Quotes from Varg Vikernes

Personally, I am a nationalist, but my race is my nation, and I see all true Europeans as my racial brethren and part of my nation, be them Norwegian, Danish, or Swedish, French, German, or English, Russian, Polish, or Belorussian, or whatever.

It was hard to play the drums at all when I got out of prison.

I wrote, exercised, ate healthy, and responded to life in prison very well.

It was good to get out of prison and home to the family.

Music, for me, was something I did because I was disillusioned after the Cold War's end and did not know what I wanted in life.

I make music, and if anyone wants to dislike it because of my logo, or lack thereof, then fine by me.

I am sorry, but recording an album is just hard work; tedious, repetitive, and not very fun at all. Mixing is a bit better, but still pretty boring.

If people knew that Burzum was just the band of some teenager, that would sort of ruin the magic, and for that reason, I felt that I needed to be anonymous. So I used a pseudonym, Count Grishnackh, and on the debut album, I used a photo of me that didn't look like me at all to make Burzum itself seem more out-of-this world and to confuse people.

Everything is always about people trying to make profit: Profits to this, profits to that, the more the merrier, and there's no end to it.

Time moves too slowly for me to notice any evolution in my creative tendencies.

Until I was around 12 or 13, I only listened to classical music, mostly Tchaikovsky. But around that age, I started listening to Iron Maiden, and that's when I purchased my first guitar, a pearl-white Westone.

To record an album is cathartic, or at least it was with 'Belus,' but to make music is more fulfilling than anything else, I think.

Keep the masses fed and entertain them to keep them in line.

I live an isolated life, and I rarely meet others.

Hate is irrational. I am a rational person.

My main problem with Norwegian Black Metal is that almost all the bands from 1992-1993 are made up of rats, who ratted each other out and blamed me for everything that went wrong in the scene. I really don't want to be associated with them in any way.

Burzum was never formed, as Burzum is no group, only Count Grishnackh of many colors.

I've been offered, I think it was £300,000 to play live two concerts in London some years ago. And I said 'No. No thanks.' I would rather stay home here and change oil on my car, or collect some rotten wood from the forest, spread on my ruined former agricultural land.

It is not possible to know how to behave in threatening situations before you even end up in such a situation.

Rock and roll promotes a primitive and destructive lifestyle. Metal can be seen as a subgenre of rock and roll, and thus, metal is not much better.

I think the growing disregard for the environment, culture, and heritage is a natural consequence of capitalism.

To be honest, I would probably rather spend, like, a month in prison than spend a month rehearsing with some musicians, metalheads. I pick prison over that, really. And I say that knowing well what prison is like, so don't get me wrong here. Prison sucks big time.

Burzum is the reflections of my personality. It's my dreams and desires.

What I think is more important than actually believing in reincarnation or thinking about a post-death existence is to live in the present.