Vomitory

Formed as a trio in 1989, Swedish death metal band Vomitory steadily expanded its lineup, but never remained stable for very long. The band initially consisted of Ronnie Olson on bass, Urban Gustafsson on guitar, and Tobias Gustafsson on drums. Not long after playing its first show in 1990, the band opened its ranks to bass player Bengt Sund when Olson decided to handle vocals only. The band expanded again in 1991 with the addition of Ulf Dalegren on guitar. With its lineup somewhat steady and complete for the moment, the group put together a demo by the following year. The eponymous tape made its way through underground music channels, making a name for Vomitory among fans of death metal and bringing the band to the notice of Switzerland's Witchhunt Records. The label issued Moribund, a 7", in 1993. Swedish fans of death metal bought about 500 copies of the release, which featured the songs "Untouchable Challenge," "Undivulged," and the title track. That same year, Olson and the Gustafsson brothers ousted Sund from the group. Thomas Bergqvist stepped in to take the bassist's place.

Soon the group began to put together another tape for promotional purposes, but it failed to deliver any major-label prospects. Vomitory instead decided to self-release Through Sepulchral Shadows, and fans bought about 1,000 copies after its release in 1994. A little more than a year later, the group toured Poland. Fadeless Records, a company based in The Netherlands, offered the band a recording deal in 1996, and before the year was over the CD Raped in Their Own Blood was recorded and released. The lineup changed again when Olson and Bergqvist dropped out and vocalist Jussi Linna and bassist Erik Rundqvist came aboard. The CD Redemption followed in 1999, and the band embarked on two European tours before the decade was through. Metal Blade issued the group's next two CDs, Revelation Nausea in 2001 and Blood Rapture the following year, with producer Henrik Larsson working on the former release. In 2004 the band released Primal Massacre. It was to be the group's last recording with longtime guitarist Ulf Dalegren, who made the decision to leave Vomitory the following year. He was replaced by Peter Östlund, who joined the band along with new producer/engineer Rikard Löfgren to begin work on the 2007's lovingly crafted and immaculately titled Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize. Released in 2009, Carnage Euphoria found the group celebrating its 20th anniversary, while 2011's Opus Mortis VIII saw the veterans embracing their most diverse and dynamic sound to date.