Blackthorn

Snorre Vestvold Ruch (Trondheim, Noruega; 21 de enero de 1972) es un músico noruego de black metal originario de Trondheim (Noruega).[edit]

Blackthorn's fanbase, such as it is, has no formal name. The audience that follows him is largely an extension of the broader Norwegian black metal community, drawn to his work with Mayhem and Thorns, but no documented collective identity or organized fan campaign exists. His most recent public moment, a 2025 hoax in which Thorns members were reported missing after a forest hike, generated some attention, but it did not coalesce into a lasting fan movement.

As of August 2026, iFANN's Global Fame Engine has evaluated Blackthorn but he does not currently hold a placement in the published rankings, whether the Global Top 1,000 or any Top-100 scope list. In other words, he is not ranked among the world's most famous musicians or artists at this time. This absence of a ranking is a neutral statement of fact, not a judgment on his influence within the black metal underground, where his legacy is secure.

Blackthorn's fame is therefore niche, built on his brief but historically significant tenure with Mayhem from 1992 to 1993 and his long-running project Thorns. For those within the scene, his name carries weight, but outside of it, he remains a figure known primarily through the band's notorious history. The Global Fame Engine's evaluation reflects this limited but dedicated reach.[edit]

Blackthorn played guitar for Mayhem from 1992 to 1993, a period that coincided with some of the most infamous events in black metal history. While he is not directly implicated in the murder of Euronymous by Varg Vikernes in 1993, the crime occurred during his tenure and is a story fans still retell as a defining moment of the era.

The suicide of Mayhem vocalist Dead in 1991, before Blackthorn joined, is another cornerstone of the band's lore. The tale of Euronymous discovering the body and reportedly taking photographs and fashioning a necklace from a skull fragment is widely circulated, though its details are based on Euronymous's own accounts and have become part of black metal folklore.

In November 2025, news broke that members of Thorns and Slagmaur were missing after a hike in a Norwegian forest. A follow-up in December revealed the incident was a hoax, with the members found safe. The exact involvement of Blackthorn remains unclear, but the event briefly thrust the band into the spotlight.[edit]