Burzum: The Early Years

The story of BURZUM is so well-documented, I'm not sure how much detail to go into.  Varg Vikernes (the mastermind behind Burzum) began a solo project called Uruk-Hai sometime around 1988 or 1989, after he had only been playing the guitar for a couple years.  To my knowledge, there are no known recordings from that time period.  In later years (sometime in the later 1990s), some recordings emerged of Uruk-Hai material, but this was not actually from the years 1988-1989--it only claimed to be.  After the early Uruk-Hai years, Vikernes joined the Norwegian death/black metal band Old Funeral.  They were active from the years 1990-1991.  This band included Abbath (later of Immortal fame) and Jørn (later of Hades fame).

After the demise of this band, Vikernes revived the Uruk-Hai project under the name Burzum, which is the word for "darkness" in the Black Speech of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  This was more or less an old-school black metal project, but with the touch of that occultic edge that 1980s Mayhem had.

From the first untitled Burzum demo, this is "Lost Wisdom"

Vikernes put out two untitled demos in 1991 under the Burzum name.  They included many songs which went on to become classics, such as "Lost Wisdom," "Spell of Destruction," "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit," and "Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown."  Many of these songs were instrumental, with no vocals.  Nonetheless, they highlighted the emerging Norwegian sound.  Bearing resemblance to what Mayhem had done up to this point, while maintaining some uniqueness, these Burzum tracks helped lay the template for many black metal bands to come.

This is from the 1992 self-titled album...

In 1992, Burzum released a self-titled album.  This was put out on Euronymous's label Deathlike Silence Productions.  The back story to this is very complicated, and if you want the full details, the internet has so many sites devoted to this it isn't even funny.  In terms of black metal sound, the self-titled album was a continuation of the the sound pioneered on the demos, but at the same time an improvement.  I think that Vikernes' vocals were more tortured, more insane-sounding than pretty much any other black metal vocalist up to that point in history.  That first album is one of black metal's all-time greats.

From 1993's Aske EP, this is "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit"

The following year, Burzum put out the Aske EP.  With a name meaning "ashes", the cover art featured one of the burnt churches that the Norwegian black metal Inner Circle members had torched.  This material was very much in the same vein as the self-titled material.  Aesthetically similar, it sounded like a continuation of 1992's Burzum.  In fact, the Burzum and Aske albums have been packaged as a double release many times since 1993.

In the following years Vikernes put out some very important albums.  These, however, shall be dealt with at a later date.  I feel like the years 1993-1996 were the peak of Burzum's brilliance, and as such, they merit their own entry.

Discography of Burzum's early years:

Demo I (1991)

Demo II (1991)

Burzum (demo) (1992)

Burzum (full-length) (1992)

Aske EP (1993)

Next time: IMMORTAL's early years