Editing Fenriz (section)

== Biography ==
Fenriz's first exposure to heavy metal music came when he was a child and received [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]]'s album ''[[Sweet Freedom (Uriah Heep album)|Sweet Freedom]]'' from his uncle for his birthday.<ref name="voices">[https://www.voicesfromthedarkside.de/interview/darkthrone-2/ Fenriz interview]. Voices from the Darkside.</ref> At age 16, Fenriz dropped out of school and began working full time to support his music. In 1986 he co-founded the [[death metal]] band Black Death with [[Ivar Enger]] and Anders Risberget. By 1988 they had been joined by Ted Skjellum ([[Nocturno Culto]]) and were renamed [[Darkthrone]]. After releasing their first death metal album in 1991, the band changed style and became one of the leading bands in the [[early Norwegian black metal scene]]. Fenriz said he had a passive interest in [[Bathory (band)|Bathory]] and [[Celtic Frost]], but claims that he did not understand the "darkness" of [[black metal]] until hearing a song by the Hungarian band [[Tormentor (band)|Tormentor]]. The second album released by Darkthrone, ''[[A Blaze in the Northern Sky]]'', recorded in August 1991<ref>[http://www.vinylrecords.ch/D/DA/Darkthrone/Blaze/darkthrone-blaze-0133.jpg Darkthrone – ''A Blaze in the Northern Sky'' CD cover] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711133422/http://www.vinylrecords.ch/D/DA/Darkthrone/Blaze/darkthrone-blaze-0133.jpg |date=11 July 2012 }}</ref> at Creative Studios but not released until February 1992,<ref name="Nasjonalbiblioteket">{{cite AV media |people=Fenriz |date=16 November 2020 |title=The album that defined early Norwegian black metal – Interview with Fenriz with English subtitles |publisher=[[National Library of Norway|Nasjonalbiblioteket]] |medium=Videotape |language=en, no |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d858ZECeNCY |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=24 March 2022}}</ref> is regarded as one of the most important albums that defined the black metal genre.<ref name="Nasjonalbiblioteket" /> Darkthrone were not involved in the church burnings and murders carried out by some other members of the scene,<ref name="loudwire2019">[https://loudwire.com/darkthrone-old-star-fenriz-interview/ "Inside Darkthrone's 'Old Star' With No-Longer Norwegian Politician Fenriz"]. ''[[Loudwire]]'', 29 May 2019.</ref> and Fenriz has denounced the "hype" surrounding it.<ref name="voices" />

Since 1993, Darkthrone have been a duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto. Fenriz recorded all instruments on their albums ''[[Transilvanian Hunger]]'' (1994) and ''[[Panzerfaust (album)|Panzerfaust]]'' (1995). From the late 1980s to the mid 1990s Fenriz also founded several solo projects, including the [[folk black metal]] project [[Isengard (Norwegian band)|Isengard]] and the [[dark ambient]] project [[Neptune Towers]]. He was also the drummer for the band [[Valhall (band)|Valhall]] on their three studio albums. In the 1990s he co-founded the folk metal band [[Storm (Norwegian band)|Storm]] with [[Sigurd Wongraven]], which released one album.

Both he and Nocturno have refused to play live since the 1990s.<ref name="loudwire2019" /> In 2004, they turned down a nomination for a Norwegian Alarm Award for their album ''[[Sardonic Wrath]]''. Fenriz said, "we have no interest in being part of the glitter and showbiz side of the music industry".<ref>[https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/darkthrone-refuse-alarm-award-nomination/ "DARKTHRONE Refuse ALARM Award Nomination"]. [[Blabbermouth]]. 16 December 2004.</ref> Fenriz (alongside [[Varg Vikernes]]) is the principal focus of the 2008 black metal documentary film ''[[Until The Light Takes Us]]''.

In 2016, it was widely reported that Fenriz had been elected to his local [[List of municipalities of Norway|municipal council]], [[Oppegård]]. He was elected for a four-year term as a substitute councillor for the [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.oppegard.kommune.no/aktuelt/det-nye-kommunestyert |title=Det nye kommunestyret – Oppegård kommune |date=16 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108052808/https://www.oppegard.kommune.no/aktuelt/det-nye-kommunestyert |archive-date=8 November 2016 |access-date=23 September 2018}}</ref> explaining that he would "have to step in when the usual people who go to the big meetings are sick or something". Fenriz said: "They called and asked if I wanted to be on the list [of backup representatives]. I said yeah, thinking I would be like 18th on the list and I wouldn't really have to do anything". His "campaign" was a photo of him holding his cat with the caption "Please Don't Vote For Me".<ref name="Guardian2016" /><ref name="clrvynt">[https://clrvynt.com/fenriz-darkthrone-interview/ "Darkthrone Iconoclast Fenriz Is a Reluctant Politician"]. ''CLRVYNT'', 6 September 2016.</ref><ref>[http://www.metalinjection.net/politics/darkthrones-fenriz-involuntarily-got-voted-to-be-a-part-of-his-towns-council/ Metal Injection] Accessed 12 September 2016</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2016/09/08/fenriz-darkthrone-accidentally-got-elected-town-council/|title=Fenriz from Darkthrone Accidentally Got Elected to His Town Council|last=Rosenberg|first=Axl|date=8 September 2016|website=Metal Sucks|access-date=27 August 2018}}</ref>

Fenriz lives in his hometown of [[Kolbotn]].<ref name="clrvynt" /> According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', Fenriz "has long been a hero in the underground scene" and "has an obsession with unearthing new music and promoting it with rabid enthusiasm".<ref name="Guardian2016" /> The heavy metal magazine ''Iron Fist'' noted he has a reputation as a "walking metal encyclopedia".<ref>[http://www.ironfistzine.com/2013/01/16/fenriz-interview-my-uncle-gave-me-all-these-sweet-records-from-the-60s-but-he-was-a-junkie-so-my-parents-wouldnt-let-him-hang-around-me/ Fenriz interview]. ''Iron Fist'', 16 January 2013.</ref> He is a part-time music journalist and hosts a monthly online radio show on [[NTS Radio|NTS]] called "Radio Fenriz".<ref>[https://www.nts.live/shows/radio-fenriz Radio Fenriz]. [[NTS Radio]].</ref> He created the "Band of the Week" blog from which the acts for the underground metal festival Live Evil are sourced.<ref name="Quietus" /> Fenriz has famously been working part-time in the postal service since the late 1980s, which he says allows him to spend many hours each week listening to new music.<ref name="loudwire2019" /><ref name="metalsucks2013">{{Cite web|url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2013/03/15/i-am-the-working-class-the-metalsucks-interview-with-fenriz/|title=I Am The Working Class: The MetalSucks Interview with Fenriz|last=Norton|first=Justin|date=15 March 2013|website=Metal Sucks|access-date=27 August 2018}}</ref> He has also appeared on a Norwegian television show about hiking in forests.<ref name="metalsucks2013" />