Notorious black metal musician Varg Vikernes has been arrested in southern France over suspicions that he was plotting a ‘major terrorist attack’.

The 40 year old musician and writer was arrested yesterday after French authorities raided his Corrèze farmhouse and found four assault rifles –registered to Vikernes’ wife Marie – and a number of explosives. He had been assessed as a threat to national security after making a series of aggressive and xenophobic statements on online forums.

A leading figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene, Vikernes founded the solo project Burzum in 1991, and for a brief period played bass for the band Mayhem, under the pseudonym, ‘Count Grishnackh’.

The black metal scene in early 90’s Norway is renowned as among the darkest in musical history, with many of the musicians active Satanists and white supremacists. Between 1992 and 1996, over 50 terrorist attacks on religious institutions in Norway occurred in connection to the black metal scene. Among the most notable were the burning of the Fantoft Stave Church, which Vikernes is believed to have carried out personally, and the charred remains of which was used as the cover of his 1993 EP, ‘Aske’, and the arson of a Methodist church in Sarpsborg which resulted in the death of a firefighter.

In 1993, the 21 year-old Vikernes stabbed his former Mayhem bandmate, guitarist Oystein ‘Euronymous’ Aarseith to death at Aarseith’s Oslo home following a contract dispute. Vikernes mantains to this day that the stabbing was an act of self-defence, and that the contract discussion was a pretext for Euronymous to lure him into his apartment and murder him.

The young Vikernes smiles as he awaits the verdict in his 1993 murder trial

Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in jail – the maximum possible sentence in Norway – for the murder of Aarseith and his involvement in three of the church arsons. While imprisoned, he recorded two more Burzum albums, and wrote a series of books proclaiming his innocence and expressing his nationalistic beliefs. After being paroled in 2009, Vikernes moved to France with his wife and children, and continued his recording and publishing career.

Since his release, Vikernes has continued to court media attention. He has been named as an influential figure in a number of further church arsons, and has espoused Neo-Nazi ideologies on his website. In 2011, spree killer Anders Breivik, said to be an admirer of the black metal scene, sent Vikernes a copy of his manifesto prior to killing 77 people – including 33 schooldchildren – in the Utøya massacre. Although Vikernes denounced Breivik for murdering ‘regular Norwegians’ instead of ethnic minorities, it is believed that this connection is what led to Vikernes being closely investigated by French authorities.

The former defence attorney for Varg Vikernes has stated that there is little legal basis for the case against his past client. Under French law, Vikernes can be held for 96 hours before preliminary charges are brought against him.