The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (157 page)

See also
Bobby Ramirez (
July 1972); Dan Hartman (
March 1994); Chuck Ruff (
October 2011). EWG guitarist Ronnie Montrose died early in 2012, while occasional musician Jerry Weems passed on back in 1999.

Tuesday 10

Euronymous

(øystein Aarseth - Norway, 15 April 1968)

Mayhem

… and so, with much trepidation,
The Encyclopedia
steps once more into the warm and welcoming arena of Norwegian black metal, returning to the continuing drama of the genre’s most notorious band. Their singer Dead having, yes, died
(
April 1991),
Mayhem were found not guilty of his killing but were thereafter labelled public enemies in Oslo – a position the remaining members clearly relished. Founder and guitarist Euronymous was soon revealed as leader of a group known as The Satanic Terrorists, a unit supposedly formed to crush Christianity in Norway, thereby returning the nation to its glorious Viking past; there were even reports that this faction had been behind the torching of a number of Norway’s churches. But if the actions of some followers were clearly a very serious issue, then the unfolding story of Mayhem was to be almost blackly comic by contrast.

‘Euronymous is dead! And now I’m going to piss on his grave!’

Count Grishnackh calls his UK record label, Candlelight, just hours after the killing

In 1992, the group were in need of a facelift. With bass-player Necrobutcher (Jorn Stubberard) leaving the line-up, Euronymous and drummer Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) sought new members with whom to complete
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas,
an upcoming album, already written. Euronymous recruited singer Attila Csihar (ex-Tormentor) and, most significantly, a bassist called (ironically) Christian ‘Varg’ Vikernes, formerly of Burzum and better known by his stage moniker, Count Grishnackh. The events surrounding the making of ‘the most over-rated record in black-metal history’ were to become a dark landmark in music. During the recording and promotional touring (in one incident a watching fan was injured when struck by a severed lamb’s head), relations between Euronymous and Grishnackh reached freezing point. The Count, who had idolized Euronymous in the past, attempted to curry favour with Mayhem’s leader by presenting him with cartridges he claimed were from the gun that had killed Dead: the guitarist – who was not keen to keep Grishnackh in the band – was unimpressed, knowing that the gun in question had been his. Grishnackh, his head permanently filled with sick new concepts of Satanism, anarchy and racial purity, became obsessed with the notion that Euronymous and other characters on the scene such as Faust were perceived as more evil than he was – and thus put a fairly blunt plan into action to change folks’ acuity a little.

Arriving at Euronymous’s Oslo flat at 5.15 am on 10 August 1993, Grishnackh produced a large knife and proceeded to stab his ‘enemy’ twenty-three times. The guitarist’s body was found an hour later, clad only in underpants and covered in blood. From his prison cell (which the bassist often described as ‘too comfortable and not violent enough’), Grishnackh recalled his earlier actions with glee: ‘I hit him directly in his skull! His eyes went “boing!” and he was dead!’ Sentenced to a maximum term, The Count continued to extol his fascistic views from his cell and issued further music under his electronic guise, Burzum. It was not the end for Mayhem, who – now officially the blackest metal band in the world – still record and tour to this day, which says much for their stamina and sheer nerve, if not for the judgement of record labels. But if these incidents did any good at all, they drew attention to a scene fast losing control of itself, flushing out a few serious wrong-doers in the process.

A German black metal act also achieved considerable notoriety during 1993: three original members of extreme right-wing band Absurd - Hendrik Mobus, Sebastian Schauseil and Andreas Kirchner - lured teenager Sandro Beyer to his death by strangulation. The apparent motive was that Beyer knew of an affair being conducted by Schauseil with the mother of a school friend. Like Grishnackh, Mobus continued recordingfrom behind bars.

SEPTEMBER

Friday 24

Ian Stuart

(Ian Stuart Donaldson - Blackpool, 11 August 1957)

Skrewdriver

The notorious leader of right-wing punks Skrewdriver, Ian Stuart actually began his rock ‘n’ roll career as singer with Rolling Stones tribute act Tumbling Dice (although he should by no means be mistaken for earlier entrant Ian Stewart
(
December 1985)).
The original Skrewdriver formed after seeing The Sex Pistols play in 1977, and were signed by Chiswick Records – the label nurtured the band’s skinhead look, though later vehemently claimed to have had no notion whatsoever of the singer’s neo-fascist leanings. The truth is, however, that Skrewdriver always attracted a violent faction within their audience. (Fairly good authority has it that unlikely fan Bob Geldof was knocked unconscious at one of their early gigs.)

The hardcore really moved in once Stuart had reformed the band in 1982 (by which time they could only release material via German label Rock-o-Rama), Skrewdriver allying themselves with extreme groups like the National Front and Combat 18. Ian Stuart died in a car crash in Derbyshire that some of his supporters still believe was ‘arranged’ by Special Branch.

OCTOBER

Wednesday 13

Wade Flemons

(Coffeyville, Kansas, 25 September 1940)

Earth, Wind & Fire