Burzum

Burzum began in 1987 as a prominent Norwegian black metal solo project. It was formed by Varg Vikernes (born Kristian Larsson Vikernes), under the name of Count Grishnackh. Vikernes is currently s

Burzum began in 1987 as a prominent Norwegian black metal solo project. It was formed by Varg Vikernes (born Kristian Larsson Vikernes), under the name of Count Grishnackh. Vikernes is currently serving a prison sentence in Norway for murder and arson. Vikernes and his project were instrumental in the crystallisation of early black metal, much of which is due to the infamy attributed to Vikernes since the murder of his former band mate (Grishnackh played bass on one of Mayhem's albums) Øystein Aarseth. Aarseth is known better to some by his stage name of "Euronymous."

In 1988 or 1989, Varg Vikernes formed a group called Kalashnikov (named for the Kalashnikov assault rifle), which eventually changed its name to Uruk-Hai. Uruk-Hai is the name for the orc race of Middle-earth from the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. In 1989, Vikernes broke away from Uruk-Hai to join the death metal act Old Funeral. Uruk-Hai's drummer and bassist, Vikernes claims, were neither serious nor talented musicians, but this was not the case with the members of Old Funeral (who eventually went on to form the notorious black metal group Immortal). Vikernes remained with Old Funeral for two years, deciding in 1991 to create a solo project instead, in which he could write and record a "more original and personal type of music" (some consider Burzum to be a progression of the band Uruk-Hai, for several of the same riffs are used in Vikernes' compositions). Varg intended the Burzum project to be an anonymous effort, which was the reason behind his taking the name of Count Grishnackh.