Vice Style

Since news broke of church arson and murder in the Norwegian black metal scene in the early 90s, there has been a lot of stigma attached to the culture. This was not the beginning of black metal though. It did in fact start in England. Anyway, like in any good scene, black metal bands found ways to depict their ideals through their merchandise. Predominantly black shirts, often sleeveless or long-sleeved—adorned with either Old English font-style logos, to pretty indecipherable band logos—were the staple of the black metaller in the early 90s. Here is a selection from my own collection, in order of their original release (note: not all shirts are original).

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THE FIRST WAVE

There is some debate as to where black metal originated. Newcastle apparently. Yep, Venom's 1982 sophomore effort definitely coined the phrase, as the record was titled Black Metal. However, stylistically, Sweden's Bathory's self-titled 1984 debut is more the blueprint for what would be known as black metal, but both remain big influences on all the second-wave black metal bands.

But what about Switzerland's Hellhammer? They were making music far grimmer than should have been allowed in1983. Check out Tom G. Warrior on the back. What a hero.

Hellhammer went on to change their name to Celtic Frost, but their thirst for playing filthy metal only magnified. This original Morbid Tales shirt is from one of their first UK tours in 1986, and as you can see, has hardly any print left.

Yes, the back does indeed read "Insulters of Jesus Christ". Somehow the black plague spilled over into South America in the late 80s, and Sarcofago turned the necro all the way up to 11 with their 1987 debut, INRI. Rumor has it that the bullet belts they wore on the sleeve were mainly made up of old batteries painted black because they couldn't find enough actual bullets. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, poser.

The blackness carried on up into the US in the early 90s. I guess as a backlash to the long played-out thrash scene and the on-the-way-to-ruin death metal scene, Von's retort was making what, for me, is one of the most evil recordings of all time: their 1992 demo "Satanic Blood". All their imagery was spot-on too, combining the usual Satanic imagery with an almost Native American slant. The eeriness of their music is somehow replicated in their artwork.

THE SECOND WAVE, AKA TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL

Darkthrone began life as a death metal band, releasing the seminal Soulside Journey in 1990. Having befriended the infamous Euronymous, they quickly made a stylistic U-turn, and black metal history was made. The scene in Oslo at the time was insane and Darkthrone made some of the best music and artwork metal has ever seen. The cover of 1994's Transilvanian Hunger still remains as iconic today as it was then. Long sleeves were adopted by all the Norwegian black metal bands. Aside from it being fucking cold up there, I guess you could fit more logos on the sleeves too, and they sure did.

The top Burzum shirt is a bootleg from a flyer that was knocked up while he was on trial for church arson and the murder of his friend and Mayhem bandmate, Euronymous. It depicts a fictional tour that, if you look closely, is actually a tour of all the churches he (may have) burned to ember. The three long-sleeve tees beneath it are originals from the mid-90s. Varg was famously snapped wearing the light grey Hvis shirt from his cell, circa 95. Check out the guy in the tree on the Det Some En Gang Var (which is a take on a D&D cover—yes, really) shirt, and the runes on the Hvis shirts. The other prints were from original drawings by Norwegian artist Theodore Kittelsen.

The De Mysteriis Dom Sathas shirt is an original, or at least a 90s print anyway. I have never seen the Mayhem logo like that on any other shirt. I picked up the last one when they played in London in 2008, on their Ordo Ad Chao tour. The print seems to portray the crucifixion, although I think it may be something slightly more original.

Immortal. Are they for real? I don't really know. What I do know is that they are very, very jokes guys indeed. These shirts are from the mid-90s and are as ridiculous as perhaps their music became. Still, they know a good pose in corpse paint, huh?

 

ROCKWELL