[6] A native of Fana in Bergen Municipality, Vikernes began playing guitar at the age of 14 and formed his first band, Kalashnikov (later known as Uruk-Hai), by 1989.

During his incarceration, Vikernes launched the neo-Nazi organisation Norwegian Heathen Front,[8] had two books published, and released two ambient albums as Burzum.

[12] Described by Sam Dunn as "the most notorious metal musician of all time",[13] Vikernes remains controversial for his crimes as well as his political and religious views.

[14] Vikernes calls his beliefs "Odalism" and defends a "pre-industrial European pagan society" that opposes the Abrahamic religions and systems such as capitalism, communism, materialism, and socialism.

[20] The Encyclopedia of White Power[24] and historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke[9] have both alleged that Vikernes was part of the neo-Nazi skinhead culture as an adolescent.

[26] A fan of classical music as a child (Tchaikovsky in particular), Vikernes started listening to heavy metal at 12, citing Iron Maiden as his biggest inspiration.

He played guitar with them during 1990–1991 and performed on their Devoured Carcass EP before he began his solo musical project, Burzum, and quickly became involved with the early Norwegian black metal scene.

[31] He used the cheapest bass guitar there was in his local shop and borrowed a drum kit from Old Funeral, the successor band Immortal, and "another musician living nearby".

In a 2020 blog post, Vikernes wrote that he had many differences with others in the black metal scene from the beginning; they did not care for his political opinions or rifle collection, and he changed his beliefs to fit in.

[36] In later interviews Vikernes, while not accepting responsibility for the arsons, said that they were not Satanic, but instead "revenge" for the Christian desecration of Viking graves and temples.

[39] In January 1993, an article in one of Norway's biggest newspapers, Bergens Tidende, brought the black metal scene into the media spotlight.

[44] After the Bergens Tidende episode, Euronymous decided to shut Helvete down as it began to draw the attention of the police and media.

[44] It has been speculated that the murder was the result of a power struggle, a financial dispute over Burzum records (Euronymous owed Vikernes a large sum of royalty payments),[45] or an attempt at "outdoing" a recent stabbing in Lillehammer committed by Emperor drummer Faust.

[35][47] This claim of self-defense is doubted by Emperor drummer Faust,[51] but Mayhem bassist Necrobutcher believed Vikernes did kill Euronymous due to the aforementioned death threats.

[55] According to the Encyclopedia of White Power, Vikernes "intended to blow up Blitz House, the radical leftist and anarchist enclave in Oslo",[24] a plan that "was reportedly on the verge of execution.

"[24] In an article originally published in 1999, Kevin Coogan also mentioned Vikernes' alleged intent to "destroy an Oslo-based punk anti-fascist squat called Blitz House",[56] and stated "Vikernes may have felt that he had no choice but to kill Euronymous before bombing Blitz House because 'the Communist' would almost certainly have opposed such an act.

"[56] Vikernes denied these claims in a 2009 interview, saying he was collecting explosives and ammunition "in order to defend Norway if we were attacked any time.

[41] Though Vikernes only confessed to the theft and storage of the explosives, two churches were set on fire the day he was sentenced, "presumably as a statement of symbolic support".

[61] Before the release, Euronymous' family had asked Mayhem's drummer, Hellhammer, to remove the bass tracks recorded by Vikernes.

[64] One of the group's leading members, esotericist Jan Erik Kvamsdahl helped Vikernes publish Vargsmål and set up the Heathen Front according to the Monitor organization.

[73] The car contained knives, a gas mask, camouflage clothing, a portable GPS navigator, maps, a compass, a laptop and a mobile phone.

Vikernes was denied parole again in June 2008, although he was allowed to leave Tromsø Prison for short periods to visit his family.

[12] In 2013, Vikernes and his wife released a film called ForeBears, based on bear worship during the time of the Neanderthals, and inspired by the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

[12] This coincided with an announcement from YouTube that it would be more aggressive in removing "videos alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion".

[94][95][96] In 2024, however, he began releasing singles in his former black metal style under the name "Burzum (NEW)", intended to form an album called The Land of Thule when put together.

[103][non-primary source needed] According to a review from the music blog Heathen Harvest, the book rejects accepted academic theories, instead focusing on Vikernes's speculation and personalized story-telling.

[107] From 2017, Vikernes also wrote a series, which includes three volumes, titled "Paganism Explained", with his spouse, Marie Cachet, the parts are as follows, "Thrymskvida", "Little Red Riding Hood & Jack and the Beanstalk", "The Cult of Mithra & Hymiskvida", "Valholl & Odinn in Yggdrasill", and "Ásgardr, Vanaheimr & the Nine Worlds of Hel"[108] In Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, director Sam Dunn described Vikernes as "the most notorious metal musician of all time" due to his crimes as well as his political and religious views.

According to Eric Brown writing for the International Business Times, Vikernes opposes anything deemed "a threat to a pre-industrial European pagan society, including but not limited to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, capitalism and materialism", and he also "rallies against a perceived international Jewish conspiracy to destroy the traditional European identity".

[15] Vikernes rejects the out of Africa theory of human origins and instead claims that modern Europeans, especially Nordic peoples, are not Homo sapiens but are instead descended primarily from Neanderthals and in fact have "close to no or even no non-Neanderthal admixture".

[133] In the 2018 film adaptation, he was played by Emory Cohen, which Vikernes criticized for factual inaccuracies and casting a "fat Jewish actor" in his role.