Bård Eithun (Thorns) - Daemonium Aeternus #2 - 1992

Snorre Ruch (Blackthorn), likely 1991-1992

Bård Eithun (Faust), likely 1991-1992

So here's where shit gets complicated, because I'm about to drop a giant, spiked gauntlet of a bomb on y'all: with the exception of Mayhem, Thorns is more responsible than any other band for the form of the black metal genre from the second wave on.  Paradoxically, they sound(ed) completely unlike any of their countrymen at the time of their first releases - a handful of demos in '91 and '92 - coming to (un)light, and that they never managed a proper full-length during this now-gestational period is a serious shame, for if they had, they would no doubt be mentioned in the same breath as the Mayhem/Darkthrone/Burzum/Emperor/Immortal pentumvirate.

Snorre Ruch rehearsing as second guitarist with Mayhem, likely 1992-1993, at the Kråkstad house

Snorre Ruch in prison, likely 1994-1998

Really though: the extreme harmonic dissonance and classically-inspired melodic key signatures, not to mention the lightning-wristed tremolo picking and general vibe of piercing blackness that the old Norwegian guard, and therefore the entire genre as it stands today, is known for all come from Mayhem and this band.  The fact that mastermind Snorre Ruch (Blackthorn, guitars/vocals) both played in Mayhem for a time as a second guitarist and contributed material to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, not to mention, according to reports, fleshing out Dead's lyrical sketches for the record, should speak volumes.  Indeed, within the tracks on the legendary demos and rehearsals that the group, including in their embryonic form as Stigma Diabolicum, did manage are stalwart, immediately recognisable riffs that later ended up being used by Euronymous himself for that very blackened obelisk of swirling, antimatter miasma.

Thorns/Stigma Diabolicum - Demos, Rehearsals - 1991/1992

Mandatory.

Bård "Faust" Eithun kit killing, likely 1993 on tour in the UK with Emperor

Meanwhile, I've unearthed an interview with Faust (then known simply as Bård Eithun), who, during his Orcustus days before destroying the rhythm sections of Emperor's '93 and '94 releases - you know the ones - and murdering strangers in the woods, had, in fact, been pounding skins with none other than Thorns.  This piece is from Daemonium Aeturnus #2 (1992), the same Dutch 'zine, run by The Unsane of the ultra-cult Bestial Summoning horde, whose issue #1 served as the source for the previous relic featuring Fenriz directly following the release of A Blaze in the Northern Sky.

Bård Eithun (Thorns) - Daemonium Aeternus #2 - 1992


Æon