Editing Euronymous (section)

===1991–1993===
[[File:Helvete Oslo - black metal graffiti.jpg|thumb|The basement of Euronymous' former record shop, showing graffiti from the early 1990s]]
During May–June 1991,<ref>''Lords of Chaos'' (2003 edition), p. 66.</ref> Euronymous opened a record shop named "Helvete"<ref name=EuronymousInterview>{{cite web |title=Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth |date=June 1992 |url=http://www.angelfire.com/band/mayhem/euro2.html |access-date=10 October 2009 |quote=''Well, the original idea was to make a specialist shop for metal in general, but that's a long time ago. Normal metal isn't very popular any more, all the children are listening to 'death' metal now. I'd rather be selling Judas Priest than Napalm Death, but at least now we can be specialized within 'death' metal and make a shop where all the trend people know that they will find all the trend music. This will help us earning money so that we can order more EVIL records to the evil people. But no matter how shitty music we have to sell, we'll make a BLACK METAL look on the shop, we've had a couple of 'actions' in churches lately, and the shop is going to look like a black church in the future. We've also thought about having total darkness inside, so that people would have to carry torches to be able to see the records.'' |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909160330/http://www.angelfire.com/band/mayhem/euro2.html |archive-date=9 September 2009 }}</ref> ([[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] for "[[hell]]")<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/norwegian-english/helvete?q=Helvete|title=HELVETE in English |website=Norwegian-English Cambridge Dictionary |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=19 March 2025}}</ref> at Schweigaards gate 56 in [[Oslo]]. Norwegian black metal musicians often met in the shop's basement, including the two members of Mayhem, the members of Emperor, Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes of [[Burzum]], and Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch of [[Thorns (band)|Thorns]]. Euronymous also started an independent record label called Deathlike Silence Productions, which was based at Helvete. It released albums by Norwegian bands Mayhem and Burzum, and Swedish bands [[Merciless (band)|Merciless]] and [[Abruptum]]. Euronymous, Varg<ref name=untilthelight>{{cite video |people=Aaron Aites (director, producer), Audrey Ewell (director, producer) |year=2009 |title=[[Until the Light Takes Us]] |medium=motion picture |publisher=Variance Films}}</ref> and Emperor guitarist [[Samoth|Tomas "Samoth" Haugen]]<ref name=hist2>{{cite book |last=Christe |first=Ian |title=Sound of the Beast: the Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal |url=https://archive.org/details/soundofbeastcomp0000chri |url-access=registration |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Inc |year=2003 |location=New York, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/soundofbeastcomp0000chri/page/271 271]}}</ref> all lived at Helvete at various times. Emperor drummer Faust also lived and worked there.<ref name=guardian/> The shop's walls were painted black and bedecked with medieval weapons, posters of bands and [[picture disc]]s, while its window featured a polystyrene tombstone.<ref name=guardian/>

According to Occultus, the space that Euronymous rented "was far too big and the rent was too high. That's the reason why it never did well". Only a small part of the building was used for the shop itself.<ref>''Lords of Chaos'' (2003 edition), p. 64.</ref> Nevertheless, it became the focal point of the Norwegian black metal scene. Metalion, writer of the [[fanzine]] ''Slayer'', said that the opening of Helvete was "the creation of the whole Norwegian Black Metal scene".<ref name=LoC39>''Lords of Chaos'' (2003 edition), p. 39.</ref> Daniel Ekeroth wrote in 2008,
<blockquote>Within just a few months [of Helvete opening], many young musicians had become obsessed with Euronymous and his ideas, and soon a lot of Norwegian death metal bands transformed into black metal bands. Amputation became Immortal, [[Thou Shalt Suffer]] turned into Emperor, and Darkthrone swapped their Swedish-inspired death metal for primitive black metal. Most notoriously, [[Old Funeral]]'s guitar player [[Varg Vikernes|Kristian (later renamed as Varg) Vikernes]] had already left the band to form his own creation, Burzum.<ref>Daniel Ekeroth: [https://books.google.com/books?id=jRRvfWp95FIC&pg=PA247 ''Swedish Death Metal''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408070352/https://books.google.com/books?id=jRRvfWp95FIC&pg=PA247 |date=8 April 2023 }}. Second printing. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points 2009, p. 247.</ref></blockquote>

Euronymous helped many younger bands in the scene, especially Emperor and Enslaved, both of whom he recommended to Candlelight Records.<ref>Patterson, Dayal. ''Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult''. Feral House, 2013. p.156</ref> [[Ihsahn]] of Emperor said that "if you were trusted, if they knew you were serious in your views, you were accepted" by the Helvete scene.<ref name=loc65/> Euronymous took Vikernes, who was five years younger than him, under his wing: inviting him to play bass with Mayhem and offering to release his music as Burzum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lifedeathprizes.com/real-life-crime/oystein-aarseth-murdered-by-varg-vikernes-64542|title=What drove this black-metal star to stab his bandmate 23 times?|date=2 September 2017|work=Life Death Prizes|access-date=2 October 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=2 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002165836/http://www.lifedeathprizes.com/real-life-crime/oystein-aarseth-murdered-by-varg-vikernes-64542|url-status=live}}</ref> However, it has been claimed that their friendship turned to rivalry. Looking back, Faust said: "It sounds really silly, but I think there was a little bit of a contest between them to see who could be more evil. It created a very difficult situation, especially for Euronymous, who wanted the glamour and the showbiz. With him, there was a lot of smoke but not so much fire".<ref name=guardian/>

[[File:Holmenkollen kapell 0003.jpg|thumb|left|Euronymous took part in the [[Holmenkollen Chapel#Fire and reconstruction|burning of Holmenkollen Chapel]] (pictured)]]
On 6 June 1992, the [[Fantoft Stave Church]] in [[Bergen]] was destroyed by [[arson]]. Vikernes was strongly suspected as the culprit but was never convicted.<ref name=LoC78>''Lords of Chaos'' (2003 edition), p. 78.</ref> There followed a wave of church burnings across Norway perpetrated by musicians and fans of the Norwegian black metal scene.<ref name=EuronymousInterview/><ref name=grude>{{cite video |people=Grude, Torstein (director) |year=1998 |title=Satan rir Media |medium=motion picture |location=Norway |publisher=Grude, Torstein}}</ref> Euronymous was present at the burning of [[Holmenkollen Chapel]] together with Vikernes and Faust,<ref name=onceuponatime/><ref name=untilthelight/><ref name=LoC117/>{{sfn|Kristiansen|2011|p=261}} who were convicted for the arson after Euronymous was dead. Faust says he believes that Euronymous got involved because he "felt he had to prove that he could be a part of it and not just in the background".<ref name=guardian/> To coincide with the release of Mayhem's ''[[De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas]]'', Vikernes and Euronymous had allegedly plotted to bomb [[Nidaros Cathedral]], which appears on the album cover. Euronymous' death in August 1993 put an end to this plan and stalled the album's release.<ref name=onceuponatime/> In a 1993 interview on a Swedish radio show, Euronymous said of the church burnings:<blockquote>They [Christians] must feel that there is a dark, evil power present that they have to fight, which…will make them more extreme. We also believe that when a church burns it's not only Christians who suffer, but people in general. Imagine a beautiful old stave church...what happens when it burns? The Christians feel despair, God's house is destroyed and ordinary people will suffer from grief because something beautiful was destroyed. So you end up spreading grief and despair, which is a good thing.<ref name=radioint>Interview with Euronymous of Mayhem on a Swedish radio show, 1993</ref></blockquote>

In January 1993, an article in one of Norway's biggest newspapers, ''[[Bergens Tidende]]'', brought the black metal scene into the media spotlight.<ref name=LoC95-97>''Lords of Chaos'', pp. 95–97.</ref> Varg Vikernes (using his pseudonym Count Grishnackh) gave an anonymous interview to a journalist from the newspaper, in which he claimed to have burnt the churches and [[Early Norwegian black metal scene#Murder of Magne Andreassen|killed a man in Lillehammer]].<ref name=LoC95-97/> According to Vikernes, the anonymous interview was planned by himself and Euronymous. The goal, he says, was to scare people, promote black metal and get more customers for Helvete.<ref name=countregret>[http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/2009_interview_dagbladet.shtml "Count" Regrets Nothing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326023547/http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/2009_interview_dagbladet.shtml |date=26 March 2012 }}. Burzum.org.</ref> He added that the interview revealed nothing that could prove his involvement in any crime.<ref name=LoC95-97/> However, by the time the article was printed, Vikernes had already been arrested. Some of the other scene members were also arrested and questioned, but all were released for lack of evidence. Vikernes himself was released in March 1993, also for lack of evidence.<ref name=LoC95-97/> That month, ''[[Kerrang!]]'' published an article about the Norwegian black metal scene. In it, Euronymous and Vikernes presented themselves as leaders of a militant, cult-like group of "Satanic terrorists". Euronymous claimed that Helvete helps fund its activities, but said that he is not directly involved in its crimes, because if he were caught the organization would fall apart.<ref>''Lords of Chaos'' (2003 edition), pp.99–101</ref>

After the ''Bergens Tidende'' episode, Euronymous decided to shut Helvete as it began to draw the attention of the police and media. Vikernes and the authors of ''Lords of Chaos'' claim that Euronymous' parents pressured him into shutting Helvete.<ref name=LoC120>''Lords of Chaos'' (2003 edition), p. 120.</ref><ref>Torstein Grude: ''[[Satan rir media]]'', 1998.</ref>