[/center] The only feud in this series where there’s a homicide involved. In the early Norwegian black metal scene of the '90s Mayhem emerged as one of the most influential figures of the movement. But the early years of their career would be plagued by controversy with their notorious live performances, their ties to Norwegian church burnings, incidents of violence and the deaths of two of their members. In 1991, Mayhem vocalist Per Ohlin, ironically nicknamed "Dead", committed suicide. Ohlin's death affected bassist Jørn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud so much that he quit the band. While searching for a new bass player, guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth found Varg Vikernes of the one-man project Burzum. Aarseth recruited Vikernes as Mayhem's new bass player under the nickname "Count Grishnackh" and shortly after, also signed Burzum to his record label Deathlike Silence Productions.
In 1993, however, tensions began to arise between Aarseth and Vikernes amid disputes the former started having with figures of the neighboring Swedish metal scene. The exact cause of the feud is unclear, with reasons said to be due to some kind of power struggle or a financial dispute over Burzum records, as Aarseth did in fact owe royalties to Vikernes. Whatever the case, it would turn out to have fatal results later that year. Vikernes alleges that he became aware of a plot by Aarseth to use a meeting about an unsigned contract to ambush and kill him. On August 10, 1993, Vikernes, accompanied by another Mayhem bandmate Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch, drove to Aarseth's apartment to confront him on the matter while Ruch waited for him outside. A scuffle ensued and during the struggle, Vikernes murdered Aarseth by stabbing him 23 times.
Only Vikernes knows what events truly unfolded that led to him killing Aarseth, but Vikernes has maintained that he killed Aarseth in self-defense as Aarseth attacked him first and was preparing to kill him right there. A video of Vikernes' telling his version of what happened can be seen below: [center][youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6hk3i6TqJ0][/center] After the murder, Vikernes and Ruch drove back to Vikernes' hometown of Bergen and along the way, Vikernes dropped off his bloody clothes in a lake. Vikernes was arrested 9 days later at his home. His trial began in May the following year where he was sentenced to 21 years in prison (the maximum sentence in Norway.) Even though Ruch didn't take part in the murder, he was still considered an accomplice and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. When he was handed his sentence, Vikernes, unphased, merely smiled at the camera: [center][youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqMZrMx6mkM][/center] Øystein Aarseth's murder shook the Norwegian black metal scene to its core and of course, greatly impacted the band Mayhem. Jørn Stubberud believes Aarseth was murdered by Vikernes due to the aforementioned death threats that Vikernes became aware of. Snorre Ruch claimed that Vikernes intended on murdering Aarseth and that he was pressured into coming along to act as a lookout. With only vocalist Attila Csihar and drummer Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg remaining in the band, Mayhem briefly disbanded.
But in the following year, Stubberud, who saw the murder of Aarseth as an eye-opening revelation, rejoined Mayhem as their bassist and later, vocalist Sven "Maniac" Kristiansen and guitarist Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen were introduced and Mayhem was officially reformed. That same year, Mayhem's debut album [i]De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas[/i] was released and dedicated to Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth. However, since the album was recorded in 1992 and 1993, it featured Varg Vikernes as bassist and was delayed after complaints from Aarseth's parents because of Vikernes' presence on the album. Blomberg considered re-recording the bass tracks himself to reassure Aarseth's parents, but the tracks were left unchanged so the album still features Vikernes as bassist. This was due to the fact that Blomberg couldn't actually play bass and because, according to Blomberg: "I thought it was appropriate that the murderer and victim were on the same record."
Many of Øystein Aarseth's friends and bandmates have since spoken of his death with a general tone of indifference. His bandmates have stated that they weren't affected or the least bit shocked when he was killed, nor do they harbor any ill will toward Varg Vikernes for killing Aarseth. Years later, Jørn Stubberud stated that he was actually planning on killing Aarseth himself as he was disgusted by him exploiting Per "Dead" Ohlin's suicide. It seems widely agreed upon by the members of Mayhem and the black metal scene in general that Aarseth's death came to show that the frequent misdeeds associated with the black metal movement - crimes which included arson, burglary, death threats, grave desecration and vandalism - now had consequences and Aarseth was more or less made an example of this. Vikernes was released on parole in 2009 where he continued as Burzum until 2018 when he ended the project. He has had no further involvement with Mayhem since.
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