Interview with Burzum

Abruptum Zine 1998

Greetings Varg. .. Could you tell the reads about your current release "Daudi Baldrs"
and the concepts behind the material on this recording as well as the cover painting on
this release and how it represents the concept and title? How was this recording
accomplished from behind prison walls and what sort of musical limitations do you have
with the equipment you have in your cell? Is the material on "Daudi Baldrs" to your full
satisfaction and is there any ideas you had for this recording which were difficult to
achieve with your limitations?

"The "Daudi Baldrs" album was recorded on a synthesizer with a disc station and then on a
normal tape recorder. I would have recorded a voice telling the tale about Balder's death in
between the tracks if I could, but that was not possible. The album is all about the Norse-
Germanic myth about the death of Balder and the visual art interprets that in a historical
context just like the music does, in a musical context."

I'm quite surprised to see you being allowed to continue recording in prison, were you
surprised by this as well and could you tell us what was done to allow you to continue on
with your music in prison? I heard that you now have a guitar and amp in your prison
cell, is there any truth to this and if so, do you have any plans to record material in the
future with guitars mixed with keyboards once again? Have you begun to compose or
even possibly record material for your next release? I read in an interview where you
mentioned that you don't even actually know who to play the keyboards and that they
have always been artificial and added with various sequencers?

"When I was in Bergen prison (one year, from September '94) I was after some time allowed
to have a synthesizer in the cell for a couple of months. I then simply recorded the album and
sent a tape to MISANTHROPY. Then shortly after the prison authorities sent me to another
prison, where I was not allowed to have any instruments in the cell whatsoever. Since that I
have not been allowed to have any instruments in the cell, until a couple of months ago when
I was allowed to have a guitar (but OF COURSE no amp). If you compare my keyboard skills
to that of any classical pianist, I can easily be accused of not knowing how to play the
keyboard, but compared to the masses of "Wannabe musicians" out there, I am hardly any
more incompetent than the average keyboard player. Playing the synth is pretty much all
about programming anyway. .."

I read in the past that BURZUM will now be deceased after the release of "Filosofem"
and that your synth based music will go under the moniker of HLIDSKJALF. Could
you tell us why you chose to continue with the name BURZUM and what shall be come
of the title HLIDSKJALF, I understand that it might possibly be the title of your next
release?

"HLIDSKJALF is the title of the third album in a BURZUM trilogy. The first in this trilogy is
the "Daudi Baldrs" album."
I understand that you no longer have any interest in Black Metal music, or Metal music
in general and wish to no longer have links to Black Metal. So has this changed your
opinion on your past Metal based albums which are still very influential today, do you
still take pride in these past recordings and the impact they still have? It's quite obvious
that you have always had an interest in snyth based music, even far back as to the
BURZUM '91 demo. Could you explain what synth based music does for you on a
personal level, which Metal based music seems to nolonger do for you?

"It has nothing to do with that. All Metal music is simply alien music, with roots in nigger
music, and for that reason alone I will have nothing to do with it, as simple as that."

I know that there are a few unreleased tracks from the early Metal days of BURZUM
and I've heard that there is possibly an unreleased Metal based album from your early
days, which might be possible since you did quite a bit of recording in such a short
period of time? So is there any truth to this album and is there any possible chance of it
ever being released or the few unreleased tracks possibly with some of your demo
recordings? Could you also explain why you did such a great deal of recording in such a
short time span?

"Rumors, rumors, rumors. Just like 90 % of everything else you have heard about BURZUM,
this is complete crap with no roots in reality whatsoever. FAMA CRESCIT EUNDO (the
rumor grows as it travels). You should remember one thing, the internet and the underground,
is the playground of the incompetent writers. This is where every fool can release his own
ludicrous speculations. There is no "truth control" or anybody stopping the complete fools out
there from printing their own crap here. Naturally, all the theories and speculations of the
subhuman masses out there, is spread here on the internet and in the underground. Always
keep that in mind when you read zines and web-pages!"

I heard that there was to be a BURZUM tribute CD, but that MISANTHROPY no
longer wish to have any involvement with this tribute and that a German based label
may still continue on with this release? What are your feelings on such a release and do
you have any say in the releasing of this CD since it is your material that will be
covered? I'm quite sure that there are some bands you don't want covering your
material?

"Well, I don't know anything about this."

I also read in an interview quite some time ago that you planned to add a full line-up to
BURZUM which would include Hellhammer and that BURZUM would be releasing a
7" through the Norwegian label HEAD NOT FOUND, as well as planned to perform live
with BURZUM. What happened to all of these plans you had for BURZUM and why did
you feel the need to add a bass player (who will go un-named) for the recording of
ASKE? Did this at all really help speed up the time of recording, etc?
"There were no plans, but I have thought about such things. I used a session bass player on the
recording of ASKE, his name being Thomas Haugen (Samoth) by the way, simply because I
wanted to see how that worked. It did not work, so I continued to work alone after that
experiment."

I read in an interview where you mentioned DESTRUCTION being a big influence on

BURZUM when you started to record material. I honestly don't hear a influence in your
music, and have always felt that there was a strong influence from BATHORY which
shows through quite well on the track "War". Wasn't this song a tribute to BATHORY
in some form or another? I'm quite sure I read that in a very old interview.

"Who cares anyway? Besides, even though DESTRUCTION was a big influence, that does
not mean that BATHORY was not, does it? (I don't think that's what I was saying) Yes,
"War" was a tribute to BATHORY."

Speaking of HEAD NOT FOUND, does Metalion still have any involvement with
CYMOPHANE, and if so, what is his involvement with CYMOPHANE now and as well
as in the past? I heard that people in Germany are also involved with CYMOPHANE as
well, what is (or was) their involvement with CYMOPHANE?

"Metalion has NEVER had anything to do with CYMOPHANE, and I was surprised I found
out "someone" had printed his address as a contact address of CYMOPHANE, on the internet
I think. (it's on the Hvis Lyset... CD) The Germans you mentioned were meant to release an
album on CYMOPHANE, but we had to drop it, for several reasons (including legal
reasons)."

I find it quite odd that MAYHEM would wind up once again on the same label as
BURZUM, as they once did in the past on D. S.P. What is your opinion on MAYHEM
being on the same label as BURZUM again, which the band themselves must not be too
worried about since I know that both you and Hellhammer don't think too highly of
Euronymous? Do you still keep in contact with Hellhammer or any of the other
members of the new (but yet old) line-up of MAYHEM? Do you think Hellhammer
possibly signed with MISANTHROPY to shame Euronymous even more and to piss off
MAYHEM fans?

"Actually, D.S.P. was MAYHEM's label (hehe. .. I know), so it is no wonder they ended up
on the same label as BURZUM. MAYHEM actually signed BURZUM, you could say. I don't
know why MAYHEM signed to MISANTHROPY, but I assume they did it because it is a
very good label. I know they were signed simply because the director at MISANTHROPY
likes their music, and they sell well. Yeah, maybe Hellhammer signed to MISANTHROPY to
make it clear to all the fools out there, that there are no hostility between MAYHEM and
BURZUM, and that the clowns out there who think otherwise, should think again. MAYHEM
was swindled badly by their last label, and now they have a label they can trust, a label that
does not steal all their money. I wish MAYHEM welcome to MISANTHROPY, and good
luck in their career henceforth. Heil Hellhammer!"
I've been told by a few people that you do not want your releases distroed in the US and
that you won't have anything do with anyone inside the US, but you at one point had
several contacts here in the US as well as two American labels re-releasing two of your
albums in cassette format and your albums are still being sold in the US. So is there any
truth to any of this and your ban on the US? I was under the impression that you
welcome support by all whites since we are all one race, is this true? didn't you at one
point consider Japan as allies too?

"Well, well, well. More of these utterly ridiculous rumors. It is true that I don not like the US,
or the UK for that sake, but that has to do with the history and USA's and the UK's role in
history, as well as USA's and UK's role in the world today. I have no contacts in the US metal
scene, just like I have no contacts in the European metal scene (with some few exceptions,
like Misanthropy Recs. ), but that does not mean I have no comrades in the USA, right? It is
true however, that we (not just I) are not all the "enthusiastic" about the whites in the USA."
This is simply because we have little in common with the US "white power" aims. US citizens
tend to be utterly judeo-christian, utterly ignorant to what has really happened in history, and
besides, the white population of the USA is very different from that of Europe, as it is so
mixed. In Europe we have Teutons, Romans, Salvons and Celts. In the USA you are pretty
much just "white". The culture of the USA is a couple hundred years old.
The culture of Norway is 13, 000 years old. That in itself make our situation very different
from yours. I fully support organizations like the 14 World Press/Wotansvolk, but we pretty
much consider the USA a "lost case", an example of how degenerate, Jewish and rotten a
culture can become. Even large parts of the "white power" movement is degenerate and
rotten, with some insane misconceptions of life, like the "identity christians", who believe WE
are the biblical "chosen people". Like they claim Denmark is named after one of the Israeli
tribes called "Dan". I mean, even the most ignorant European knows that this is crap.
Denmark got it's name as late as in the late Viking age (900-1000), and it was named by
North Scandinavians (i. e. Norwegians and Swedes). Danmark MEANS "the field of the
Churchlords", a name we used simply because the Dane's were Christianized long before us,
and they started to send "Churchlords" to Christianize us as well."
DAN (Churchlord) MARK (field). When we see these utterly ignorant theories manifest
themselves in the US all the time, it is damned hard not to just shake the head and ignore the
USA. The whites in the USA came from Europe, but it seems you forgot to bring the
European spirit with you when you left the "old World", think about it."

Could you tell us about the prison you are serving your time out in, I understand that is
the most feared prison in Norway? How does it differ from the previous you were held
in and how you are treated by this prison? I understand that you are not allowed to
receive any form of money, etc. . and that the prison takes all items you receive, but yet
they allow you to have recording equipment and a musical instrument? I also noticed in
a photo that there is a window in your prison cell, something you would never see in an
american prison. Are there any restrictions on who is allowed to visit you in prison?

"Right now I am in Trondheim jail, and I have been here for about half a year now. Before
that I was a month in Ullersmo prison, then two years in Ila prison, before that again I was a
year in Bergen prison, and then a year in Oslo jail. In Oslo there were normal bars for cell
windows, in Bergen there were bullet proof glass with bars on the outside, in Ala there were
square bars and windows you could open, you could not open the bars though!, in Ullersmo
there were normal bars, like in Oslo, and here in Trondheim it's the same as in Oslo and
Ullersmo. There were windows in Alla prison simply because it's an old concentration camp
used by the Germans during the second world war, and the prison authorities are not allowed
to replace the windows as the building is so old it is protected by some law protecting old
buildings. Anyway, the picture you saw was not from my cell, but from the visiting room. The
system is very different from prison to prison, from jail to jail.
In general the jails are more strict when it comes to what we are allowed to have in the cells.
Like here in Trondheim we are not allowed to have even a walkman in the cell. On the other
hand, the jails are better when it comes to censorship. I can pretty much receive anything I
want of magazines and "propaganda". The prisons however are better in the way that we are
allowed to socialize more with other prisoners. For instance, here in Trondheim I have to stay
23 hours a day in the cell (all cells are one-man). We are not allowed to receive any money or
anything else from the outside, except clothes and books. That's the rule for all jails and
prisons in Norway. Also, like I mentioned earlier, I have been allowed to have a snyth only
for a couple of months this far, when I was in Bergen. And a guitar the last few months here
in Trondheim. To be allowed to visit anybody in a jail or in prison one has to fill out an
application, which will be sent to the police by the prison authorities, to let them check the
person for any criminal past or anything like that. Also, we are allowed to put up to four
people on our list of persons allowed to visit us, and that's it. The visiting rooms tend to be
very different from prison to prison and from jail to jail as well. From "cafeteria like" rooms
with guards present, to private rooms with a sofa."

Do you feel in some ways that your imprisonment has actually strengthened you in ways,
more in philosophical sense, and allowed you take further studies in to your interests? It
seems from the interviews I have read with you that you spend a great deal of time
looking into the philosophies that you speak on and base your life around, but in many
of the interviews I read with you years back you seemed not to take them as quite
serious and answered in very short replies. Was spreading your ideals and philosophies
not as important back then, do you take them more serious now since you have grown as
an individual and in your studies?

"I take this stay as a forced stay in a library/sports camp. just like any other teenager, I
became more erudite and articulate as the years passed by. I am now twentyfive years old
(well, I am twentyfive tomorrow). Like anybody else, I grow in many ways. I don't take
things any more serious now than I did some years ago, but I know better what I am talking
about now, and besides, I no longer have any interest in alien culture, like the metal culture."

Could you tell us about your book VARGSMÅL you have written and the difficulties
you faced while trying to write this book in prison and what this book is based on and
how it is being distributed? Will there ever possibly be an English version published? I
know that you are quite interested in German myths, etc... as well as European history
in general, does this book touch on these subjects at all and what draws you most to
German mythology? It almost seems you are more interested in German myths than
your native Norwegian myths, etc... Do you feel that they all tie together well with Neo-
Nazism? I've been hearing about a possible VARGSMÅL 2, is there any truth to this?

"First of all, there is no such things as German or Norwegian myths. They are are Norse-
Germanic myths. The only difference between Norse and Germanic mythology is the
language differences. Like in Germany Odin is called Wotan, as "fury" in German is "wut",
while he is called Odin in Norse, as "fury" in Norse is "Odr". In Norwegian and Danish we
say Odin, in Swedish they say Oden, in English they say Woden, and in German they say
Wotan. Still, it is all the same, commonly called called Norse-Germanic mythology. Of
course, this can be used as an example of the typical US ignorance...hehe... Okay then, to your
question, Vargsmal will not be translated into English. The reason why is because it is written
in a Scandinavian perspective, for Scandinavians about the Scandinavian situation. My next
book however, will be translated into both in English and German and maybe other languages
as well. Vargsmal II is just a name I use for my next book to make people know there's a
difference. It will have another title than that when released. The Norse-Germanic myths are
essential parts of National Socialism. It is like the "religious" side of NS ideology."

I understand that the Norwegian government is planning, or has, to take you to court in
hopes of obtaining 40,000,000 Norwegian krowns for the damage caused to churches,
etc... but it's quite obvious you don't have this large amount of money due to being in
prison. What will become of this and where do all the royalites from your recordings go?
You also mentioned in an interview that basically you had no part in the burning of
churches and that the government has no evidence of you taking part in such acts, so
you say you had no involvement at all?

"I say they have no evidence of my involvement. Anyway, I cannot say too much about this
court thing, as it is not finished yet. All I can say is that they will receive nothing from me no
matter what happens. And that's for damn sure."

People today in Norway are reminded of their Viking/Pagan past, so do you feel that
possibly far off in the future, longer after were are gone, people in Norway will be
reminded of the terror that Black Metal once brought upon Norway and that what you
and others have done will leave a permanent mark on the history of Norway and will
one day be read in future history books?

"It depends. There has never been any "terror" brought unto anybody by "Black Metal", but
the Pagan attacks the last few years will be remembered as the first attacks against the Judiac
Dictatorship of our world, since Germany woke up some fifty years ago and threw the Jewish
pigs and their trash out of Germania for some time. This is the second (or third actually, as the
Viking age was the first) attack, a new beginning. Either we will win, or there will be no
future for Europe, as simple as that."

Well, I guess I will end at this point. Thank you for your time and the interview and is
there any final words you would like to leave us with?

"Thank you for the interview. Sorry for my "hostile tone" in my answers. I am just so god
damn tired of all these ridiculous rumors out there. Hail!"

Interview from Abruptum Zine (February 1998), and done by Josh, the editor of Abruptum.

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