Burzum

Filosofem
Misanthropy, 1996

This isn't the usual rock 'n' roll fairytale: not unattractive young man joins popular metal group, hangs out at record store named Hell, frowns upon fucking large-breasted groupies, takes part in razing several churches, stabs lead guitarist in the head, goes to jail as a cult celebrity and passes time writing anthologies of Nordic mythological figures.

The band was Mayhem, one of the Scandinavian groups who pioneered black metal. Their lead singer, named Dead, killed himself in 1991 and left a note which read "excuse all the blood". Two years later, guitarist Oystein Aarseth was murdered by one-time bassist Varg Vikernes, who had an equally influential solo project called Burzum (which means "darkness" in the fictional orc language of Vikernes's favourite author, J R R Tolkien). Despite mainstream media reports at the time, Vikernes wasn't a Satanist but an eccentric, intelligent and extremely racist Pagan historian with a violent background.

Filosofem was released after Aarseth's murder and Vikernes's arrest, between three earlier, heavier albums and two electronic ambient records made in a prison cell. For someone with such vicious capabilities, Vikernes described it in serene terms as "monotonous, uncomplicated and melancholic". There's some truth in that, if you can hear past the noise. During the first listen, 'Dunkleheit' sounds like an 70-piece orchestra playing chainsaws. But once the volume reaches critical mass, a simple, rain-droplet melody and a pulse like a slowed-down heartbeat rise from the din. Vikernes said he intended Burzum to be "evening music" and for people to fall asleep while listening to it.

Burzum's influence stemmed from Vikernes's mystical, anti-mainstream beliefs as much as from the music. In short, he thought very little of capitalism, consumerism, liberalism and black people and dreamed about the downfall of Christianity and a return to lost Pagan values. After the media "sensationalised" the sorry chain of events in the Norwegian black metal scene – as if 40 burnt churches, two murders and some suicides needed much exaggeration – Vikernes announced the end of Burzum so people would stop writing about him. He's due to be released from jail in the next few months.