Bård Guldvik "Faust" Eithun (born 21 April 1974) is a Norwegian drummer known primarily for his work with
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
band
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
. In 1993, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for murder. He has been out of prison since 2003.
Education
Eithun studied at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
.
Career
Stigma Diabolicum (1990), Thorns (1990–1992)
Eithun started his career as a drummer at the age of 16 for the first Stigma Diabolicum demos, ''Lacus De Luna - Rehearsal'' and ''Live in Stjørdal'' in 1990 and in the
Thorns
Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to:
Botany
* Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants
* ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species
Comics and literature
* Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...
demo, ''The Thule Tapes'' in 1992.
Emperor (1992–1994, 2014)
Eithun is best known for his work with early black metal band Emperor, especially on the releases ''
As the Shadows Rise'' and the groundbreaking ''
In the Nightside Eclipse
''In the Nightside Eclipse'' is the first studio album and fourth official release by Norwegian black metal band Emperor, released in 1994 through Candlelight Records. It was their only album to feature drummer Faust and one-time bassist Tchort. ...
''. In 2013 Faust returned to Emperor as drummer for the 20th-anniversary tour of ''
In the Nightside Eclipse
''In the Nightside Eclipse'' is the first studio album and fourth official release by Norwegian black metal band Emperor, released in 1994 through Candlelight Records. It was their only album to feature drummer Faust and one-time bassist Tchort. ...
'' in the summer of 2014, where they also played the full setlist in
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...
.
Conviction and release
On 21 August 1992, while Eithun was visiting family in
Lillehammer
Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
, he stabbed Magne Andreassen to death.
According to Eithun, while walking home from a pub through the
Olympic park
An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics c ...
, a well-known gay
cruising spot, Andreassen drunkenly approached him and solicited him for sex. Eithun agreed to go with him to the nearby woods and stabbed Andreassen 37 times. He kicked him in the head repeatedly as he lay on the ground.
Eithun claimed that he felt no remorse at the time.
Ihsahn
Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn (), is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer, best known for his work with black metal band Emperor. Tveitan is also a founding member of Tho ...
, his bandmate in Emperor, said that Eithun "had been very fascinated by serial killers for a long time, and I guess he wanted to know what it's like to kill a person".
[ The media has linked the murder to black metal and speculated that Eithun was motivated by ]Satanism
Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the atheistic Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States in 1966, although a few hi ...
, fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
, or homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
. In a 1993 interview, he stated: "I am not a Satanist, but I praise the evil".[Interview with Euronymous, Faust, Metalion and others from ''Beat'', Issue 2 (1993)]
In an interview for the book '' Lords of Chaos'', he explained that he had been "interested in Satanism but there are other things as well. Basically, I don't give a shit". In a 2008 interview, Eithun said: "I was never a Satanist or fascist in any way". In a 2012 interview he said: "I never had any racist or homophobic views". Gaahl
Kristian Eivind Espedal (born 7 August 1975), better known by his stage name Gaahl, is a Norwegian vocalist and painter. He is best known as the former frontman of Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He is also the founder and lead vocalist of ...
, who is an openly gay member of the Norwegian black metal scene, said that Eithun was the first person to send him a message of support when he came out. Jørn Inge Tunsberg
Jørn Inge Tunsberg (born 4 December 1970 in Bergen, Norway) is a death/black metal musician. He lives in Bergen and plays guitar in the black metal band Hades Almighty and the industrial metal band Dominanz.
Tunsberg played in the bands Old F ...
of the band Hades Almighty
Hades Almighty is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen, Norway. They were formed in 1992, originally under the moniker Hades. They were forced to change their name to Hades Almighty in 1998, following complaints from an American band with a ...
said that the murder was "an impulse killing" and that "it had nothing to do with black metal".
Police initially had no suspects, and Eithun remained free for about a year. However, he told Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth, Varg Vikernes
Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian writer and retired musician best known for his early black metal albums and later crimes. His first five records, issued under the name Bur ...
, and a few others what he had done. After Vikernes' murder of Aarseth in August 1993, Eithun was arrested and confessed to killing Andreassen. In 1994, he was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, but was released due to good behavior in 2003 after serving nine years and four months.[
]
Discography
* Stigma Diabolicum – various reh-tapes and live-tape from Stjørdalen, Norway 1990
* Thorns
Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to:
Botany
* Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants
* ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species
Comics and literature
* Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...
– various reh-tapes 1990–1992
* Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
– ''Emperor'' – split CD with Enslaved 1992 (Candlelight)
* Emperor – '' As the Shadows Rise'' 1994 (Nocturnal Art Prod)
* Emperor – ''In the Nightside Eclipse
''In the Nightside Eclipse'' is the first studio album and fourth official release by Norwegian black metal band Emperor, released in 1994 through Candlelight Records. It was their only album to feature drummer Faust and one-time bassist Tchort. ...
'' 1994 (Candlelight)
* Cadaver Inc. – a spoken passage on the ''Kill Tech'' song featured on ''Discipline
Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...
'' 2001 (Earache)
* Ulver
Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...
– drums on ''The Future Sound of Music'' on ''Perdition City
''Perdition City'' (subtitled ''Music to an Interior Film'') is the fifth studio album by Norwegian experimental electronica band Ulver, issued in March 2000, via Jester Records. The album was recorded and produced by Kristoffer Rygg and Tore ...
'' 2000 (Jester)
* Zyklon
Zyklon was a Norwegian blackened death metal band formed in 1998 by Samoth and Trym of Emperor, along with members of Myrkskog. Their style has been described as modern death metal with black and industrial undertones. After more than a two-y ...
– ''World ov Worms
''World ov Worms'' is the debut album by the Norwegian black metal band Zyklon. It was released in 2001 by Candlelight Records.
Track listing
All lyrics by Bård "Faust" Eithun, with lyrical ideas (on "Terrordrome") and title concept (on "W ...
'' (2001, wrote all lyrics)
* Sigh
Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using techniques such as prosody, pitch, volume, intonation, etc. It is sometimes defined as relatin ...
– lyrics for ''Nietzschean Conspiracy'' – ''Imaginary Sonicscape
''Imaginary Sonicscape'' is the fifth studio album by Japanese black metal band Sigh, released on July 4, 2001. Produced by Sigh, it was the band's first record released on Century Media Records. The musical styles of ''Imaginary Sonicscape'' fur ...
'' (2001 album)
* Zyklon – ''Aeon
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeles ...
'' (2003, wrote all lyrics)
* Blood Tsunami
Blood Tsunami is a Norwegian thrash metal band from Oslo, formed by Peter Michael Kolstad Vegem in 2004 and currently signed to Indie Recordings.
Biography
2003–2004
Lead vocalist and lead guitarist Peter Michael Kolstad Vegem (a.k.a. Pete ...
– Demo (2005)
* Scum – ''Protest Life'' (single-CD, 2005)
* Scum – ''Gospels for the Sick
''Gospels for the Sick'' is the debut album of the hardcore punk/black metal supergroup Scum. The album was released on 5 September 2005 through DogJob Records, Bitzcore and Candlelight Records. The album is noted for its fusion of black metal a ...
'' (2005)
* Blood Tsunami – ''Thrash Metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
'' (2007)
* Zyklon – '' Disintegrate'' (2006, wrote all lyrics)
* Aborym
Aborym are an Italian industrial black metal band from Taranto, Apulia, formed in 1993. The band have described their music as "alien-black-hard/industrial", whilst Allmusic described them as playing "a truly original brand of futuristic black m ...
– ''Generator
Generator may refer to:
* Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
* Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
* Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
'' (2006)
* Blood Tsunami– ''Castle of Skulls – demo'' (2009)
* Blood Tsunami – ''Grand Feast for Vultures'' (2009)
* Aborym – ''Psychogrotesque
''Psychogrotesque'' is the fifth studio album by the Italian industrial black metal band Aborym.
The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Fear No One Studios by Emiliano Natali, with the sound consulting of Marc Urselli (founder of The M.E.M ...
'' (2010)
* Aborym – ''Dirty
Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty.
Common types of dirt include:
* Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains
* Dust: a genera ...
'' (2013)
* Blood Tsunami – '' For Faen!'' (2013)
* Djevel – ''Blant svarte graner'' (2018)
* Blood Tsunami – '' Grave Condition'' (2018)
* Djevel – ''Ormer til armer, maane til hode'' (2019)
* Djevel – ''Tanker som rir natten'' (2021)
* Djevel – ''Naa skrider natten sort'' (2022)
In popular culture
Eithus was played by Valter Skarsgård
Valter Skarsgård (; born 25 October 1995) is a Swedish actor.
Personal life
Skarsgård is the youngest son of actor Stellan Skarsgård and My Skarsgård, a physician. He has seven siblings, five of whom are from his father's first marriage: Al ...
in the 2018 biographical-horror-thriller film '' Lords of Chaos''.
Bibliography
* ''Orcustus
Orcustus is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 2002.
History
Orcustus formed in Bergen, Norway, in early 2002 by Taipan, Dirge Rep, Infernus and Tormentor. Their moniker, meaning "the inner circle of Hell where Lucifer resides on his thron ...
'', underground zine
A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published
Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...
published by Eithun in the early 1990s
References
Sources
*
External links
Faust interview at ''About.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faust
1974 births
Living people
20th-century Norwegian criminals
Norwegian male criminals
Norwegian black metal musicians
Norwegian heavy metal drummers
Male drummers
Norwegian people convicted of murder
People convicted of murder by Norway
21st-century Norwegian drummers
21st-century Norwegian male musicians
Aborym members
Emperor (band) members
Dissection (band) members
Violence against gay men
Violence against men in Europe