Producing Norwegian Black Metal: Part 1

Photo: Finn Håkon Rødland

Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album is the cornerstone of Norwegian black metal. We talk to producer Eirik ‘Pytten’ Hundvin about his unique philosophy and the making of this genre‑defining album.

‘True’ Norwegian black metal is sometimes referred to as the nation’s biggest export. For the uninitiated, black metal is not only an elitist art form, but a lifestyle. Despite its brutality, this extreme subgenre is culturally sophisticated, and imbued with poetry, spirituality, philosophy and mythology.

Eirik ‘Pytten’ Hundvin is widely regarded as the most influential producer and engineer within the genre. Pytten has co‑created revolutionary albums with many of the movement’s greatest spearheads, such as the True Mayhem, Emperor, Immortal, Enslaved and Gorgoroth. Many other groups, including the revered Tsjuder, take Pytten’s canonical masterpieces into the studio as reference material. Pytten himself is semi‑retired and rarely collaborates with black metallers any more, though he still works with other forms of music. However, “as a side gig” he continues to assist the veteran black metal artists who form the band Deathcult. He’s also as an accomplished musician himself, who plays with Elektrisk Regn and the Rolling Clones.

Pytten received his initiation into the metal community in 1990, when a former classmate phoned him to ask if he would be willing to work with his son Tore Bratseth’s band Old Funeral, a pioneering black/death act whose line‑up featured several future icons during their lifespan. The result was Old Funeral’s groundbreaking second demo, Abduction Of Limbs. Not only was this Pytten’s very first experience with extreme metal, but it was also the band’s “first serious recording situation... I did bring them into the studio to set up for a session where we all could find out what to do and how to do it in the best way, so that the music and sound would come out better than the band expected. And very important, I had to carefully adjust my recording ways by trying, watching, and listening for their reactions.

“I kept my mouth shut and eyes and ears open. They were the experts on the music and the sound. I used my expertise in recording.”

Safe Spaces

Although Pytten’s approach has changed a bit, he has remained careful not to hinder the creativity of emerging artists. His principal advice to bands going into the studio for the first time is to have their instruments in good shape: “Keep your tools sharp. No dirty strings. Keep your drums as good as you are able to. I hate toms that are more useful as buckets for carrying water.”

Pytten’s work with Old Funeral drew related outfit Amputation to work with him, and soon other trailblazing acts were flocking to Pytten’s studio. “It struck me quite early that a lot of these people were not that much older than my own kids. So, it was easy to get along with them... No matter what they brought to me, I really respected what they were working on, what they were creating. In a way, they needed musical guidance. They needed the security of knowing they were accepted to work in the studio, because to be in the studio, and especially for the singer, is to be really exposed. It can make you bloody nervous.

“Singing in the studio is, in my opinion, a very private situation, maybe the most private. With this in mind, I always try to create a suitable and comfortable atmosphere for the singer. This goes for all styles of music. Not a cozy one, but safe, no hardship...” Pytten aims to promote “communication that is friendly but demanding when needed. I give people time to set their lair, whichever way they want it, literally creating their working environment.”

Eirik ‘Pytten’ Hundvin: I’m trying to find the right time to say ‘This is the moment!’

Pytten emphasises that knowing when to stop doing takes is key “because you will sometimes have a low‑low‑low valley you have to go into. Then, maybe‑maybe‑maybe you manage to get up again. So, I’m trying to find the right time to say: ‘This is the moment!’”

Space & Feeling

Needless to say, the harsh soundscape of extreme metal poses a special challenge from the engineering perspective. Pytten recalls that the chaos and intensity of the music made an immediate impression upon him. He quickly realised: “I have to make room in this production, so that when people listen to it, they will be able to hear what’s going on.” Pytten gently went about balancing and cleaning up “boomy and harsh” frequencies. Pytten stresses: “I’m really keen on searching for what’s going on with the drums and putting it together with the guitars so they don’t fight. Both guitars and cymbals have high frequencies and sustain, so one really has to consider what frequencies to enhance or lower. In black metal, there are some parts with so many attacks on guitars and cymbals... Too much of a similar frequency will sound harsh and might exhaust the listener. In the bottom area, one needs the same attitude not to camouflage what’s going on. With an electric distorted guitar, at some point in the low mid/sub area, the frequencies will stop carrying what I consider musical information. Below this point, there will be an additional boomy sound. But is it needed in a recording? In the rehearsal room, that sound fills the room, and I love the physical thrust and the feeling you get. But one needs to be very careful about this while recording and mixing. You cannot bring that same feeling of physical volume through a recording/mixing process. In my opinion, you have to create the impression of this physical ‘feeling’. In this context, I see the band’s ability to present their musical content and level of energy as very important.”

Along similar lines, Pytten advises: “Be really picky and conscious about the choice of added effects. A lot of times, people comment on something not being loud enough, and that might be so, but, very often, you can bring it out by making room and not necessarily raising the volume. I always try to have an opinion on what needs focus at any time throughout the song.”

Hallowed Halls

For a period of 24 years starting in the late ’80s, Pytten famously operated in Grieghallen, a gorgeous concert hall named after the great Edvard Grieg. “If you don’t have a great room, you can never do great recording,” he insists. Pytten initially used a studio attached to the stage, before moving to the basement. Then he received a new space on the third floor, which he occupied until 2013. Since then, his presence is still felt in Grieghallen, and he has even given guided tours during the Beyond The Gates festival.

“Grieghallen was and still is the home of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra,” he notes. “What a lucky coincidence! What could be more attractive than checking on the Bergen Philharmonic’s basement percussion pool — timpani, huge bass drums, gongs of different sizes. The best dungeons ever for creative black metal souls like [Enslaved’s] Ivar Bjørnson!”

Pytten has incorporated the Philharmonic’s instruments into his black metal productions on various occasions. “On the very late evening of Monday, the 25th of July 1994, we went down there and borrowed two shining copper timpani. We wheeled them carefully to the studio and overdubbed them at the start of Enslaved’s ‘Loke’ [from Frost]. One was tuned in G, the other was tuned in A. We recorded with a B&K 4011 through a Behringer compressor. Track 20 and 21. Just listen, it sounds impressive! Thank you, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.” (The internationally acclaimed Enslaved, by the way, have received more Spellemann Awards, or ‘Norwegian Grammys’, than any other group.)

One of the attractions of Grieghallen for metal bands is the resident selection of orchestral percussion, including this huge gong!

Making Mayhem

Mayhem’s 1994 album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas stands as one of Pytten’s greatest triumphs. This influential masterpiece is widely regarded as the definitive black metal album, and Pytten recalls the experience of collaborating with the band as highly fulfilling. He particularly enjoyed brainstorming with the band’s guitarist and co‑founder Øystein Aarseth, aka Euronymous, as well as with Jan Axel ‘Hellhammer’ Blomberg, who is regarded by many as the genre’s top drummer.

“My ideas often come from interactions with other people,” says Pytten. I got to know Øystein while he was collaborating on recording Burzum’s first album. This was before we started working on any of Mayhem’s music. He was keen and competent around the studio. We were doing fine together. As soon as we agreed on doing the De Mysteriis album, he sent me demos of rehearsals. I remember being impressed by the quality of the songs and the competence of the band, particularly by Hellhammer being the nuclear powerhouse in the middle of the music. I decided at once to use a bigger room in Grieghallen. Luckily, we found a period where the main hall was available. Hellhammer was like a little boy in a toy shop the first time he saw the stage. He really wanted to do the drums there! Øystein also sent me a three‑page letter going through a lot of aspects related to all songs and earlier experiences in studios either to avoid, improve or build on. I also spoke to both Øystein and Hellhammer on the phone.

Pytten at Bergen’s Grieghallen. For the recording of Mayhem's genre-defining De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Hellhammer’s drums were set up on the main stage, within an improvised booth made of heavy drapes.

“For guitars, I was confident with the small, very tight room used for comments on classical concerts by the [Norwegian Radio Orchestra] NRK. We discussed setups and how to do everything during the recordings. Even before they [Mayhem] were in the house, I was very optimistic about using the stage for recording the drums. All channel lists and outboard destinations were done well before they arrived.”

For the sessions, Pytten and Mayhem twisted the outstanding acoustics of Grieghallen to their advantage. Hellhammer’s drums were surrounded by a cage that closed off the sides of the room, but left the top open: “On the Grieghallen main stage, I made a square drum room with stage curtains, approximately five by five metres, and six or seven metres high. Hellhammer rigged his drums, and I put up the microphones. Mainly very straightforward, quite close drum mic setup, except for the overheads. I used two Schoeps MK6 microphones set to figure‑8 above the centre of the drum kit. Parallel, vertical axis, 17cm apart. The stage height where I placed the drums was approximately like a nine‑storey building, and to find the right placement, we did test recordings to find the preferred sound. They ended up approximately one to one and a half metres above the cymbals. The curtains stopped all slapbacks and delay from the huge room being recorded on the close‑up microphones, while still having all this wonderful air from the overheads.

I used two Schoeps MK6 microphones set to figure‑8 above the centre of the drum kit.

“As I remember, this was based mainly on my knowledge of the room and all agreeing on not using the small room. We wanted a huge sound. But very important as well, Hellhammer was (and is) a very competent drummer that knew and understood their music. He also kept his drums to the optimum sound‑wise and was very conscious about how to get the drum setup exactly the way he wanted it.”

Pytten recalls that they “did initial recordings on 12 drum tracks, doing mixdowns and overdubs ending with eight or nine drum tracks. We had to do mixdowns of part of the drums. While doing that, Jan Axel dubbed the toms. So, we got this really fat and broad sound.” These overdubs were done in the mixing room, as opposed to on the stage. Fortunately, Hellhammer’s remarkable precision meant that his overdubs fit in seamlessly. “While doing the drum recordings, Øystein played a guitar track on all songs.”

Fast & Tight

Pytten recalls accurately the equipment used to record Euronymous’ guitar parts: “One red sunburst Gibson Les Paul; one Marshall (I believe) [JCM]800 amp; one Marshall 4x12 cab; and I think one yellow Boss distortion pedal. One AKG C414 and one B&K 4011, quite close to the cab, in a very tight vocal overdub recording room. During two tracks, the 414 went left and the 4011 right. So, what came out of the cab is what you hear on the album. For at least one solo, we took the Marshall stack out in the audience part of the hall. The B&K 4011 was on a high stand during test recordings till we found the best sounding placement of the 4011, and then did the solo! What can I say, very well‑prepared guys. Using time to find positions and sound. Then doing the music. Lovely!

“The bass was done in the control room. Very convenient, easy tech‑wise — DI straight to the desk. All communication on the bass line and bass sound was direct. Everybody was involved very closely. And like the drums and guitars, the bass was well prepared, but there was still room for creative adjustments.” Mayhem employed “one fretted [bass] and one Fender ’63 Precision made fretless.”

Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar delivered a performance unlike anything that anyone had heard before.

Pytten wasn’t sure what to expect from Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar, and recalls feeling truly surprised when Attila delivered a performance unlike anything that anyone had heard before. Attila’s style on De Mysteriis can be compared to that of a demented priest, and has become iconic. “Attila wanted a smaller space in the recording room, so we set up in a corner, closing in a square workspace with stands and curtains. He has an expressive, physical way of singing, so I could not use any of my premium mics. I chose probably something like SM58, RE20, RE27. Maybe he even used his own mic for the recordings. I really don’t remember. Attila’s way of singing was indeed a different attitude than that of the standard black metal vocalist. As soon as we started listening to the playback of the first song, I felt confused, but, at the same time, I realised that this was a very expressive and dramatic way of voicing a black metal album. It never went to the hard scream, but it kept the spooky tension through all the songs. A piece of art!”

At The Mix

According to Pytten, the limitations of working to tape meant that “a lot of the work you do now while mixing, you did then while recording. So, making decisions. Decisions. Decisions. I like doing it that way.

“The way I saw the mix was to bring out all we had recorded. The basic sound and colours were already there. I had no automation, all was done in an analogue setting, except for some of my outboard: Lexicon 480, Eventide HS3000, etc. Atari and SMPTE track for samples. No total recall like today’s computerised systems, but that was OK. No hassle. That’s the way I worked. I don’t remember much in the way of details around the mix. It was Øystein, Helhammer and me. Maybe some people dropped in to say hello and snuck in to listen. Not many. I always keep a quite private control room. I remember we had a nice and relaxed time doing the mix. Øystein and Helhammer were never on my shoulders. We probably had discussions, but in a constructive manner.

“When people say something, I hardly ever say: ‘No.’ There’s one sentence that I use very much: ‘Oh why is that?’ And also, ‘Tell me about it. What do you mean?’, I use that all the time.”

In Part 2 next month, we talk to Kark and Necromorbus, two of today’s leading black metal producers who were inspired by Pytten’s work on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.