STEREOGUM: Whats the noise in Lukans Renkespill (Introduksjon)? Ive read 
your explanation of the album art, etc., and that you see this as a
 concept album. If all the songs are connected to the story of Belus, the source of the sound in this introduction is important. 
Its the first recorded musical sound people have from you in 11 
years.
VARG VIKERNES: Its the sound of a hammer striking an anvil. Leuke is best known as Hephaistos, Loki or Vulcan; the smith of the gods.
STEREOGUM: Belus is very catchy. More so than anything youve done
 previously. There are a number of subtle hooks. For instance, whats the 
whistle-like sound amid the guitars of Glemselens Elv? The 
repeated spoken/chanted phrase in Kaimadalthas Nedstigning? I wouldnt say this is a pop 
album, but for all the brutality, theres something highly listenable 
in its layers. Was this your intention?
VARG VIKERNES: You know, Brandon, I make music I like. If its this or that, if it fits a specific category or not, or whatever, does not matter to me. I only want to make music I like, and that I can enjoy myself, and be proud of.
I havent heard a whistle-like sound on Glemselens Elv myself, but I guess its either the humming voice in the background of the vocal parts, or actually the guitars you are hearing.
The repeated phrase in Kaimadalthas Nedstigning is translated I travel to the deep of darkness, where everything is dead, and then I travel to Kelio (Hel).
STEREOGUM: Theres a change in the vocal sound on Belus
Is this a result of aging? A reaction to the reception of your past work?
VARG VIKERNES: I never liked the old vocals, so I changed it for Filosofem, and I changed it again for Belus. If I knew how to I would sing like I did on Belus on all the albums. I actually could have, but I didnt know how to until Belus.
STEREOGUM: After the synthesized albums, what was it like working
 with a guitar again?
VARG VIKERNES: It was great. I am first and foremost a guitarist after all. I have to say, though, that I made Dauði Baldrs on the guitars as well, and I never really stopped playing the guitars.
STEREOGUM: On the record, did you try applying 
the Belus myth to your life personally? A reference to your freedom? 
To contemporary Norwegian culture? Culture in general?
VARG VIKERNES: I understand how you want to read more into this, but I think you should try to appreciate the album for what it is instead. Belus is about the death and rebirth of a European solar deity. The song titles refer to the mythological events, the lyrics to the pre-mythological traditions.
STEREOGUM: Youve said youre not interested in the contemporary
 Norwegian black metal scene (outside of Darkthrone). Or black metal 
in general: Black metal is not a label I use for my music any
longer. Why not? What should it be labeled instead?
VARG VIKERNES: 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 dont want to be associated with them in any way. I should stress that neither the guys in Darkthrone nor the guys in Mayhem ratted anybody out, but pretty much everyone else did. Emperor. Enslaved. Immortal. Hades Almighty et cetera. These guys are fucking rats, or they play in bands with rats which is not much better!
Further, I really dont want to be associated with the low-brow Black Metal genre. If you want to know what I mean when I say that just have a look at an Immortal video on YouTube or something. Its so dumb I dont know what to say, really, and its so ridicules we can barely tell the difference between the real stuff and the parodies.
STEREOGUM: What are you listening to at this point?
VARG VIKERNES: The Cure, Depeche Mode, Das Ich (Die Propheten), Goethes Erben, New Order, Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake and The Nutcracker in particular) and other classical music, balalaika, old German and Soviet marches, Lillebjørn Nilsen, Dead Can Dance (Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun). Yeah, thats pretty much it.
STEREOGUM: You wrote that you didnt expect the original Belus title The White 
God to cause such a ruckus. Im surprised. It was 
a smart move to change it allowing people to focus more on the music,
 etc. but I assume you must have at least had an inkling that people
 would think it was a race-based white. No? Do you see your books 
and other writings as being separate from Burzum?
VARG VIKERNES: The original working title was Baldurs Tlbakekomst (The Return of Baldur), by the way, and Den Hvite Guden (The White God) too was just a working title. I have said and written a lot of things much worse than that over the years, so to speak, and nobody said anything about it, so I was surprised when all of a sudden an innocent working title like that caused such a ruckus. Why? Why now?
My books have nothing to do with Burzum.
STEREOGUM: I know youre not a fan of [the book] Lords Of Chaos. Are you happy with how [the documentary] Until The Light Takes Us turned out? Related to this: Has anyone from
 the Lords Of Chaos film contacted you?
VARG VIKERNES: Sorry, but I havent seen Until The Light Takes Us yet, so I can say very little about it. I have never heard from anyone from the Lords Of Chaos film production. I tried to contact them myself twice, to ask them what they were doing and to tell them I disapprove of what they did, but they never responded.
STEREOGUM: A lots happened in black metal over the past couple of decades,
 especially in the last handful of years. Its fascinating to me 
all the hybrids and shifts. American black metal, for instance, has a
 higher/more respectable profile. And has developed a more unique 
sound. A ways back I interviewed one of the bigger of the American bands Wolves In The Throne Room a good group, and one clearly influenced on a sonic level 
by Burzum. I asked them: In our last interview you talked about listening to Filosofem while working the fields. No black metal musicians have really spoken
up much about Vargs release from prison. What are your thoughts? Their drummer Aaron Weavers response:
My feeling is that people are interested in an idealized image
of Burzum, which is only tenuously connected to the man. Burzums 
post-Filosofem recorded output reveals a man of limited musical
ability, and his mystical-Nazi writing seem paranoid and off-base. It 
seems like he is just another wingnut spouting off about Jewish
 conspiracies. People who create powerful and revolutionary art in
 their teens and early twenties rarely sustain any relevance.

..
What are your thoughts on this sort of opinion? Especially that last sentence.
VARG VIKERNES: I couldnt care less about what they do or say. I havent even heard about them before, and I wouldnt have heard about them either if they hadnt said things like that about me. What do they know anyway? Belus is better and more relevant than anything I have ever done before, and that just proves how little they know and I am sure he will regret ever having said such a thing when he realizes this.
STEREOGUM: How do you feel about having gay fans? Black fans? Jewish fans? 
Christian fans? Do you feel that youve failed to transmit your 
message properly if people who arent from your 
white/Nordic/heterosexual/pagan demographic feel something in the
 music that isnt tied to shared membership in that demographic? Does it mean the music has failed to transmit its message
 properly?
VARG VIKERNES: And what is my message? When did Burzum ever address political/racial matters? I dont think Burzum has ever even addressed religious matters, other than describing different European myths. Burzum is not a political or religious band, or even an anti-religious band. Burzum is music; art if you like, and the interpretation of art lies in the eye of the beholder. I might be Nordic, heterosexual and have a Pagan ideology myself, but why would I expect the fans of my music to be just like me?
I am a narrow-minded ultra-conservative anti-religious misanthropic and arrogant bigot, alright, and I have a problem with just about everything and everyone in this world, but I am not demented, and if those who are not like me are able to enjoy my music that is all fine by me. Be a Christian-born black gay feminist converted to Judaism for all I care, or worse; a Muslim. Just stay off my lawn
Smile
Oh, and I may add that I have a problem with most Nordic heterosexuals with a Pagan ideology as well.
