Varg Vikernes was born as Kristian Larsson Vikernes. For a short while, he used the alias Count Grishnackh. With his one-man-band Burzum, Vikernes created some of the darkest and most extreme visions in modern heavy metal music. He gained considerable notoriety with a number of arson attacks on Norwegian churches and the murder of his label manager, Mayhem's Euronymous, actions which led to his imprisonment in 1994. He was released from prison in May 2009.

In his early years in prison, Vikernes turned Burzum into an all-electronic project, developing the ambient and modern classical elements which were already present on his early records.