, posters of bands and picture discs, while its window featured a polystyrene tombstone.

According to Occultus, the space that Euronymous rented "was far too big and the rent was too high. That's the reason why it never did well". Only a small part of the building was used for the shop itself. Nevertheless, it became the focal point of the Norwegian black metal scene. Metalion, writer of the fanzine Slayer, said that the opening of Helvete was "the creation of the whole Norwegian Black Metal scene". Daniel Ekeroth wrote in 2008,

Within just a few months [of Helvete opening], many young musicians had become obsessed with Euronymous and his ideas, and soon a lot of Norwegian death metal bands transformed into black metal bands. Amputation became Immortal, Thou Shalt Suffer turned into Emperor, and Darkthrone swapped their Swedish-inspired death metal for primitive black metal. Most notoriously, Old Funeral's guitar player Kristian (later renamed as Varg) Vikernes had already left the band to form his own creation, Burzum.

Euronymous helped many younger bands in the scene, especially Emperor and Enslaved, both of whom he recommended to Candlelight Records. Ihsahn of Emperor said that "if you were trusted, if they knew you were serious in your views, you were accepted" by the Helvete scene. Euronymous took Vikernes, who was five years younger than him, under his wing: inviting him to play bass with Mayhem and offering to release his music as Burzum. However, it has been claimed that their friendship turned to rivalry. Looking back, Faust said: "It sounds really silly, but I think there was a little bit of a contest between them to see who could be more evil. It created a very difficult situation, especially for Euronymous, who wanted the glamour and the showbiz. With him, there was a lot of smoke but not so much fire".

Euronymous took part in the burning of Holmenkollen Chapel (pictured)

On 6 June 1992, the Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen was destroyed by arson. Vikernes was strongly suspected as the culprit but was never convicted. There followed a wave of church burnings across Norway perpetrated by musicians and fans of the Norwegian black metal scene. Euronymous was present at the burning of Holmenkollen Chapel together with Vikernes and Faust, who were convicted for the arson after Euronymous was dead. Faust says he believes that Euronymous got involved because he "felt he had to prove that he could be a part of it and not just in the background". To coincide with the release of Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Vikernes and Euronymous had allegedly plotted to bomb Nidaros Cathedral, which appears on the album cover. Euronymous' death in August 1993 put an end to this plan and stalled the album's release.

Murder

In early 1993, animosity arose between Euronymous and Vikernes, as well as between Euronymous and some members of the Swedish black metal scene. On the night of 10 August 1993, Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death at his apartment in Oslo.

Aftermath

Vikernes was arrested on 19 August 1993 in Bergen. On 16 May 1994, Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison (Norway's maximum penalty) for the murder of Euronymous, the arson of three churches, the attempted arson of a fourth church, and for the theft and storage of 150 kg of explosives. However, he only confessed to the latter.

Instruments

Euronymous' main guitar was a sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar, which he can be seen playing in many pictures. He played through a slightly modified 1981 Marshall Super Lead tube amp and used a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal, as well as a Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal.

Influences

He stated in various interviews that his and Mayhem's main influences were Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Sodom and Destruction, whilst he also liked Iron Maiden, Kiss, Celtic Frost, Dio and Metallica.

Legacy

Euronymous is considered one of the creators of Norwegian black metal's autochthonous guitar style, alongside Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch of Stigma Diabolicum/Thorns. In the documentary Helvete: Historien om norsk black metal, Snorre Ruch credits him with inventing a new way of tremolo picking that allowed to play the iconic black metal arpeggio riff, going slowly up and down a chord doing the tremolo picking in each string. He was also ranked No. 51 out of The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World.

In March 2012, low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle set up a public poll asking customers to pick a famous Norwegian historic figure whose picture would decorate the aircraft's tail fin. Largely on the strength of international fans, Aarseth was leading the poll, but his name was removed from the campaign at his family's request.

The 2018 film Lords of Chaos, based on the eponymous book, is a semi-fictionalised account of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene told from the perspective of Euronymous. In the film Euronymous is played by Rory Culkin.

Discography

Euronymous played guitar on the following albums except where noted, any additional instruments or credits in notes.