Burzum
Founded in 1991 by Norwegian Satanist Count Grishnakh (real name Varg * Vikernes), Burzum became one of the leading lights in Scandinavia's black metal revival of the early '90s. Largely a solo project, Grishnakh composes, sings and plays almost all of Burzum's material himself. The project first surfaced under the name of Uruk Hai in 1987. Significantly, the name Uruk Hai is taken from JRR Tolkien's fantasy classic, The Lord Of The Rings. In it, the Uruk Hai are a particularly brutal tribe of orcs (the orcs are the subhuman villains of the book). Burzum is the orcish language, while Grishnakh is a treacherous orc that plays a small, but pivotal role in proceedings. Count Grishnakh, who takes his name from this fictional character, used Tolkien's epic struggle between good and evil as a model for his own brand of Satanism, casting himself among the hordes of darkness. Grishnakh would go on to collaborate with Euronymous, godfather of the Scandinavian black metal revival. The Count played for Euronymous' band Mayhem, released material on his Deathlike Silence label, and played a leading hand in the curious hate cult known as the Black Metal Circle. Meanwhile Burzum recordings were receiving increasing acclaim on the heavy metal underground, with their tortured mix of overheated guitars, screamed vocals and strange, ambient, keyboards. In the Spring of 1993 Grishnakh, along with a number of other prominent members of the Black Metal Circle, was arrested for a series of church burnings. Then, in late Summer, Grishnakh was arrested for the brutal murder of Euronymous. He was subsequently convicted in 1994, but showed no remorse, instead relishing the notoriety the crime attracted. Sentenced to 21 years (the maximum possible under Norwegian law) Grishnakh continues to record increasingly strange and twisted material in gaol. Satanism and the works of Tolkien now take a back seat to the right wing occultism and Viking paganism which are currently his chief obsessions, with many of his lyrics now sung in Old Norse.