Quorthon

Quorthon ( Bathory - Under the sign of black mark ) 1987.

Tomas Börje Forsberg ( Quorthon ) was a Swedish musician. He was the founder and songwriter of the band Bathory (which he formed when he was 17 in 1983) which pioneered the black metal genre (alongside Venom and Mercyful Fate) and is credited with creating the Viking metal style.

Quorthon was a multi musician, he wrote the music and lyrics on all of Bathory's albums and performed vocals and guitars.

## Bathory

He recorded his early albums together with the help of Börje Forsberg, the head of the Swedish record label Tyfon Grammofon, who also released most of his albums on the Tyfon label Black Mark.

Around this time ( in the mid- to late 80s ) live performances by Bathory were very rare.

Albums from this period helped the then-burgeoning black metal subgenre, and rare photographs of the band helped in part to define its image.

Bathory's early work was dark, fast, heavily distorted and raw recording.

Quorthon's vocals were harsh, high-pitched and raspy with occasional shrieks and screams. The band's lyrics focused on 'dark' topics and included anti-Christian and 'Satanic' references. these traits came to define black metal . Quorthon said that the band were not Satanists but used 'Satanic' references to provoke and attack Christianity.

With the third and fourth albums he began "attacking Christianity from a different angle", realizing that Satanism is a "Christian product" and seeing them both as "religious hocus-pocus"

Beginning in the 1990s, Quorthon took full control of Bathory, choosing not to perform live concerts at all in order to spend time recording music with various musicians, as well changing style from the black metal of the 80's to a slower, heavier style dubbed "Viking metal", due to its lyrics being focused on Norse mythology.

From this point onwards, he also played bass guitar on almost all of his albums, and mostly used a drum machine or a session drummer for recording studio albums

Quorthon also personally paid for the production of Bathory's only ever music video, for the song "One Rode to Asa Bay", taken from their second Viking metal album, Hammerheart.

## Albums as Quorthon

In 1993 Quorthon set Bathory aside and recorded and released two albums under the name "Quorthon".

The first, called Album, was released in 1994.

The final two solo releases emerged in 1997, Purity of Essence and the EP When Our Day Is Through.

The albums released under the Quorthon were more hard rock metal -oriented than Bathory's black/viking metal style

While working on these albums he found new inspiration to continue composing music for Bathory.

Bathory's next albums were in a retro-thrash metal style, before he veered towards his Viking metal style once again, especially on the Nordland saga.

## Quorthon's Death

Quorthon was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm on 7 June 2004, apparently from heart failure.

Some sources give the date of his death as 3 June.

Quorthon was buried at Sandsborgs Kyrkogård in Gamla Enskede, South Stockholm on July 13th, 2004.

In 2006. Black Mark Production released a box set under the title In Memory of Quorthon.

It contained a poster of Quorthon, three CDs of previously released material and cover versions, some promo footage of Quorthon's tours and the music video for "One Rode to Asa Bay".

Black metal bands influenced by Quorthons early albums : Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, Satyricon, Emperor, Dark Funeral, Enslaved, Immortal, Marduk, Moonsorrow , Dimmu Borgir and many others.

## Discography :

**As Bathory**

· Bathory (1984)

· The Return…… (1985)

· Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987)

· Blood Fire Death (1988)

· Hammerheart (1990)

· Twilight of the Gods (1991)

· Jubileum Volume I (1992)

· Jubileum Volume II (1993)

· Requiem (1994)

· Octagon (1995)

· Blood on Ice (1996)

· Jubileum Volume III (1998)

· Destroyer of Worlds (2001)

· Nordland I (2002)

· Nordland II (2003)

**As Quorthon**

· Album (1994)

· When Our Day Is Through EP (1997)

· Purity of Essence (1997)