Obscurity released two legendary demo tapes. There weren’t that many legendary demos from Norwegian bands, but if we look to Sweden there are a few good examples. So many names were spread through the tape-trading circuit, and many of them have become forgotten over the years. I can’t really think of the early days of black metal without mentioning demo tapes. The importance of fanzines should never be forgotten. Granted, the journalism was in many cases not too impressive, but the enthusiasm behind the written words spoke for itself. Our fanzines were always run by independent editors, so they were not controlled by record labels. That lived a short life between ’90 and ’92. Bård Faust (of Thorns and Emperor) did a very good fanzine called It was going to be completely handwritten, but it never happened. For instance, Euronymous of Mayhem wanted to make a fanzine called Many people tried to make fanzines and many failed. Remember, kids, this was before the internet. The media pretty much ignored our music, so our zines were the only way to spread the news besides letter writing and tape-trading. When I started doing this, fanzines were the lifeline of the underground. Took a little nap starting in ’03 but it has been decided that the beast will rise at least once again sometime during ’08. Besides that, the music is absolutely thrilling. For historic purposes most of these releases are worth looking into. Since then, our underground cult has spread worldwide and continues to grow. In 1992 that documented bands like Mayhem, Emperor, and Burzum. What brought the rest of the world’s attention toward Norwegian black metal was an article that appeared in the UK publication Let it be known that black metal is not just a Norwegian phenomenon. I guess most people will think of murder and church fires when they hear the words “Norwegian black metal,” but let’s concentrate on something that actually matters-the music.
This is not a complete list, just a review of some of the essentials, along with some impressions of the overall scene. This is a personal list of what I experienced during the formative black-metal years in Norway. What follows is Metalion’s primer on the unholy history of Norwegian black metal. There is no better authority on this often misunderstood and misreported genre. He was there for all the notorious events, and his first-person understanding is reflected in his brilliant fanzine. Metalion is kind of like the Virgil of black metal.
In 1985, Metalion started Slayer, which would become Norway’s most influential and essential metal fanzine.
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