Burzum

Burzum is the one-man project of Varg Vikernes (born Christian Vikernes, aka Count Grishnackh), perhaps the most notorious figure in Norwegian black metal. Although Burzum has an unpredictably experimental bent -- encompassing black metal, industrial, electronic, and dark ambient music -- Vikernes will forever be associated with his conviction for the 1993 murder of former Mayhem bandmate Euronymous. It wasn't the first time Vikernes had run afoul of the law; he had been a suspect in arsons directed at historic Norwegian churches in Bergen, a perception not helped by his use of a post-fire photograph of the Fantoft Kirke church on the cover of Burzum's 1993 Aske EP. Coupled with Vikernes' racist, virulently anti-Judeo-Christian beliefs was a sort of nationalistic pride, a longing to return to the pre-Christian pagan culture and religion that had marked the glory days of the Vikings; this paganism became a frequently recurring theme in black metal circles, and led to the Norwegian metal sound being tagged Viking metal in some quarters.

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