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Samoth

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Samoth on Metalmania 2007

Samoth (Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen) is a prominent musician in the Norwegian black metal scene. He is well known for his distinct guitar work in the band Emperor, as well as his formation of the death metal band Zyklon. In very early releases, he was called Samot, and with the formation of Zyklon he became known as Zamoth. Samoth is the owner of the record label Nocturnal Art Productions.

Biography

When Samoth was a young man, he met a fellow musician named Ihsahn at a rock clinic. The two soon became friends and started playing music together. They formed a band and moved through various names – they were called Dark Device, Xerasia, and finally Embryonic. The group eventually settled on the name Thou Shalt Suffer in 1991. They were playing an early form of black metal strongly influenced by death metal, particularly vocally.

Samoth and Ihsahn's friendship proved to be strong, however, and eventually the two took their musicianship to a new level. Partly due to the influence of Euronymous of the band Mayhem, Samoth dissolved Thou Shalt Suffer and began writing music for a new band called Emperor (in which he played drums). Ihsahn was the only member of Thou Shalt Suffer to remain, and soon bass player Mortiis and drummer Faust were recruited; Samoth moved back to his more familiar position of guitar. At this point, the group was playing fully developed black metal. Emperor was quick to release several demos which gained them recognition and popularity in the underground.

Around this time, Samoth, then-Emperor bassist Tchort, and members of the band Mayhem went on a spree of church arsons that struck fear in Norway during the early-mid 90s. Samoth and Tchort were arrested and given jail sentences, which put Emperor in a bit of a stand-still; they would not release their second album for another three years as the rest of the band awaited Samoth's parole. Tchort would not return to the band.

After years of playing in Emperor and being featured on various black metal side projects, Samoth, in conjunction with Ihsahn, decided to dissolve Emperor in 2001 due to their differing musical tastes. Samoth was leaning toward a futuristic death metal sound, while Ihsahn was more influenced by gothic metal and symphonic metal. After Emperor's final release, Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise, composed entirely by Ihsahn, Emperor was no more. Samoth continues to play guitar with fellow drummer Trym in black/death metal band Zyklon.

Recently it was announced that Emperor would regroup for a few shows at Norway's Inferno festival and Germany's Wacken. Recently Samoth was involved in Norwegian-American supergroup Scum, which also featured Bard Faust, Cosmocrator of Mindgrinder, Chasey Chaos of Amen and Happy Tom from Turbonegro.

He has one daughter with ex-wife Andrea M. (Nebel) Haugen. He remarried since his divorce.

Personal discography

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