Mayhem vocalist Attila Csihar has detailed his brief friendship with late guitarist Euronymous in an interview for Metal Hammer.
Csihar says that he was invited to join the band following the suicide of frontman Dead (Per Yngve 'Pelle' Ohlin) in 1991, as the guitarist was a fan of his band Tormentor's album demos, which he'd acquired through the underground scene's tape-trading network. In return, Csihar received two tapes: Mayhem's Deathcrush and demos for what was to become their full-length debut De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.
"I remember when I first heard that demo," recalls Csihar. "I was like, 'Holy shit, I never heard anything like this ever' I never heard riffs like that before, I never heard drumming like that. Some of my friends thought they'd sped up the tape. This was something really special."
When Csihar travelled from Hungary to Norway, he was met by Euronymous and Varg Vikernes [then Mayhem's bassist, having replaced Necrobutcher, who left temporarily following Dead's suicide]. The latter was wearing chainmail to "protect himself".
"We stayed at Euronymous' place for a few days, and it was kind of gothic inside, with red curtains," says Csihar. "We travelled up to Bergen to stay at Varg's place. He had a very fucking nice flat. He had a washing machine and a dishwasher. He was definitely from a more wealthy background. He was still like a metal dude. He was more into Tolkien, fantasy worlds, and the dark stuff. Completely different to what he later became."
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