The murder of Euronymous is controversial and infamous within the Black Metal community. It is also an important part of the Norwegian Black Metal scene. Asareth, who went by the stage name "Euronymous," is infamous for his personality, which may have gotten him killed.
On August 10, 1993, Øystein "Euronymous" Asareth was stabbed to death by Varg Vikernes, who at the time was a fellow band mate and the protege of Asareth. Asareth is the man behind the Norwegian black metal scene, as he is credited with shaping the genre. Asareth formed Mayhem with fellow bassist Necrobutcher and drummer Manheim. Asareth pushed and presented the Black Metal genre response to Death Metal, which had become "trendy" as its popularity grew with Cannibal Corpse even breaking into the mainstream media for its controversial lyrics. Asareth wanted people to know that Black Metal is this evil genre that will not become mainstream and it has that raw sound that old school Death Metal had.
The murder and the reason why Varg decided to kill Euronymous is up for debate. Within the black metal community, there are arguments and speculation that Varg did it for reputation. However, others claim that Asareth had it coming because of his personality. Asareth was a terrible person because he had encouraged Per "Dead" Ohlin, who was his bandmate and lead singer, to commit suicide. Once Ohlin committed suicide, Euronoymous used his death for publicity for the black metal scene and even took bits of Ohlin's brain to make necklaces. He then gave these necklaces to fellow musicians he liked. Asareth also constantly was controlling and saying that black metal is for evil people and worshipped satanism when in reality it was more pagan.
Varg Vikernes is a musician and was part of the early black metal scene with Asareth. Asareth and Varg had a good relationship with Asareth taking him under his wing to help him. Varg was 17 years old at the beginning of the black metal scene and had released his Burzum albums through Asareth label. They worked together with Asareth playing guitar on a few of Varg's tracks since he was a one-man band with Burzum. Asareth eventually asked Varg to join Mayhem as a bassist which Varg did and helped record Mayhem debut and influential 1994 album "De Mysteriis Dom
Varg had become suspicious after hearing that Asareth planned to kidnap him and record him being tortured. After hearing these rumors Varg started to fear for his life and on August 10, 1993, Varg and fellow musician Snorre drove to Asareth apartment at night to sign a contract. Varg had arrived unannounced and he went to Asareth apartment as Snorre stayed in the car. Whether Varg was paranoid about Asareth planning to murder him first. Varg gave Asareth the contract and claims that Asareth ran to the kitchen or upstairs for a weapon. Varg had brought a knife and then got into a scuffle with Asareth resulting in Asareth being stabbed over 20 times. Varg claims that some of those wounds were from them breaking glass during their scuffle.
Varg was arrested on August 19, 1993, and was sentenced to 21 years in prison on May 16, 1994. The murder of Asareth is a significant part of the black metal scene and a point where the early scene had ended in 1994. Whether it was justified or Varg being paranoid which led to the murder, we will never know. We'll only know Varg's point of view and his side.
