Wardruna mainman Einar Selvik has named what he believes to be a benefit from the infamous black metal church burnings.
During the early 90s, members of the Norwegian black metal scene, including Varg Vikernes of Burzum and Samoth of Emperor, burned down wooden churches in acts of arson that were deemed to be pro-Satanist. The fires became a widespread news story and spawned fears of an anti-Christian crime wave in other countries, including the UK.
Talking in the new issue of Metal Hammer, Selvik, who grew up in Osterøy and used to play in black metal band Gorgoroth, stops short of defending the still-controversial actions, but says that they were important in changing religious attitudes at the time.
“I think the whole ‘Satanic’ part was a media-created thing,” he tells us. “It was more a resistance towards the state church and that kind of oppression. It’s hard to defend a lot of the stuff that happened in that period but, in retrospect, it moved some boundaries that needed to be moved, in terms of artistic freedom and religious freedom. I think that that was beneficial for more than just the people in the black metal scene.”
Later in the interview, Selvik says he takes issue with the Norwegian Constitution, which was written in 1814. It decreed that the Evangelical-Lutheran church was the state religion of Norway and banned Jews from entering the country. Though Wardruna released a musical piece recognising 200 years of the Constitution in 2016, it openly criticises the document.
“I said yes [to writing the piece], but only if I could criticise the Constitution,” Selvik explains. “It has parts that, in my opinion, are quite problematic, especially the religious part. It’s really cool that the reaction was, ‘You should criticise the Constitution!’ Writing that piece in the name of freedom of speech is something I’m proud of.”
By his own admission, Selvik is no fan of Christianity. He tells Hammer that, in his opinion, it promotes a human-centric attitude which he disagrees with: “We’re not the centre of the universe, and that’s something I’m not a big fan of from Christianity. I’m very much opposed to this human ‘we are above the animals and the rulers of nature’ kind of thought.”
He goes on to define his outlook as more in line with animism: the belief that all living beings, including plants, have a spiritual essence.
“I can’t stand dogmas, and I’m not a big fan of putting labels on what I believe and don’t believe, but animism is what comes closest to how I live my life,” he says. “It’s the idea that nature is sacred and that everything has life in it. Everyone agrees that trees have life, of course, but I view them as beings, as fellow earthlings. I would say it’s more of an attitude than a belief system.”
As well as church burnings, 90s Norwegian black metal bands committed numerous infamous acts. In 1992, Mayhem vocalist Per ‘Dead’ Ohlin committed suicide and guitarist Øystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseth photographed the body upon discovering it. The pictures later appeared on the cover of a Mayhem bootleg. Vikernes killed Aarseth in 1993 and, the next year, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for both murder and arson. Samoth was sentenced to 16 months in prison for arson around the same time. Also in 1994, then-Emperor drummer Bård ‘Faust’ Eithun was sentenced to 14 years in prison for murdering a gay man in Lillehammer two years prior.
Wardruna released their new album Birna in January. It received critical acclaim, including a four-star review from Hammer. Journalist Alex Deller wrote: “Birna is a perfect, powerful statement whether you want to hibernate and hide from the terrors of the world or wake hungrily to face it anew.”
The new Hammer features Ghost on the cover and contain an in-depth interview with architect Tobias Forge, talking all about the band’s new album Skeletá. Though the issue is currently sold-out online, it’s available in the UK in such stockists as WH Smith and Tesco.
You can also get a bundle that has the new issue with an exclusive cover, plus a vinyl variant of Skeletá not in the shops. Pre-order it now via the Louder webstore.
