Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emphasis on atmosphere. Artists often appear in corpse paint and adopt pseudonyms.
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in Langhus in 1984. They were one of the pioneers of the Norwegian black metal scene, and their music has profoundly influenced the black metal genre. Mayhem's early career was marked by controversy, primarily due to their notorious live performances, the 1991 suicide of vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin ("Dead"), and the 1993 murder of guitarist Øystein Aarseth ("Euronymous") by former member Varg Vikernes of Burzum.
Deathcrush is the debut EP and overall first commercial release by Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. It was released in August 1987 by Posercorpse Music.
Bethlehem is a German extreme metal band from Grevenbroich, formed in 1991 by Jürgen Bartsch and Klaus Matton. Before starting Bethlehem, Bartsch and Matton used to play in a German thrash metal band Morbid Vision. Many of their lyrics revolve around sickness, morbidity, suicide, death and madness, and may to some extent be personal to the band.
Nifelheim was a Swedish black metal band. The band was formed in 1990 by the twin brothers Erik and Per Gustavsson, under the stage names Tyrant and Hellbutcher. The band is known for their "old school" style of black metal.
Obsessed by Cruelty is the debut full-length studio album and the second release by German thrash metal band Sodom, released in 1986. Two different versions of the album exist, the European and the American, which were released by Steamhammer and Metal Blade Records.
Taake is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen, formed in 1993 and originally named Thule. The band's one continuous member is Hoest, who writes all and records most of the music. Taake has released eight full-length albums and several EPs. The band describes itself as "True Norwegian black metal", and Hoest said he wants to "awaken national pride and cultural nostalgia" in Norwegian listeners as well as to remind people "that Hell is right here on Earth and that humans can be demons". All lyrics are in Hoest's native dialect and are printed in Norse runes. Taake is the old spelling of the Norwegian word tåke, meaning "fog".
Shining is a Swedish black metal band, formed by Niklas Kvarforth in Halmstad in 1996.
Chimera is the third full-length album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. It is the fourth and last main Mayhem release with the vocalist Sven Erik Kristiansen (Maniac). TurboNatas of the Norwegian band Red Harvest provided the album artwork. The cover image is a still from the 1922 Swedish silent film Häxan.
European Legions is a compilation album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. Tracks 1 to 7 are live tracks, and tracks 8 to 12 are pre-production tracks from the Grand Declaration of War sessions.
Sven Erik Kristiansen is a Norwegian musician, best known as the former vocalist in the black metal band Mayhem under the stage name Maniac.
Magenta is an industrial rock/alternative rock band from Norway formed by Vilde Lockert and Anders Odden during the summer of 1995. They released their first EP, Magenta in 1997. The song "Secret Sky" entered the charts in Norway and established their career. Co-founder Anders Odden was already known in musical circles. He has been a member of bands like Cadaver and Celtic Frost. He is currently also the bassplayer for Satyricon, and guitarplayer for ORDER.
Halmstad is the fifth album by Swedish black metal band Shining. It was released by Osmose Productions on 16 April 2007. A black LP edition was released and limited to 500 copies.
Niklas Olsson, better known as Niklas Kvarforth, is a Swedish musician. He is the founder, composer and vocalist of the black metal band Shining.
Klagopsalmer is the sixth album by Shining. It was released on 30 June 2009 by Osmose Productions.
Den Saakaldte is a Norwegian black metal supergroup, founded in 2006 by Mikael Sykelig, featuring members of Shining, 1349 and Dødheimsgard, among others. It takes its name from a song by Ved Buens Ende.
Slavia was a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1994 in Kongsberg by Jonas Raskolnikov Christiansen and originally named Dreygjarnir. The band changed their name to Slavia in 1997 and was later based in Bergen where Christiansen attended university. The band's various lineups featured members from Taake, Deathcult, Disiplin, Enslaved and Black Flame.
Malign is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1994.
Redefining Darkness is the eighth studio album by the Swedish black metal band Shining. It was released through Spinefarm Records on 29 October 2012. The album is dedicated to the memory of Trond Bråthen.
