I met Metalion during a drunken night at Oslo’s Inferno Festival in 2003. I was impressed by his kind nature and unparalleled knowledge of extreme metal, so we stayed in touch over the next few years, occasionally geeking out over cameras and records. My friend Johan Kugelberg, the essential editorial force behind my new book of photos documenting the black-metal scene (
, published by Vice Books), was also in touch with Metalion and suggested bringing him in to help put together the book.
In 1985, Metalion started Slayer, which would become Norway’s most influential and essential metal fanzine. Metalion is kind of like the Virgil of black metal. He was there for all the notorious events, and his first-person understanding is reflected in his brilliant fanzine. There is no better authority on this often misunderstood and misreported genre.
What follows is Metalion’s primer on the unholy history of Norwegian black metal. —PETER BESTE
Kerrang!
Welcome to Hell
Death Fiend, Triumph of Death,
Satanic Rites
Satanic Rites
Demon Entrails
CELTIC FROST
Scandinavian Metal Attack
The Return
Morbid Tales
To Mega Therion
Monotheist
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
December Moon
DARKTHRONE
Soulside Journey
A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Pentagram
Antichrist
Under the Sign of Hell
Sorcery Written in Blood
Slayer
Slayer
Harmony Dies
Orcustus
DEMO TAPES
Ovations to Death
Damnation’s Pride
Megalomania
The Puzzle
NON-NORWEGIAN METAL BRETHREN
SARCOFAGO
SODOM
I.N.R.I.
Bloody Vengeance
In the Sign of Evil
Obsessed by Cruelty
Obsessed by Cruelty
MERCYFUL FATE
SLAYER
Melissa
Don’t Break the Oath
Reign in Blood
Hell Awaits
Haunting the Chapel
Seven Churches
A brand new issue of
magazine is in the works now.
In 1985, Metalion started Slayer, which would become Norway’s most influential and essential metal fanzine. Metalion is kind of like the Virgil of black metal. He was there for all the notorious events, and his first-person understanding is reflected in his brilliant fanzine. There is no better authority on this often misunderstood and misreported genre.
What follows is Metalion’s primer on the unholy history of Norwegian black metal. —PETER BESTE
Videos by VICE
BLACK METAL MEDIA