Burzum

Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black metal's history. Vikernes has also released four dark ambient and neofolk albums. The word "burzum" means "darkness" in the black speech, a fictional language crafted by '' The Lord of the Rings'' writer J. R. R. Tolkien. Burzum's lyrics and imagery are often inspired by fantasy and Norse mythology, and do not feature the political views for which Vikernes is known.Von Helden, Imke. ''Norwegian Native Art: Cultural Identity in Norwegian Metal Music''. LIT Verlag, 2017. pp. 35, 179

Vikernes founded Burzum in 1991 and recorded the first four Burzum albums between January 1992 and March 1993. From 1994 to 2009, Vikernes was imprisoned for the murder of Mayhem guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth and the arson of three churches. While imprisoned, he recorded two dark ambient albums using only synthesizers, as he had no access to drums, guitar, or bass. Since his release from prison in 2009, he has recorded several more albums. Vikernes announced the end of Burzum in 2018, but released the project's final album ''Thulêan Mysteries'' in 2020.

History

Early years (1988–1992)

Varg Vikernes began making music in 1988 with the band Kalashnikov. The following year, the name was changed to Uruk-Hai, after the creatures from J. R. R. Tolkien's '' The Lord of the Rings''. In 1990 and 1991, Vikernes played guitar for the death metal band Old Funeral, which also consisted of members who would later form the band Immortal. He appears on the Old Funeral EP ''Devoured Carcass''. Vikernes left Old Funeral in 1991 to concentrate on creating his own musical visions. He had a short-lived project called Satanel, along Abbath Doom Occulta. He then began a solo project under the name Burzum. The word "burzum" means "darkness" in the Black Speech, a language crafted by Tolkien. Soon after recording two demo tapes, he became part of the Norwegian black metal scene. With his demo tapes, he had attracted attention from Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth of Mayhem, who had just recently formed Deathlike Silence Productions. Aarseth then signed Burzum to the label, and shortly after, Vikernes―under the pseudonym of Count Grishnackh (another name adapted from ''The Lord of the Rings'')―began to record Burzum's self-titled debut album. According to Vikernes' autobiography on his website, he had intended to record the album in the worst recording quality possible (due to this being a typical trademark of the early Norwegian black metal scene), while still making it sound acceptable. Burzum's eponymous debut album was released in 1992, being the second album released on Deathlike Silence Productions. The song "War" from this album had a guest appearance from Euronymous, playing a guitar solo "just for fun", according to Vikernes.

Vikernes has stated that he had never played any live shows with Burzum, though at one point was interested in it, so Samoth of Emperor accompanied him as a session bassist, though only appearing on the '' Aske'' EP. Additionally, Erik Lancelot was hired to be the band's drummer, though did not record on any Burzum material, and along with Samoth did not play a live show. Vikernes had by then lost his interest in playing live concerts, and stated that he "didn't even need session musicians anymore". Therefore, Samoth and Lancelot had parted ways with Burzum. '' Det som engang var'' was released as Burzum's second album in 1993, recorded in 1992.

Imprisonment (1993–2009)

May 1994 saw the release of '' Hvis lyset tar oss'', a new album of previously recorded material from 1992. Burzum remained as a solo project until 1994, when Vikernes was arrested for the murder of Euronymous and the burnings of several churches in Norway. During his time in prison, Vikernes released his next album, titled ''Filosofem'', on 1 January 1996. Recorded in March 1993, ''Filosofem'' was the last recording Vikernes made before his imprisonment. ''Burzum / Aske'', a compilation comprising the ''Burzum'' album and ''Aske'' EP, was released in 1995. While imprisoned, Vikernes managed to record two other albums in a dark ambient style. They were released as ''Dauði Baldrs'' (1997) and ''Hliðskjálf'' (1999). Both of these albums were created with a synthesizer, as Vikernes was prohibited from using any other instruments in prison.

In 1998, all Burzum albums released up to that point were re-released as vinyl picture discs in a special box set called ''1992–1997''; however ''Filosofem'' did not contain "Rundtgåing av den transcendentale egenhetens støtte" due to its length. The regular vinyl issue of ''Filosofem'' on Misanthropy had tracks 1–4 plus "Decrepitude II" on side 1 and "Rundtgåing av den transcendentale egenhetens støtte" on side 2.

Post-imprisonment and retirement (2009–2020)

Soon after being released, Vikernes started writing new tracks (nine metal tracks and an ambient intro and outro) for an upcoming Burzum album. According to Vikernes' recounts, several record companies were interested in releasing his first album in eleven years. He stated about the new album, "I want to take my time, and make it the way I want it. It will be metal, and the fans can expect genuine Burzum."

The album was going to be originally titled ''Den hvite guden'' (''The White God''), but he later decided to change it to '' Belus'', which was released by the independent record label Byelobog Productions (''byelobog'' is the transliteration of "''белобог''" in Slavic languages, meaning 'white god') on 8 March 2010. It was also announced that a movie would be released in 2010, based on Varg Vikernes' life in the early 1990s. The movie would mainly draw inspiration from the book '' Lords of Chaos'', with the film being of the same name. Vikernes expressed his contempt towards both the movie and the book upon which it is based.

A second new album of original Burzum material, ''Fallen'', was released on 7 March 2011, followed by a compilation album, ''From the Depths of Darkness'', containing re-recordings of tracks from Burzum's self-titled album and ''Det som engang var'', on 28 November 2011. A third new studio album of original material, titled ''Umskiptar

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