Sven Erik Kristiansen (born 4 February 1969) is a Norwegian musician, best known as the former vocalist in the

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 Mayhem under the stage name Maniac.

With Mayhem

Kristiansen joined Mayhem in 1986 after the departure of the band's original vocalist Messiah and left in 1988, he was then replaced by Dead, who was later replaced by Kittil after Dead's suicide in 1991. When

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are often re ...

decided to revive Mayhem in 1995 after the deaths of both

Euronymous Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...

and

Dead Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

and the imprisonment of Count Grishnakh, he invited Maniac to return as the band's vocalist. He was known for giving extremely intense live performances and would often cut himself onstage, frequently landing him in intensive care units. However, in a later interview Kristiansen stated "...when we realized that the cutting had become a phenomenon people came to watch, I quit doing it."Mic Norwa
Maniac: My last years with Mayhem
retrieved 11 September 2008. He has also stated that the coverage Mayhem has received is disproportionate. Kristiansen was in the band until 2004 when he was asked to leave due to his erratic behavior. In the only press release about the split, he also cited lack of time as being a vital factor. In 2016 Kristensen briefly rejoined Mayhem onstage during the Inferno Festival in Oslo, Norway.

Personal life

Kristiansen has three children: a daughter with his wife, Eri Isaka (aka Vivian Slaughter), a son with his ex-girlfriend, Hilma, and a daughter from a previous relationship. He has said that since he became a father, he has become more conscious of what he exposes himself to and is less destructive. For several years, Kristiansen was a self-admitted

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

. According to him, the turning point was one day when he found himself hanging by one arm out of a fourth floor window, with no idea how he got there. He is married to Vivian Slaughter, bassist and vocalist for the now defunct Japanese band

Gallhammer Gallhammer () were a Japanese extreme metal group that drew on blackened crust, black metal, doom metal and crust punk. They formed in Tokyo in 2003 and released three studio albums. The current group lineup is Vivian Slaughter (vocals, bass g ...

Discography

Mayhem * ''

Deathcrush ''Deathcrush'' is the debut EP and overall first commercial release by Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. It was released on 16 August 1987 by Posercorpse Music. Background Though influential to black metal, its lyrics and sound were largely i ...

'' (1987) (EP) * ''

Wolf's Lair Abyss ''Wolf's Lair Abyss'' is an EP by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. According to the band's website, it is the first part of ''Grand Declaration of War''. The main riff of the last track, "Symbols of Bloodswords", is used in "A Grand Decl ...

'' (1997) (EP) * ''Mediolanum Capta Est'' (1999) (live album) * ''

Grand Declaration of War ''Grand Declaration of War'' is the second full-length studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, released by Season of Mist and Necropolis Records on 6 June 2000. A re-release of the album came out in December 2018, with Jaime Gomez ...

'' (2000) (studio album) * '' European Legions'' (2001) (compilation) * ''

Chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of Ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilicia ...

'' (2004) (studio album) * ''Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando'' (2021) (guest vocals on 1 track) Skitliv *''Kristiansen and Kvarforth Swim in the Sea of Equilibrium While Waiting'' (2007) (demo) *''Amfetamin (MCD)'' (2008) (EP) *''Skandinavisk misantropi'' (2009) (studio album)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristiansen, Sven Erik 1969 births Living people Mayhem (band) members Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian rock singers Norwegian heavy metal singers Black metal singers Punk rock singers Norwegian male singers Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Place of birth missing (living people)