More on Mayhem: I'm scared

OK, since my post yesterday, my morbid curiosity about Mayhem has been reignited (and why I didn't just ignore these feelings, I will never know).

Anyway, a quick little search on the 'net turned up these fun Mayhem facts (WARNING: Disturbing stuff ahead):

• Euronymous owned a record store in Oslo called "Helvete" ("hell" in Norwegian).

• He also founded a merry little band of goth rockers called "The Black Circle" that pranced around on nights of frolic during which they would set churches on fire, vandalize cemeteries and intimidate bands from Sweden.

• Before he went to kill Euronymous, the criminal mastermind Count Grishnackh dropped a friend off at his own house to "make a lot of noise, such as typing and playing loud music" so his neighbors could say they heard him at home during the timeframe of the murder. Imagine that police interview: "There is no way that my neighbor, who goes by the name Count Grishnackh and plays in a death metal band called Mayhem, could have committed this brutal murder at 5 p.m. on Saturday. He was at home at 5 p.m. on Saturday. How do I know? I heard loud music. And typing."

• They have songs called "Chainsaw Gutsfuck", "Necrolust" and "Procreation of the Wicked." Their first demo was titled "Pure Fucking Armageddon."

• Other members of the band include guys named Attila, Blasphemer and Maniac.

• Dead sniffed the bird in the bag to "get the stench of death before every song," according to bandmate Hellhammer.

• One rumor circulated that Count killed Euronymous because he was jealous of his evil reputation, which, you know, you can sort of understand.

• Another rumor suggested that he stabbed Euro 23 times in an effort to outdo a member of rival band Emperor, who stabbed a guy only, like, 21 times.

While reading all of that was certainly enjoyable, the downside of this little research project happened when I came across a photo of the "Dawn of Black Hearts" album cover. If you remember from yesterday's post, that's the one featuring the lovely Polaroid portrait of the dead body of the drummer fresh off his suicide. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, follow my lead and look for this unless you want THAT image burned into your head for the rest of the night. I think I will look at some pictures of the Care Bears now...