Euronymous

Øystein Aarseth (22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993^[1]), who went by the pseudonym Euronymous, was aNorwegian guitarist and co-founder of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. He was also founder and owner of the extreme metal record label Deathlike Silence Productions and record shop Helvete. Euronymous was the founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene until his murderby fellow musician Varg Vikernes in 1993.

Euronymous was ranked No. 51 out of The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World.^[2]

Beliefs and personality

Mayhem drummer Kjetil Manheim (who was friends with Euronymous from 1983 until his death) described Euronymous as "blond, health oriented, very good at school. He worked-out a lot, didn't smoke, didn't drink ... That was the Øystein we knew. A nice guy, a family guy ... But when we weren't around he could play-out his role". However, Manheim claimed that Euronymous became "extreme" towards the end of his life: "He liked telling people that they were worthless; [that] he was the best. He was all 'I define black metal. Black metal is me!' ... I think he was trapped in the image of Mayhem. He became amegalomaniac".^[9] In the documentary Pure Fucking Mayhem he said "Øystein's daily life was a total theater" that was based on the black metal "archetype" of 'Euronymous'.^[5] Ihsahn, who frequented Helvete, said that "if you were trusted, if they knew you were serious in your views, you were accepted" there, which was important to be a part of the Helvete scene.^[30]

Metalion, who knew Euronymous since 1985^[3] and considered him to be his best friend,^[32] said that Euronymous "was always telling what he thought, following his own instincts to the true Black Metal stuff like corpsepaint and spikes, worshipping death and being extreme".^[33]

Satanism

In interviews, Euronymous said he was a Theistic Satanist^[34] and anti-individualist:^[35]

I believe in a horned devil, a personified Satan. In my opinion all the other forms of Satanism are bullshit. [...] Satanism comes from religious Christianity, and there it shall stay. I'm a religious person and I will fight those who misuse His name. People are not supposed to believe in themselves and be individualists. They are supposed to OBEY, to be the SLAVES of religion. – Euronymous, in an interview by Esa Lahdenperä, early August 1993^[35]

Ostensibly, the theistic Satanism embraced by Euronymous was a deliberate fundamental inversion of Roman Catholic dogma.^[34][35] He opposed the teachings of Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey, for unlike Euronymous they promoted what he saw as "peace" and commercial frivolity, as well as individualism in contrast to precedence of dogma.^[34][35] He said he would "Never accept any band which preaches Church of Satan ideas, as they are just a bunch of freedom and life-loving atheists, and they stand exactly the opposite of me".^[35]

Euronymous said that the term black metal can apply to any kind of metal, so long as it is "Satanic" and "heavy": "In a way, it can be ordinary heavy metal or just noise. What's important is that it's Satanic; that's what makes it black metal".^[24] He rejected bands like Immortal being called black metal, "as they are not Satanists", but supported the band nonetheless.^[35] As noted earlier, bands who supported the Church of Satan were also rejected.^[35]

In the black metal documentary Until the Light Takes Us, Varg Vikernes claimed that Euronymous was not a Satanist. He said: "To Aarseth everything was about image and he wanted to appear extreme. He wanted people to think of him as being extreme; the most extreme of them all. But he didn't want to beextreme and he wasn't really extreme".^[17] Mortiis, however, said that Euronymous "was such a devil worshipper you wouldn't believe it".^[36]

Over time, some members of the Norwegian scene began to follow Paganism. Vikernes later claimed that Euronymous—"obsessed with this 'Satanist' thing"—disapproved of Vikernes promoting Paganism.^[37] Euronymous showed no explicit disapproval of Paganism though and released the Pagan bandEnslaved’s first album, Vikingligr Veldi, on Deathlike Silence Productions.

Communism

Euronymous was a member of the Norwegian Communist youth group Rød Ungdom.^[38] According to fellow black metal musician Frost, here he may have honed the leadership skills he would use in the early Norwegian black metal scene, where he allegedly led a "Black Metal Inner Circle". Euronymous claimed to favor the totalitarian style of communism practiced by Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.^[39] Although he did not use the music of Mayhem to promote his political leanings, he saw them as mutually compatible with black metal – influenced by the repressive nature of his Satanism as well as his intense misanthropy.^[39]

Text taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euronymous

Some interviews with Euronymous:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jasen01/warsongs/euronymous2.htm - http://www.angelfire.com/band/mayhem/euro2.html - http://www.fmp666.com/moonlight/mayhem.html - http://smnnews.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=32213 - http://true.mayhem.free.fr/interviews/interview6.htm -