Blogger Tricks
Showing posts with label Black metal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black metal. Show all posts

Steingrim Torson a.k.a Mehimoloth: Celestial Bloodshed, Grenjar




"Mehimoloth: Cursed, scarred and forever possessed"

Steingrim Torson a.k.a Mehimoloth was a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, most notable for his stay in the black metal band Celestial Bloodshed as a front-man. He had actively participated in similar extreme acts playing various instruments in bands like Grenjar, Selvhat, Kaosritual to name a few.

Born in the early 1980’s in the dismal city of Trondheim, Mehimoloth joined forces alongside Luctus and Tiller forming the soul-igniting, darker than black Celestial Bloodshed in the dawn of the new millennium. The band shared members with One Tail, One head, Mare and Kaosritual. He bloomed into the Norwegian black metal scene by involving in bands like Grenjar, Selvhat and Jammerskrik simultaneously whilst focusing on Celestial Bloodshed and Grenjar as major projects. During the years 2002 to 2006, he established himself as an ominous front-man and musician altogether, contributing in almost all of his musical projects. His stints in these years served to be his most active years as a multi-talented musician.

Grenjar released 4 demos and 2 splits; Selvhat released an EP, album and a demo each; Unbeing and One Tail, One Head released 2 demos respectively; Kaosritual released a demo and an album; Jammerskrik released a demo and Celestial Bloodshed released an EP and an album with Mehimoloth before his tragic demise. All of his projects turned defunct and split-up after his death except for Celestial Bloodshed, who released another album, single and split album featuring Mehimoloth (as S.T) on vocals (i.e. the tracks were recorded before his death).

Location of Torson's death in Byesen, Trondheim
In the night of April 30/May 1, 2009, Steingrim’s life came to an unfortunate end when he ended up being in the receiving end of an accidental gunshot at the tender age of 25. He was shot dead in his friend’s apartment in Byesen, a district in Trondheim. The 20 year old male charged of the murder was described to be Torson’s “best friend” who had no explanation of how the gun went off. According to the suspect’s attorney, Morten Aalberg, the shot was fired at a closed range and Torson fell backwards but the rest of the devastating incident was blurred in his memory.

Like the tragic ends of Dead, Euronymous, Shadow, Quorthon, Grim, Trondr and Valefor, black metal lost yet another evil genius who had contributed immensely to revive and maintain the legacy of black metal. His contributions in black metal masterpieces like “Cursed, scarred and forever possessed(2008)”, ”Gjennom Mørket Famlende(2008)” will remain as a testimony to his greatness. Steingrim Torson a.k.a Mehimoloth will always be remembered as a man gifted with a voice as hoarse and sinister as the devil himself and a truly multi-talented musician, who is now reigning in the realm of the dark ones.

All praise to thee!

Born in: 1983

Birthplace: Trondheim, Norway

Band(s) involved: Celestial Bloodshed, Grenjar, Miseria X, Kaosritual, Unbeing, One Tail One Head, Jammerskrik, Selvhat

Passed on: Night of April 30/May 1, 2009

Cause of death: Murder (gunshot to the stomach)

INTERVIEWS



None conducted with Steingrim exclusively.

TRIBUTE TO STEINGRIM


A tribute song in memory of Steingrim was recorded by the Norwegian black metal band Slagmaur in their 2009's full-length album Von Rov Shelter.




DOWNLOADS


 CELESTIAL BLOODSHED- CURSED, SCARRED AND FOREVER
POSSESSED [2008]


TRACKS:

1. Intro
2. Cursed, scarred and forever possessed
3. Sign of the zodiac
4. Truth is truth, beyond the god
5. All praise to thee
6. Gospel of hate
7. The demon of old





Posted by 3 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Erik Brødreskift a.k.a Grim: Borknagar, Gorgoroth, Immortal



"Erik, may you rape the angels!"

Only a handful of drummers have made their mark when it comes to black metal, Grim being one of them. Although underrated, he played in a number of groundbreaking black metal acts such as Gorgoroth, Immortal and Borknagar. But in each of the bands he played, his role was either as a sessionist or short lived nonetheless. In spite of having played in such well established bands, he got very little recognition. So to put it into words, Grim was an embodiment of subtle brilliance.

Erik Brødreskift a.k.a Grim was born on 23 December, 1969 in Bergen, Norway. His earliest piece of work as a drummer was in a Norwegian death/thrash metal band named Emptor where he recorded a 5 tracked demo in 1988. Emptor split up in 1990 and it was not until late 1993, Grim again came to rise when he was featured on the album cover of Immortal's second album Pure Holocaust. Although Abbath did the job behind the drums in the album, he is credited for the work. His fugacious stay in Immortal was limited to only two European tours, before the other members of the band decided to let him go. He then joined another black metal band Borknagar, where he briefly played for 3 years and contributed in 3 studio albums during his stay. The Olden Domain, the band's second album, received rave reviews and helped the band reach its peak of popularity in the Norwegian black metal scene. During this period, he also played in Orth (later changed to Arvas) as a session drummer, particularly in the never released album Nocturno Inferno. Similarly, during 1996-1997, he played in Gorgoroth contributing drum tracks for The Last Tormentor(EP) and Under the Sign of Hell in 1996 and 1997 respectively.

L-R: Abbath, Grim and Demonaz
On October 4th 1999, Grim commited suicide by drug overdose. This was another great loss to the Norwegian black metal community next to the deaths of Dead and Euronymous. His quiet passing and his biography are both obscure, but his excellancy as a drummer is still reflected and "immortal" in records he has left with us. His body was buried at the Bergen Church Cemetery in Hordaland County, Norway.

Several bands have honored the lost legend through their music. "Erik, may you rape the angels", a song by Nargaroth is dedicated to Erik. Hole in the sky, an annual metal festival in Bergen is held in his name and organized by his memory fund. Immortal have headlined the show for a number of times. Also, Gorgoroth's fifth studio album "Incipit Satan" is dedicated to him.


Grim(right) on the cover of Pure Holocuast

Born on: 23th December, 1969

Birthplace: Bergen, Norway

Band(s) involved: Emptor, Immortal, Borknagar, Orth/Arvas, Gorgoroth

Passed on: 4th October, 1999

Cause of death: Suicide

INTERVIEWS OF GRIM


None conducted.

TRIBUTE TO ERIK


Nargaroth playing "Erik, may you rape the angels" to pay tribute to their late friend:




An annual metal festival held in Bergen, Norway in memory of Grim:


Posted by 10 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Tomas Ace Forsberg a.k.a Quorthon: Bathory




"Quorthon: In nomine satanas"

Tomas Ace Forsberg a.k.a Quorthon was a Swedish musician who founded the pioneering extreme metal band Bathory. He was formerly called Ace Shot and Black Spade before settling down to the name Quorthon. He composed music and wrote lyrics on all of Bathory's records. He served as a guitarist and front-man in Bathory for a long period of time before taking control of Bathory's entire music. He also released 3 solo albums in which he experimented with different sounds, displaying his versatility and unveiling a whole new side of him. He is worshiped by extreme musicians, most importantly for revolutionizing the sound of black metal which helped the genre to prosper. Also because Bathory along with bands like Heavy load and Manowar coined a new sub-genre called Viking metal, a genre constituting elements of black and folk metal.

Quorthon was born on February 17, 1966 in Sweden. He formed Bathory in 1983 in the suburb of Vallingby. Bathory was named after the ill-famed Hungarian countess, Elizabeth Bathory. Bathory's successful run began when they were included in the compilation album by Scandinavian metal bands through Tyfon Grammofon as a last minute replacement. Unexpectedly, they drew a lot of attention and won the hearts of many listeners. So as fan favorites, the record label asked them to record a full-length album.  Quorthon recruited Rickard Bergman and Stefen Larsson as Bathory's bassist and drummer respectively to replace former members Fredrik Melander and Jonas Akerlund who had already moved away. They released their debut album "Bathory" in October 1984. By that time, Bathory had been doing live shows sporadically but Quorthon completely stopped playing live after a few because he didn't feel it right. Bathory released altogether 12 full-length albums before Quorthon's departure including a number of compilation albums.

Quorthon, before releasing his solo albums, had gained an ominous image which he puts as "the baby-eating, blood-drinking God of the bat cave". But it became evident through his solo albums and interviews that he was indeed nothing like people pictured him before. He loved reading books, painting and riding his Harley. To not much astonishment, he was anti-social and as he puts, didn't give a fuck about society. He had an open-minded taste in music and his ears weren't limited to just extreme genres.

Everything Quorthon touched turned into gold, whether it was black metal or viking metal. A lot of black, folk and viking metal bands sight Bathory as their main inspiration and the reasons for that are many. Most notable black metal bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, Burzum, Horna, etc were influenced by the sound of Bathory. Second wave black metal in particular has much to do with Bathory's sound and image.  Bathory was an original act throughout its existense, Quorthon being the brain behind all the deeds. Whether it was that raw, low production sound or that mythical, epic viking sound, Bathory inspired extreme music in both ways.

On June 7 2004, Quorthon died in his apartment due to heart failure. It was speculated that he had been battling with heart problems for years then. He was such an intelligent, multi- talented musician with gifted music skills. He will forever be remembered as black metal would've been soulless without Bathory.

A tribute album named "In conspiracy with Satan- A tribute to Bathory" was released through No Fashion records in 1998 to honour the works of Quorthon in Bathory. The 15 tracked album consists of bands like Marduk, Lord Belial, Opthalamia, Dark Funeral, Emperor, Satyricon and many more. In Memory of Quorthon, which contained a box set of 3 CDs, a DVD, a poster and a 174 page booklet was released in 2006 by "Boss" Forsberg which featured Bathory's history, discography and background from the first recordings.



 Born on: 17th February, 1966

Birthplace: Sweden

Band(s) involved: Bathory, Stridskuk, Agnosticum

Passed on: 7th June, 2004

Cause of death: Heart failure

INTERVIEWS OF QUORTHON



VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH MTV(1990)








Posted by 6 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Øystein Aarseth a.k.a Euronymous: Mayhem



"Euronymous: Voices of a tortured skull"

Euronymous was the guitarist and co-founder of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. He was also the owner of Deathlike Silence Productions, an extreme metal record label and Helvete, a record shop in Oslo. Euronymous, with Mayhem standardized the sound and culture of black metal, for which he is revered by extreme musicians till this date. Euronymous is infamous for his deviant personality and many notorious activities that he  has carried out throughout his short lifespan.

Øystein Aarseth was born on 22 March 1968 in Egersund, Norway. Formerly, he went by the infernal name "Destructor" but later changed it to Euronymous which was derived from a demon in the Greek mythology named Eurynomos. He along with bassist Necrobutcher and drummer Manheim formed Mayhem in 1984 drawing inspirations from bands like Venom, Slayer, Bathory, Celtic Frost and Motorhead. In the early days, they used session vocalists Maniac and Messiah for live shows whereas Euronymous and Necrobutcher both occupied mic space during their rehearsals. The band released their very first demo "Pure Fucking Armageddon" in 1986 with the line up consisting of Maniac, Euronymous, Necrobutcher and Messiah. In late 1987, when Maniac and Messiah left Mayhem, Sweden based death metal band Morbid frontman Dead and Hellhammer joined the force to create mayhem all over Norway, literally.

Euronymous lived in the woods near Kråkstad with Dead and Hellhammer where the trio used to rehearse as well. Euronymous and Dead used to rarely be on the same wavelength and get on each other's nerves frequently. A small dispute between the two would sometimes turn into a brutal brawl where one of them would get hurt. Dead once stabbed Euronymous with a knife during one of their uncontrolled scuffles. In 1991, vocalist Dead commited suicide while he was alone in the house by blowing his head with a shotgun. Euronymous, instead of informing the police, bought a camera from a nearby shop and shot photographs of his corpse which would later feature on the cover of Mayhem's bootleg live album "Dawn of the black hearts". A rumour spreaded that he made a stew out of Dead's brain and tried to eat them. Also, he collected pieces of Dead's skull and bestowed to musicians he believed were worthy of. As told by Necrobutcher, Euronymous did this in order to combat the astonishment and grief caused by his friend's death.

Deathlike Silence Productions logo
After this gruesome incident, Necrobutcher left Mayhem and Varg Vikernes from Old Funeral(then) filled in his spot. After the opening of Helvete, a group of black metal musicians including Faust from Emperor, Varg  and Blackthorn from Thorns used to gather in the shop forming a stable or cult-like group called the Black Circle. However, several musicians of the group have denied the existense of the name, calling it a name that Euronymous invented just for a sinister sounding reputation. With the establishment of Deathlike Silence Productions, Euronymous recorded for bands like Burzum, Abruptum, Merciless, Enslaved, Sigh and Mayhem itself. His record label ran by the motto: "No mosh, no fun, no trend, no core."


By that time, Euronymous was single handedly taking control of the scene. He wanted all the black musicians to smear corpse paint on their face and sport a look with spikes and leather jackets. He despised trends and people who followed them. He laid the foundation for the scene and brainwashed musicians into making the most evil and extreme music attainable. With Helvete and DSP, he had full control of things and directed the scene the way he desired.

Euronymous projected an evil image doing and promoting insane ideas to create fear among the masses. He had a different take on Death and Black metal. According to him, death musicians should worship death and be extreme, not only by manifesting them through their music but by resembling a similar image in real life. Else he would label them as life metal bands or hobby bands. Whereas Black metal should be satanic and something normal people would dread to listen. Although rumors has it that he had sent death threats to the Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene, Euronymous himself stated the hearsay to be untrue. He was against individualism and wanted people to act and be slaves. He was also inclined to politics and called himself a communist being a member of the Norwegian communist youth group Red Ungdom. According to drummer Frost(1349/Satyricon), this is where he gained leadership skills to lead the Norwegian black metal scene to the direction he wanted. But he never exhibited his political knowledge on Mayhem's music.

Euronymous used to sight Varg as a fresh, like-minded talent and released 2 Burzum albums through DSP. Varg filled in Necrobutcher's place as a bassist and contributed in the album "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas". There was a personal vendetta going on between Euronymous and Varg during the early 1993. Mainly, due to the recent church burning incident, Euronymous and Varg were battling it out to determine who the most evil one was. Also, it is speculated that it was due to a financial dispute between them two, involving Burzum and DSP. On 10th August 1993, Varg and Blackthorn drove to Euronymous's apartment in Oslo where Varg stabbed Euronymous with an excuse of signing a contract. He brutally stabbed Euronymous 23 times after chasing him down the stairs outside the apartment. Blackthorn had no idea about Varg's plans of murdering Euronymous and in an interview, Varg stated that Blackthorn was terribly scared about Euronymous's death. Varg was arrested on 19th August, 1993 for his actions. When asked about the murder, he explains that it was only self-defense as Euronymous himself tried to kill him many times before. He says that he slayed him before Euronymous could. But many musicians in the scene doubted his story. Varg was sentenced to 21 years in jail.

The murder was a big loss to black metal and especially the Norwegian black metal scene as they lost a leader who could have led the scene to extreme heights. Many weren't surprised or sad on his loss because they thought he had it coming. But without him, black metal would have never been so sinister or gained such a reputation as it has now. He was a musical genius and a perfectionist. Personally, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is my favourite black metal album. The guitar riffs in this album is unmatched and every time I listen to it, it keeps me wondering about the brilliancy of the album.

Euronymous is the god father of black metal, no arguing that. He will certainly be missed. Many tribute albums and songs have been made to pay homage to the black metal legend. "The day Burzum killed Mayhem", a song by black metal band Nargaroth depicts the whole incident of Euronymous's murder.

Born on: 22 March, 1968

Birthplace: Egersund, Norway

Band(s) involved: Mayhem; he contributed a guitar solo to Burzum's song "War" from its self titled album

Passed on: 22 August, 1993 at the age of 25

Cause of death: Murder

INTERVIEWS



VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH EURONYMOUS









MAYHEM DOCUMENTARY


The documentary covers almost everything about Euronymous and Mayhem, particularly.






Posted by 1 comment:
Labels: , , ,

Jon Andreas Nödtveidt a.k.a Shadow: Dissection



"Jon Nödtveidt: Son of the mourning"
"The Satanist decides of his own life and death and prefers to go out with a smile on his lips when he has reached his peak in life, when he has accomplished everything, and aim to transcend this earthly existence. But it is completely un-satanic to end ones own life because one is sad or miserable. The Satanist dies strong, not by age, disease or depression, and he chooses death before dishonor! Death is the orgasm of life! So live life accordingly, as intense as possible."- Jon Nodtveidt
 Jon Nödtveidt was a Swedish vocalist and guitarist for the black metal band Dissection. He also played in a number of projects including Opthalamia(formed by the members of Abruptum, this was where his stage name "Shadow" was coined), The Black(as Reitas), Satanized, De Infernali, Outbreak, Siren's Yell and Terror. He was born on 28th June, 1975 in Strömstad, Sweden. He was one of the most controversial yet gifted musician who helped evolve extreme music to new dimensions.

Jon debuted as a musician in 1988 when he formed a thrash metal band called Siren's Yell. After only releasing a single demo, the band split up. He then joined another thrash metal act, Rabbit's Carrot. After an unsuccessful run in Siren's Yell and Rabbit's Carrot, Jon finally settled to Dissection in 1989. Dissection played powerful black/death metal with strong melodies, but later steered towards a more melodic style and helped popularize a new sub-genre of metal, Melodic death metal during the mid and early 1990s. Dissection, along with bands like Dark Tranquility, At the gates, In Flames, etc. established a scene known as the "Gothenburg metal scene" based on Sweden itself and are regarded as the pioneers of this extreme sub-genre. Dissection have 3 EPs, 3 live albums, 4 studio albums, a demo and a DVD "Rebirth of Dissection" to their name.

Jon was an active member of MLO(Misanthropic Luciferian Order) and the (Swedish)Werewolf legion. On  22 July 1997, Jon along with fellow MLO member Vlad murdered a 37 year old homosexual man named Josef Ben Meddour and was arrested on 18th December the same year, causing Dissection to split as Jon was sentenced to 10 years in jail. After his release from prison in 2004, he again restarted Dissection with a whole new line up and immediately recorded a double tracked EP entitled "Maha Kali".

On 16th of August 2006, Jon was found dead in his apartment in Hasselby, Stockholm where he had shot himself with a gun enclosed inside a candle lit circle. According to the Swedish Expressen, Jon was found with a Satanic Bible in front of him which according to guitarist Set Teitan was not the Satanic Bible written by Anton Szandor LaVey(as reported by Blabbermouth), but in fact was a Satanic grimoire named Liber Azarate written by MLO leader Frater Nemidel. Jon personally shuned LaVey's concept of Satanism and the "Church of Satan", calling it an entirely false practice.

Dissection refused to reunite after his death as he was the driving force of Dissection being the only original member remaining.

Jon will be remembered not only as an extraordinary musician with an undisputable musical talent but also as a firm believer who lived and died for his beliefs.

Born on: 28th June, 1975

Birthplace: Strömstad, Sweden

Band(s) involved: Dissection, Siren's Yell, Rabbit's Carrot, The Black, Satanized, De Infernali, Outbreak, Terror, Necrophobic, Nifelheim

Passed on: 13th August, 2006

Cause of death: Suicide

INTERVIEWS



Here's a 3 parted video interview with Jon taken from the "Rebirth of Dissection" DVD where Jon goes personal and talks about life, music, religion and philosophy:















REBIRTH OF DISSECTION FULL CONCERT(2006)




Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Trond Bråthen a.k.a Trondr Nefas/Alastor Nefas: Urgehal, Beastcraft


"Trondr Nefas: Daemon calling"

Trondr Nefas was born Trond Bråthen in 28th May, 1977 in Norway. He was a front-man and guitarist, most notable for his work at Urgehal and Beastcraft. He has also played in Vulture Lord, Angst Skvadron, Endezzma, In Lingua Mortua among others. He is a globally  celebrated figure in the black metal community who will be forever remembered for his undiluted love and devotion  towards the genre.

Trond began his musical journey in 1992 when he formed Urgehal with rhythm guitarist Enzifer. Urgehal is a Norwegian black metal band who were among the only few Norwegian black metal acts to have stayed true to its roots since its inception. Urgehal is a perfect blend of black, speed and thrash metal with Trondr's sinister sounding vocals.They released six full-length albums, four EPs and two demos before Trondr's untimely departure in 2012. Urgehal was also one of the few remaining bands who used "True Norwegian black metal" label on their music releases. While on Beastcraft, he did a nifty job on the bass and 6 strings.

From a musical standpoint, Urgehal unarguably stands out from the others whereas Beastcraft takes a different turn with its rusty, low-fi yet melodic black metal sound good enough to keep you enchanted. All of his projects have stood out from each other material wise, showcasing his versatility and talent.


On 12th May 2012, Trondr was found dead in a cabin in a forest of Norway. He was only 35. His sudden, mysterious death came as a shock to all the black metal fans around the world. According to their official Facebook page, Trondr's demise was described to be "peaceful and natural" and it also stated that he died due to natural causes at one of his favourite places, sorrounded by woods and crystal lakes. Trondr was in the process of making a documentary movie called "A black metal year in Norway" which embodied the lifestyle, natural beauty and metal community in Norway through his own perspective but due to his departure, the film and its release has been put to a halt. The continuance/status of the film and its release is still a big question mark but we hope we'll get to watch Trondr's side of the story soon.

At Bunker Festival 2012 in Oslo, members of Urgehal, Endezzma, Kyrpt, Angst Skvadron and Tsjuder regrouped to perform under the same roof as an act of respect and tribute to the  legendary Trondr Nefas.

Born on: 28th May, 1977

Birthplace: Norway

Band(s) involved: Urgehal, Beastcraft, Bloodsworn, Endezzma, In Lingua Mortua, Kvist, Angst Skvadron, Vulture Lord

Passed on: 12th May, 2012

Cause of death: Natural causes


INTERVIEWS


So far, I haven't found nor read any of the interviews conducted with Trondr, but when I do, the first thing I'm gonna do is post it here.


A BLACK METAL YEAR IN NORWAY (DVD TRAILER)

 




Posted by 3 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Per Yngve Ohlin a.k.a Dead: Mayhem, Morbid



"Dead: Life eternal"

Per Yngve Ohlin, better known by his stage name "Dead" was a Swedish front-man for the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem and his hometown death metal band Morbid. He was one of the most influencial yet notorious frontmen of all time and played an integral role in the evolution of second wave black metal. His grotesque stage performances and smearing of corpse paint on the face cemented the ethics for the genre.
         
Dead(left) with Euronymous, the black emperors
Dead chose a relevant stage name as he himself confessed that he did not feel human. Wikipedia and several other sources state that he once had a near-death experience, hence giving birth to his stage name. He had weird notions and his lyrics reflected them. His character fitted to his name. He was melancholic, dismal with an introvert nature. He was obsessed with the castles of Carpathia and Transylvania which he fondly talked of in interviews. His corpse which Euronymous photographed saw Dead wearing a t-shirt that reads "I love Transylvania".

On stage, he was equally a phenomenal presence. His raw vocals coming straight from his throats sounded like a tormented soul, gasping for air. He wore corpse paint not just to look cool but to feel like a corpse. He used to bury his clothes before gigs and wear them at night to give them a rotting, corpse-like odour. He used to cut himself and slit his wrists on stage to drive away the poseurs. Speaking of poseurs, he loathed them as he thought they ruined the black metal scene in Norway.

On 8th April, Dead freed himself from this world by slitting his wrist and neck and later, shooting himself with a shotgun. His blood-clad cadaver, photographed by Euronymous would later feature on Mayhem's bootleg live album "Dawn of the black hearts" where he is seen lying next to the shotgun and a knife. The suicide note that Dead left read "Excuse all the blood, cheers."

Mayhem's "Dawn of the black hearts" album cover


Born on: 16th January, 1969

Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden

Band(s) involved: Mayhem, Morbid; he also made an appearance in the Doom metal band Candlemass' music video "Bewitched"

Passed on: 8th April, 1991

Cause of death: Suicide

INTERVIEWS OF DEAD


UNOFFICIAL DOCUMENTARY



Posted by 4 comments:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)