Gaahls Wyrd | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Bergen, Norway |
| Genres | Black metal |
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Labels | Season of Mist |
| Members | Gaahl Lust Kilman Eld Spektre |
| Past members | Baard Kolstad Sir |
Gaahls Wyrd is a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen, formed in 2015 by former Gorgoroth and God Seed vocalist Gaahl. [1]
In September 2015 (one month after God Seed's final show), Gaahl announced his new band, Gaahls Wyrd, who played their first live show at the Blekkmetal Festival in Norway on 13 November 2015. [1]
In regards to forming the new band, Gaahl stated:
I'm very pleased with what me and Tom have done together. We've created a lot of good songs, but I think the difference between us is probably the reason why I've started this new band. I've made a lot of my favourite songs that I've created in God Seed and I've brought with me one of these characters from that band. [1]
Since their formation, Gaahls Wyrd has been consistently touring; their repertoire consists of selected songs from Gaahl's past projects, including tracks from Incipit Satan , Twilight of the Idols , and Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam by Gorgoroth, God Seed's debut album, and assorted tracks by Trelldom. They have also had a variety of guest performers on their shows.
In 2016, they released footage of their debut performance. [2]
In 2017, drummer Baard Kolstad left the band and was replaced by Kevin Kvåle aka "Spektre". Guitarist Stian "Sir" Kårstad also left the following year and was replaced by Ole Hartvigsen of Kampfar for live performances. Both members quit the band for undisclosed reasons.
On 1 December 2017, the band independently released a 12" hand-numbered EP titled Bergen Nov '15 and included six live tracks that were performed and recorded during their live debut in 2015; it featured Kvitrafn on vocals and playing the hurdy-gurdy as a guest for the first track. It was exclusively sold on the Vardøger European Tour 2017 with Auðn and The Great Old Ones and was limited to 1,000 copies. On 4 May 2018, it was reissued and made widely available in CD format through Season of Mist. In September that same year the band also announced their signing to Season of Mist to release their debut album. [3] [4]
The band announced a two month long European tour with Swedish band Tribulation and American bands Uada and Idle Hands called "Northern Ghosts Tour" that started on 21 February 2019, and ended on 10 March. [4] [5]
The band's promotional single "Ghosts Invited" was released online on 7 February and revealed that the name of their debut album will be GastiR – Ghosts Invited and is going to be released on 31 May 2019; the album was recorded throughout 2018 at Solslottet Studios in Norway with Iver Sandøy of Enslaved, though most of the music was written and demoed by Lust Kilman and Eld as early as 2016. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The second promotional single "From the Spear" was released on 13 March. [11] On 16 April, the band released their first music video for the song "Carving the Voices" which was directed, shot and edited by Troll Toftenes. [12] [13] GastiR – Ghosts Invited was released on digital platforms on 24 May 2019, and physical media the following week. The band has also continued performing live and will be featured in several festivals. The band also revealed that Blasphemer of Aura Noir and VLTIMAS fame had joined the band as a second live guitarist since Ole Hartvigsen had to return to Kampfar for their live performances in support of their new album. Eriksen would later depart to focus on his bands, and was replaced by Andreas Fosse Salbu as live guitarist.
In December 2019, GastiR – Ghosts Invited was rated the third best metal album of the year by the American magazine Rolling Stone , [14] and on 7 February 2020, it was nominated for Best Metal Album in the Norwegian music award Spellemannsprisen. [15] Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the following national lockdown during spring of 2020, the Spellemannsprisen award show was cancelled until further notice. [16] A few months later, it was announced that Gaahls Wyrd had won the Spellemann Award for Best Metal Album of 2019.
Gorgoroth is a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen. It was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus, who is the sole original member remaining, and has released nine studio albums. Gorgoroth are a Satanic band and have drawn controversy due to some of their concerts, which have featured impaled sheep heads and mock crucifixions. The band is named after the dead plateau of darkness in the land of Mordor from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings.
Audrey Horne is a hard rock band from Bergen, Norway. Formed in 2002, the band took its name from Sherilyn Fenn's character in the TV series Twin Peaks. The band's musical style is a mixture of heavy and melodic classic rock, inspired by Iron Maiden, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Audrey Horne has released seven studio albums, one live album and one EP.
Kristian Eivind Espedal, better known by his stage name Gaahl, is a Norwegian vocalist. He is best known as the former frontman of Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He is also the founder and lead vocalist of Trelldom and Gaahlskagg. Since leaving Gorgoroth, he has been involved with God Seed, Wardruna, and Gaahls Wyrd. He was the focus of the documentary True Norwegian Black Metal and also appeared in the film Flukt.
Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam is the seventh studio album by Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. It was released in Europe on 19 June 2006 by Regain Records and in the US on 25 July 2006 by Candlelight Records. This was the only Gorgoroth album on which all of the lyrics and music were written by Gaahl and King ov Hell, and was the last to feature both members. It also marked the return of drummer Frost and was the last Gorgoroth album that he appeared on. It was nominated for Norway's 2006 Spellemann award in the "Metal" category. It is the first Gorgoroth album with no Norwegian lyrics.
Kampfar is a black metal band from Fredrikstad, Norway. According to their singer, Dolk, their name is an ancient Norse battle cry which means Odin or Wotan. The music of Kampfar can be described as black metal inspired by Norwegian folklore and nature. The band is currently signed to Indie Recordings.
Roger Tiegs, better known by his stage name Infernus, is a Norwegian black metal musician and Satanist. He is the sole founding member and chief ideologist of the black metal band Gorgoroth, formed in 1992, in addition to being the founder and head of Forces of Satan Records. While mainly a guitarist, Infernus has also participated as bassist, drummer and vocalist on several recordings released both by Gorgoroth and other bands.
Tom Cato Visnes, better known as King ov Hell or simply King, is a Norwegian musician. He is best known as the former bassist of black metal band Gorgoroth, and as a member of Audrey Horne, Sahg, I, Ov Hell, God Seed, Abbath, Jotunspor and Temple of the Black Moon.
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Tormentor is a Norwegian black metal musician who is best known for his work as guitarist with the black metal band Gorgoroth.
Apollyon is a black metal/thrash metal multi-instrumentalist, formerly associated with Dødheimsgard, Cadaver and Immortal, now playing in Aura Noir. He has done guest vocals on the Darkthrone albums Plaguewielder and Sardonic Wrath, and also on Audiopain's EP 1986 (2000). He was a live guitarist for Gorgoroth from 2003 to 2004, and performed at Gorgoroth's infamous Kraków show in February 2004 and later released on the video album Black Mass Krakow 2004.
True Norwegian Black Metal – Live in Grieghallen is Gorgoroth's first full-length live album, released by Regain Records. It was recorded live in the studio at Grieghallen Lydstudio in Bergen and Threeman Recordings in Stockholm. The songs on the album represented the most commonly played songs in Gorgoroth's live set. The cover design by Magnus Wohlfart was radically different from the previous three full-length albums, being more reminiscent of the cover of the album Under the Sign of Hell (1997). Most of the album was recorded before the departure of vocalist Gaahl and bass guitarist King ov Hell, who had intended to use the band's name and assets. The bass guitar for this album was later re-recorded by guitarist and band founder Infernus. Infernus dedicated the album to the late Jon Nödtveidt of Dissection.
Gaahlskagg is a Norwegian black metal band from Sunnfjord, Norway. The band was founded as a side project in 1998 by Gaahl and Skagg. Gaahlskagg released one studio album before going on hiatus in 2001 due to Gaahl's commitment to Gorgoroth.
The Gorgoroth name dispute refers to a legal dispute between musicians from Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth over who had ownership of the band's name, which was derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The parties to the dispute were band founder Infernus and members Gaahl and King ov Hell. It began in October 2007, when it was announced that Gaahl and King had decided to part ways with Infernus, although the former two claimed to have "fired" the latter. The dispute was concluded in March 2009 when a court verdict recognising Infernus as the legitimate user of the name was announced, and the outcome of the dispute also established a precedent in Norway for subsequent similar disputes.
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