Burzum is the Norwegian black metal project founded and primarily performed as a one-man project by Varg Vikernes. Vikernes began Burzum in 1991 after leaving the death metal band Old Funeral and pursuing his own musical direction.
Burzum quickly became associated with the early Norwegian black metal scene, despite never performing a conventional live show. Vikernes recorded the first four Burzum albums between 1992 and 1993, often handling vocals, guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards himself. The project's stark production, repetitive structures, atmospheric passages, and fantasy- and Norse-inspired imagery became highly influential in black metal.
The name Burzum comes from the Black Speech, a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien, and means "darkness." Vikernes also used the pseudonym Count Grishnackh, another Tolkien reference. Mayhem, Emperor, and Darkthrone are closely connected names from the same Norwegian scene, which makes them common quiz distractors, but they are separate bands rather than the one-man project identified in the question. Burzum's history is also inseparable from the criminal acts and controversies surrounding Vikernes.