Susperia
| Susperia | |
|---|---|
 Band logo |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) |
Thrash Metal Dark Metal (formerly) |
| founding | 1998 as Seven Sins |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Dagon (Bernt Fjellestad) (since 2015) |
| Cyrus (Terje Andersen) | |
guitar |
Elvorn (Christian Hagen) |
| Memnock (Håkon Didriksen) | |
| Tjodalv ( Kenneth Åkesson ) | |
| former members | |
| Athera ( Pål Mathiesen ) (until 2015) | |
Susperia is a thrash metal band from the Norwegian city of Bærum . The band was founded in 1998 under the name Seven Sins ( English 'Seven Sins') and has had its current name since 2000. Susperia are signed to Agonia Records and have released six studio albums, an EP and a demo to date . Initially the band was still influenced by symphonic black metal , but changed the musical direction over the years.
Band history
Establishment and dominance
The band was founded in October 1998 by the former Dimmu Borgir - drummer (born: Tjodalv Kenneth Åkesson ) and the guitarist Cyrus (born: Terje Andersen, formerly among others, Satyricon ) was founded. Both musicians have been friends for many years and have played together in the band Old Man's Child . Originally the band was called Seven Sins. Since there were other bands with this name and the band itself no longer liked the name, it was renamed. Inspired by the horror film Suspiria , the band changed their name accordingly. After a short time, the spelling was changed to Susperia, as the band wanted to avoid a lawsuit over copyright .
After Tjodalv left Dimmu Borgir in March 1999, he fully concentrated on his new band. Together with Cyrus he wrote the first songs. During the Wacken Open Air Festival 1999 Tjodalv met the singer Athera (real name: Pål Mathiesen ). Tjodalv brought some demos and told Athera that he was looking for musicians to bring the band forward. Athera liked Tjodalv's music and offered to sing. Athera's suggestion came across the second guitarist Elvorn (civil: Christian 'Elvorn' Hagen) and bassist Memnock (civil: Håkon Didriksen), both of whom had previously played in Athera's bands Vanaheim.
After a few rehearsals, the band recorded the demo Illusions of Evil in December 1999 . The demo contained five songs. Mustis ( Dimmu Borgir ) was hired as a guest keyboarder . The demo was sent to various record companies. Ten different record companies wanted to sign the band. Eventually the band signed a deal with Nuclear Blast in early 2000 . The band played their first concert together with the bands Alsvartr and Ragnarok . Susperia recorded her debut album in autumn 2000 under the direction of producer Peter Tägtgren , which was released in March 2001 under the name Predominance . In the same year the band went on a European tour with In Flames , Nevermore , Dimmu Borgir and Lacuna Coil .
Vindication and Unlimited
A year later followed the second album Vindication , which was also produced by Peter Tägtgren in his Abyss studio . The album was released in May 2002. In the autumn of that year, Susperia played on a European tour with bands like Borknagar , Suidakra , Finntroll and Windir . The relationship between the band and Nuclear Blast deteriorated in the aftermath. Eventually, Susperia asked Nuclear Blast to terminate the contract because, according to Athera, the musicians simply could no longer sit on their bums and wait for something to happen.
The band received several contract offers and signed with the Norwegian company Tabu Recordings . In April 2004 the band released their best-selling album to date, Unlimited . It reached number 43 on the Norwegian album charts, which was the first chart entry for the band . For the song Chemistry one was video clip rotated in the US in music shows like Headbangers Ball and Havoc TV has been shown. Susperia were nominated in the Metal category of the Alarm Awards .
A year later the band followed up with the EP Devil May Care . In addition to two original compositions, the EP contains cover versions of WASP ( Wild Child ), Death ( Lack of Comprehension ) and a-ha ( The Sun Always Shines on TV ). The EP reached number 19 on the Norwegian singles chart. This made Susperia the first Norwegian metal band to make it into the top 20 of the national singles charts. In autumn of that year, Susperia toured Europe as the opening act for Testament . Further tours followed with bands such as Demolition , Grimfist and Red Harvest .
Cut from Stone and Attitude
After completing the tour cycle, the band first had to deal with some issues within the band and with their management. The fourth album Cut from Stone was released on April 9, 2007 and reached number 39 on the Norwegian album charts. In April Susperia toured in support of WASP in Norway, Sweden and England , followed by a short tour of the UK with Onslaught . Drummer Tjodalv had to sit out on this tour because he slipped while unloading his car and broke his leg. He was temporarily replaced by Anders Haave from the band Blood Red Throne .
The band spent most of 2008 preparing for their next studio album. Before the album was released, the band changed their record label again and signed a worldwide contract with Candlelight Records . For the recordings of their new album Attitude , Susperia was able to win the Dimmu Borgir singer Shagrath (real name: Stian Tomt Thoresen) and the will singer Chuck Billy as guest musicians.
On the morning of March 9th, 2009 singer Athera was admitted to Akershus Universitetssykehus in Lørenskog after a heart attack . Three narrowed arteries and three heart valves had to be replaced in the course of a triple bypass operation . Because of further complications, an open heart operation had to be performed at Rikshospitalet in Oslo. In early April he was able to leave the hospital, but had to suspend the upcoming tour of Great Britain with Breed 77 and Sworn Amongst . Athera was replaced at the concerts by Guardians of Time singer Bernt Fjellestad. Attitude was released in May 2009 and reached number 28 on the Norwegian album charts. Athera returned to the stage with the band in June 2009.
We Are the Ones and The Lyricist
The band spent 2010 writing new music and playing occasional concerts. At the beginning of 2011 Mustis, who had meanwhile been fired from Dimmu Borgir, returned to Susperia as a guest musician. Together, the musicians performed the song Nothing Remains at the Melodi Grand Prix 2011 , the Norwegian qualification for the Eurovision Song Contest . There Susperia were only eliminated in the semi-finals against the rockabilly band The Lucky Bullets . To mark the tenth anniversary of the release of their debut album, the band released the album We Are the Ones on November 11, 2011 . In addition to the title track, the album contains the song Nothing Remains , orchestral versions of three older tracks and the first demo in a newly mastered form.
At the end of May 2015 it was announced that the band was looking for a new singer. Athera had left the band due to health problems and other reasons. On August 5th, 2015, the band Guardians of Time introduced Bernt Fjellestad, a new singer who gave himself the stage name Dagon . At the end of June 2017 Susperia signed a new recording contract with Agonia Records and released her sixth album The Lyricist on March 16, 2018 .
style
On the early albums, the band experimented with a mix of black and thrash metal . The band Testament , which is one of the favorite bands of all members , exerted a great influence . With the album Unlimited at the latest , the black metal elements had disappeared. The band gave more space to influences from heavy metal and power metal . Today Susperia are usually traded as a melodic Thrash Metal band.
The lyrics written by the singer Athera are personal and either purely fictional or autobiographical . Politics and religion are just as little processed as certain concepts. Athera uses both guttural and clear singing.
Discography
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Albums
- 2001: Dominance
- 2002: Vindication
- 2004: Unlimited
- 2007: Cut from Stone
- 2009: Attitude
- 2011: We Are the Ones
- 2018: The Lyricist
EPs
- 2005: Devil May Care
Demos
- 2000: Illusions of Evil
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d volume. Susperia, accessed June 30, 2017 .
- ↑ a b biography of Susperia. laut.de , accessed on June 30, 2017 .
- ↑ musicmight.com: Susperia at Musicmight ( Memento of the original from August 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b norwegiancharts.com: Susperia in the Norwegian charts
- ↑ a b metal.de: Interview with Memnock
- ↑ David Nagel: Athera has to go under the knife. The Pit, accessed June 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Singer ATHERA Quits SUSPERIA; Band Vows To Carry On With New Vocalist. Blabbermouth.net , accessed June 30, 2017 .
- ↑ SUSPERIA Signs With AGONIA RECORDS. Blabbermouth.net, accessed June 30, 2017 .
Web links
- Official homepage of the band
- Fan page ( Memento from February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive )