In a case of “what took you so long?,” online auction giant eBay has finally banned the sale of Burzum merchandise. Burzum is, for those unaware, the one-man, Norwegian, ambient, black metal band masterminded by convicted murderer and self-proclaimed racist Varg Vikernes.

Vikernes was convicted in 1994 of murdering his Mayhem bandmate Øystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseth by stabbing the guitarist 23 times reportedly over a contract dispute. Despite Vikernes’ convoluted claims of self defense, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison (the maximum sentence in Norway) and served 15 years before being paroled in 2009. (Watch Varg lay out his story of self defense, in his own words, in the video here below.)

On July 8th, a French court found Varg Vikernes guilty of inciting racial hatred and exalting war crimes. Vikernes is the sole member of Norwegian black metal and ambient band Burzum and is an outspoken National Socialist (read: Nazi), anti-semite, xenophobe. He is widely known for his role in burning several churches to the ground in Norway in the early ’90s and then murdering his Mayhem bandmate Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) by stabbing him 23 times over a contract dispute. Vikernes, then going by the stage name of Count Grishnackh, maintained that he killed Euronymous in self-defense with an explanation so convoluted as to be laughable. If you want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, you can do so here. He was convicted for the murder and sentenced to 21 years in prison (the maximum sentence in Norway). Vikernes famously turned to the cameras in the courtroom and smiled when his sentence was read.

If you’re a metalhead and into crafts, this one might be right up your alley.

Coming complete with a Flying V guitar, pentagram necklace, and bullet-belt; the only thing missing from this little Black Metal dude is the complete burning church playset. The awesome little figure, pictured right (click for enlarged version), is the result of an amigurumi crochet project created by the folks over at Karabouts.

The detail on this little guy is pretty stunning. The spiked gauntlets are made from tacks, the pentagram is actually an earring, and the bullet-belt is made from silver beads. The coolness of this awesome project just makes me want throw out the metal horns and growl some Satanic lyrics.

The artists behind this remarkable amigurumi are the Mike and Kara Amigurumi Design Team and you can check out more photos of the Black Metal dude (posed in front of a church!) and more of their creations at their website.

Until The Light Takes Us
DVD | 2-Disc DVD | Blu-Ray
Directed by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell
Starring Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell, Varg Vikernes, Jan Axel “Hellhammer” Blomberg, Kjetil “Frost” Haraldstad
Factory 25
Released: October 19, 2010

It was the early 1990s, and for metalheads, change was in the air. “Alternative” was the buzz word being bandied about by music marketing, Grunge had taken over the charts, new bands and new sounds were coming… but among metal fans there was a desire to search and find something new and something different — and many were looking for more extreme and brutal movements.

Enter the Norwegian Black Metal movement. A lot of metal fans were first introduced to this scene when news hit international media of Varg Vikernes (Burzum) being arrested and tried for burning a number of churches across Norway. The media across the world had a field day with the story, labeling the initially underground movement of Black Metal being driven by “Satanic” influences.

The crimes, the deaths, and the church burnings quickly became identifiable with the Black Metal movement from Norway; but it opened up a new surge of followers that established the sound of Norwegian Black Metal as an integral and significant part of the history of metal in general.