Vintersorg
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Vintersorg |
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Vintersorg (pronounced ['vɪntɛr 'sɔrj]; "Winter Sorrow" in English) is a Swedish folk black metal band from Skellefteå, Sweden, formed in 1994 under the name Vargatron (Wolfthrone in English). Lyrically, the band deals with topics on fantasy, mythology, nature, the cosmos, and metaphysics. Vintersorg means "Winter Sorrow," but the name was taken from the Isfolket series by Margit Sandemo, where the character Vintersorg is the son of a great pagan leader.
The project was originally formed in 1994 to "push the limits" of black metal music, where the vocals are mostly clean sung, and only a few parts per song that had the traditional screaming vocals. The sound of Vintersorg has vastly changed over the years, as their earlier sound had more of a folk influence, and later on, more of an experimental sound. This transformation was most notably marked with the release of the Cosmic Genesis album, and the change in sound progressed from album to album, with the 2004 album The Focusing Blur being an extremely avant-garde album. Notably, the vocal styles have shifted quite noticeably throughout Vintersorg's existence, with "Cosmic Genesis" featuring low-pitched clean vocals with the occasional growled vocal, and "Solens rötter" featuring more high-pitched and melodic vocals.
Along with this change in musical style, the lyrical topics began to shift as well. In the past, the lyrics were all sung and written in Swedish, and dealt with topics of nature and paganism. With the advent of Cosmic Genesis, the lyrics were now written and sung mostly in English, and now dealt with scientific ideas and philosophies such as metaphysics, astronomy, and astrology. In the Cosmic Genesis booklet, Vintersorg extends thanks to Dr. Carl Sagan, author of the book Cosmos.
Vintersorg (aka Andreas Hedlund) is constantly creating music. He is the front-man of several bands including Vintersorg, Otyg, Borknagar, Havayoth, Fission, Cronian and Waterclime.
Band members
- Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund – composer, vocals, guitar, keyboard
- Mattias Marklund – guitar
Session musicians
- Vargher – keyboards on Hedniskhjärtad, Till fjälls, and Ödemarkens son
- Cia Hedmark – female vocals on Hedniskhjärtad, Till fjälls, and Ödemarkens son and violin on Ödemarkens son
- Andreas Frank – guest lead guitar on "För kung och fosterland" & "Asatider" on Till fjälls
- Nisse Johansson – additional keys on Till fjälls and analog synth, loop editing on Visions from the Spiral Generator and Hammond on "Universums dunkla alfabet"
- Jan Erik "Tyr" Torgersen – live bass
- Steve DiGiorgio – bass guitar on Visions from the Spiral Generator and The Focusing Blur
- Asgeir Mickelson – drums on Visions from the Spiral Generator and The Focusing Blur
- Lars "Lazare" Nedland – Hammond organ on Visions from the Spiral Generator and Hammond organ, vocals, and lyricist on The Focusing Blur
- Benny Hägglund – live drums
- Johan Lindgren – live bass, bass on Solens rötter
- Andreas Stenlund – live guitar until 2002
Discography
- Hedniskhjärtad (1998) ("Paganhearted")
- Till fjälls (1998) ("To the Mountains")
- Ödemarkens son (1999) ("Son of the Wilderness")
- Cosmic Genesis (2000)
- Visions from the Spiral Generator (2002)
- The Focusing Blur (2004)
- Solens rötter (2007) ("Roots of the Sun")