Urgehal

Formed in 1992, in the town of Hønefoss, by Trondr Nefas (screeches, lead guitar) and Enzifer (aka Mr. T.L. Messiah, rhythm guitar), Urgehal are true, necro-Norwegian black metal poster boys — and that means corpse paint, scary costumes, leather and spikes, the works! Early demos from 1994 and 1995 saw the group complemented by bassist Chiron and keyboard player Aradia, but her services were soon dispensed with and it wasn't until the release of their 1997 debut album, Arma Christi, that Urgehal bothered to hire a human drummer, Uruz (real name Jarle Byberg). Further examples of raw, unsophisticated, misanthropic black metal followed in the shape of 1998's Massive Terrestrial Attack, 2001's Atomkinder, and 2003's Through Thick Fog Til Death, which introduced new bassist Tomas "Sregroth" Torgersbråten and was eventually reissued stateside two years later by Southern Lord Records, along with a new Urgehal release, Goat Craft Torment. Atomkinder arrived in 2006.