LIBRARY
Interview with Varg Vikernes
"Metal Crypt E'Zine" (10.05.2005), by Chris Mitchell
Greetings Varg, how are things?
Greetings Chris, things are fine here.
Over the past few hundred years we have seen both a growing disregard for the environment as well as a steady decrease in culture and heritage. What do you believe is responsible for this and what could we do to improve upon this?
Considering this is just an interview I will try to be short, but it is not easy when You come up with such questions. I think the growing disregard for the environment, culture and heritage is a natural consequence of capitalism. When people care more about profit than the world they live in that is what happens. Capitalism in the "Western" world in turn is just a natural consequence of Christianity, because Christianity created a spiritual void when it ousted Paganism, and all that is left is materialism and a religion with no meaningful contents. The Christians often kept the Pagan festivals, rituals and symbols, but they no longer have any real meaning. For example; Yule, the winter solstice has become "the birthday of Christ", Easter has become "the day Jesus returned from the grave", summer solstice has become "Saint Hans' Day", Heimdallr has become "Santa Claus", and so forth. Originally Yule marks the turning of the Sun-wheel and is the day the dead visit the living, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the vernal equinox and the day Baldr and his wife returns from Hell, the summer solstice marks the birth of Freyja, the goddess of love, and Heimdallr didn't only bring us gifts, but he was also our connecting link to the gods. He is after all the guardian of the (rainbow) bridge that leads to Heaven (Asgarðr)! All of this has been lost with Christianity, and without any contact with the spiritual reality and our divine origin, so to speak, we are left with only the base physical world. We no longer have any purpose in life, other than to wander randomly on Earth and become (physically) wealthy and live comfortable lives, and I don't think all that many men or women really find that very satisfying - save perhaps the extremely shallow and egoistic people.
This spiritual void has become an even bigger problem due to the fact that there are six billion people living on this planet, and almost all of them are doing their best to accumulate as much goods they can possibly get their filthy hands on. Also we see that the "Western" capitalists try to export their wealth and system to poorer countries. Not to help these countries, but to create a new market for their own goods. They basically just want more consumers.
This will be an even bigger catastrophe to the environment the moment China and India become wealthy, because our planet cannot take another 2.4 billion capitalist pigs driving polluting cars and buying essentially meaningless consumer goods all day long, seven days a week. We have problems enough with the I billion capitalist pigs we already have (mainly in the USA, Europe and Japan). And what will happen when the world population reaches 9 or even 10 billion and the majority are capitalist consumers?
Ironically, the only thing that can save mankind is a stream of pandemics, natural disasters and other human catastrophes, wiping out most of us. In fact, I think the catastrophe is inevitable - unless something drastic happens very soon, - and to be honest I even welcome it. The sooner this world order collapses the better. We don't even need to do anything for it to collapse in chaos. The best and only thing we can do is to get away from the tidal wave, and make sure the best amongst us survive, along with our Pagan culture. We can physically move away from the modern world and all its moral, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual decay and depravity.
To live like we are supposed to we need to listen to our blood, so to speak. Our Paganism is in our blood, and to be able to create a positive and meaningful civilization in the future, on the ruins of the "Sodom and Gomorrah" we live in today, we need to live in accordance with our blood.
What are you currently reading and have you been allowed to listen to any music at all lately?
Right now I read "Vollmer's Mythologie Aller Volker" (that translates as something like "Vollmer's Mythology Of All Peoples"), by Dr. Vollmer, and I read "Manniskan Och Hennes Symboler", by Dr. Carl G. Jung. The latter is a Swedish translation of "Man And His Symbols", that I have actually read before, but I thought it would be interesting to read it again, and see if I found something in it that I didn't find when I last read it, some ten years ago. Vollmer's "Mythologie Aller Volker" is a mythological encyclopedia, published in 1874, in Stuttgart, Germany. I read it because this is one of the few books I can find that can tell me something about the Slavonic, Finnish and Baltic mythology. It is particularly interesting to read the old books about mythology and our culture, because they are always so much better than the new ones. They are not steeped in political correctness or written to ridicule our European culture, like most modern books are.
We can, in Trondheim prison, listen to three pre-programmed state radio stations on a radio in the wall, or we can watch TV and hope there is some music there, but there is no way to listen to CDs or cassettes. So in short I am only allowed to listen to music I don't want to listen to, although most of the radio shows don't actually broadcast much music, but simply spread state propaganda (or "entertainment", as they call it today). After twelve years in prison I think I have listened to the radio maybe 30-40 times in all, and only when I have been without even a TV. (When you haven't heard a sound in months even state propaganda mixed with pop music becomes an attractive alternative for ten minutes or so, before you remember why you never listen to that crap and turn it off again...)
I have had a non-electric guitar in my cell since last December, so I am not completely without music.
Can people expect you to release any more music after you are released?
Probably. The future albums, if I ever record anything, will as far as I can tell sound much like the old albums, whether I like it or not, because I am incapable of making music that doesn't sound rather "burzumic".
I fear it might not be too original or different from old Burzum, as I wanted it to be, but I guess there are people who think that is just fine too. And on the other hand it is not very surprising that I still make music that sounds much like my own music...
To quote a recent article you wrote, "In a sense it was the Golden Age of Burzum - that had its natural end when I was imprisoned in August 1993". Why did the spirit of Burzum change so much when you were imprisoned?
You probably misunderstand what I wrote in that article. The spirit of Burzum never changed, but my ability to make music changed dramatically when I was imprisoned. It is more or less impossible to record music in prison, and the only music I could record was electronic music, when I was allowed to have a synthesizer for a few months in 1994 or 1995 and in 1998. After a few months with a synthesizer in the cell in 1998, I had to choose between my synthesizer and my laptop computer, because the prison authorities didn't let me have both at the same time (for "security reasons"), and I chose to have the computer in the cell, believing I could make music anyhow, by using some music program. But the prison authority had other ideas, claiming I didn't have an "extraordinary need" to have a music program enabling me to make music on the computer. So without a music program I couldn't make any more music from then on. That is actually the main reason I haven't released any records since 1999; to install a music program I need a CD-ROM, and all CDs are banned in this prison (for "security reasons").
Anyhow, since I have a guitar, at least I can make music now, but I have to wait until I get out before I can record anything.
What made Burzum different from the rest of the Norwegian bands at the time?
A lot. The motivation was certainly different, my background was different, my lyrics were in Norwegian, while the others had English lyrics, and of course I was alone, while the other bands were real bands. I don't know what to say about this really. Maybe You will find the answer to this question in the different "A Burzum Story" articles that will be published on www.burzum.org?
You once stated that "metal is nigger music", do you still believe this to be true?
Yes and no. I think the metal culture is nigger culture, in the sense that the traditional metal people look like, behave like and think like a bunch of "white niggers". It's (at least often) an extremely primitive, unintelligent and pointless subculture, like all rock'n'roll subcultures are. I too listened to metal music, but I never behaved like a nigger just because of that, and I don't understand what the point with this metal subculture is. Smoking pot or getting drunk, sleeping around and giving each other venereal diseases, partying all the time, going to concerts to meet other vacuum-heads, and so forth. What's the point? Even bush-niggers can be more sensible and constructive, and deeper than that.
The true attraction people have to this particular subculture is probably something else, like contempt for the modern world, fascination for death and the gothic, romanticism and even Pagan values, but it all becomes so very wrong when mixed with traditional rock'n'roll or heavy metal culture.
What are your thoughts on women and do you view them as equals?
Sure, women are equals, but they are also different from men, and they should be treated differently and have different goals in life. I think the old-fashioned view is the most positive, and I may add that by old-fashioned I mean the view they had on men and women and their roles in life in Antiquity (in Scandinavia).
It is actually a bit hard to answer this question, because I have only positive things to say about women, but I have nothing positive to say about modern women. So where do I start? If we take modern women first, I think it is sad to see how - pardon my French - fucked up modern female culture has become. Today the role of mother is looked down upon and being a "housewife" is an insult to many modern women. This is seen as part of the "male enslavement" of women. To stay home with the children is seen as a nightmare and a burden. Instead they get an education (usually some theoretical nonsense) and do as best they can to become like men. They work like men, dress like men, try to think like men, talk like men and act like men (and some of them even look like men). Since most of the smart women are busy getting an education, the generally more stupid women get most of the children, and as a result of that the whole species is getting dumber - as the average intelligence drops when the stupid women have most of the children.
Cooking too is looked upon with contempt. A (female and American) friend of mine pointed at the fact that women in the USA are actually more likely to slap a man's face if he asks her to cook dinner than for demanding a blowjob on their first date, and I think that says it well. All the "liberation" of women has done is to cause women to replace all the positive characteristics of women with the negative characteristics of men.
I have met Norwegian men who have had girlfriends who didn't even know how to mix lemonade or boil an egg - and note the past form of the verb, have had girlfriends, as they obviously didn't bother to stay with them. The beauty of the women lured the men to them, but they had no other qualities, so they didn't manage to hold onto their men.
The modern women can no longer cook, they no longer want children and they are no longer warm, tidy and loving creatures who think spending time with their family is a good thing. They are probably too "independent" and "strong" to even have a family of their own. The only thing modern women have to offer men today is sex. So instead of being loving housewives who cook and raise children, they are reduced to being sexual objects only - and they are so messed up emotionally and intellectually that they often spend most of the money they make on their jobs on plastic surgery, cosmetics and tons of clothes they think will make them look good, in a desperate attempt to stay or become more attractive. Well, they have no other qualities attractive to men, so what else can we expect? This is the fruit of feminism. The fruit of "women's liberation".
A truly smart woman will understand that being a housewife, raising children and cooking is not demeaning. They perform a task that is extremely important for the whole kin, tribe and nation, and nobody else can do it. Men certainly cannot! Women are equipped with a womb and breasts for a reason. That is just how nature works, whether we like it or not. It is not demeaning for a woman to be a woman. Everybody should understand that, even hateful, self-loathing feminists.
True women are all my equals, whom I adore and respect, but I see modern women more like disgusting, primitive and disturbed animals, or subhuman at best. And those who think I am some male-chauvinist who only criticize modern women here are actually wrong, because this is not only an attack on modern women, but it is an attack on the modern world as a whole, and modern men are certainly no better. Most modern men should be grateful even for the fact that they have not yet been put to sleep, like dogs often are when there is something seriously wrong with them. All of mankind is thoroughly messed up today, not just the modern women, and I am sure there are ten times more women worth saving, than there are men worth saving, so to speak.
What are your thoughts on the Negroid race?
Well, let's not waste any time thinking about the Negro races.
What are some authors and figures that you hold in high esteem?
I think highly of authors like Julius Evola, F. W. Nietzsche, Oswald Spengler and Knut Hamsun (although his books are rather boring, his ideas are very interesting), but naturally I don't agree with everything they say.
When it comes to figures I hold in high esteem I don't know what to say. In general I don't really think on that level. Individual human beings are rarely very important to me, with the exception of my closest friends and family of course.
The figures I hold in high esteem must be all the women, men, girls and boys who revolt against the modern world and who refuse to degrade themselves by participating in the modern menagerie. I admire all girls and boys who wait with sex until they marry and then stay faithful to their spouses until they die. I admire strength in general, wherever it manifests itself. I admire honesty, courage, moral, creativity, intelligence, purity, wisdom and so forth.
Do you have a favorite Burzum album and would you give your opinion on each of your releases?
My favourite Burzum album is probably "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss". Yes, I can give You my opinion on each of the releases I have contributed to...
The debut album: the production is a bit thin on this album, and the vocals and high-hat becomes rather annoying at the end of the listening experience. In retrospective there is much I would have done differently when I recorded this album, but all in all I like it. It was very original when it came, in all ways (good and bad).
The "Det Som En Gang Var" ("What Once Was") album: as far as I remember the vocals are much better on this album and the sound a bit better, but apart from that it is much like the debut album. The tracks on this album were created at the same time as the tracks on the debut album, so in a sense it is "Part II" of the debut album - something that can be seen on the cover artwork as well.
The "Aske" ("Ash" or "Cinder") mini-LP: I wish I had never recorded this mini-LP in the first place, because it is only an mini-LP, and I don't like neither EPs, mini-LPs, "best of" albums, compilations or singles. If it's not a full-length album it's not worth releasing...
The "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" ("If The Light Take Us") album: this is, as I see it, the best Burzum album. It's very "anti-rock star" and - I think - original, consistent and close to what I wanted to achieve when I made and recorded it. This album is the first album I played music, instead of just playing different instruments... I did that on the earlier albums too, but not as successfully as on this album.
The "Filosofem" ("Philosofem") album: this album contains the first real Burzum track, titled "Dunkelheit" on the album (but the real title of the track is "Burzum". "Dunkelheit" is just the German translation of "Burzum"), that I originally wanted to include on the "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" album (but the recording was very poor, so I didn't use it). I changed the name to Burzum from Uruk-Hai when I made this song (I think in August 1991). The album is a bit weird, and far from perfect, but it is okay. Unfortunately (?), this is the album that sounds the most like the new Burzum music.
The "Dauði Baldrs" ("The Death Of Baldr") album: the metal versions of a few of the tracks on this album are really cool, so I think I will include at least one of them on the coming album. (The track called "Jesu Død", on the "Filosofem" album, is also a metal version of one of these tracks, by the way.) I am not overly fond of this album, but it is okay. I like at least two of the tracks a lot (the two first, as far as I remember). I once heard a cover version of one of the "Dauði Baldrs" tracks, on some German compilation album, I think, and that was very good... much better than the original. In short, let's just say I prefer the metal version of the tracks on this album oh, and it was recorded in a prison cell, using a normal tape recorder, so the sound is naturally not the best.
The "Hliðskjálf" ("Hidden Opening Into Asgarðr" or "Secret Ritual-Site") album: there are at least three tracks on this album that I like a lot, but in general this album is much like "Dauði Baldrs": it was the best I could do in a few months; the time I had to complete each of these albums, before the prison authorities either sent me to another prison (in 1995 ["Dauði Baldrs"]) or prevented me from recording anything more (in 1998 ["Hliðskjálf"]).
The Old Funeral, "Devoured Carcass" EP: this was the first music I (on this EP only as a guitarist) ever recorded in a studio, when I was 17 years old. The music on this album is Death Metal and the sound is not very good. As far as I remember it is okay, but the Old Funeral demo tape, from 1988 or 1989, that I didn't contribute to in any way, is much, much better. And I must say that although I made some of the music on this EP, I had nothing to do with the lyrics or cover artwork. ("Devoured Carcass"? Give me a break... It is almost as stupid as the Immortal lyrics...)
The Mayhem, "De Mysteriis Dan Sathanas" album: as You might know I played the bass on this album. I am not credited as a bass player on this album simply because Euronymous' parents told Hellhammer that they would stop the album if he tried to release it featuring both their son and me. So Hellhammer told them he re-recorded the bass line himself, which was a lie, and then simply removed my name from the album cover - solely to satisfy Euronymous' parents. (Contrary to popular belief, there has never been any conflict between the Mayhem guys and me, not even after the "inconvenience" with Euronymous.)
I once said that this album reeked big time, because the vocals ruined everything, but the truth is that I had only properly heard the vocals on "Freezing Moon" when I said that, and I think "Freezing Moon" reeks big time, but the vocals on the other tracks is perfect. The reason I think "Freezing Moon" reeks is simply that I was used to Dead's vocals and his way of singing, and I never wanted that to change. Attila, the session vocalist for this album, was more concerned about his "artistic integrity", and didn't want to sound just like Dead, so (unfortunately) he wanted to do his own thing.
So I think this album is great. It is highly original, not least because of Hellhammer's inventive drumming, and I would say that all that was positive about Euronymous is immortalized by this album. Hellhammer's drumming makes the album special, but so does the guitar riffs, that Euronymous was mostly responsible for (although Hellhammer, Necrobutcher and even I have made some riffs too).
I have never even read the lyrics on this album, or seen the album cover, but I still dare say this is one of the few Black Metal releases I think highly off and would actually listen to, if I had the chance. Why on Earth do people even bother listening to other Black Metal albums when they can listen to albums like this one? A good album to me is an album you never grow tired of, and I think this album is such an album.
If you could go back to the day that you killed Euronymous, would you still have? What was your actual reason for killing him?
If You are interested in this subject I suggest You read an article called "A Burzum Story Part II - Euronymous", when (if?) it is published on www.burzum.org, probably next month (May 2005).
What have you been doing in prison to occupy yourself lately and do you have an idea as to when you might be released?
According to the Norwegian constitution and international law I should be released on probation in April 2006, but I don't know what will happen. My experience with the Department of Justice is not particularly good, so I am not very optimistic. I don't think they like me very much... and unfortunately it is more important to be liked by them than to have the right/law on your side.
When it comes to Your question regarding what I have been doing in prison to occupy myself "lately", I can tell that lately I have been mostly reading, corresponding with different people, writing articles and sending different applications to the prison authorities - that they usually turn down (apparently letting me have an encyclopedia on the computer is not possible, for "security reasons" and because I according to them don't need an encyclopedia...?!) or occasionally grant (for instance, I was, like I have already told You, allowed to have a non-electric guitar in my cell last December).
Apart from that I jog in the cell - back and forth on the floor - and have some plastic bottles filled with water that I use as weights, I take some push-ups and sit-ups, and in general try not to rot away.
There is always something to do, and I have never had any problem keeping myself occupied. The biggest problem is when the prison authorities force the prisoners to "work", and we have to sit some place all day long, like in a workshop, and do absolutely nothing (because there are twenty people "working" but only work for one or two people), but "luckily" new police and law reforms and the building of new "temporary prison barracks" in the yard have caused the prisons to flood with prisoners, and the prisons are not given the resources to cope with this situation, so only a few prisoners are given a "job". The rest are simply stored in their cells all day long, left to figure out what to do on their own. To me and many others it's no problem, but especially to the poor bastards who don't even know how to read (and they make up 1/3 of all the prisoners!) it can be rather destructive, and when they occasionally break down and set fire to their cells, crush the interior of the cells and smash the TV, cut off of break their fingers or other limbs (one guy in Ila prison cut off his own balls! *Ouch*...), swallow forks and knives, punch a guard or another prisoner on the nose, or something like that, they are punished for that too, because they don't "behave" well, and the minister of justice or warden come up with some new rule for "security reasons", and tighten the screw even more, something that naturally only makes even more prisoners break down or become anti-social and dangerous. It's a very intelligent system...
Have you experimented with any drugs in the past and what are your views on drug use?
No, I have never experienced with drugs. I don't even take an aspirin if I have a headache - and I never really have a headache (probably because I never take even an aspirin...).
My view on drug use is crystal clear. The only drug use I condone, so to speak, is the medical use of prescription drugs, when it is absolutely necessary (and it rarely is absolutely necessary). After almost twelve years in prison, being forced to live close to drug addicts, I see very clearly how drugs ruin people emotionally, physically, morally and even intellectually, and of course this has strengthened my contempt for people who take drugs. It is also very provoking to see that teenagers are thrown in jail, forced to sit in normal prison blocks and go to "work" along with the other prisoners (because "socializing with the other prisoners" and "work" is the authority's idea of "rehabilitation"), where they are offered drugs and thoroughly rotten morals by the junkies and criminal aliens, and without a single exception the teenagers I have seen have all ended up as junkies and notorious criminals.
There is a lot to say about this, but not many seem to really care or listen, so I will simply say that I see the normal drug use and drug abuse as a thing for human garbage and the scum of the Earth. The more junkies who die form an overdose the merrier, and the voters deserve all the crime they get as a result of their idiotic prison- and drug policy and their Christian-humanistic approach to the drug problem. Line all the, dealers up against a wall along with all the drug abusers, and the problem is solved, once and for all. The police already know who they are, and if some innocents go down as well that is tough luck, but still worth it. Innocents go down if we don't take care of this problem anyhow. Ironically, when I tell junkies how I see this they agree with me, but as long as "humanism" rules our world and as long as we live in a global community the problem with drug abuse will only get bigger and bigger, until it so big the whole global "civilization" simply collapses - and I cannot say I don't look forward to that, so to speak. The sooner the modern "civilization" destroys itself the merrier, and drug use is speeding up this process.
How do you feel about cultures/societies adopting traditions, beliefs, or practices from cultures other than their own?
Well, we saw what happened to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire when they started to let other cultures influence their own culture, and the same is happening to the rest of Europe today. On the other hand we cannot be so conservative that we want to keep inferior systems and ideas no matter what, if there are better alternatives. I think we should be open to everything that is in accordance with our blood and our collective meaning of life, and reject the rest. On the other hand, I have never heard a good idea from outside Europe (and by Europe I mean "the European [Nordic] race"), so I don't think this will be much of a problem to Europe.
The concept of multiculturalism is just brain-dead crap, as one culture will eventually prevail at the expense of the other cultures in the same area, so if we wish to see our own culture survive we have to be intolerant and conservative, and reject - and even destroy - alien influences.
Today the USA is the main problem in this context, because the USA is doing just like the culture of Carthage did. The USA too conquer by trade. The whole world is flooded in American consumer products. The Coca-Cola company, McDonald's, Levi-Strauss, Microsoft, the Hollywood "entertainment" (id est propaganda) industry, and so forth, are destroying all cultures on planet Earth, and are trying to replace it with the American lack of culture. This "cultural" imperialism is of course linked to capitalism, and the American companies' wish to earn money - with no regards to the consequences whatsoever. They don't do this because they are "evil", but simply because they are extremely greedy and unable to think far ahead.
We need to embrace our own culture and we need to have a culture of our own, or else we will all become like the average American (and other capitalists too), who spend more money even on chewing gum than books. We will become disgusting and ultra-egoistic, capitalistic and materialistic, hypocritical and stupid, incompetent and lazy, without any sense of aesthetics or taste, racially indefinable and religiously retarded subhuman scum. Fortunately we have a culture that is our own, and that is our Pagan culture.
How have you changed as a person since you were imprisoned and how do you view Black Metal today? (I'm not referring to current Black Metal, Black Metal of the early to mid 1990's.)
Black Metal was a revolt against the modern world, and in particular against the commercialized (Americanized) Death Metal scene. It was a just revolt, but a bit pointless, because there is really nothing to do when you face a tidal wave. There is no point fighting it. All you can do is to get out of the way, and then return after it is gone, to build a new village on the ruins of the old one.
How I have changed as a person? Pass. I think I will change far more the moment I get out of prison, and I am no longer locked up in a cage with too much time to think about and see all the errors of this thoroughly sick system. I seriously hope I one day will be passionately interested in ordinary humdrum, like most people are, but that won't happen as long as I am in prison or exposed to the persecution of this Soviet system. That's for sure.
What is the most destructive/harmful aspect of Christianity in your opinion?
Probably the internationalism (that leads to the destruction of all human races in favour of one degenerated and spiritually schizophrenic mongrel race with no culture), the cultivation of the insufficient man, the concept of sin and regret, and finally the fact that it is built on a Jewish (id est Asian) belief system that has no roots in our European culture whatsoever.
Christianity was created by some decadent and degenerated Romans as a tool of oppression, in the late Roman era, and it should be treated accordingly. It is like "handcuff's" to the mind and spirit and is nothing but destructive to mankind. In fact I don't really see Christianity as a religion. It is more like a spiritual plague, a mass psychosis, and it should first and foremost be treated as a problem to be solved by the medical science. Christianity is a diagnosis. It's like Islam and the other Asian "religions" a HIV/AIDS of the spirit and mind.
Christianity was tailor-made as at tool to oppress Europeans, so I actually think it is even more destructive to non-Europeans, as even the numerous European traditions included in Christianity are alien to them. Like why would the "Santa Claus" tradition be good to African or Asian children, when the "Santa Claus" figure is a perversion of an ultra-racist European deity, best known as Heimdallr or Belobog, who only let the fair-haired, fair-skinned and fair-eyed children have a chance at getting a gift in the first place? The non-European races are rejects as far as he is concerned.
How would you describe the music of Burzum?
Maybe as monotonous, mostly uncomplicated and also melancholic.
As clichéd and cheesy as this question sounds, what do you believe to be the meaning of life?
I love clichéd and cheesy questions...
This is as You probably know a rather complicated question, and I don't think there is an answer that is valid to everybody. However, I do believe I can come up with an answer that is valid to all ethnic Europeans. The other races are rejects according to the ancient European religion, so I don't really care about them or what they do or believe in. According to the ancient (European) myths the gods created mankind, and some myths state that they were so disappointed by their creation that they left them, but there is one race that was not a disappointment to them, and that was what we know as Jarl's kin - or Earl's kin, to use his English name. This mysterious Jarl, known from Antiquity as (Proto-Norse/Germanic) EirilaR/Eirilaz, was the youngest son of Heimdallr, and the only son Odinn accepted as worthy of access to Valhall ("the hall of the chosen") in Heaven (Asgarðr).
Heimdallr created Jarl's kin because Odinn, the king of the gods, wanted to create an army of men that could help him in the ongoing war against the untamed and destructive forces of chaos. Individuals of Jarl's kin will only be able to assist Odinn if they die, though, because the only way to cross the rainbow bridge and enter Heaven is to die. However, Heimdallr taught Jarl's kin the runes (secrets) of the gods, so that they could actually enter and leave Heaven anytime, even in life. All they needed to do was to be initiated in the Pagan mysteries, and a part of that was to pretend they were dead, or simply disguise themselves - like the Greeks did when they built the Trojan horse to gain access to the city of Troy, or like Cinderella (the initiate) did when she put on a dress to look like a princess to gain access to the king's castle (Asgarðr) and marry the prince (Baldr). The gods taught Jarl's kin how to keep in touch with the gods, so to speak.
The other races cannot communicate with the gods, and the least racist theory is that the Europeans are simply those chosen by the gods to communicate their ideas to mankind, but the more likely theory is that the gods only wanted to communicate with Jarl's kin because the others weren't good enough for them. The others were rejects; failed results of the creation. This is also the reason why only the youngest son or daughter in the fairy tales can marry the princess or prince, and the two older siblings are always cruel, stupid, lazy and ugly. Jarl's older brothers are Karl ("free man") and Trell ("thrall"), and the latter is even being described as an ugly, stupid and black-skinned man in the mythology.
What we can read from this is that racial purity is alpha-omega, if we want to have a link to the divine realm, because if there are no blonde, fair-skinned and blue- or grey-eyed people left we will never be able to communicate with the gods.
Of course all of this is nonsense to people who don't believe in any gods, but I think that all people who have at least some intelligence are able to understand that there is something spiritual that we don't understand or are able to communicate with, and this is what I mean when I say "the gods". The reason we are not able to communicate with the gods is simply that we no longer practice the Pagan religion. We no longer initiate people into the ancient secrets, naturally because Christianity has replaced our religion. Halloween ("hallow-eve") is no longer an initiation ritual, but a silly party for children and others who don't really know what Halloween is really all about, or why they are supposed to dress up as dead creatures. They don't know that the real reason they dress up as ghosts and other dead creatures is to gain access to Heaven (and Hel, that contrary to popular belief is not a bad place); to make the guardians believe they are dead and to make them let the living gain access to in the realms of the dead.
All of this is explained in "The Mysteries And Mythology Of Ancient Scandinavia", so I won't elaborate anymore on this here and now.
When nobody has gone through the initiation mysteries nobody has any contact with the gods. Therefore nobody knows the meaning of life anymore. We are all just wandering without any goal or purpose on the surface of this planet, because the Judeo-Christian burned the last initiates on great fires in Europe as late as in the XVIIIth century.
The gods cannot communicate with us anymore, and they cannot hear our prayers, because the channel between the gods and mankind was broken when Europe was Christianized. That is the reason we are destroying our planet. That is the reason we are mixing races and in effect destroying the European race. That is the reason there is an existential crisis in the modern world, and nobody knows what to think, say, believe or do anymore. Everything is chaos, and the ethnic Europeans are desperately looking for answers everywhere. In Buddhism, in the New Age movement, in materialism, in Hinduism, in drugs, in occultism and even in a ridiculous "religion" like Islam.
In the past we had a crude arrow and a crude bow, but at least we had something to aim at. Today our arrow and bow is very nice, golden, expensive, high-tech and fancy, but what good is that when we just fire randomly into the air, hoping we might hit something?
The answer can be found - or at least I think I know that the answer can be found - in our own ancient religion; the Paganism of Europe. To know the meaning of life we can simply look to the past, and try to figure out what our Pagan forefathers were doing, because they knew the meaning of life. They organized sport contests, like the Olympic games, to find the man with the best blood, and then they let him marry and impregnate the priestesses. Thus they cultivated a genetically better man. They placed the genetically deficient children in the woods, to be eaten by wolves or to die from thirst, because they knew that the cultivation of a genetically better man was the meaning of life. They knew that the meaning of life was to improve our race and become better: physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and in all other conceivable and inconceivable ways become better.
And take notice that I say "to improve our race", and not "to improve our species", because the other races are rejects, and there is nothing to improve. They are like old 286 or 386 computers, that cannot be upgraded sufficiently anyhow, so we throw them on the scrap heap instead, like the gods did with the other races, and focus on the newest and best computers instead. We can still use the old computers as typewriters, but the gods didn't create mankind to work as typewriters, so to speak.
So the meaning of life is to purify and improve our European race, to (re)create a culture that enables us to improve and be purified, and ultimately to become divine. The meaning of life is to let the homo deus (the divine man) be born in our race, and then to elevate all individuals in our race to this level, so that we can create or be collectively elevated to regnum innocentiae (the realm of innocence), to Asgarðr, and be able to stay there for a change (instead of being reborn all the time, on Earth).
What would be your ideal death?
I am very glad to hear that You are ruminating on my death and how I should die...
But, I'll answer your question seriously, assuming You are actually interested in knowing this, and I guess it is a relevant question in context with Burzum anyhow.
In a sense the most horrible, painful and tragic death one can imagine is the ideal death, because those are the deaths people remember, write stories about and sing songs about. If I am not killed and die a violent death, I think I would prefer to die alone somewhere, or perhaps ask my wife, if I have any, to assist me. If I grow too old and weak, or too sick, I will probably find an old ash tree and simply hang myself, like Odinn and the Pagan initiates did, only I don't intend to return to life (not until I am reborn anyhow). The suicide is the ultimate victory over the body, because the body's natural instincts will force you to try and survive, no matter what, while the spirit and hugr (mind, "soul") always seek to return to the gods. The suicide is also very attractive because it allows me to demonstrate the will to remove the effete, and to give room for the young and healthy, even if the effete is me - and naturally at one point I will become effete too, like we all will.
I must add that even if I don't fear death, I am still usually terrified whenever I am in life-threatening situations, because my natural survival instincts are intact and they take over in extreme situations. Only idiots and "malfunctioning human beings" are without fear.
Death is not only about how you die, though, but also about how you are buried, and I would like my body to be burned on a funeral pyre, and/or be placed in a burial mound on my own property. I don't like the Viking- or even Iron Age burial mounds very much, but prefer the Stone- and Bronze Age burial mounds made of flagstones. These burial mounds could be opened and closed, and they often housed the remains of many generations. These burial mounds were also seen as entrances to the realm of the dead (just like caves, wells, lakes and hollow trees), and like in the fairy tale about Cinderella, when she opens up the gate to the realm of the dead, on her mother's grave, using the holy branch (often a mistletoe), they used them in religious contexts, and especially in initiation mysteries.
Naturally I wish my death can contribute to the future generations' ability to practice our European religion, and I feel that for that to happen we need some good, old burial mounds, with real human remains in them, like my own scarred skeleton.
That covers all my questions, feel free to add anything you want.
The guardian of the dead body and the grave is a goddess, that we know as Freyja or Hel, or simply Freyja-Hel. Her names translate as "love" (Freyja) and "complete", "luck" and "healthy" (Hel), because we will not become complete until we are dead, and we will not find the divine princess, or in the case of women, the divine prince, until we visit the realm of the dead (like Cinderella did). Therefore Hel(l) is called Helvete in Scandinavia, from Norse Helviti, that translates as "visit to Hel", and this journey to Hel and Asgarðr is what we need to achieve oneness with the gods, the unio mystica...
Finally I will thank You for the interest and the at times odd, clichéd and cheesy questions. I hope You appreciate my at times odd, clichéd and cheesy answers.
Greetings from
A wargaR, walking on an overgrown path straight to Hel(l)...
Greetings Chris, things are fine here.
Over the past few hundred years we have seen both a growing disregard for the environment as well as a steady decrease in culture and heritage. What do you believe is responsible for this and what could we do to improve upon this?
Considering this is just an interview I will try to be short, but it is not easy when You come up with such questions. I think the growing disregard for the environment, culture and heritage is a natural consequence of capitalism. When people care more about profit than the world they live in that is what happens. Capitalism in the "Western" world in turn is just a natural consequence of Christianity, because Christianity created a spiritual void when it ousted Paganism, and all that is left is materialism and a religion with no meaningful contents. The Christians often kept the Pagan festivals, rituals and symbols, but they no longer have any real meaning. For example; Yule, the winter solstice has become "the birthday of Christ", Easter has become "the day Jesus returned from the grave", summer solstice has become "Saint Hans' Day", Heimdallr has become "Santa Claus", and so forth. Originally Yule marks the turning of the Sun-wheel and is the day the dead visit the living, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the vernal equinox and the day Baldr and his wife returns from Hell, the summer solstice marks the birth of Freyja, the goddess of love, and Heimdallr didn't only bring us gifts, but he was also our connecting link to the gods. He is after all the guardian of the (rainbow) bridge that leads to Heaven (Asgarðr)! All of this has been lost with Christianity, and without any contact with the spiritual reality and our divine origin, so to speak, we are left with only the base physical world. We no longer have any purpose in life, other than to wander randomly on Earth and become (physically) wealthy and live comfortable lives, and I don't think all that many men or women really find that very satisfying - save perhaps the extremely shallow and egoistic people.
This spiritual void has become an even bigger problem due to the fact that there are six billion people living on this planet, and almost all of them are doing their best to accumulate as much goods they can possibly get their filthy hands on. Also we see that the "Western" capitalists try to export their wealth and system to poorer countries. Not to help these countries, but to create a new market for their own goods. They basically just want more consumers.
This will be an even bigger catastrophe to the environment the moment China and India become wealthy, because our planet cannot take another 2.4 billion capitalist pigs driving polluting cars and buying essentially meaningless consumer goods all day long, seven days a week. We have problems enough with the I billion capitalist pigs we already have (mainly in the USA, Europe and Japan). And what will happen when the world population reaches 9 or even 10 billion and the majority are capitalist consumers?
Ironically, the only thing that can save mankind is a stream of pandemics, natural disasters and other human catastrophes, wiping out most of us. In fact, I think the catastrophe is inevitable - unless something drastic happens very soon, - and to be honest I even welcome it. The sooner this world order collapses the better. We don't even need to do anything for it to collapse in chaos. The best and only thing we can do is to get away from the tidal wave, and make sure the best amongst us survive, along with our Pagan culture. We can physically move away from the modern world and all its moral, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual decay and depravity.
To live like we are supposed to we need to listen to our blood, so to speak. Our Paganism is in our blood, and to be able to create a positive and meaningful civilization in the future, on the ruins of the "Sodom and Gomorrah" we live in today, we need to live in accordance with our blood.
What are you currently reading and have you been allowed to listen to any music at all lately?
Right now I read "Vollmer's Mythologie Aller Volker" (that translates as something like "Vollmer's Mythology Of All Peoples"), by Dr. Vollmer, and I read "Manniskan Och Hennes Symboler", by Dr. Carl G. Jung. The latter is a Swedish translation of "Man And His Symbols", that I have actually read before, but I thought it would be interesting to read it again, and see if I found something in it that I didn't find when I last read it, some ten years ago. Vollmer's "Mythologie Aller Volker" is a mythological encyclopedia, published in 1874, in Stuttgart, Germany. I read it because this is one of the few books I can find that can tell me something about the Slavonic, Finnish and Baltic mythology. It is particularly interesting to read the old books about mythology and our culture, because they are always so much better than the new ones. They are not steeped in political correctness or written to ridicule our European culture, like most modern books are.
We can, in Trondheim prison, listen to three pre-programmed state radio stations on a radio in the wall, or we can watch TV and hope there is some music there, but there is no way to listen to CDs or cassettes. So in short I am only allowed to listen to music I don't want to listen to, although most of the radio shows don't actually broadcast much music, but simply spread state propaganda (or "entertainment", as they call it today). After twelve years in prison I think I have listened to the radio maybe 30-40 times in all, and only when I have been without even a TV. (When you haven't heard a sound in months even state propaganda mixed with pop music becomes an attractive alternative for ten minutes or so, before you remember why you never listen to that crap and turn it off again...)
I have had a non-electric guitar in my cell since last December, so I am not completely without music.
Can people expect you to release any more music after you are released?
Probably. The future albums, if I ever record anything, will as far as I can tell sound much like the old albums, whether I like it or not, because I am incapable of making music that doesn't sound rather "burzumic".
I fear it might not be too original or different from old Burzum, as I wanted it to be, but I guess there are people who think that is just fine too. And on the other hand it is not very surprising that I still make music that sounds much like my own music...
To quote a recent article you wrote, "In a sense it was the Golden Age of Burzum - that had its natural end when I was imprisoned in August 1993". Why did the spirit of Burzum change so much when you were imprisoned?
You probably misunderstand what I wrote in that article. The spirit of Burzum never changed, but my ability to make music changed dramatically when I was imprisoned. It is more or less impossible to record music in prison, and the only music I could record was electronic music, when I was allowed to have a synthesizer for a few months in 1994 or 1995 and in 1998. After a few months with a synthesizer in the cell in 1998, I had to choose between my synthesizer and my laptop computer, because the prison authorities didn't let me have both at the same time (for "security reasons"), and I chose to have the computer in the cell, believing I could make music anyhow, by using some music program. But the prison authority had other ideas, claiming I didn't have an "extraordinary need" to have a music program enabling me to make music on the computer. So without a music program I couldn't make any more music from then on. That is actually the main reason I haven't released any records since 1999; to install a music program I need a CD-ROM, and all CDs are banned in this prison (for "security reasons").
Anyhow, since I have a guitar, at least I can make music now, but I have to wait until I get out before I can record anything.
What made Burzum different from the rest of the Norwegian bands at the time?
A lot. The motivation was certainly different, my background was different, my lyrics were in Norwegian, while the others had English lyrics, and of course I was alone, while the other bands were real bands. I don't know what to say about this really. Maybe You will find the answer to this question in the different "A Burzum Story" articles that will be published on www.burzum.org?
You once stated that "metal is nigger music", do you still believe this to be true?
Yes and no. I think the metal culture is nigger culture, in the sense that the traditional metal people look like, behave like and think like a bunch of "white niggers". It's (at least often) an extremely primitive, unintelligent and pointless subculture, like all rock'n'roll subcultures are. I too listened to metal music, but I never behaved like a nigger just because of that, and I don't understand what the point with this metal subculture is. Smoking pot or getting drunk, sleeping around and giving each other venereal diseases, partying all the time, going to concerts to meet other vacuum-heads, and so forth. What's the point? Even bush-niggers can be more sensible and constructive, and deeper than that.
The true attraction people have to this particular subculture is probably something else, like contempt for the modern world, fascination for death and the gothic, romanticism and even Pagan values, but it all becomes so very wrong when mixed with traditional rock'n'roll or heavy metal culture.
What are your thoughts on women and do you view them as equals?
Sure, women are equals, but they are also different from men, and they should be treated differently and have different goals in life. I think the old-fashioned view is the most positive, and I may add that by old-fashioned I mean the view they had on men and women and their roles in life in Antiquity (in Scandinavia).
It is actually a bit hard to answer this question, because I have only positive things to say about women, but I have nothing positive to say about modern women. So where do I start? If we take modern women first, I think it is sad to see how - pardon my French - fucked up modern female culture has become. Today the role of mother is looked down upon and being a "housewife" is an insult to many modern women. This is seen as part of the "male enslavement" of women. To stay home with the children is seen as a nightmare and a burden. Instead they get an education (usually some theoretical nonsense) and do as best they can to become like men. They work like men, dress like men, try to think like men, talk like men and act like men (and some of them even look like men). Since most of the smart women are busy getting an education, the generally more stupid women get most of the children, and as a result of that the whole species is getting dumber - as the average intelligence drops when the stupid women have most of the children.
Cooking too is looked upon with contempt. A (female and American) friend of mine pointed at the fact that women in the USA are actually more likely to slap a man's face if he asks her to cook dinner than for demanding a blowjob on their first date, and I think that says it well. All the "liberation" of women has done is to cause women to replace all the positive characteristics of women with the negative characteristics of men.
I have met Norwegian men who have had girlfriends who didn't even know how to mix lemonade or boil an egg - and note the past form of the verb, have had girlfriends, as they obviously didn't bother to stay with them. The beauty of the women lured the men to them, but they had no other qualities, so they didn't manage to hold onto their men.
The modern women can no longer cook, they no longer want children and they are no longer warm, tidy and loving creatures who think spending time with their family is a good thing. They are probably too "independent" and "strong" to even have a family of their own. The only thing modern women have to offer men today is sex. So instead of being loving housewives who cook and raise children, they are reduced to being sexual objects only - and they are so messed up emotionally and intellectually that they often spend most of the money they make on their jobs on plastic surgery, cosmetics and tons of clothes they think will make them look good, in a desperate attempt to stay or become more attractive. Well, they have no other qualities attractive to men, so what else can we expect? This is the fruit of feminism. The fruit of "women's liberation".
A truly smart woman will understand that being a housewife, raising children and cooking is not demeaning. They perform a task that is extremely important for the whole kin, tribe and nation, and nobody else can do it. Men certainly cannot! Women are equipped with a womb and breasts for a reason. That is just how nature works, whether we like it or not. It is not demeaning for a woman to be a woman. Everybody should understand that, even hateful, self-loathing feminists.
True women are all my equals, whom I adore and respect, but I see modern women more like disgusting, primitive and disturbed animals, or subhuman at best. And those who think I am some male-chauvinist who only criticize modern women here are actually wrong, because this is not only an attack on modern women, but it is an attack on the modern world as a whole, and modern men are certainly no better. Most modern men should be grateful even for the fact that they have not yet been put to sleep, like dogs often are when there is something seriously wrong with them. All of mankind is thoroughly messed up today, not just the modern women, and I am sure there are ten times more women worth saving, than there are men worth saving, so to speak.
What are your thoughts on the Negroid race?
Well, let's not waste any time thinking about the Negro races.
What are some authors and figures that you hold in high esteem?
I think highly of authors like Julius Evola, F. W. Nietzsche, Oswald Spengler and Knut Hamsun (although his books are rather boring, his ideas are very interesting), but naturally I don't agree with everything they say.
When it comes to figures I hold in high esteem I don't know what to say. In general I don't really think on that level. Individual human beings are rarely very important to me, with the exception of my closest friends and family of course.
The figures I hold in high esteem must be all the women, men, girls and boys who revolt against the modern world and who refuse to degrade themselves by participating in the modern menagerie. I admire all girls and boys who wait with sex until they marry and then stay faithful to their spouses until they die. I admire strength in general, wherever it manifests itself. I admire honesty, courage, moral, creativity, intelligence, purity, wisdom and so forth.
Do you have a favorite Burzum album and would you give your opinion on each of your releases?
My favourite Burzum album is probably "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss". Yes, I can give You my opinion on each of the releases I have contributed to...
The debut album: the production is a bit thin on this album, and the vocals and high-hat becomes rather annoying at the end of the listening experience. In retrospective there is much I would have done differently when I recorded this album, but all in all I like it. It was very original when it came, in all ways (good and bad).
The "Det Som En Gang Var" ("What Once Was") album: as far as I remember the vocals are much better on this album and the sound a bit better, but apart from that it is much like the debut album. The tracks on this album were created at the same time as the tracks on the debut album, so in a sense it is "Part II" of the debut album - something that can be seen on the cover artwork as well.
The "Aske" ("Ash" or "Cinder") mini-LP: I wish I had never recorded this mini-LP in the first place, because it is only an mini-LP, and I don't like neither EPs, mini-LPs, "best of" albums, compilations or singles. If it's not a full-length album it's not worth releasing...
The "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" ("If The Light Take Us") album: this is, as I see it, the best Burzum album. It's very "anti-rock star" and - I think - original, consistent and close to what I wanted to achieve when I made and recorded it. This album is the first album I played music, instead of just playing different instruments... I did that on the earlier albums too, but not as successfully as on this album.
The "Filosofem" ("Philosofem") album: this album contains the first real Burzum track, titled "Dunkelheit" on the album (but the real title of the track is "Burzum". "Dunkelheit" is just the German translation of "Burzum"), that I originally wanted to include on the "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" album (but the recording was very poor, so I didn't use it). I changed the name to Burzum from Uruk-Hai when I made this song (I think in August 1991). The album is a bit weird, and far from perfect, but it is okay. Unfortunately (?), this is the album that sounds the most like the new Burzum music.
The "Dauði Baldrs" ("The Death Of Baldr") album: the metal versions of a few of the tracks on this album are really cool, so I think I will include at least one of them on the coming album. (The track called "Jesu Død", on the "Filosofem" album, is also a metal version of one of these tracks, by the way.) I am not overly fond of this album, but it is okay. I like at least two of the tracks a lot (the two first, as far as I remember). I once heard a cover version of one of the "Dauði Baldrs" tracks, on some German compilation album, I think, and that was very good... much better than the original.
In short, let's just say I prefer the metal version of the tracks on this album oh, and it was recorded in a prison cell, using a normal tape recorder, so the sound is naturally not the best.
The "Hliðskjálf" ("Hidden Opening Into Asgarðr" or "Secret Ritual-Site") album: there are at least three tracks on this album that I like a lot, but in general this album is much like "Dauði Baldrs": it was the best I could do in a few months; the time I had to complete each of these albums, before the prison authorities either sent me to another prison (in 1995 ["Dauði Baldrs"]) or prevented me from recording anything more (in 1998 ["Hliðskjálf"]).
The Old Funeral, "Devoured Carcass" EP: this was the first music I (on this EP only as a guitarist) ever recorded in a studio, when I was 17 years old. The music on this album is Death Metal and the sound is not very good. As far as I remember it is okay, but the Old Funeral demo tape, from 1988 or 1989, that I didn't contribute to in any way, is much, much better. And I must say that although I made some of the music on this EP, I had nothing to do with the lyrics or cover artwork. ("Devoured Carcass"? Give me a break... It is almost as stupid as the Immortal lyrics...)
The Mayhem, "De Mysteriis Dan Sathanas" album: as You might know I played the bass on this album. I am not credited as a bass player on this album simply because Euronymous' parents told Hellhammer that they would stop the album if he tried to release it featuring both their son and me. So Hellhammer told them he re-recorded the bass line himself, which was a lie, and then simply removed my name from the album cover - solely to satisfy Euronymous' parents. (Contrary to popular belief, there has never been any conflict between the Mayhem guys and me, not even after the "inconvenience" with Euronymous.)
I once said that this album reeked big time, because the vocals ruined everything, but the truth is that I had only properly heard the vocals on "Freezing Moon" when I said that, and I think "Freezing Moon" reeks big time, but the vocals on the other tracks is perfect. The reason I think "Freezing Moon" reeks is simply that I was used to Dead's vocals and his way of singing, and I never wanted that to change. Attila, the session vocalist for this album, was more concerned about his "artistic integrity", and didn't want to sound just like Dead, so (unfortunately) he wanted to do his own thing.
So I think this album is great. It is highly original, not least because of Hellhammer's inventive drumming, and I would say that all that was positive about Euronymous is immortalized by this album. Hellhammer's drumming makes the album special, but so does the guitar riffs, that Euronymous was mostly responsible for (although Hellhammer, Necrobutcher and even I have made some riffs too).
I have never even read the lyrics on this album, or seen the album cover, but I still dare say this is one of the few Black Metal releases I think highly off and would actually listen to, if I had the chance. Why on Earth do people even bother listening to other Black Metal albums when they can listen to albums like this one? A good album to me is an album you never grow tired of, and I think this album is such an album.
If you could go back to the day that you killed Euronymous, would you still have? What was your actual reason for killing him?
If You are interested in this subject I suggest You read an article called "A Burzum Story Part II - Euronymous", when (if?) it is published on www.burzum.org, probably next month (May 2005).
What have you been doing in prison to occupy yourself lately and do you have an idea as to when you might be released?
According to the Norwegian constitution and international law I should be released on probation in April 2006, but I don't know what will happen. My experience with the Department of Justice is not particularly good, so I am not very optimistic. I don't think they like me very much... and unfortunately it is more important to be liked by them than to have the right/law on your side.
When it comes to Your question regarding what I have been doing in prison to occupy myself "lately", I can tell that lately I have been mostly reading, corresponding with different people, writing articles and sending different applications to the prison authorities - that they usually turn down (apparently letting me have an encyclopedia on the computer is not possible, for "security reasons" and because I according to them don't need an encyclopedia...?!) or occasionally grant (for instance, I was, like I have already told You, allowed to have a non-electric guitar in my cell last December).
Apart from that I jog in the cell - back and forth on the floor - and have some plastic bottles filled with water that I use as weights, I take some push-ups and sit-ups, and in general try not to rot away.
There is always something to do, and I have never had any problem keeping myself occupied. The biggest problem is when the prison authorities force the prisoners to "work", and we have to sit some place all day long, like in a workshop, and do absolutely nothing (because there are twenty people "working" but only work for one or two people), but "luckily" new police and law reforms and the building of new "temporary prison barracks" in the yard have caused the prisons to flood with prisoners, and the prisons are not given the resources to cope with this situation, so only a few prisoners are given a "job". The rest are simply stored in their cells all day long, left to figure out what to do on their own. To me and many others it's no problem, but especially to the poor bastards who don't even know how to read (and they make up 1/3 of all the prisoners!) it can be rather destructive, and when they occasionally break down and set fire to their cells, crush the interior of the cells and smash the TV, cut off of break their fingers or other limbs (one guy in Ila prison cut off his own balls! *Ouch*...), swallow forks and knives, punch a guard or another prisoner on the nose, or something like that, they are punished for that too, because they don't "behave" well, and the minister of justice or warden come up with some new rule for "security reasons", and tighten the screw even more, something that naturally only makes even more prisoners break down or become anti-social and dangerous. It's a very intelligent system...
Have you experimented with any drugs in the past and what are your views on drug use?
No, I have never experienced with drugs. I don't even take an aspirin if I have a headache - and I never really have a headache (probably because I never take even an aspirin...).
My view on drug use is crystal clear. The only drug use I condone, so to speak, is the medical use of prescription drugs, when it is absolutely necessary (and it rarely is absolutely necessary). After almost twelve years in prison, being forced to live close to drug addicts, I see very clearly how drugs ruin people emotionally, physically, morally and even intellectually, and of course this has strengthened my contempt for people who take drugs. It is also very provoking to see that teenagers are thrown in jail, forced to sit in normal prison blocks and go to "work" along with the other prisoners (because "socializing with the other prisoners" and "work" is the authority's idea of "rehabilitation"), where they are offered drugs and thoroughly rotten morals by the junkies and criminal aliens, and without a single exception the teenagers I have seen have all ended up as junkies and notorious criminals.
There is a lot to say about this, but not many seem to really care or listen, so I will simply say that I see the normal drug use and drug abuse as a thing for human garbage and the scum of the Earth. The more junkies who die form an overdose the merrier, and the voters deserve all the crime they get as a result of their idiotic prison- and drug policy and their Christian-humanistic approach to the drug problem. Line all the, dealers up against a wall along with all the drug abusers, and the problem is solved, once and for all. The police already know who they are, and if some innocents go down as well that is tough luck, but still worth it. Innocents go down if we don't take care of this problem anyhow. Ironically, when I tell junkies how I see this they agree with me, but as long as "humanism" rules our world and as long as we live in a global community the problem with drug abuse will only get bigger and bigger, until it so big the whole global "civilization" simply collapses - and I cannot say I don't look forward to that, so to speak. The sooner the modern "civilization" destroys itself the merrier, and drug use is speeding up this process.
How do you feel about cultures/societies adopting traditions, beliefs, or practices from cultures other than their own?
Well, we saw what happened to ancient Greece and the Roman Empire when they started to let other cultures influence their own culture, and the same is happening to the rest of Europe today. On the other hand we cannot be so conservative that we want to keep inferior systems and ideas no matter what, if there are better alternatives. I think we should be open to everything that is in accordance with our blood and our collective meaning of life, and reject the rest. On the other hand, I have never heard a good idea from outside Europe (and by Europe I mean "the European [Nordic] race"), so I don't think this will be much of a problem to Europe.
The concept of multiculturalism is just brain-dead crap, as one culture will eventually prevail at the expense of the other cultures in the same area, so if we wish to see our own culture survive we have to be intolerant and conservative, and reject - and even destroy - alien influences.
Today the USA is the main problem in this context, because the USA is doing just like the culture of Carthage did. The USA too conquer by trade. The whole world is flooded in American consumer products. The Coca-Cola company, McDonald's, Levi-Strauss, Microsoft, the Hollywood "entertainment" (id est propaganda) industry, and so forth, are destroying all cultures on planet Earth, and are trying to replace it with the American lack of culture. This "cultural" imperialism is of course linked to capitalism, and the American companies' wish to earn money - with no regards to the consequences whatsoever. They don't do this because they are "evil", but simply because they are extremely greedy and unable to think far ahead.
We need to embrace our own culture and we need to have a culture of our own, or else we will all become like the average American (and other capitalists too), who spend more money even on chewing gum than books. We will become disgusting and ultra-egoistic, capitalistic and materialistic, hypocritical and stupid, incompetent and lazy, without any sense of aesthetics or taste, racially indefinable and religiously retarded subhuman scum. Fortunately we have a culture that is our own, and that is our Pagan culture.
How have you changed as a person since you were imprisoned and how do you view Black Metal today? (I'm not referring to current Black Metal, Black Metal of the early to mid 1990's.)
Black Metal was a revolt against the modern world, and in particular against the commercialized (Americanized) Death Metal scene. It was a just revolt, but a bit pointless, because there is really nothing to do when you face a tidal wave. There is no point fighting it. All you can do is to get out of the way, and then return after it is gone, to build a new village on the ruins of the old one.
How I have changed as a person? Pass. I think I will change far more the moment I get out of prison, and I am no longer locked up in a cage with too much time to think about and see all the errors of this thoroughly sick system. I seriously hope I one day will be passionately interested in ordinary humdrum, like most people are, but that won't happen as long as I am in prison or exposed to the persecution of this Soviet system. That's for sure.
What is the most destructive/harmful aspect of Christianity in your opinion?
Probably the internationalism (that leads to the destruction of all human races in favour of one degenerated and spiritually schizophrenic mongrel race with no culture), the cultivation of the insufficient man, the concept of sin and regret, and finally the fact that it is built on a Jewish (id est Asian) belief system that has no roots in our European culture whatsoever.
Christianity was created by some decadent and degenerated Romans as a tool of oppression, in the late Roman era, and it should be treated accordingly. It is like "handcuff's" to the mind and spirit and is nothing but destructive to mankind. In fact I don't really see Christianity as a religion. It is more like a spiritual plague, a mass psychosis, and it should first and foremost be treated as a problem to be solved by the medical science. Christianity is a diagnosis. It's like Islam and the other Asian "religions" a HIV/AIDS of the spirit and mind.
Christianity was tailor-made as at tool to oppress Europeans, so I actually think it is even more destructive to non-Europeans, as even the numerous European traditions included in Christianity are alien to them. Like why would the "Santa Claus" tradition be good to African or Asian children, when the "Santa Claus" figure is a perversion of an ultra-racist European deity, best known as Heimdallr or Belobog, who only let the fair-haired, fair-skinned and fair-eyed children have a chance at getting a gift in the first place? The non-European races are rejects as far as he is concerned.
How would you describe the music of Burzum?
Maybe as monotonous, mostly uncomplicated and also melancholic.
As clichéd and cheesy as this question sounds, what do you believe to be the meaning of life?
I love clichéd and cheesy questions...
This is as You probably know a rather complicated question, and I don't think there is an answer that is valid to everybody. However, I do believe I can come up with an answer that is valid to all ethnic Europeans. The other races are rejects according to the ancient European religion, so I don't really care about them or what they do or believe in. According to the ancient (European) myths the gods created mankind, and some myths state that they were so disappointed by their creation that they left them, but there is one race that was not a disappointment to them, and that was what we know as Jarl's kin - or Earl's kin, to use his English name. This mysterious Jarl, known from Antiquity as (Proto-Norse/Germanic) EirilaR/Eirilaz, was the youngest son of Heimdallr, and the only son Odinn accepted as worthy of access to Valhall ("the hall of the chosen") in Heaven (Asgarðr).
Heimdallr created Jarl's kin because Odinn, the king of the gods, wanted to create an army of men that could help him in the ongoing war against the untamed and destructive forces of chaos. Individuals of Jarl's kin will only be able to assist Odinn if they die, though, because the only way to cross the rainbow bridge and enter Heaven is to die. However, Heimdallr taught Jarl's kin the runes (secrets) of the gods, so that they could actually enter and leave Heaven anytime, even in life. All they needed to do was to be initiated in the Pagan mysteries, and a part of that was to pretend they were dead, or simply disguise themselves - like the Greeks did when they built the Trojan horse to gain access to the city of Troy, or like Cinderella (the initiate) did when she put on a dress to look like a princess to gain access to the king's castle (Asgarðr) and marry the prince (Baldr). The gods taught Jarl's kin how to keep in touch with the gods, so to speak.
The other races cannot communicate with the gods, and the least racist theory is that the Europeans are simply those chosen by the gods to communicate their ideas to mankind, but the more likely theory is that the gods only wanted to communicate with Jarl's kin because the others weren't good enough for them. The others were rejects; failed results of the creation. This is also the reason why only the youngest son or daughter in the fairy tales can marry the princess or prince, and the two older siblings are always cruel, stupid, lazy and ugly. Jarl's older brothers are Karl ("free man") and Trell ("thrall"), and the latter is even being described as an ugly, stupid and black-skinned man in the mythology.
What we can read from this is that racial purity is alpha-omega, if we want to have a link to the divine realm, because if there are no blonde, fair-skinned and blue- or grey-eyed people left we will never be able to communicate with the gods.
Of course all of this is nonsense to people who don't believe in any gods, but I think that all people who have at least some intelligence are able to understand that there is something spiritual that we don't understand or are able to communicate with, and this is what I mean when I say "the gods". The reason we are not able to communicate with the gods is simply that we no longer practice the Pagan religion. We no longer initiate people into the ancient secrets, naturally because Christianity has replaced our religion. Halloween ("hallow-eve") is no longer an initiation ritual, but a silly party for children and others who don't really know what Halloween is really all about, or why they are supposed to dress up as dead creatures. They don't know that the real reason they dress up as ghosts and other dead creatures is to gain access to Heaven (and Hel, that contrary to popular belief is not a bad place); to make the guardians believe they are dead and to make them let the living gain access to in the realms of the dead.
All of this is explained in "The Mysteries And Mythology Of Ancient Scandinavia", so I won't elaborate anymore on this here and now.
When nobody has gone through the initiation mysteries nobody has any contact with the gods. Therefore nobody knows the meaning of life anymore. We are all just wandering without any goal or purpose on the surface of this planet, because the Judeo-Christian burned the last initiates on great fires in Europe as late as in the XVIIIth century.
The gods cannot communicate with us anymore, and they cannot hear our prayers, because the channel between the gods and mankind was broken when Europe was Christianized. That is the reason we are destroying our planet. That is the reason we are mixing races and in effect destroying the European race. That is the reason there is an existential crisis in the modern world, and nobody knows what to think, say, believe or do anymore. Everything is chaos, and the ethnic Europeans are desperately looking for answers everywhere. In Buddhism, in the New Age movement, in materialism, in Hinduism, in drugs, in occultism and even in a ridiculous "religion" like Islam.
In the past we had a crude arrow and a crude bow, but at least we had something to aim at. Today our arrow and bow is very nice, golden, expensive, high-tech and fancy, but what good is that when we just fire randomly into the air, hoping we might hit something?
The answer can be found - or at least I think I know that the answer can be found - in our own ancient religion; the Paganism of Europe. To know the meaning of life we can simply look to the past, and try to figure out what our Pagan forefathers were doing, because they knew the meaning of life. They organized sport contests, like the Olympic games, to find the man with the best blood, and then they let him marry and impregnate the priestesses. Thus they cultivated a genetically better man. They placed the genetically deficient children in the woods, to be eaten by wolves or to die from thirst, because they knew that the cultivation of a genetically better man was the meaning of life. They knew that the meaning of life was to improve our race and become better: physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and in all other conceivable and inconceivable ways become better.
And take notice that I say "to improve our race", and not "to improve our species", because the other races are rejects, and there is nothing to improve. They are like old 286 or 386 computers, that cannot be upgraded sufficiently anyhow, so we throw them on the scrap heap instead, like the gods did with the other races, and focus on the newest and best computers instead. We can still use the old computers as typewriters, but the gods didn't create mankind to work as typewriters, so to speak.
So the meaning of life is to purify and improve our European race, to (re)create a culture that enables us to improve and be purified, and ultimately to become divine. The meaning of life is to let the homo deus (the divine man) be born in our race, and then to elevate all individuals in our race to this level, so that we can create or be collectively elevated to regnum innocentiae (the realm of innocence), to Asgarðr, and be able to stay there for a change (instead of being reborn all the time, on Earth).
What would be your ideal death?
I am very glad to hear that You are ruminating on my death and how I should die...
But, I'll answer your question seriously, assuming You are actually interested in knowing this, and I guess it is a relevant question in context with Burzum anyhow.
In a sense the most horrible, painful and tragic death one can imagine is the ideal death, because those are the deaths people remember, write stories about and sing songs about. If I am not killed and die a violent death, I think I would prefer to die alone somewhere, or perhaps ask my wife, if I have any, to assist me. If I grow too old and weak, or too sick, I will probably find an old ash tree and simply hang myself, like Odinn and the Pagan initiates did, only I don't intend to return to life (not until I am reborn anyhow). The suicide is the ultimate victory over the body, because the body's natural instincts will force you to try and survive, no matter what, while the spirit and hugr (mind, "soul") always seek to return to the gods. The suicide is also very attractive because it allows me to demonstrate the will to remove the effete, and to give room for the young and healthy, even if the effete is me - and naturally at one point I will become effete too, like we all will.
I must add that even if I don't fear death, I am still usually terrified whenever I am in life-threatening situations, because my natural survival instincts are intact and they take over in extreme situations. Only idiots and "malfunctioning human beings" are without fear.
Death is not only about how you die, though, but also about how you are buried, and I would like my body to be burned on a funeral pyre, and/or be placed in a burial mound on my own property. I don't like the Viking- or even Iron Age burial mounds very much, but prefer the Stone- and Bronze Age burial mounds made of flagstones. These burial mounds could be opened and closed, and they often housed the remains of many generations. These burial mounds were also seen as entrances to the realm of the dead (just like caves, wells, lakes and hollow trees), and like in the fairy tale about Cinderella, when she opens up the gate to the realm of the dead, on her mother's grave, using the holy branch (often a mistletoe), they used them in religious contexts, and especially in initiation mysteries.
Naturally I wish my death can contribute to the future generations' ability to practice our European religion, and I feel that for that to happen we need some good, old burial mounds, with real human remains in them, like my own scarred skeleton.
That covers all my questions, feel free to add anything you want.
The guardian of the dead body and the grave is a goddess, that we know as Freyja or Hel, or simply Freyja-Hel. Her names translate as "love" (Freyja) and "complete", "luck" and "healthy" (Hel), because we will not become complete until we are dead, and we will not find the divine princess, or in the case of women, the divine prince, until we visit the realm of the dead (like Cinderella did). Therefore Hel(l) is called Helvete in Scandinavia, from Norse Helviti, that translates as "visit to Hel", and this journey to Hel and Asgarðr is what we need to achieve oneness with the gods, the unio mystica...
Finally I will thank You for the interest and the at times odd, clichéd and cheesy questions. I hope You appreciate my at times odd, clichéd and cheesy answers.
Greetings from
A wargaR, walking on an overgrown path straight to Hel(l)...
Author: Chris Mitchell (© 2005 Metal Crypt E'Zine)
Qua medicamenta non sanant, ignis sanat
(What medicine does not heal, the fire cures)