Black Metal Circles
Black Metal Circles are a groups of musical bands which share a common idea, goal, philosophy and they work in cooperation. Those known are: Inner Circle from Norway, Les Légions Noires (Black Legions) from France, BlazeBirth Hall from Russia and others like U.B.M.R. from Slovakia, The Temple of Fullmoon from Poland and Southern Elite Circle from Argentina.
Inner Circle (The Black Circle) were a group of members from first wave Norwegian Black Metal bands (Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor). They were responsible for the famous church burnings of the early 1990s, including the Fantoft arson attack. The inner circle were incredibly influential in the black metal genre, both musically and socially. Euronymous (Mayhem) formed the Inner circle in the basement of his record store, Helvete. Inner Circle ends with the murder of Euronymus which was committed by Varg Vikernes. The sole existence of this circle was later questioned in interviews by Vikernes and Faust from Emperor. Varg Vikernes said for review of Lucifer Rising:
“First of all the so-called 'Black Circle' was something Euronymous made up because he wanted to make people believe there was such a thing, but it was nonsense and never existed. The media on the other hand believed it existed for a while, but quickly stopped talking about it when they understood it was a fake rumour.” (Vikernes 2004-08-13)
Les Legion Noires (LLN, The Black Legions) were a group of underground black metal bands that emerged from France in the early 90s in response to the newly born Norwegian second wave of black metal (bands like Mayhem, Burzum and Emperor). Known as Les Légions Noires, it included Mütiilation, Vlad Tepes, Belketre or Torgeist among others. All bands began in 1990 to die silently in darkness by the end of 1996. Most of the bands centered around a few very talented and driven individuals - Vorlok Drakkstein, Vordb Dreagvor Uezeerb, Vlad Drakkstein, and Meyhna'ch (Mütiilation). The bands involved limited their releases to very small numbers, and distributed them among friends and close workers. Statement about Black Legions:
"A “Black Legions”? No, we are Black Legions of Satan, we are the immortal warriors of Black imperial blood. We are here to pervert Christian worms and they shall face the Black holocaust. It´s near! And it´s not a “organization”, it´s a circle of souls." (Vlad/Kill Your Self Magazine 2/1995)
BlazeBirth Hall is an organization of Russian NSBM bands. Its bands are the oldest NSBM bands in Russia, with their beginnings dating back to 1994.
U.B.M.R Circle was a group of black metal bands from Slovakia. Members were Concubia Nocte, Sirin, Perterricrepus, Warxath, Igric, Karpathia. U.B.M.R Circle was created in 2006 and ended in 2011.
Southern Elite Circle is an organization of black metal bands from Argentina. Members are Ulfhethnar, Nachtgeblüt, Argenraza, Permafrost, Argentum, Furor and Campo de Mayo.
