Norwegian black metal before the boom....

It is no exaggeration to say that Norway's black metal scene is the most important in the history of the genre. Once the style took hold, and bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, Burzum, Thorns, and more began creating black metal music, the world of metal was forever changed. However, I want to highlight some important and lesser-known developments in Norwegian black metal before the explosion of the early 1990s.

Tromsø's 666

Mayhem, despite what most people know and think, is not actually the first Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1984 in Oslo, this is true, but the band 666--from the city of Tromsø--predates the existence of Mayhem. They formed in 1982 and played a darkly satanic style of metal that owes a lot to 70s hard rock. They never released any proper studio albums, but did become known in the metal underground for their live shows. Their only releases, in fact, are recordings of several early 1980s live shows that surfaced in the 1990s and later.

"Lucifer" is one of 666's more well-known songs

Select Discography:

Live I (recorded 1982, released 1998)

Live II (recorded 1982, released 1998)

Live III (recorded 1983, released 2003)

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Sarpsborg's PERDITION HEARSE formed as Disorder in 1988, but by 1990 they had changed their name and were putting out demos of old-school black metal. Their sound was a very unrefined style that still drew on a death/thrash template but was recognizably black metal nonetheless.

"My Ancient Gods Behind Them" is off of the demo Mala Fide

The mastermind behind Perdition Hearse was the man known as Occultus. Despite Perdition Hearse's early appearance on the scene, Occultus himself would go on to be a part of the Norwegian black metal boom in his own right: he was one of the co-founders of the infamous Helvete record shop, and played session bass in Mayhem for a short time.

Select Discography:

Rehearsal (demo) (1990)

The Stealthy Beyond Death (demo) (1991)

Mala Fide (demo) (1992)

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In the 1980s and early 1990s, a few other bands in Norway popped up on the radar as part of early efforts at black metal. Some of these bands went on to make an impact; others, not so much. Black/thrash band BLASPHEMER, for example, isn't known for much beyond two nasty-sounding demos, and may very well be a joke band (one rumor is that Metalion, of Slayer magazine, was a member). Here is a sample of their sound from the 1986 demo Voice of Dead Babbs:

Oslo's VALHALL--having formed in 1987--followed a pretty interesting trajectory in relation to black metal. A side project of Darkthrone's Fenriz, they actually released a slew of noteworthy demos in the late 80s and early 90s before becoming a stoner doom band and leaving behind black/death metal entirely.

This is their 1988 demo Castle of Death in full

There were some other obscure bands that emerged before Norwegian black metal exploded from the underground into metal mainstream notoriety--like Råde's SLAUGHT or Askim's FESTER--but their impact was even more minimal than the above-mentioned bands.

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With all of that being said, two bands that are worth mentioning because of their role in shaping what would become the Norwegian black metal boom are OLD FUNERAL and THOU SHALT SUFFER. Neither band were really black metal, per se, but they both served as influences on the scene as well as bands with some rather famous rosters.

OLD FUNERAL

Forming as Funeral in 1988, they supposedly started calling themselves 'Old Funeral' because of another band named Funeral that arose shortly thereafter. Old Funeral was especially notable because it contained--at various points in its four years of existence--Abbath and Demonaz from Immortal, Varg from Burzum, and Jørn from Hades. Interestingly enough, these men were never all in the band at the same time.

"Skin and Bone" can be found on the 1990 demo, Abduction of Limbs

In terms of their sound, it clearly owed a large debt to the emerging Swedish death metal scene that was all the rage. The raw, evil style of this band can also clearly be seen as a precursor to the black metal brilliance that Norway would soon be known for.

The band more or less had a rotating roster, but it had broken up for good by 1992. After Mayhem's Euronymous had laid down the gauntlet in a late 1991 magazine interview--calling out Norwegian extreme metal musicians for their lack of creativity and blatant attempts at cloning American and Swedish death metal--many musicians answered the call by seeking to join the ranks of black metal elite. Abbath and Demonaz went on to form Immortal (after briefly dabbling in death metal again with AMPUTATION), Varg Vikernes resurrected Uruk-Hai (which eventually evolved into Burzum), and Jørn formed Hades.

Old Funeral's Select Discography:

The Fart that Should Not Be (demo) (1989)

Abduction of Limbs (demo) (1990)

Devoured Carcass 7" (1991)

The Older Ones (compilation) (1999)

THOU SHALT SUFFER

Thou Shalt Suffer, on the other hand, more or less served as proving grounds for musicians who would go on to form Emperor and Ildjarn (more on these two entities at a later date).

Initially formed in 1990 by Ihsahn and Samoth as Dark Device, Thou Shalt Suffer played more on the black metal side of the extreme metal spectrum than death metal. Exploring eerie and dark sounds with the synth compositions that Ihsahn provided, Thou Shalt Suffer was actually a pretty unique band for 1991 Norway. 

This is the title track from the 1991 demo Into the Woods of Belial

Again, much like Old Funeral, the members of Thou Shalt Suffer began to explore new sounds outside of the bounds of this project as a result of Euronymous's call to arms. Samoth, for example, began composing songs that would eventually become the first music for Emperor, and Ildjarn sought to form his own eponymous band that would go on to become highly influential.

Thou Shalt Suffer Select Discography:

Rehearsal (demo) (1991)

Open the Mysteries of Your Creation 7" (1991)

Into the Woods of Belial (demo) (1991)

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Next time: GRAVELAND