Translation of 1993 DSP newsletter

Well, today I remembered that I actually have a translation of the old DSP newsletter (I got on my photobucket), so I decided to post it here. The translation was not made by me and sadly I don´t remember where I got it in the first place, since it was buried unnoticed on my harddrive for years.

This is the newsletter I am talking about (view page two, a list of albums/prices, here):

(click for full size)

x = left out
[xxx] = paragraph deleted
{...} = comments by translator

We have started again!

There are some people that have tried calling us without getting any contact. The phone has been shutdown while we have used the last couple of months to moving and rearranging things. We are now hoping to be able to offer a more efficient service on postal-orders, and after while we´ll see if we will be able to open a store for sale again; we are working on it. It is still uncertain what will happen, but we will give you notice when we know something.

In about a week´s time the phone will be re-opened, and it will again be possible to phone in orders. On the back of this paper you will find a list over news that have come in lately, and more is happening. Call for more information - it will be possible to call between xx:xx and xx:xx monday through saturday. Outside this time you will be able to leave a message on the machine.

[xxx]

Because of all the noise with all the journalists, we have been laying low - and we intend to continue doing that. Therefore the phone has been registered SECRET, and similar precautions will be taken concerning other matters.

Some good news concerning concerts - the 24th of August there will be arranged a "Black Metal Night" in Oslo! This will all happen at a pub called "Lusa Lotte" (!) - it lies on x left of x. The price is 40,-. The bands playing are Emperor, Marduk and Dissection. It will be a great concert, so be there! The place rooms no more than a couple of hundred, so be there early!

{As you know, this was written shortly before he died (and sent the day he died!) so at this time everything was ready with this concert. Of course, one year later - may second through fifth the infamous "Black Metal Nights", not one night, but four nights, were held. All in honor of Euronymous. Also...this was the time the trials against Count Grishnackh was held. In court during the day, Black Metal shows at night.}

On the other hand we can mention there will be a recordfall of the rare kind. Only on our label - DSP - there are seriously starting to be released great albums. These can be expected:

1. Mayhem - "De Mysteriis dom Sathanas"
2. Sigh - "Scorn Defeat"
3. Enslaved - "Vikingligr Veldi"
4. Monumentum - "In Absentia Christi"
5. Abruptum - 2nd LP
6. Tormentor - "Anno Domini"

{Tormentor and Monumentum both were released on other labels - years later.}

and for the vinylfreaks, we may have a serious surprise towards the end of the year. We are not certain that everything will work out, but wait and see. We have also signed a new band, MYSTICUM, and you really have something to look forward to. Debut LP/CD "Serpent Mysticism" will be out this winter.

We will start sending out newsletters including lists over what albums have been released since last time, with (hopefully) set intervals. Once a year there will be released a main-catalog.

As usual the prices keeps going up, and we feel obligated to raise prices as well - LP 100,- / CD 150,- / mCD 120,- / Irritating, but necessary. The postage will stay the same with a maximum of 30,- plus 15,- for packaging. Some titles are getting seriously hard to come by on LP, but we refuse to go over to ONLY CD.

That´s all for now - call for more information (journalists can fuck themselves) - TLF: xx xxxxxx

18 years

" [...] I hate that period of my life. It´s disturbing to me that I didn´t mourn Euronymous properly. I didn´t go to his funeral. I think lots of people went, but I had no information about it, same as when Dead died. I felt upset that no one told me the date or anything about the upcoming ceremony, but I didn´t take any steps to find out things for myself. For sure, I wouldn´t have known what to do there. I´ve still never been to his grave. I need to have a reason or a plan. I can´t just go there. I would need to be mentally strong. I have thought seriously about going there for over ten years, but it never seems right. One day I will know I am ready, but I can´t guess when that will be. I passed where Helvete used to be in a cab around 1996 and felt spooked. In 2009, I met a friend at a cafe that opened next door to where Helvete used to be. I still felt spooked.

Now there´s a semi-official "black metal tour" in Oslo organized yearly by the Inferno Festival where they go to see Euronymous´s grave, and even visit the old cellar of Helvete. Maybe for those people, it doesn´t take anything from them to peer at his grave and take a photo of the tombstone. Those things happen because of all the interest in the media, just like people want to see Jim Morrison´s grave in Paris. I´m sure people who were close to Jim Morrison don´t like that, either. Of course, there´s nothing you can do about it - people will go to his grave. I think many people fail to comprehend that Euronymous was actually a real person, but most of the tourists are teenagers or nearly so. There were a lot of things I had a hard time grasping when I was their age, too.

I truly miss Euronymous. I miss the pre-Helvete time, our friendship prior to the early ´90s, when black metal became such a big thing. He was my closest friend for a long time, and I have many memories of our incredible times. You don´t make many friends like that in a lifetime. We were almost in complete agreement, not about everything, but we liked the same things. His murder is still the most horrible thing that ever happened to me. I understand that now, but at that time I did not."

- Metalion

Quote taken from the recently published "Slayer Mag Diaries",
page 265 - 266

Unsurprising "news"

I received a comment to the article "New Burzum album "Fallen" in March" today. My comment turned out to be rather long and also I think maybe others are interested in reading my views on this (not just those who occasionally browse the comments), so I turned the original comment and my answer into an article.

Comment by "Anonymous":

"Maybe there are news again; the Cunt put some new interviews and reviews onto the official Burzum site, maybe you find something new to comment. Thanks again for your work so far.
Oh, and he now refers to “Blood and Soil” crap and “Jedem das Seine” (unpopular here in Germany due to the Nazis using that slogan) on his new album, and plans to re-record older stuff. Maybe you can find something to write about that."

My answer:

I have read the newest interviews and reviews over at Burzum.org, but well, what´s there to write about actually? He is just back to his former self and I doubt that anyone could claim with a straight face this is a surprise to them. Except for maybe the (Norwegian) mass media like Dagbladet who seem to have swallowed his "I am not a Nazi and I never was" bullshit. But apart from them, anyone surprised? I doubt that. I guess he just waited for the moment his face is not all over the mainstream press anymore to "return" to his old self. So, long story short, writing about this would turn out to be something like:

"Vikernes back to his former Nazi self, surprise..."

Not that a compelling read, I guess.

Also, I am not surprised that there is not one single word at Burzum.org until this day about his interview to the Israeli fanzine...guess he would have pissed-off a lot of his die-hard fanboys if they found out he gave an interview to Israelis. So, keeping silent about this just fits in with his opportunistic personality.

The other recent news on his homepage are, in my opinion, not interesting enough to write about. Re-recording his older stuff...guess he needs money and/or craves a little more attention. And his fanboys will happily buy anything he publishes, as usual...

Bottomline: guess I will wait until he comes up with some new lies and/or contradictions concerning Euronymous / the murder (or maybe he finally publishes the book he was talking about...) to write something new. Also, I don´t want this blog to be too "political" (since I already have an article dealing with his Nazi views (as I said above). I hate the NSBM idiots but I just as much hate the left-wing idiots and their "political correctness" whining (surprise...? Since this blog is pro-Euronymous, maybe it´s indeed a surprise to at least some that I don´t share his political views...though I doubt he was ever serious in his communist views, but that´s another story...) - so I don´t want to give the impression I want to "take a side" in the political issues. This blog started as a means to give exposure to Vikernes´ various lies, contradictions, etc. but mostly in the context of the murder and his former relationship with Euronymous. I am not very much (or rather: not at all) interested in dealing (any more than I have done so far) with the political bullshit (of either side) Vikernes is involved in.

New Burzum album "Fallen" in March

...according to Plastic Head (which is his official distributor, so I am pretty sure the info is legit even though there is no info concerning the new album on his official homepage, yet.)

Well, on to a new cycle of pointless hype, generic interviews, etc... can´t wait...

By the way, Vikernes was recently interviewed for an Israeli (!!!) webzine, you can read it here:

Metalist Magazine

Interestingly, not a single word about that interview on his homepage (at least not yet while I am typing this - the interview was published about 2 weeks ago)...

Until the liar takes us

While the actual documentary "Until the light takes us" doesn´t feature any new statements from Vikernes - he more or less just rehashes parts of what he has already published in his various articles (and said in interviews) - the 46-minute bonus interview with him is quite interesting - for the purpose of this blog, that is...

Well, as in the actual film, where you usually only hear the answers from the interviewed persons (because the questions are mostly asked off-screen) - it´s handled the same way in the bonus material. In case there is a question asked on-screen, though, I included it as well.

I typed the excerpts from the interview down as accurately as possible, which means that I left recurring expressions like "you know" and the like in. Doesn´t make it easier to read, I know, but I wanted to keep this as true to the original source as possible.

*****

[01:23]

"My time in Iraq meant for me, is that I know more about the Muslim culture than others. So I know that, well, like when in Algeria these rebels cut the throats of people. We of course think: oh, that´s terrible - why don´t they just shoot ´em? But...because of my time in Iraq I know that it´s more honourable to kill face to face."


Oh...really?
And by the way - it´s actually possible to shoot people face to face...

*****

[08:50]

"I believed I was releasing an album on a normal label, right? This is a label, they are releasing records - good. But he (Euronymous) actually borrowed money from me to be able to release the record. And of course I should have understood at this point that this is not the right thing to do. But anyway, I was gullible enough to let him borrow the money. And when he sold out the records - and he did, quite quickly actually - in one or two months, 1000 records - which was at the time...was regarded as great, you know. We sold maybe 100 or 200 demos and thought oh cool, you know - sold 200 demos. So, 1000 records, or 500 CDs and 500 records...were regarded as good. And instead of printing new records he used this money to pay his rent. So, at this point, of course, I started to realize that, you know, this isn´t going to work."


I suppose he is talking about his debut-album "Burzum" here. The way he puts it, it looks like there was one release of this album (1000 items in total) and never a reprint. But that´s not true - there are actually two releases of this album in total on DSP; one in early 1992 and one in early 1993 - even with minor graphic differences.

Source (and probably any Burzum fanpage)

*****

[09:58]

"It was planned that several people should attack simultaneously, all around the country. Because, you know, they were living all around the country. You had some Heavy Metal guys there, some there and some there. So, the plan was that everybody should attack on the same day - the day of the historical day of the Viking attack on..., you know, the day when the Viking age begun - as well as the D-day, actually. And that was the point - everybody should attack at the same date. There are some discussions whether that is the correct date - some say it is 6th and some say the 8th of June - but the point is...that´s not the point. So everybody was supposed to attack on the 6th of June."


Nice try...well, there actually are discussions about the correct date of the raid on Lindisfarne (= the beginning of the Viking age) - but the dispute is not about whether it was the 6th or 8th of June - but if it happened in January or June --


A.D. 793. This year came dreadful fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery, dragons flying across the firmament.
These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island, by rapine and slaughter. Siga died on the eighth day before the calends of March.

(The Anglo-Saxon chronicle)

The more popularly accepted date for the Viking raid on Lindisfarne is June 8; Michael Swanton, editor of Routledge´s edition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, writes "vi id lanr, presumably [is] an error for vi id lun (June 8) which is the date given by the Annals of Lindisfarne (p. 505), when better sailing weather would favour coastal raids."

(Source)

Also, check my older article on Fantoft/Lindisfarne.

*****

[10:42]

"When the day came one single church was burned. Nobody did anything. Everybody just had a big mouth, everybody "oh that´s cool" - nobody did anything. And basically that is because these Heavy Metal guys were, and still are, a bunch of wimps who play Heavy Metal because they are not capable of doing anything else...probably...just a bunch of losers. And they didn´t do anything. So, one single church were burned, in Bergen, by the way (laughs).
And...I´m found not guilty of burning it, by the way...just to mention that. Everybody believed I did burn it, but I´m found not guilty. And of course - if the court says I am not guilty - I am not guilty."


Shooting yourself in the foot again?

*****

[12:59]

In ´91 we didn´t even think of the term Black Metal. In ´92 I think it started to be used. We started to use the term just to be different from Death Metal. Just to make people show that this is not Death Metal. And in 1993, when the media coverage started to...when the media started to cover the case - everybody had always played Black Metal. And Aarseth - he forged my demotapes...and wrote "Black Metal" on them, you know. From ´91. I never wrote "Black Metal" on them, but he wrote "Black Metal" on them and sold them in the shop - because he wanted it to be Black Metal.


1st: So, Vikernes - the "proud, strong Viking" - actually didn´t have the guts to tell Euronymous that he doesn´t want his demotapes to be sold with a cover that features the words "Black Metal"...?

2nd: I would like to see ONE interview pre-August 1993 where Vikernes objected to Burzum being labelled "Black Metal" - rather the opposite, actually (I have used this quote already for another article, but well):


"Only MAYHEM, BURZUM and DARKTHRONE play Black Metal."

(Vikernes interviewed in Charontaphos zine #1; 1993
Pages one, two - quote taken from page one)

Here is the democover in question, by the way.

*****

[scene continued]

"And...you know...so, everybody suddenly started to play Black Metal and all of these Heavy Metal bands had always played Black Metal, you know - they said, of course. Because...it was this issue of being "true Black Metal" band, you know. And it was very important to have a history."

Q: What was that issue of being true?

"I think...it was some idea of Aarseth - the fact that he was "true" because he had listened to Black Met...to this crude Black Metal music since 1984...and this was also, you know, a lie - because, if you take a look at the mini-album of Mayhem - it´s a Funcore album, you know - it´s not Black Metal - it´s Funcore. You know, it´s exactly the same type of music that Aarseth hated later on. So it´s, you know...it´s...but of course nobody understood that at the point, you know. And he was the "veteran"; he was all about being a "veteran", you know."


So...Deathcrush = Funcore...? wtf...

*****

[scene continued]

"And even 17-year old kids in 1993 claimed that they listened to Venom when they were kids...and of course...of course they didn´t - they were like four, five years old when Venom were to be bought in the record shops, you know."


And they couldn´t have bought Venom´s records a few years later, when they were old enough...? It´s not that Venom´s records were released just once, in a couple hundred items, without any reprints thereafter.

For Venom´s album "Welcome to hell" for example - there are 17 (LP and CD) versions, released from 1981 to 2003, and probably a ton of (tape) bootlegs.

*****

[30:35]

"In a radio show in ´94 some journalist asked me, you know: "you regret anything?"...And I told him...yeah, sure I regret I didn´t kill the other guy as well. And of course they made a big deal about it. But...you know, that was just, you know, like a way to insult him, you know, really. But seriously...I think it´s silly to regret anything - because what is done is done, and in fact I believe what is done is meant to be done...and sure it´s caused me a lot of troub...problems, like a lot of other things I´ve done in my life. But, you know, problems are a part of life...and we grow, we thrive when we face problems, you know. "Regret" is not a part of my vocabulary, really."


He really "earned" his probation, didn´t he...

*****

[44:47]

Q: Does it bother you at all that you´ve killed someone, I mean, in a sense of being a self-defenser, whatever...but just --- ?

"No, not at all. I´ve killed ants when I was a kid...killed bees - sub-human, communist punk - same category."


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