Mayhem vocalist Attila Csihar has detailed his brief friendship with late guitarist Euronymous in an interview for Metal Hammer.
Csihar says that he was invited to join the band following the suicide of frontman Dead (Per Yngve 'Pelle' Ohlin) in 1991, as the guitarist was a fan of his band Tormentor's album demos, which he'd acquired through the underground scene's tape-trading network. In return, Csihar received two tapes: Mayhem's Deathcrush and demos for what was to become their full-length debut De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.
"I remember when I first heard that demo," recalls Csihar. "I was like, 'Holy shit, I never heard anything like this ever' I never heard riffs like that before, I never heard drumming like that. Some of my friends thought they'd sped up the tape. This was something really special."
When Csihar travelled from Hungary to Norway, he was met by Euronymous and Varg Vikernes [then Mayhem's bassist, having replaced Necrobutcher, who left temporarily following Dead's suicide]. The latter was wearing chainmail to "protect himself".
"We stayed at Euronymous' place for a few days, and it was kind of gothic inside, with red curtains," says Csihar. "We travelled up to Bergen to stay at Varg's place. He had a very fucking nice flat. He had a washing machine and a dishwasher. He was definitely from a more wealthy background. He was still like a metal dude. He was more into Tolkien, fantasy worlds, and the dark stuff. Completely different to what he later became."
Csihar says his first impressions of the late guitarist were at complete odds with how he'd imagined during their previous correspondence.
“He seemed very polite, kind of gentle," remembers Csihar. "He always used a typewriter when he sent a letter. Very organised and into this movement. He had some cool, big ideas for the future. I talked to him on the phone and always pictured him as a tall guy, taller than me. Like a big Viking guy. When I met him, he was much smaller.”
On August 10, 1993, Vikernes murdered Euronymous, stabbing him multiple times outside his home in Oslo. Csihar, who'd by then recorded vocals for De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas and was at home in Budapest, learned of his death via a friend.
“It was fucked up," says Csihar. "It was strange actually, because I’d tried to call the guys. We’d talk every week but didn’t speak for a little while. A friend of mine told me he’d read someone in Mayhem had been murdered. I told him he misunderstood because of Dead's suicide. He told me to see for myself in a magazine called Metallica Hungarica. There was a small news story. I couldn’t fucking believe it. It was scary.”
Read the full interview in the new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.
Mayhem's new album Liturgy of Death is out now through Century Media.
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