Thursday, November 11, 2010

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 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."

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."


No comment...

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're here bitching about some shit that happened almost 20 years ago. Euronymous was communist scum who deserved what he got, but I haven't dedicated a whole blog to it. You must have fucking aspergers or something, get a life, metalloid scum.

Anonymous said...

I love how he thinks he understands Iraq (and all Middle Eastern countries, for that matter) after spending a year there when he was, what, 6?

Anonymous said...

I don't understand what the purpose of this blog is. You jump on people, claiming that they're Varg fanboys, when you seem to be acting like a Euronymous fanboy. And for what? 99.9% chance that you do not know either of them personally, so really you have no say in it?

Face it, both Varg and Euronymous made some excellent music, and Euronymous' contribution on a musical level with be missed tremendously. But that's where that ends. It's sad someone died, but I nor you nor anyone else reading this knew either of them, so there's no reason to pretend like we are oh so moved by what happened.

This blog is like a He-man Women Haters Club; you all sit around bad mouthing some guy you don't even know, and then proceed to pat each other on the back. There really is no reason for this blog. You're trying to play detective by comparing interviews throughout the years so you can catch him in the act of hypocrisy (lol). Oh noes, someones opinion have changed over the years, that's never happened before. Quick, alert the internetz!

Euronymous made a huge impact on the BM scene, and made some excellent music. Varg did as well. Enjoy the music and stop acting like someone with a boner crush on Varg. Not just the author of this blog, but everyone who participates in this silly drama fest of Varg vs Euronymous. No one cares, stop acting like highschool girls. And happy new year.

Anonymous said...

Your post is very interesting. And i admire your efforts. Varg is a coward maniac like Mark Chapman just much worse cause from a lapdog of Euro (read his early interviews) he became a fan boy of Hitler. He will always be remembered as the neofascist man who killed John Lennon and nothing more. I actually find most Burzum songs (i kinda like war) very boring.

Harry Sterling said...

Hey Chagrynn, I like your blog a lot, man. I'm amazed by how many Vikernes fanboys give you shit here for defending a murder victim who made music and then had his life taken from him at age 25. Here in the United States, when you're found guilty of murder, typically you are put to death or you spend the rest of your life in jail. It's a harsh system that has its critics, but it tends to come down justifiably hard on people who commit murder, show no remorse, and then mock their murder victims on the basis of their ethnicity, as Varg Vikernes did when he said that killing Oystein Aarseth was a "bonus" because he was Lappish.

Chagrynn said...

Hi Harry,

thanks a lot for your support! And you know what, the exact reason why I called this blog "Death Row..." is because in cases like Vikernes I regret it that we don´t have the Death Penalty in Europe (anymore). So sick of his "self-defense" bullshit...but as long as he has his followers he will probably stick to all his lies. Pathetic.

Harry Sterling said...

And another thing: every fucking kronor from Burzum's record
sales should go to Oystein Aarseth's estate. We did something
like that here when David Berkowitz wanted to publish a book.

Chagrynn said...

My thoughts EXACTLY! Nothing to add to that. And thanks again for your support!

Qlczas said...

hi!
I have been interested in BM and mostly the history behind it for only half a year (I love whole "metal/rock" as a genre for 10 years). But after watching about 8 documentaries on BM, I think that my opinion has been somehow built. I respect what You're trying to do on this blog. Yesterday I've seen the "Until Light Takes Us", and to describe Varg as "sociopathic liar" is the best option. The music is one thing (because for me Burzum Music is very good), but the person - Vikernes, it is a totaly different. He killed Aarseth, and he should never leave prison. And now, everytime he is describing those events... why the norwegian law enforcement is so stupid, and released him...

Anonymous said...

As a fan of metal, and probably as a fan of "false" black metal as opposed to the "true" stuff, I find it difficult that anyone would even be able to separate the music from the idiot that made it and killed another man. He is a bully, and a violent one, and it is as simple as that. If he just burned a church ... eh, I could see it because it is a statement (doesn't necessarily make it smart) ... but killing someone is certainly stupid. Anyway, in my opinion his music is boring and juvenile ... being "evil" just doesn't cut it any more.

Anonymous said...

I doubt you will consider killing somebody as stupid the moment you act in self-defense (not implying Vikernes did, not at all); and even in other cases, there is no connection between somebody’s intelligence and whether they kill someone else or not.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant. It's hard to believe there are actually odious cretins who worship Vikernes like a minor woodland deity. Listening to him talking about the murder of Euronymous was sickening. Keep up the good work guys.

Anonymous said...

1. You can repeat tha pathetic line "Varg fanboys" a thousand times but all it does is prove that you people rely on dichotomies because you lack the intellectual capacity to see things more broadly.
2. Euronymous was a misogynist piece of shit making him as bad as if not worse than Varg or any other racialist or nationalist whose ideals probably impact considrably upon your irrational hatred for him or them.
When you can construct a critique of Until the Light Takes Us that doesn't read like the inane ranting of a 15-year-old boy then those of us with some semblance of maturity might take you and your cheerleaders here a little more seriously.
Both a performer and a spectator in metal for almost twenty years to me you and your supporters come off sounding like hipster idiots relatively new to black metal who think hating Varg makes you "clever".

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Euronymous, is a real "great guy". Which is why the first thing he did when his discovered a dead "friend" and bandmate was to take their photograph. Which is why he was frequently using his influence in the scene to try to get young girls into bed. And before one of you imbeciles cry "Varg fanboy", at least Varg is to be admired for living up to his reputation, unlike Euronymous who used words like "evil" like the average Cradle of Filth fan with nothing to show for it.

Harry Sterling said...

Anonymous: You must have dug pretty deep for those shocking revelations. Euronymous took a photo of his friend's corpse? I think that was literally the first thing I learned about Euronymous. Varg Vikernes murdered a person, you unbelievable moral retard. He didn't really get punished for it, and he showed sickening contempt for the person he murdered. Why don't you worry about that instead of the possibility that Euronymous liked to fuck girls? You fucking weirdo.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how Varg thinks Aarseth was Lappish...
I saw an old Mayhem live tape where he has blond hair, Manheim said this as well. Aarseth's passport says that he has blue eyes, it's all racist bullshit

NECROMAYHEM HELLDEATH ARMAGEDDON www.myspace.com/hellspyke said...

varg called DEATHCRUSH funcore. DEATHCRUSH is just what the posers hate, the posers from nsbm hate DEATHCRUSH, because DEATHCRUSH is real death/black metal evil and brutal.

I left the black metal scene here in brasil because of trend nsbm people, here gnosis hiperborea is a new trend, and most people here follow this shit. they hate euronymous, they hate bands that sound like mayhem on deathcrush.

Euronymous did a lot for the black metal scene and death metal scene too, varg nowadays are playing some stuff that dont have any darkness.

humanity sucks, they worship who have more status, and who kill someone become idol in humanity. great part of men act like girls, they just like status.

i am out of scene because of it, nowadays i prefer to play death metal in protest against the trendy nsbm people, they sucks.

Chagrynn said...

@ Jorge Gracia

Thanks for your comment and please drop me a line here once you are finished with your project, ok?