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Darkwoods My Betrothed

 
Artist: Darkwoods My Betrothed

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Bathory, Amorphis, Manowar, Mayhem & Gurley
  • Genres: Rock

Biography

Led by guitarist/vocalist Emperor Nattasett, Darkwoods My Betrothed have helped to bring the Black metal sound to Scandinavia. Formed in the spring of 1993, as Virgin's Cunt, the group continues to combine songs about ancestors and Norse gods with electrifying, to power-driven, arrangements, creating a new style of music, that they call, "Viking metal."

Recording their first demo, Reborn In The Promethean Flame, as Virgin's Cunt, the band changed its name to Darkwoods My Betrothed before recording their second demo, Dark Aureoles Gathering, in the winter of 1994. Embraced by the underground scene, the album attracted the attention of South Korea-based label, Hammerheart Productions, who signed the group to a record deal.

Their debut album, Heirs Of The Northstar, released in late 1995, revealed a much different band than the previous demos. Rather than expanding on the cold, depressing, sound of the demos, Darkwoods My Betrothed showcased a more-atmospheric, new age-like, sensibility.

Returning to their early roots, Darkwoods My Betrothed, turned up the juice with their second album, Autumn Roars Thunder, in 1996, which featured energetic, uptempo, tunes. Their third album, Witch-Hunts, recorded in 1997 but not released until a year later, remains the band's darkest recording. Although bass player Haxenmeister left the group in the summer of 1996, he continues to co-write songs with the band. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Darkwoods My Betrothed
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Darkwoods My Betrothed
Origin Kitee, Finland
Genres Black metal, Symphonic Black Metal
Years active 1992 - present
Labels Spinefarm Records
Website Darkwoods My Betrothed on Myspace
Members
Spellgoth
Julma
Larha
Magician
Icelord
Former members
Hexenmeister
Erno Vuorinen
Ante Mortem
Hallgrim

Darkwoods My Betrothed are a black metal band from Kitee, Finland[1].

Formed in 1992 as Virgin Cunt, they set out to be the "most blasphemous black metal band in Europe", in a rather tongue-in-cheek sense. After recording a couple demos under this name, the band started to take themselves a lot more seriously and changed their name to Darkwoods My Betrothed. They recorded the demo Dark Aureolis Gathering in 1994, not too different from the band's roots in extreme black metal, but it started to show serious maturity in the song-writing and delivery, mostly noticed in the strange and rather unnerving vocals; not only a traditional black metal shriek, the singers also did a wail-type of scream.

In 1995, Hammerheart Productions released Heirs of the Northstar, their first full-length album, which was a turning for the group. Still holding true to their black metal roots, the band also started to experiment with a slower-paced and more melodic viking metal sound, and usage of "drunken Viking" style clean vocals mixed with the traditional black metal screams. The lyrics were also quite different from those in the demo days; rather than dark and Satanic rantings, bassist/lyricist Teemu started a powerful fascination with Odinism and the Gods of Valhalla, and anger towards the old Christian kings that forced their religion down the throats of the heathen Scandinavians. Most of the lyrics seem to dwell on the old days and the destruction of the cross in the name of Odin.

1996 saw the release of Autumn Roars Thunder, this time under the Solistitium label. Despite the melodic meanderings of the 11 minute opening title track, the rest of the album screams by with the intensity and rage of the days of Dark Aureolis Gathering. Songs such as Nightowl and The Conspiracy of the Pagan Cult explode with the same energy and raw power of the other black metal contemporaries.

In 1998, the band returned with Witch-Hunts, a conceptual album which eschewed much of the melodic stylings of the previous two albums; the majestic Viking metal sound that took center stage was replaced with pure, unholy black metal. Due to numerous delays by the record label, it was released roughly one year after it was originally planned.

Afterwards, the band seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. They recently resurfaced for a few shows and talks of releasing a new album.

Contents

Discography

Demos

  • Dark Aureolis Gathering (1994)

Albums

  • Heirs of the Northstar (1995)
  • Autumn Roars Thunder (1996)
  • Witch-Hunts (1998)
  • Dark Aureoles Gathering (Compilation) (2000)

Band members

Session members

Former band members

  • Hexenmeister (Teemu) - Bass
  • Erno Vuorinen - Guitar
  • Ante Mortem - Guitar
  • Hallgrim (Jouni) - Guitar

Trivia

  • Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish was a frequent session keyboard player for the band, playing synth on all their full-length albums and, according to the band, he would continue to play with them if they need him. He also composed the music for a few songs, such as the last piece of Yggdrasil's Children Fall and Autumn Roars Thunder
  • Interestingly enough, Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen got his musical career started in this band. He would be later known as the guitarist for the popular band Nightwish.

External links

References


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Darkwoods My Betrothed" Read more