Gorgoroth

Gorgoroth is a black metal band from Norway. The band plays traditional, extreme black metal with subtle doom metal overtones, and was formed in 1992. Over the years Gorgoroth has experimented with noise and industrial overtones, but professes no interest in that particular style. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes, leaving guitarist Infernus as the only remaining original member; after their second album, "Antichrist", they sold out. The name Gorgoroth is taken from the J.R.R. Tolkien series The Lord Of The Rings, in which it is a dead plateau of evil and darkness.

Statistics

Genre: Black metal
Country: Norway
Status: Active
Time: 1992-

Biography

Gorgoroth was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus, vocalist Hat, and drummer Goat. In 1993, the band released their first demo, entitled A Sorcery Written In Blood. It was also released as a split album with Burzum entitled Burzum & Gorgoroth; it contained the same tracks as the demo plus various Burzum songs. After the demo was released, Gorgoroth signed a record deal with Embassy Records and started work on their debute full-length: Pentagram. The infamous Samoth of Emperor participated on the album by recording the bass tracks. After Pentagram was completed and released, Goat left the band and was replaced temporarily by Frost from Satyricon. This led the band directly into the recording of Antichrist, their sophomore release. Vocalist Hat decided to leave Gorgoroth in 1995, but not until after he had finished recording the vocal tracks. It was at this time Gorgoroth's well-known vocalist Pest joined. Antichrist was a highly successful release, and led to the band's first live performances supporting Cradle Of Filth. They also toured Norway and England with Satyricon and Dissection. Soon the name Gorgoroth was commonplace in the black metal underground, if somewhat overshadowed by some of the more infamous black metal bands such as Mayhem or Emperor.

Following the release of the band's third album, Under The Sign Of Hell (1997), and Gorgoroth's first headlining European tour, the well-known German heavy metal record label Nuclear Blast sought to sign Gorgoroth. The band accepted the offer in 1998. The first album recorded and released for Nuclear Blast was Destroyer (1998). Most of the music and lyrics for this album, however, were written by non-members of the band. New singer Gaahl joined the band at this time, but was heard on only one song – the title track – on Destroyer.

In 1999, Gorgoroth began journeying into unknown territory with the recording of Incipit Satan. Though written by Infernus once again, the album delved into musical ideas not expanded upon by the group in previous recordings. Songs such as "Will To Power" showcased strong industrial, dark ambient, and noise influences (more so than on Destroyer and Under The Sign Of Hell, both of which showed signs of experimentation). The song "When Love Rages Wild In My Heart" featured clean, bluesy vocals reminiscnet of Danzig. Overall, the album displayed extreme progressive tendencies, yet still retained a traditional black metal edge and Infernus' signature sound.

Three years later – after further line-up changes, Gorgoroth began writing their most recent album, Twilight Of The Idols. The album showed a return to a more solidified black metal style, but was still quite different from early Gorgoroth releases, mainly due to the fact that most of the album's songs were written by bassist King Ov Hell rather than Infernus. After the release of Twilight Of The Idols, Gorgoroth terminated their contract with Nuclear Blast. Currently Gorgoroth's vocalist Gaahl is facing a possible prison sentence for allegedly beating and torturing a man and performing Satanic rituals.

Discography

Studio releases

Pentagram - (1994)
Antichrist - (1996)
Under The Sign Of Hell - (1997)
Destroyer - (1998)
Incipit Satan - (2000)
Twilight Of The Idols - (2003)

Live and compilation releases

Burzum & Gorgoroth [Split CD] - (1993)
The Last Tormentor [Live] - (1996)
Destroyer / Incipit Satan [Compilation] - (2000)

Demos and bootlegs

A Sorcery Written In Blood [Demo] - (1993)

Band members

Current members

Gaahl - Vocals - (1998-)
Infernus - Guitar - (1992-)
King Ov Hell - Bass - (1999-)
Frost (Kjetil Haraldstad) - Drums - (2004-)

Former members

Pest - Vocals - (1995-1997)
Hat - Vocals - (1992-1995)
Tormentor (Bøllo Heyerdahl) - Guitar - (1996-2002)
T-Reaper (Torgrim Øyre) - Bass - (1998).
Ares - Bass - (1996-1998)
Storm - Bass - (1996)
Samoth (Tomas Haugen) - Bass - (1994)
Kvitrafn - Drums - (2000-2004)
Sersjant (Erlend Erichsen) - Drums - (1999-2000)
Grim (Erik Brødreskift) - Drums - (1996-1997)
Goat - Drums - (1992-1994)

Related bands

Darkthrone - An important black metal band which influenced Gorgoroth's earlier albums.
Trelldom - A side-project of vocalist Gaahl.
Gaahlskagg - Another side-project of Gaahl's.
Borknagar - A melodic, medieval, black metal-influenced band which Infernus played bass for in 1995.