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And Thus Spoke Varg...
Interview with Varg Vikernes
"Ledo Takas" magazine (#6, 1998)
Tadas Kazlauskas
The ultimate seeker of individuality in art forms
Foreword: below is slightly edited version by Tadas Kazlauskas ("Ledo Takas" (The Ice Trail) magazine from Lithuania) of the interview performed by Rainer Padamsee, owner of Burzum.com website back in 1998. As well as short interview from Swedish "Putrefaction" magazine (#07, 1992).
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In spite of total controversy of Varg Vikernes, browsing world- wide web I have found some exciting pages, which should be known to Internet searchers, yet here it appears in full extent too. As a matter of fact, in the middle of this feature you can read an old Burzum interview, made by Swedish "Putrefaction" zine #7. That is for comparing Varg's thoughts and path chosen... The main chat was made by a person named Rainer, and he has definitely done a great job. Here Rainer goes:
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Rather than wait and wait for yet another mainstream magazine interview that does not actually tell you anything "new" or give you any real "insight" into Varg himself, I decided to do an interview with him myself. The first section concerns some "in-depth" questions that, true to form, Varg supplied with some very "in-depth" answers.
Some of the ideas presented here I agree with, some I strongly disagree with. I will leave you to reach your own conclusions. Now it's time to let Varg do the talking:
Some of the ideas presented here I agree with, some I strongly disagree with. I will leave you to reach your own conclusions. Now it's time to let Varg do the talking:
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These days it seems a lot of people see you simply as a "racist". However, having read a great deal of your works it would seem to me that you in fact are attempting to promote "cultural survivalism"; that is to say-to prevent further dilution of the true Nordic religion following the "spiritual death" of Judeo-Christianity's arrival. Am I right?
Dilution of the Norse-Germanic philosophy of life - or religion if you like - is one thing, but just a part of the reason for my racism. It is not just our philosophy of life that is threatened, but our very race as well: our culture, the distinctive characteristics of our race and our people (i.e. the European people). In short-everything that is ours. The spiritual Black Death (i.e. Judeo-Christianity) is a threat to our spiritual life and to our mental health. When this plague has destroyed our Germanic spirit. the way is open for the destruction of the rest of our race, Not that they intend to murder every single one of us, but they intend to murder our race through interbreeding and degeneration. The latter they do with unhealthy lifestyle and through forcing "humanistic" views unto everybody. An example is slogans like "every human is valuable", or "everybody's value is the same". Of course modern medicine has a role in this as well. Sick and degenerated individuals are kept alive at any cost, there is no "natural selection" like it used to be, or any race hygiene to see to it that our race do not degenerate.
Our society is built up so that the immoral thrive, so that the cynical thrive, so that the greedy thrive. That is the "strongest" in our society. You have to be willing to lie, cheat, backstab others, pretend, and so on to get anywhere in our world. This leads to what they call "individualism". Also everything is measured after its value in hard cash.
Individualism is all fine, however only one type of individualism. The "advanced" world we live in have a tendency so over-simplify everything-of course because of their "humanism" and their "humanistic" and "caring" will to make comprehensible for the retarded idiots they breed as well. Instead of saying "positive individualism" (i.e. artistic creativity, courage, initiative, the ability to lead others, inventiveness etc.) and "negative individualism" (i.e. egoism, the strong desire to only care for what is best for oneself etc.) they just say individualism. This means that they let negative individualism thrive as well, if not exclusively.
All this is interconnected; the Judeo-Christianity, Capitalism, Humanism, Communism, and so on. All these things just play a part in the great game of the Zionists.
The only real threat against their regime is our Aryan (i.e. European) race. It is the pureness of our blood that resist the Zionist forces. I talk so much about our Gods and Goddesses simply because our pure nature is a result of them, and they are the result of our pure blood. Our philosophies have their origin in us, our nature, and to eradicate them they need to destroy the pureness of our blood. That as well is interconnected; our pure blood and our philosophies, our culture, our nature, our cosmology: everything that is ours. The pureness of our race is the last obstacle in the way for Zionist world hegemony. Dilution of our "religion" is thus the same as dilution of our blood, to put it that way, this means that fighting for OUR culture, OUR philosophies, OUR art and so on, is the same as fighting for OUR race, OUR blood and OUR people! A flower needs its leaves to survive, just as much as it needs its flowers, its stalk and its roots. Now we have nothing but our roots left, and to save them is alpha-omega to our survival. It is racism all right, but so what? I care more for the survival of nature-be that human or Mother Earth's nature-than I care about what some mentally confused, traitor, Judeo-Christian Capitalist pigs say about me.
To me it seems that Judeo-Christianity has always stolen from the pagan/heathen religions, in addition to the obvious "spiritual death" that you refer to, also in quite literal terms. To give an example of what I mean, let's consider "Christmas". It seems unlikely that Christ was born at Christmas - shepherds would not have their flock out in mid-winter, even in Palestine; the Romans would never order a census in winter, the hardest time of year to travel. The "12 days of Christmas" are most likely nothing to do with the "wise old men" arriving at Bethlehem - the Roman celebrations around the winter solstice (21st December), starting with the Sol Invictus festival lasted for 12 days. "Santa Claus" is another interesting part of it. How did "Saint Nicholas" (who lived in Turkey) end up in the North Pole with a sledge of reindeer? Most likely this is in fact based around Odin, who gave to the poor and rode across the sky in Norse myth. Or maybe Freyja, who was supposed to spend the 12 days after winter solstice driving a chariot pulled by stags, giving presents to the good and punishing the bad. Either way, it seems to me Judeo-Christianity has tried hard to integrate pagan ideals into their religion; when pagan traditions proved too hard to break, they simply stole them.. Is this just one example of many? And, extending the question a bit, do you think that to some degree the Pagan/Heathen religion has survived preserved in elements of Judeo-Christianity? Clearly some things were too strong for Christianity to break, and so traditions were simply "absorbed" into the Christian mythos. If so, can these pagan elements one day be "extracted" back again from Judeo-Christianity?
I understand that you call the Yule celebration "Christmas" in English speaking territories. In Scandinavia we call it Jul ("wheel" in Norse) and in Germany it is called "Weihnachten" (meaning "the night of initiation"). Also "Santa Claus" is called Julenisse (roughly translated "Yule-goblin" [although Goblin in this context is more like a "Fairy"]) in Scandinavia and Weihnachtsmann ("initiation-night-man", directly translated) in Germany.
It is only the last twenty-thirty years that the true meaning of Yule has been more or less forgotten in Scandinavia. Some very few people (about 4%, according surveys) go to church on the Yule-day, and some people do celebrate "Christ's birth", but the majority do not. There is NOTHING in our celebration that is alien (i.e. Judeo-Christian). Yule derives from Saxon and it means Wheel, and that is short for Sunwheel (i.e. the Swastika). The tree is a symbol of Yggdrasil, the finery hanged in the tree are symbols of sacrifice to the Gods, we eat pig to honour Freyr, we sing the Yule in to call upon the dead (as Yule is a feast for the dead as well), we have food we do not eat before after the Yule-celebration is over, because the dead is supposed to take what they want first (and then we can eat what is left), the so-called "Santa Claus" is Heimdall (and not Wotan) that comes to visit his children (as you might know he was sent by Wotan to the humans to improve them, and we are thus his children) and bring gifts to those who deserve them. He lives "on the north pole" simply because that is the point where the wall between the spirit world and the world we live in is easiest to cross. Yule is also the time of initiation into the Asgard's army (Åsgårdsreien). It is a Sunfeast, when we celebrate that the Sun is coming back (as you might know the winter in Scandinavia is pretty dark and "sunless").
Judeo-Christianity never managed to "absorb" this Heathen tradition, it even worked the other way around, and now even non-Germanic people celebrate Yule, because of Judeo-Christianity (ironically). They have managed to exchange the Spear in the top of the Tree with a Star, but that happened only some years ago, when the Star with electric light came on the market. When my parents were young for instance, they had Spear-points in the top of the tree everywhere instead. Symbolizing Wotan's Spear of course.
They do their best all right, to "Christianize" our traditions, but it is not very successful that is in Scandinavia though. We still celebrate Yule, and not "Christmas", we still have Heimdall and not some "Santa Claus". Needless to say, the Scandinavian and German people managed to keep their tradition that good, compared to other parts of Europe, simply because we are racially far more pure. This is why they try so hard to destroy the pureness of our blood, simply because they never succeeded in Christianizing us. We are still resisting vehemently, both in Scandinavia and in Germany. After a thousand years now, they have changed tactics, and are now attacking our blood, to break the resistance.
So, to answer Your question; it is not Judeo-Christianity that have absorbed our traditions, they simply never managed to ruin and destroy our traditions. They did that with the Native American culture, with the African cultures, and with many other cultures, but they never managed to do that with us. We are too strong for them. Or better; our nature and blood is too pure for them. Needless to say, we have to keep it that way, and make sure they do not destroy the pureness of our blood! As long as we stay noble, we will never perish. Nobility is in the pureness of the blood.
Although you are no longer a "black metal musician" as such, Burzum still is probably the biggest band in the scene and you still have a lot of support from fans in black metal. Do you still acknowledge that support, even if not a black metaller yourself anymore? (Though I realize you were never a black metaller in the traditional sense anyway).
It depends on what you mean with "black metallers", and what you mean with support for that sake. There is a lot of "support" out there that would be better called "spreading mendacious gossip". I could be well without that. When people start to present their own speculations as "facts", not least on the Internet. I do no longer call it support, although it is often meant to be support. Real support is great whomever it comes from, although there are groups other than "black metallers" I would prefer to receive support from.
Obviously the question most readers will want to know is: when can we expect more music from you? Recently you mentioned the possibility of a new Burzum trilogy. You also stated that "Hliðskjálf" will be the next Burzum album - has any of it been written or recorded yet? If not, do you think you may be able to record anything in the near future?
I do not know.
I recently heard a rumor that you now have a guitar in your cell, although you do not plan to use it on upcoming albums. In the past you have stated that you will no longer record any more "metal music". In relation to this, you have stated that you no longer want to play guitar anymore. To me this seems a bit strange - after all, bands who share similar views to your own and who you have mentioned in the past (Vidkuns Venner for example) play guitar-based music. And, of course, "guitar-based" need not necessarily mean "metal" music. After all, surely an electronic synthesizer is no more Nordic than an electronic guitar. Thus, is it possible that you might use a guitar the way you did on the later tracks on "Filosofem", given the chance?
The guitar is an European invention, just like the synthesizer. However, the music played on guitar is mostly nigger music - and that goes definitely for all metal music. I have nothing against guitars, as you might know a lot of classical music is played on guitar. If I would make any more guitar music, it would be classical music. So, it has nothing (or better - little) to do with the instrument in itself.
I guess I have been a bit unclear when talking about this, until now. Anyway, what I explain above should clear things up for you. I categorize music like this: Aryan music (European classical and folk music, as well as some other more electronic music); alien music with Aryan lyrics (like all these Viking-metal bands, Oi-rock and the like) and; alien music with alien lyrics. As simple as that.
Bands like Vidkuns Venner, No Remorse and so on are "half-way" to the right way, and I know that in our times we might need to get people on our side one step at a time. Being used to nigger music and nigger or Jew lyrics they need to become used to the lyrics first, and then they can be introduced to real Aryan music. That is why I can support these "half-way" to the right way bands. That is pretty much the role of old Burzum as well, to be a "gateway to Heaven". You become what you listen to (mentally), so I deem it very important that we promote Aryan music to our Aryan race. This as well, is a part of the struggle. This way we can save our collective mental and spiritual health as well. Instead of primitive, degenerate, subhuman mentality promoted by the nigger (pop) music today, we can educate and heal our race with Aryan music, promoting Aryan ideals like honesty, justice, honour, faithfulness, strength, courage, respect, nature awareness and so on.
To what extent, if any, do you believe in life after death? Is Valhalla a physical or metaphorical perception of the afterlife? From what you have said in the past it seems to me that you consider "Gods" as only a symbolic entity (unlike the Judeo-Christians who will blindly follow) and believe the ultimate driving force to be nature, i.e. the natural selection of the strong over the weak...
"Nature" and "the Gods (and Goddesses)" are two sides of the same thing. The Gods are forces in nature, and with that I mean forces in our human nature as well. Which of course is just another reason to keep the blood pure, as if we destroy the pureness of our blood we also destroy Gods and everything they stand for. All their wisdom is stored in our pure blood, and 'it will be lost if we interbreed with others.
The Gods are symbolic, spiritual, parts of our nature (genes), as well as being physical beings. I can give you an example of a physical manifestation of Thórr (Juppiter, Zevs, Perun etc.). As you (hopefully) know Thórr is the defender of our race, he protects us from the Jotuns (i.e. the "giants", which is a metaphor for uncontrollable forces of the universe in this context). His beard is red and he have a belt that increases his strength.
Then I can ask You; what is it that protect us, on Mother Earth, from "space debris" (asteroids and the like)? It is of course the planet of Jupiter! The planet also happens to be red and have a ring around it (the mentioned "strength belt"). It is Jupiter with its gravity ("strength") that prevents all this debris from smashing into Mother Earth killing us. The planets and the Sun (Sun/Sól, Merkur/Loki, Venus/Frigg, Tellus/Moder Jórd. Mars/Týr, Jupiter/Thórr, Saturn/Heimdall, Uranus/Wotan, Neptune/Njörðr, Pluto/Hell) and the moons of the planets (I do not bother writing the names of all of them here, as there is a lot and it would take too much time) are all bodies of the Gods. The Gods are namely not just one single thing, they do not have just one being, one form, one manifestation.
Any astrologer knows that Saturn (Heimdall) is the God of the principle "You harvest what you sow" (Ut sementem feceris, ita metes [Cicero]), and that brings us back to the subject of Yule ("Christmas") and his role there, as the judge over who shall receive gifts and who shall not. Unfortunately, these astrologers tend to ignore our science "as it is racial", so they lack the knowledge about this and will not be any wiser with time as long as they continue to ignore what "we" say about this. They are not free from Judeo-Christian prejudice it seems.
Valhalla as well has many sides. I can give You another example, and quote some part from "Vargsmål":
We have to build our Valhalla with weapons, to build something new we have to destroy the old. Anyway, that is ONE interpretation of Valhalla. One of many, all being true. They do not contradict each other. The above is of course how we must face Wotan, how we shall relate to him.
Another interpretation covers another "theme". When we say that the Einherjers (warriors) fight and kill each other every day, only to be reborn the day after. This simply means that we need not fear death on the battlefield, as we will be reborn again later anyway, in our race. That again of course depending on the pureness of our race. This encourages courage and bravery, and thus makes our soldiers the best.
Valhalla is also a "Hall of Fame", a spiritual unit consisting of the dead men's spirits (parts of them live on, parts of them are reborn, and parts of them are immortal through being remembered forever [like Hitler]) as well. Any theosophist that might read this will of course open his or her eyes when I point at the fact that there are 540 doors into Valhall, and 800 Einherjers can walk through each of them at one time. 540 multiplied by 800 equals 432.000. The secrets of Valhall are many, but then again: I am a "terrible racist" and therefore nobody will take serious anything I say. As you know, they are not free from the society's "moral" laws.
How is prison life treating you at the moment? I hear you are working on a new book, referred to as "Vargsmål II", could you tell us a bit more about this? Have the authorities been attempting to hinder you from writing it as they did your first book?
I just wrote a political program for our Allgermanische Heidnische Front (Pangermanic Heathen Front) which took some time to finish, as I needed more accurate political knowledge to finish it. This however is only 16 pages (A4) so I would not call it a book. Prison life is treating me well. I get the time to read a lot, to write and to train, and for now that is all I need. The authorities hinder me by not letting me have a computer in my cell, so that I have to write everything by hand or on a typewriter. Right now, I am working on another project, about the creation. That is pretty much an interpretation of parts of our mythology, will be written in Norwegian, but will (unlike with "Vargsmål") translate it into English as well and from there I guess it will be translated into German as well, I will systemize our mythology and reveal some facts about our past that is not yet known.
Firstly, I will write the book about Ginnungagap and then later I will deal with the other myths and subjects. I am more or less finished with the preliminary work so it is pretty much all about getting it all down on the paper now. I must say I really love to work with this, and ironically, I would probably not have had the time to do it if I had not been imprisoned.
How is your daughter? I imagine it must be difficult staying in contact with your family given the present situation. Or have prison conditions improved a bit? I remember you mentioned that at one point you were completely shut off from the outside world and they even stopped letters from your mother...
My daughter is, as far as I know, fine. I got a letter from her some weeks ago, but apart from that I haven't had any contact with her since the summer of ninety-three. The prison conditions tend to change all the time. Now I am in Trondheim, about 500 kilometers from my hometown (i.e. my family and my friends). It's a bit irritating of course, but as we say; "strength is to ignore". Nothing lasts forever. In the meanwhile, I will educate myself to their great despair.
Is Islam a growing threat in Norway? If so, will you fight it just as you fight Christianity and Judaism? (I remember you once said you would fight anything that is alien to the true pagan people).
Islam is an adversary to the Christian religions, so I say let them tear each other apart. If one of them wins or becomes too powerful, we will simply join forces with the weaker part, only to obliterate it when WE are the strongest part. Today Christianity is the strongest part, so we should not attack Islam, instead we should join forces with them and fight Judaism and Christianity together with them.
Besides, Islam is much closer to our philosophy of life than what Christianity is, after all, they hail those who die in battle, they have a sense of honour and of course, their view on women is far better than the Christian one. It is better with "Allah hu akbar" in the morning seven days a week, than with church bells every Sunday.
It should be pretty needless to say though, that no alien religion can be accepted in OUR Europe, be it Islam, Judaism, or any form of Christianity (all generally referred to - by me - as "Judeo-Christianity").
Dilution of the Norse-Germanic philosophy of life - or religion if you like - is one thing, but just a part of the reason for my racism. It is not just our philosophy of life that is threatened, but our very race as well: our culture, the distinctive characteristics of our race and our people (i.e. the European people). In short-everything that is ours. The spiritual Black Death (i.e. Judeo-Christianity) is a threat to our spiritual life and to our mental health. When this plague has destroyed our Germanic spirit. the way is open for the destruction of the rest of our race, Not that they intend to murder every single one of us, but they intend to murder our race through interbreeding and degeneration. The latter they do with unhealthy lifestyle and through forcing "humanistic" views unto everybody. An example is slogans like "every human is valuable", or "everybody's value is the same". Of course modern medicine has a role in this as well. Sick and degenerated individuals are kept alive at any cost, there is no "natural selection" like it used to be, or any race hygiene to see to it that our race do not degenerate.
Our society is built up so that the immoral thrive, so that the cynical thrive, so that the greedy thrive. That is the "strongest" in our society. You have to be willing to lie, cheat, backstab others, pretend, and so on to get anywhere in our world. This leads to what they call "individualism". Also everything is measured after its value in hard cash.
Individualism is all fine, however only one type of individualism. The "advanced" world we live in have a tendency so over-simplify everything-of course because of their "humanism" and their "humanistic" and "caring" will to make comprehensible for the retarded idiots they breed as well. Instead of saying "positive individualism" (i.e. artistic creativity, courage, initiative, the ability to lead others, inventiveness etc.) and "negative individualism" (i.e. egoism, the strong desire to only care for what is best for oneself etc.) they just say individualism. This means that they let negative individualism thrive as well, if not exclusively.
All this is interconnected; the Judeo-Christianity, Capitalism, Humanism, Communism, and so on. All these things just play a part in the great game of the Zionists.
The only real threat against their regime is our Aryan (i.e. European) race. It is the pureness of our blood that resist the Zionist forces. I talk so much about our Gods and Goddesses simply because our pure nature is a result of them, and they are the result of our pure blood. Our philosophies have their origin in us, our nature, and to eradicate them they need to destroy the pureness of our blood. That as well is interconnected; our pure blood and our philosophies, our culture, our nature, our cosmology: everything that is ours. The pureness of our race is the last obstacle in the way for Zionist world hegemony. Dilution of our "religion" is thus the same as dilution of our blood, to put it that way, this means that fighting for OUR culture, OUR philosophies, OUR art and so on, is the same as fighting for OUR race, OUR blood and OUR people! A flower needs its leaves to survive, just as much as it needs its flowers, its stalk and its roots. Now we have nothing but our roots left, and to save them is alpha-omega to our survival. It is racism all right, but so what? I care more for the survival of nature-be that human or Mother Earth's nature-than I care about what some mentally confused, traitor, Judeo-Christian Capitalist pigs say about me.
To me it seems that Judeo-Christianity has always stolen from the pagan/heathen religions, in addition to the obvious "spiritual death" that you refer to, also in quite literal terms. To give an example of what I mean, let's consider "Christmas". It seems unlikely that Christ was born at Christmas - shepherds would not have their flock out in mid-winter, even in Palestine; the Romans would never order a census in winter, the hardest time of year to travel. The "12 days of Christmas" are most likely nothing to do with the "wise old men" arriving at Bethlehem - the Roman celebrations around the winter solstice (21st December), starting with the Sol Invictus festival lasted for 12 days. "Santa Claus" is another interesting part of it. How did "Saint Nicholas" (who lived in Turkey) end up in the North Pole with a sledge of reindeer? Most likely this is in fact based around Odin, who gave to the poor and rode across the sky in Norse myth. Or maybe Freyja, who was supposed to spend the 12 days after winter solstice driving a chariot pulled by stags, giving presents to the good and punishing the bad. Either way, it seems to me Judeo-Christianity has tried hard to integrate pagan ideals into their religion; when pagan traditions proved too hard to break, they simply stole them.. Is this just one example of many? And, extending the question a bit, do you think that to some degree the Pagan/Heathen religion has survived preserved in elements of Judeo-Christianity? Clearly some things were too strong for Christianity to break, and so traditions were simply "absorbed" into the Christian mythos. If so, can these pagan elements one day be "extracted" back again from Judeo-Christianity?
I understand that you call the Yule celebration "Christmas" in English speaking territories. In Scandinavia we call it Jul ("wheel" in Norse) and in Germany it is called "Weihnachten" (meaning "the night of initiation"). Also "Santa Claus" is called Julenisse (roughly translated "Yule-goblin" [although Goblin in this context is more like a "Fairy"]) in Scandinavia and Weihnachtsmann ("initiation-night-man", directly translated) in Germany.
It is only the last twenty-thirty years that the true meaning of Yule has been more or less forgotten in Scandinavia. Some very few people (about 4%, according surveys) go to church on the Yule-day, and some people do celebrate "Christ's birth", but the majority do not. There is NOTHING in our celebration that is alien (i.e. Judeo-Christian). Yule derives from Saxon and it means Wheel, and that is short for Sunwheel (i.e. the Swastika). The tree is a symbol of Yggdrasil, the finery hanged in the tree are symbols of sacrifice to the Gods, we eat pig to honour Freyr, we sing the Yule in to call upon the dead (as Yule is a feast for the dead as well), we have food we do not eat before after the Yule-celebration is over, because the dead is supposed to take what they want first (and then we can eat what is left), the so-called "Santa Claus" is Heimdall (and not Wotan) that comes to visit his children (as you might know he was sent by Wotan to the humans to improve them, and we are thus his children) and bring gifts to those who deserve them. He lives "on the north pole" simply because that is the point where the wall between the spirit world and the world we live in is easiest to cross. Yule is also the time of initiation into the Asgard's army (Åsgårdsreien). It is a Sunfeast, when we celebrate that the Sun is coming back (as you might know the winter in Scandinavia is pretty dark and "sunless").
Judeo-Christianity never managed to "absorb" this Heathen tradition, it even worked the other way around, and now even non-Germanic people celebrate Yule, because of Judeo-Christianity (ironically). They have managed to exchange the Spear in the top of the Tree with a Star, but that happened only some years ago, when the Star with electric light came on the market. When my parents were young for instance, they had Spear-points in the top of the tree everywhere instead. Symbolizing Wotan's Spear of course.
They do their best all right, to "Christianize" our traditions, but it is not very successful that is in Scandinavia though. We still celebrate Yule, and not "Christmas", we still have Heimdall and not some "Santa Claus". Needless to say, the Scandinavian and German people managed to keep their tradition that good, compared to other parts of Europe, simply because we are racially far more pure. This is why they try so hard to destroy the pureness of our blood, simply because they never succeeded in Christianizing us. We are still resisting vehemently, both in Scandinavia and in Germany. After a thousand years now, they have changed tactics, and are now attacking our blood, to break the resistance.
So, to answer Your question; it is not Judeo-Christianity that have absorbed our traditions, they simply never managed to ruin and destroy our traditions. They did that with the Native American culture, with the African cultures, and with many other cultures, but they never managed to do that with us. We are too strong for them. Or better; our nature and blood is too pure for them. Needless to say, we have to keep it that way, and make sure they do not destroy the pureness of our blood! As long as we stay noble, we will never perish. Nobility is in the pureness of the blood.
Although you are no longer a "black metal musician" as such, Burzum still is probably the biggest band in the scene and you still have a lot of support from fans in black metal. Do you still acknowledge that support, even if not a black metaller yourself anymore? (Though I realize you were never a black metaller in the traditional sense anyway).
It depends on what you mean with "black metallers", and what you mean with support for that sake. There is a lot of "support" out there that would be better called "spreading mendacious gossip". I could be well without that. When people start to present their own speculations as "facts", not least on the Internet. I do no longer call it support, although it is often meant to be support. Real support is great whomever it comes from, although there are groups other than "black metallers" I would prefer to receive support from.
Obviously the question most readers will want to know is: when can we expect more music from you? Recently you mentioned the possibility of a new Burzum trilogy. You also stated that "Hliðskjálf" will be the next Burzum album - has any of it been written or recorded yet? If not, do you think you may be able to record anything in the near future?
I do not know.
I recently heard a rumor that you now have a guitar in your cell, although you do not plan to use it on upcoming albums. In the past you have stated that you will no longer record any more "metal music". In relation to this, you have stated that you no longer want to play guitar anymore. To me this seems a bit strange - after all, bands who share similar views to your own and who you have mentioned in the past (Vidkuns Venner for example) play guitar-based music. And, of course, "guitar-based" need not necessarily mean "metal" music. After all, surely an electronic synthesizer is no more Nordic than an electronic guitar. Thus, is it possible that you might use a guitar the way you did on the later tracks on "Filosofem", given the chance?
The guitar is an European invention, just like the synthesizer. However, the music played on guitar is mostly nigger music - and that goes definitely for all metal music. I have nothing against guitars, as you might know a lot of classical music is played on guitar. If I would make any more guitar music, it would be classical music. So, it has nothing (or better - little) to do with the instrument in itself.
I guess I have been a bit unclear when talking about this, until now. Anyway, what I explain above should clear things up for you. I categorize music like this: Aryan music (European classical and folk music, as well as some other more electronic music); alien music with Aryan lyrics (like all these Viking-metal bands, Oi-rock and the like) and; alien music with alien lyrics. As simple as that.
Bands like Vidkuns Venner, No Remorse and so on are "half-way" to the right way, and I know that in our times we might need to get people on our side one step at a time. Being used to nigger music and nigger or Jew lyrics they need to become used to the lyrics first, and then they can be introduced to real Aryan music. That is why I can support these "half-way" to the right way bands. That is pretty much the role of old Burzum as well, to be a "gateway to Heaven". You become what you listen to (mentally), so I deem it very important that we promote Aryan music to our Aryan race. This as well, is a part of the struggle. This way we can save our collective mental and spiritual health as well. Instead of primitive, degenerate, subhuman mentality promoted by the nigger (pop) music today, we can educate and heal our race with Aryan music, promoting Aryan ideals like honesty, justice, honour, faithfulness, strength, courage, respect, nature awareness and so on.
To what extent, if any, do you believe in life after death? Is Valhalla a physical or metaphorical perception of the afterlife? From what you have said in the past it seems to me that you consider "Gods" as only a symbolic entity (unlike the Judeo-Christians who will blindly follow) and believe the ultimate driving force to be nature, i.e. the natural selection of the strong over the weak...
"Nature" and "the Gods (and Goddesses)" are two sides of the same thing. The Gods are forces in nature, and with that I mean forces in our human nature as well. Which of course is just another reason to keep the blood pure, as if we destroy the pureness of our blood we also destroy Gods and everything they stand for. All their wisdom is stored in our pure blood, and 'it will be lost if we interbreed with others.
The Gods are symbolic, spiritual, parts of our nature (genes), as well as being physical beings. I can give you an example of a physical manifestation of Thórr (Juppiter, Zevs, Perun etc.). As you (hopefully) know Thórr is the defender of our race, he protects us from the Jotuns (i.e. the "giants", which is a metaphor for uncontrollable forces of the universe in this context). His beard is red and he have a belt that increases his strength.
Then I can ask You; what is it that protect us, on Mother Earth, from "space debris" (asteroids and the like)? It is of course the planet of Jupiter! The planet also happens to be red and have a ring around it (the mentioned "strength belt"). It is Jupiter with its gravity ("strength") that prevents all this debris from smashing into Mother Earth killing us. The planets and the Sun (Sun/Sól, Merkur/Loki, Venus/Frigg, Tellus/Moder Jórd. Mars/Týr, Jupiter/Thórr, Saturn/Heimdall, Uranus/Wotan, Neptune/Njörðr, Pluto/Hell) and the moons of the planets (I do not bother writing the names of all of them here, as there is a lot and it would take too much time) are all bodies of the Gods. The Gods are namely not just one single thing, they do not have just one being, one form, one manifestation.
Any astrologer knows that Saturn (Heimdall) is the God of the principle "You harvest what you sow" (Ut sementem feceris, ita metes [Cicero]), and that brings us back to the subject of Yule ("Christmas") and his role there, as the judge over who shall receive gifts and who shall not. Unfortunately, these astrologers tend to ignore our science "as it is racial", so they lack the knowledge about this and will not be any wiser with time as long as they continue to ignore what "we" say about this. They are not free from Judeo-Christian prejudice it seems.
Valhalla as well has many sides. I can give You another example, and quote some part from "Vargsmål":
"To get to Valhalla we have to get past many guards. Wotan's wolves Geri (the greedy) and Freki (demands and obstinacy), the Warge hanging west of the entrance, the eagle that bend its head above the hall. We have to build the Hall with our own weapons and armor; our spears make up the walls, our shields make up the roof and the benches are covered with our chainmails. Before we get to Valhall we have to get across two rivers as well. Thund (swallow up, "self-solemnity") and Ifing (doubt, uncertainty).
This means that we must defeat our own weaknesses, like our greed, our obstinacy, our many demands to others, our bestiality (the Warge is hanged), our pride (the eagle bend his head), our "self-solemnity", our doubt and uncertainty, and our weapons we shall use to something constructive".
We have to build our Valhalla with weapons, to build something new we have to destroy the old. Anyway, that is ONE interpretation of Valhalla. One of many, all being true. They do not contradict each other. The above is of course how we must face Wotan, how we shall relate to him.
Another interpretation covers another "theme". When we say that the Einherjers (warriors) fight and kill each other every day, only to be reborn the day after. This simply means that we need not fear death on the battlefield, as we will be reborn again later anyway, in our race. That again of course depending on the pureness of our race. This encourages courage and bravery, and thus makes our soldiers the best.
Valhalla is also a "Hall of Fame", a spiritual unit consisting of the dead men's spirits (parts of them live on, parts of them are reborn, and parts of them are immortal through being remembered forever [like Hitler]) as well. Any theosophist that might read this will of course open his or her eyes when I point at the fact that there are 540 doors into Valhall, and 800 Einherjers can walk through each of them at one time. 540 multiplied by 800 equals 432.000. The secrets of Valhall are many, but then again: I am a "terrible racist" and therefore nobody will take serious anything I say. As you know, they are not free from the society's "moral" laws.
How is prison life treating you at the moment? I hear you are working on a new book, referred to as "Vargsmål II", could you tell us a bit more about this? Have the authorities been attempting to hinder you from writing it as they did your first book?
I just wrote a political program for our Allgermanische Heidnische Front (Pangermanic Heathen Front) which took some time to finish, as I needed more accurate political knowledge to finish it. This however is only 16 pages (A4) so I would not call it a book. Prison life is treating me well. I get the time to read a lot, to write and to train, and for now that is all I need. The authorities hinder me by not letting me have a computer in my cell, so that I have to write everything by hand or on a typewriter. Right now, I am working on another project, about the creation. That is pretty much an interpretation of parts of our mythology, will be written in Norwegian, but will (unlike with "Vargsmål") translate it into English as well and from there I guess it will be translated into German as well, I will systemize our mythology and reveal some facts about our past that is not yet known.
Firstly, I will write the book about Ginnungagap and then later I will deal with the other myths and subjects. I am more or less finished with the preliminary work so it is pretty much all about getting it all down on the paper now. I must say I really love to work with this, and ironically, I would probably not have had the time to do it if I had not been imprisoned.
How is your daughter? I imagine it must be difficult staying in contact with your family given the present situation. Or have prison conditions improved a bit? I remember you mentioned that at one point you were completely shut off from the outside world and they even stopped letters from your mother...
My daughter is, as far as I know, fine. I got a letter from her some weeks ago, but apart from that I haven't had any contact with her since the summer of ninety-three. The prison conditions tend to change all the time. Now I am in Trondheim, about 500 kilometers from my hometown (i.e. my family and my friends). It's a bit irritating of course, but as we say; "strength is to ignore". Nothing lasts forever. In the meanwhile, I will educate myself to their great despair.
Is Islam a growing threat in Norway? If so, will you fight it just as you fight Christianity and Judaism? (I remember you once said you would fight anything that is alien to the true pagan people).
Islam is an adversary to the Christian religions, so I say let them tear each other apart. If one of them wins or becomes too powerful, we will simply join forces with the weaker part, only to obliterate it when WE are the strongest part. Today Christianity is the strongest part, so we should not attack Islam, instead we should join forces with them and fight Judaism and Christianity together with them.
Besides, Islam is much closer to our philosophy of life than what Christianity is, after all, they hail those who die in battle, they have a sense of honour and of course, their view on women is far better than the Christian one. It is better with "Allah hu akbar" in the morning seven days a week, than with church bells every Sunday.
It should be pretty needless to say though, that no alien religion can be accepted in OUR Europe, be it Islam, Judaism, or any form of Christianity (all generally referred to - by me - as "Judeo-Christianity").
***
Here is a little step back into 1991/1992 and "Putrefaction" zine #7 interview with Count... Just to see his earlier interests and beliefs. By the way, "Brainstorm" magazine had some contact with Varg back in 1993, and we can assure you it was like this interview - ideas, beliefs, style... We give an authentic text of the interview:
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Burzum, the new Black Metal group from Norway! Oh, their LP is just fucking great! I hope you have bought it from DSP? If you not own this record, you have missed a very good Black Metal album! The music Burzum are playing are real atmospheric, and we can describe them to sound like: Bathory, Celtic Frost and Mayhem in their old times... Well, now to the interview...
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First of all, are Burzum a one man band?
Hm... First of all I am not a man!! But yes I am the only horny being in Burzum.
Isn't it hard to play all the instruments alone?
Well, in some songs yes! Mostly it is quite easy!
And now you have recorded your debut LP, what is the title of it?
I think it is right for Burzum to call their debut LP just Burzum, so I did! Many old groups called their debut LP only after the band name, so I think doing it now brings the old spirit up again!
How much do you hope the album will sell?
So many that I can live out of the music! The underground is dead! Only (almost) trend people left!!!
What do you think of that Darkthrone has changed their style from Techno Death Metal to Black Metal?
About that, Darkthrone has always played Black Metal, "Soulside Journey" has total Black Metal lyrics, so it is also a Black Metal LP. Their new stuff more what people know as Black Metal musically! I think it is better than the death of Jesus!
How much money do you get for every 1000 copies you sell?
10,000 NOK, ca. 130-140 USD.
What new bands DSP has signed?
Abruptum, Mayhem. Maybe Arcturus.
What do you think of that Entombed are in Swedish television, and on the money making MTV?
I have always hated Entombed! I guess their second LP is better than "Left Hand Path". I hope that for Entombed... "Left Hand Path" is the bottom of shitty Death Metal! False people should not be anywhere! By the way, it is not MTV. It is NTV - "Nigger television".
What do you want to do with all false people?
Rip their little sisters heads off, then fuck them in their throat! Necropedophily rules!
Do you wear black clothes and spikes?
I wear black clothes yes! I wear spikes only in war with medieval maniacs in Bergen.
Which are your total classic Death Metal albums?
"Morbid Tales".
Future plans and last shit?
Abruptum must be Norwegian! Future plans: make war with Sweden!
Hm... First of all I am not a man!! But yes I am the only horny being in Burzum.
Isn't it hard to play all the instruments alone?
Well, in some songs yes! Mostly it is quite easy!
And now you have recorded your debut LP, what is the title of it?
I think it is right for Burzum to call their debut LP just Burzum, so I did! Many old groups called their debut LP only after the band name, so I think doing it now brings the old spirit up again!
How much do you hope the album will sell?
So many that I can live out of the music! The underground is dead! Only (almost) trend people left!!!
What do you think of that Darkthrone has changed their style from Techno Death Metal to Black Metal?
About that, Darkthrone has always played Black Metal, "Soulside Journey" has total Black Metal lyrics, so it is also a Black Metal LP. Their new stuff more what people know as Black Metal musically! I think it is better than the death of Jesus!
How much money do you get for every 1000 copies you sell?
10,000 NOK, ca. 130-140 USD.
What new bands DSP has signed?
Abruptum, Mayhem. Maybe Arcturus.
What do you think of that Entombed are in Swedish television, and on the money making MTV?
I have always hated Entombed! I guess their second LP is better than "Left Hand Path". I hope that for Entombed... "Left Hand Path" is the bottom of shitty Death Metal! False people should not be anywhere! By the way, it is not MTV. It is NTV - "Nigger television".
What do you want to do with all false people?
Rip their little sisters heads off, then fuck them in their throat! Necropedophily rules!
Do you wear black clothes and spikes?
I wear black clothes yes! I wear spikes only in war with medieval maniacs in Bergen.
Which are your total classic Death Metal albums?
"Morbid Tales".
Future plans and last shit?
Abruptum must be Norwegian! Future plans: make war with Sweden!
***
Again, to these days, we must admit this feature has no comment on the latest Burzum album "Dauði Baldrs", but review should say it all. Here comes the second section of Rainer's feature, where Varg answers some of the miscellaneous questions that Burzum fans reading his page have asked to put to him:
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Do you have a favourite Burzum album? (Stuart)
Both yes and no. It depends on my mood. I am pretty satisfied with the HLTO (Hvis Lyset Tar Oss) album, but then again I am pretty satisfied with the DSEV (Det Som Engang Var) album as well. All in all I like the "Dauði Baldrs" album best, but when it comes to the old albums I think the debut is the best for nostalgic moments, the DSEV is the best for lone moments, the HLTO is the best for contemplation and aggressive moments, the "Filosofem" album is the best for...certain moments (it is - for me - something like a mix between HLTO and the debut, as the tracks are from these two albums. Well, from the "eras" of these two albums). My favourite thus are "Dauði Baldrs" and HLTO.
Who is the mother of your child? (Emiel)
I do not want to tell her name, as she might not want that to be known, but I can tell she is a Norwegian. She is a weird character, living in the end of some deep fjord. She is an agricultural college graduate/agronomist, growing most of the food they need herself, playing violin, wearing homemade clothes and generally being weird (of course mostly in a positive way).
What bands do you listen to these days? (Travis)
None actually. We are not allowed to listen to music here, and we are not even allowed to have a Walkman here, so it is not very easy to listen to any music really. If I could listen to music though. I would listen to - apart from folk music and classical music - bands like Das Ich, Goethes Erben, old Kraftwerk and some other electronic music I guess.
Do you love nature? (Anna)
Yes, absolutely. It is Mother Earth's green nature that provides us with everything we need to survive, evolve and fulfil our tasks. We are ourselves a part of nature, just like the trees of the forest and the air we breathe, and it is our duty to see to it that these parts of nature are clean and healthy as well. The capitalist exploitation of Mother Earth that goes on as we speak is horrendous and it must be stopped as soon as possible by all means. This as well is a part of our struggle for nature, both our Aryan nature and the nature we live in. Aesthetically nature is beautiful as well, just like our Aryan race. There is nothing of more value to us than nature, both our Aryan nature and Nature, and besides love must learn respect and admiration for this. Heil Mother Earth!
Why did you decide to get a skinhead look? (Heide)
That is just how I looked at the time the TV news team got there. We could turn the question around however, and ask "why did you let your hair grow"? As I was a skinhead in my mid-teens as well. As for the "skinhead" look today, or better last year and the year before that. I like it, besides it was nice to make it clear to some people where I was on the "political scale". For some strange reason people seem to understand such things only if you have the haircut that matches their picture of how a person with that certain political ideology look. Now I have a normal short hair, which of course the newspapers refer to as a "Hitler-Jugend" haircut, and generally I do not pay all that much attention to such things as haircut. It is pretty irrelevant. Short hair is good in battle. It is practical and easy to clean, which after all has something to say when we are not allowed to shower "all that much" in prison.
What make of guitar do/did you play? (Bjorn)
I have a Westone guitar, and I have had that guitar all the time, since 1987 when I started to play. It is just some old, cheap, and according to all "experts" crappy guitar, but it has worked fine for me and my needs (so far). It is a bit rusty and definitely not a pretty sight, but that is not very important.
Are you still friends with Immortal? ("Dragonulv")
Well, well, well. I have not talked to them for some years now, or been in contact with them in any other way. They have their interests (inebriation and music) and I have mine, and our paths do not cross in any context, so...
Ok, that will be all. Heil Wotan!
Both yes and no. It depends on my mood. I am pretty satisfied with the HLTO (Hvis Lyset Tar Oss) album, but then again I am pretty satisfied with the DSEV (Det Som Engang Var) album as well. All in all I like the "Dauði Baldrs" album best, but when it comes to the old albums I think the debut is the best for nostalgic moments, the DSEV is the best for lone moments, the HLTO is the best for contemplation and aggressive moments, the "Filosofem" album is the best for...certain moments (it is - for me - something like a mix between HLTO and the debut, as the tracks are from these two albums. Well, from the "eras" of these two albums). My favourite thus are "Dauði Baldrs" and HLTO.
Who is the mother of your child? (Emiel)
I do not want to tell her name, as she might not want that to be known, but I can tell she is a Norwegian. She is a weird character, living in the end of some deep fjord. She is an agricultural college graduate/agronomist, growing most of the food they need herself, playing violin, wearing homemade clothes and generally being weird (of course mostly in a positive way).
What bands do you listen to these days? (Travis)
None actually. We are not allowed to listen to music here, and we are not even allowed to have a Walkman here, so it is not very easy to listen to any music really. If I could listen to music though. I would listen to - apart from folk music and classical music - bands like Das Ich, Goethes Erben, old Kraftwerk and some other electronic music I guess.
Do you love nature? (Anna)
Yes, absolutely. It is Mother Earth's green nature that provides us with everything we need to survive, evolve and fulfil our tasks. We are ourselves a part of nature, just like the trees of the forest and the air we breathe, and it is our duty to see to it that these parts of nature are clean and healthy as well. The capitalist exploitation of Mother Earth that goes on as we speak is horrendous and it must be stopped as soon as possible by all means. This as well is a part of our struggle for nature, both our Aryan nature and the nature we live in. Aesthetically nature is beautiful as well, just like our Aryan race. There is nothing of more value to us than nature, both our Aryan nature and Nature, and besides love must learn respect and admiration for this. Heil Mother Earth!
Why did you decide to get a skinhead look? (Heide)
That is just how I looked at the time the TV news team got there. We could turn the question around however, and ask "why did you let your hair grow"? As I was a skinhead in my mid-teens as well. As for the "skinhead" look today, or better last year and the year before that. I like it, besides it was nice to make it clear to some people where I was on the "political scale". For some strange reason people seem to understand such things only if you have the haircut that matches their picture of how a person with that certain political ideology look. Now I have a normal short hair, which of course the newspapers refer to as a "Hitler-Jugend" haircut, and generally I do not pay all that much attention to such things as haircut. It is pretty irrelevant. Short hair is good in battle. It is practical and easy to clean, which after all has something to say when we are not allowed to shower "all that much" in prison.
What make of guitar do/did you play? (Bjorn)
I have a Westone guitar, and I have had that guitar all the time, since 1987 when I started to play. It is just some old, cheap, and according to all "experts" crappy guitar, but it has worked fine for me and my needs (so far). It is a bit rusty and definitely not a pretty sight, but that is not very important.
Are you still friends with Immortal? ("Dragonulv")
Well, well, well. I have not talked to them for some years now, or been in contact with them in any other way. They have their interests (inebriation and music) and I have mine, and our paths do not cross in any context, so...
Ok, that will be all. Heil Wotan!
***
Thanx for Rainer Padamsee and his efforts with interview for the Burzum homepage.
Author: Tadas Kazlauskas (© 1998 "Ledo Takas" magazine, Lithuania)
