Burzum

• Genre: Black Metal
• Hometown: Bergen
• Burzum Website

About

Varg Vikernes' Burzum produced some of the most intense and terrifying music to rise from the Black Metal movement. His legacy as a murderer, church arsonist and a renowned, overt white supremacist is now common knowledge to anyone who follows music press. Many attempt to divide his life's actions from his music, but to do so is a mistake. Few Black Metal artists have proven themselves to be as full of hate, nationalism and xenophobia as Vikernes. He stands, imprisoned, as one of the most absolute testimonials to the natural end of the culture's principles. His first four full-length recordings brim over with bitterness and bile. Piercing chord progressions move by in a ghastly blur as savage vocals spray with absolute vitriol. His later albums, recorded from his prison cell, could not be more unlike his earlier music. With only a synthesizer, he produces European folk and classical arrangements that evoke the moods of a brooding film soundtrack. When you sink into the foul, fiendish abyss of Burzum's music, you are assured that the hatred is very real.

- Marc Kate