Burzum

Burzum originated as the solitary endeavor of Varg Vikernes, who entered the world as Christian Vikernes and also performed under the alias Count Grishnackh, earning recognition as one of the most infamous personalities tied to Norwegian black metal. Though the project displayed an eclectic experimental streak that spanned black metal, industrial, electronic, and dark ambient territories, Vikernes remains inextricably linked to his 1993 conviction for murdering his former Mayhem colleague Euronymous. Earlier legal troubles had already surfaced when he became a person of interest in church arsons targeting historic sites in Bergen; that association gained further attention after a photograph of the burned Fantoft Kirke appeared on the cover of Burzum’s 1993 Aske EP. Alongside his racist and fiercely anti-Judeo-Christian convictions, Vikernes expressed a nationalist reverence for Norway’s pre-Christian pagan traditions and Viking-era achievements, themes that later surfaced repeatedly in black metal and prompted some observers to label the Norwegian variant Viking metal.

Vikernes launched the self-titled Burzum debut in 1992 under the Count Grishnackh name drawn from a J.R.R. Tolkien volume; the album largely adhered to prevailing black metal conventions yet included occasional synthesizer passages and slower sections uncommon on the scene at that time. The 1993 follow-up Det Som Engang Var broadened those departures while preserving a predominantly metallic character. Issued in 1994 soon after Vikernes entered prison, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss incorporated synthesizers more prominently throughout and closed with an entirely electronic piece that anticipated the project’s eventual shift toward dark ambient. Filosofem, which blended industrial and electronic elements, surfaced in 1996 even though recording had concluded before his imprisonment.

Once existing recordings were depleted, Burzum’s continuation seemed uncertain until Vikernes began producing fully instrumental synthesizer works behind bars. The first part of a planned trilogy, the 1997 concept album Daudi Baldrs retold a familiar Norse legend. Its successor, the mythology-inspired Hlidskjalf, arrived in 1999 with upgraded equipment that yielded a richer sonic palette. No further Burzum material appeared for nearly a decade until Vikernes received parole in 2009 after completing fifteen years of a twenty-one-year sentence. He resumed activity and returned to a stronger metal orientation on 2010’s Belus. Productivity continued with the more experimental Fallen early in 2011, followed later that year by From the Depths of Darkness, which presented newly recorded renditions of material from the initial Burzum and Det Som Engang Var albums. Umskiptar emerged in spring 2012, succeeded in 2013 by the increasingly refined and ambient Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan and, in 2014, by the similarly atmospheric The Ways of Yore.