Mayhem’s Euronymous Removed from Norwegian Airline Campaign

Deceased black metal legend Euronymous of the band Mayhem was the front-runner in a contest that would've had his likeness on the tailfin of Norwegian Air jets. The airline has removed the notorious guitarist from their "tailfin hero" poll -- find out why here.

Norwegian Air recently announced that they would honor a deceased Norwegian hero by putting their face on the tailfin of their jets. The selection was to be determined by a poll and it didn't take long for the metal community to propel the deceased Mayhem guitarist Euronymous to the top of the list. Despite the large margin by which the guitarist -- whose real name is Oystein Aarseth -- led the pack of candidates, he has now been removed from the running.

According to The Gauntlet, Aarseth was not included on the short-list of candidates that were presented as the finalists because his family asked that he be excised from the campaign. "Naturally we respect their wishes," said a Norwegian Air spokesperson.

The airline is most likely breathing a sigh of relief that their jets will not carry the face of the notorious guitarist, whose association with 1990's church burnings would've no doubt hurt their image. Euronymous also stirred controversy by taking pictures of his bandmate Per "Dead" Ohlin after his 1991 suicide and making necklaces from pieces of his skull. Nothing about that says, "fly the friendly skies."

Euronymous was brutally murdered in 1993 by his former bandmate Varg Vikernes, who stabbed the 25-year old guitarist 23 times.