Sven Erik Kristiansen

Sven Erik Kristiansen, far better known as Maniac, fascinates me precisely because his stage persona eclipses his name. As a former vocalist of Mayhem, he stood at the dark heart of Norwegian black metal, a genre that demands total authenticity rather than performance. Loudwire calling him an incarnation of authenticity feels exactly right to me, because that scene exposes anyone who is merely playing a role. The biographical data is sparse, but artists like this are not measured by tidy facts. He channeled something raw out of the frozen north, and I think genuineness is the word that fits him best.

Name (English)

Sven Erik Kristiansen

Name (Japanese)

スヴェン・エリック・クリスチャンセン

Reading

すゔぇん・えりっく・くりすちゃんせん

Born

February 4, 1969 (age 57)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Rooster

Origin

Norway

Occupation

singer

• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven%20Erik%20Kristiansen
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q552622

Tags

• singer

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.