Finding black metal in Norway

Even the best of plans can change, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. As I was standing on top of mountain Fløyen in Bergen, I thought back on why I came here.

Edvard Grieg is one of the greatest composers from the Romantic era. He was born in Bergen in 1843 and his compositions were likely inspired by the seven mountaintops surrounding the city of Bergen. I first discovered his music over 30 years ago, and one day I decided to experience the music in the actual setting it was inspired by.

Grieghallen.

I walked back to the city through the beautiful troll forest, past Grieghallen and the statue of Grieg. Classical music is beautiful, but soon my heart heard the call from the darkness, so I happened to end up at a black metal bar. It turned out to have a shady altar of worship dedicated to Dimmu Borgir, as well as a cabinet of curiosities, including a shrine to the murdered Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) of Norwegian black metal band Mayhem.

Mayhem is one of the most controversial black metal bands in history. As pioneers in the genre, they have had a large influence. Their debut album was recorded during 1992 in Grieghallen that I passed earlier, but their dark legacy unfortunately consists of much more than music. Their Swedish vocalist Dead (Pelle Yngve Ohlin), an early adopter of corpse paint, committed suicide and his corpse morbidly ended up on the cover of a bootleg album, photographed by Euronymous.

Euronymous himself was murdered in his Oslo apartment 1993 by the former band member Count Grishnackh (Varg Vikernes), adding to the misguided cult around the band. Vikernes was born in Bergen and burned down several churches, such as the Fantoft Stave Church close to the former home of Grieg. For the Hollywood version of the events, I recommend the 2018 movie Lords of Chaos, featuring an unexpected soundtrack with Dead Can Dance.

So when I later arrived in Oslo, I knew exactly where to go.

The chaos at Neseblod Records.

The very epicenter of early Norwegian black metal scene was a small record store in Oslo with the appropriate name Helvete, now called Neseblod Records. It was opened by Euronymous in 1991 and soon became a gathering point for the black metal scene.

Into the cellar.

I went down the narrow spiral staircase into the cellar. After passing through small rooms and half-closed doors in the basement labyrinth I finally found what I was looking for.

Into the cellar.

The inner circle of Mayhem used to meet in the innermost room of the cellar, planning their church burnings and other sick deeds. The room is easily recognized by the writing “BLACK METAL” on the wall, which can be seen in early video recordings with the band.

The inner chamber.

Today, much has changed since those times. Tourists visiting Norway because of black metal are known as “blackpackers”. People coming to Neseblod Records will find a different kind of black, since the store suffered a devastating fire in the basement last year. But I’m sure that black metal will survive and resurface once more, darker than ever.