Fenriz (Darkthrone) - Daemonium Aeturnus 'Zine # 1 - 1991

Soulside Journey-era group shot, probably ca. 1989-1990.  From L to R: Ivar Enger (Zephyrous), Ted Skjellum (Nocturno Culto), Hank Amarillo/Gylve Nagell (Fenriz), Dag Nilsen.

As I've been listening a lot to the Norwegian canon of late, following my presentation of the notorious Euronymous/Dead dual interview in Slayer # 8, I went and tracked down this short piece with Fenriz conducted right before the release of A Blaze in the Northern Sky, wherein he touches on the band's recent (and dramatic) transition from technical-leaning death metal to gnarled, grizzly black metal, resulting in what was, by some estimations, the first fully-fledged second-wave and/or Norwegian black metal record (I disagree, and point to Mayhem's 1987 EP Deathcrush, pretending that Pure Fucking Armageddon is ineligible given its demo status).

Fenriz (Darkthrone) - Daemonium Aeturnus 'Zine # 1 - 1991

Some notes about this: my presentation of it is in the old format, being that it's copied directly from web text and/or manually transcribed by me (the case in this instance is the former).  Please bear in mind that I've never actually seen this interview in print.  In fact, I've never even seen this issue of Daemonium Aeturnus (misspelled in the text as Dremonium Aeturnus) in print, physically, scanned, or otherwise.  I've never seen it referenced anywhere other than in the context of this Fenriz interview, which has been reproduced on a number of Darkthrone fan sites through the years.  Furthermore, I've never seen or even heard of other interviews from other bands with this issue.  Full disclosure.  However, it stands to reason that it did exist, as I have the second issue.

The text of this interview, in this case, was retrieved from http://come.to/northern_evilness/interviews/91.html, which was a great Darkthrone fansite from way back when.

The photos that I've included throughout, meanwhile, are especially fascinating, as you can see snapshots of the group's transition from death metal to black metal.  The band's adoption of corpse paint, meanwhile, may very well have begun with Fenriz, as many of the group shots below will attest.

Zephyrous, A Blaze in the Northern Sky sessions, ca. 1991

Nocturno Culto, A Blaze in the Northern Sky sessions, ca. 1991

Fenriz, ca. 1990-1991

Zephyrous, probably from the A Blaze in the Northern Sky sessions, ca. 1991

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Fenriz, ca, 1990-1991

Nocturno Culto, probably from the A Blaze in the Northern Sky sesions, ca. 1991

From L to R: Nocturno Culto, Fenriz, ca, 1990-1991

Nocturno Culto, probably from the A Blaze in the Northern Sky sessions, ca. 1991

Group shot, from L to R: Dag Nilsen, Fenriz, Zephyrous, Nocturno Culto, ca. A Blaze in the Northern Sky recordings or 1990-1991

Group shot, from L to R: Nocturno Culto, Dag Nilsen, Zephyrous, Fenriz, ca. 1990-1991

Group shot, from L to R: Dag Nilsen, Nocturno Culto, Fenriz, Zephyrous, ca. 1990-1991

Zephyrous, probably from the A Blaze in the Northern Sky sessions, ca. 1991

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