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Norwegian heavy metal drummer known for his work in black metal From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jan Axel Blomberg (born 2 August 1969), better known by his stage name Hellhammer,[1] is a Norwegian drummer renowned for his role as the drummer of the black metal band Mayhem, which he joined in 1988. He is the only member to have appeared on all of their albums. In 1987, Blomberg, alongside Steinar Sverd Johnsen and Marius Vold, formed the avant-garde black metal band Arcturus (initially under the name Mortem), which disbanded in April 2007 and reunited in 2011.[2] He adopted his stage name in homage to the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer.[3] Acclaimed as a talented musician,[4] Blomberg is a three-time recipient of the Spellemannprisen award.[5]
Jan Axel Blomberg | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hellhammer live in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Hellhammer |
| Born | August 2, 1969 Trysil, Norway |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Drummer |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | |
As a child, Blomberg's primary interests were football and wrestling. Initially, he had no interest in drums or drumming; however, as music became increasingly appealing to him, he began to find different instruments intriguing, which eventually led to an interest in drums.[citation needed] His grandparents purchased his first three drum kits, the first of which was a four-piece jazz kit. He started learning to play the drums by playing along with the albums he listened to. He was influenced by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Slayer, as well as bands like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. Eventually, he discovered Venom, Celtic Frost, and jazz, inspired by a previous drum teacher.
Before joining Mayhem, Blomberg played in various local bands, including the progressive metal band Tritonus,[citation needed] where he met Carl August Tidemann, who later became the guitarist for Arcturus and Winds. He also participated in live performances and was then hired by Mayhem, who needed to replace Kjetil Manheim. Blomberg secured the position and adopted the pseudonym Hellhammer.[4]
The first recordings he completed with Mayhem were two songs for a compilation album around 1989, featuring the tracks Carnage and The Freezing Moon. The first full recording he did with Mayhem was Live in Leipzig in 1990. Following that album, Mayhem encountered lineup difficulties due to the suicide of singer Dead and the departure of Necrobutcher. During this period, he co-founded the band Arcturus with Sverd in 1991, emerging from the remnants of the band Mortem. They released the 7" My Angel in 1991, followed by the mini album Constellation.
In 1995, he joined Immortal as a session drummer during their tour that year,[6] and he also contributed drums to their first official video, Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms. He briefly played for Emperor during this time as well. The recording and release of Arcturus's debut album Aspera Hiems Symfonia also occurred in this year.
In 1997, Jan Axel began collaborating with Covenant, now known as The Kovenant, for the recording of their second album, Nexus Polaris. That album was released in 1998, followed by a European tour. During 1997, Arcturus also released another album, La Masquerade Infernale.
The following year, another album from The Kovenant, Animatronic, was released.
In 2000, he recorded a mini album with his new band Winds, titled Of Entity And Mind, which was released in May 2001. Winds also recorded a full-length album during the spring of 2001, Reflections of the I.
Jan Axel is a two-time Norwegian Grammy Awards winner, having received the award in 1998 for The Kovenant's Nexus Polaris and in 1999 for Animatronic. Both years, they won the prize for Best Hard Rock Album. In addition to these collaborations, Jan Axel has made numerous guest and session musician appearances on various releases.
In 2005, he was interviewed for the black metal mini-documentary included with the 2-disc DVD edition of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, alongside other Mayhem members Necrobutcher (Jørn Stubberud) and Blasphemer (Rune Eriksen).
In 2009, Hellhammer appeared on Eyes of Noctum's album Inceptum, where he played drums on six tracks. Eyes of Noctum is a black metal band from America featuring Weston Cage, the son of Nicolas Cage, as their lead singer.
Hellhammer collaborated with keyboardist Andy Winter on one of his albums.[7]
In 2010, he played on Nidingr's album Wolf-Father. In 2011, Arcturus reunited, including Hellhammer, and released Arcturian in 2015.
Blomberg joined Mayhem under the influence of friends. He naively gave away his recording tapes, which led to his official entry into the band.[8]
He, however, came to distrust the attitudes he considered "weird":
I came to his house: he was all dressed in black, and there was a knife hanging on his belt. I remember thinking, "What the hell does it mean?" Dead joined the band a few months earlier than I did. He was a Swede and didn’t understand a lot of what we were talking about. Well, he was a strange guy. A very reserved person. It was impossible to discuss personal things with him.
— Hellhammer, [9]
Soon after, Blomberg had his first contact with Satanism. Initially, driven by youthful curiosity and having read various books on occultism that described different rituals, Blomberg soon realized that he was entering a dangerous path:
Soon after, we got into everything connected with death, the dark side of life, and Satanism. I always liked those things, despite being born into a Christian family. Only years later did I realize how weird and harmful it was for us. But I was too young to resist my temptation for Darkness. I found some books where various rituals were described. Later on, we applied our knowledge to real life... Euronymous was the most involved. He was our teacher. Now I know he went too far—too far. And Dead followed in his footsteps.
— Hellhammer, [9]
Blomberg served as the session drummer for the Christian black metal band Antestor, contributing to the EP Det tapte liv and subsequently to the album The Forsaken, which also featured vocalist Ann-Mari Edvardsen.
Hellhammer's involvement occurred despite the adversarial relationship between Antestor and Mayhem during the former's "Crush Evil" era, characterized by Mayhem's guitarist, Euronymous, attempting to force the band to disband.[citation needed]
Hellhammer's appearance on the recordings elicited a polarized reception within the metal scene. In an interview with the Russian metal site Metal Library on 7 January 2007, Blomberg stated:
To be honest, it [playing for Antestor] was a big 'fuck off!' to them all [Mayhem colleagues and record company]. I will repeat again that I decide what I do and I play not only in black metal groups.
— Jan Axel Blomberg (Hellhammer), Metal Library[10]
The vocalist Ronny Hansen knew Hellhammer personally and invited him to play for the band. The members of Antestor provided Hellhammer with the demos for the songs in person; however, according to Blomberg, he never met the Antestor members in the studio due to producer Børge Finstad's preference for working with each musician individually to achieve better and more productive results. The band also asked Hellhammer to perform live with them, but Blomberg declined. It was not a matter of their beliefs, as Hellhammer explains: "In my opinion, black metal today is just music. I will tell you that neither I nor other members of Mayhem were ever really against religion or anything else. We are primarily interested in music."[10] Additionally, Hellhammer stated that no member of the new lineup was a Satanist,[11] and that the "Satanic stuff […] isn't what I feel Mayhem is about today. […] Mayhem's music is still dark, but I wouldn't say that it's Satanic."[12] Antestor vocalist Ronny Hansen remarked on Blomberg's contribution:
First of all, Jan Axel "Hellhammer" is a total professional. He started up together with the secular scene and worse (laughs), but he doesn't care if it's secular or Christian. He knew from the start what Antestor stands for. And maybe if we get the chance, we are more than willing to use him again. Because his drumming is outstanding. I think that he is the very best drummer in the scene, and we are just very lucky to have borrowed his brilliance.
— Ronny Hansen (Vrede), Jesus Metal[13]
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