By now you all know the tragic story of Euronymous, the fallen godfather of Norwegian Black Metal, and eventually a big Hollywood movie will have throngs of muggles in the know as well. But before that happens, allow me to present this excellent primer in early Scandi-Dark, The Necropolis Records Tribute To Euronymous compilation. The idea was to gather the forerunners of the budding Norwegian and Swedish Black Metal scenes in order to showcase this exciting new happening in the north of Europe, however before the comp was finished Varg Vikernes struck that fateful blow (23 times) that forever changed the course of Black Metal and the focus of this record. The end result is a tribute to Euronymous that doesn't include Burzum or Darkthrone. This was my first experience with Thorns, Abruptum, and Mysticum, it came at a time when there were few chances to hear real Black Metal records in America, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find this used at Record Finder in San Francisco. I'm sure some of you have these songs on the band's releases or various bootlegs but this is one of those seminal, genre-defining comps, like Jellybeans was to Punk, and that makes it an interesting document. R.I.P. Euronymous.
