Kristoffer Rygg

Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg
Background information
Birth name	Kristoffer Rygg
Also known as	Garm Fiery G. Maelstrom G. Wolf Trickster G. Rex Christophorus G. Rygg God Head
Born	September 9, 1976 (1976-09-09) (age 35) Oslo, Norway
Origin	Norway
Occupations	Musician Composer Music producer Audio engineer
Instruments	Vocals Keyboards Programming
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Jester Records The End Records
Associated acts	Ulver Æthenor Arcturus Head Control System Borknagar

Kristoffer Rygg (September 9, 1976), also known as Garm, Trickster G. and recently also God Head is a Spellemannprisen nominated ^[1] vocalist, musician and producer known as the frontman of Ulver and former vocalist for Arcturus. Rygg is noted for his multi-range singing styles and production talent in a wide range of styles, including black metal, folk metal, experimental music, ambient, electronics and film music.

Biography

Born in Oslo, Rygg was 16 years old when he formed Ulver, which was considered one of the more experimental bands of the black metal genre as well as an instigator for related subcategories such as folk metal and avant-garde metal.

In addition, Rygg had also been a vocalist for Borknagar (1995–1997) and Arcturus (1993–2003), both of which comprise many eminent musicians from the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was also the one responsible for introducing Borknagar to the singer who replaced him, ICS Vortex, when he parted ways with the band.

Rygg possesses a wide range of vocal textures and styles, ranging from falsettos, baritone, and even black metal style rasps and shrieks. Through methods of audio mixing, he has blended his voice to create dense male choirs on albums such as the majority of the vocals on Kveldssanger. He often records multiple vocal tracks of himself when recording to create dynamic, layered vocals.

He currently runs Jester Records, an underground label specializing in off the wall music, including Ulver, which has since changed to a musical style almost impossible to classify. He has also performed as a guest for a very large list of other artists, including Alkaline Trio, Dimmu Borgir, Aphrodisiac, Ihsahn, The Gathering, Kåre João, Merzbow and Sunn O))) among others.

In 2005 Rygg collaborated with multidisciplinary musician/producer Daniel Cardoso in a band called Head Control System. The music is described by the label as "groovy rock/metal with progressive edges, alternative feeling and a strong visual cinematic component." Their first full-length was released April 4, 2006 under the name Murder Nature through The End Records, the US home of such bands as Ulver, Mindless Self Indulgence, Danzig, Voivod, Jarboe, Juliette Lewis, The Lemonheads, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and many other bands.

Most recently Rygg has also been working with concrete/jazz/improvisational project Æthenor, involving notable musicians such as Daniel O'Sullivan of Guapo, Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) and David Tibet of Current 93. In April 2008 he played five concerts with Æthenor in Europe. It was his first time on stage in over a decade.

Discography

With Arcturus

1. Constellation (1994)
2. Aspera Hiems Symfonia (1995)
3. La Masquerade Infernale (1997)
4. Disguised Masters (1999)
5. Aspera Hiems Symfonia/Constellation/My Angel (2002)
6. The Sham Mirrors (2002)

With Borknagar

1. Borknagar (1996)
2. The Olden Domain (1997)

With Head Control System

1. Murder Nature (April 4, 2006)

With Ulver

1. Vargnatt (1993)
2. Split 7" w/Mysticum (1994)
3. Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler (1994)
4. Kveldssanger (1995)
5. Nattens Madrigal - Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden (1996)
6. Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998)
7. Metamorphosis (1999)
8. Perdition City (2000)
9. Silence Teaches You How to Sing (2001)
10. Silencing the Singing (2001)
11. Lyckantropen Themes (2002)
12. A Quick Fix of Melancholy (2003)
13. Teachings in Silence (2003)
14. Svidd Neger (Original Soundtrack) (2003)
15. 1993-2003: First Decade in the Machines (2003) (Ulver remix themselves on the first track)
16. UNO (2005) (OST, Jester Records has not yet released their own version, but the movie corp. version is already out)
17. Blood Inside (2005)
18. Shadows of the Sun (2007)
19. Wars of the Roses (2011)

With Æthenor

1. Betimes Black Cloudmasses (2008)
2. En Form for Blå (2010)

As guest musician/producer/etc.

1. Darkthrone: Wrote the lyric Earth's Last Picture for the Total Death album (1995).
2. Gehenna: Features Rygg on Vinterriket off the Seen Through The Veils of Darkness album (1995).
3. Aura Noir: Handwriting on the backcover for the Dreams Like Deserts MCD (1995). He also engineered/produced the album Deep Tracts of Hell (1998).
4. Dødheimsgard aka DHG: Mastered the Monumental Possession album (1996), he was also involved in the mastering of the Satanic Art MCD (1998).
5. Forlorn: Mastered the Forlorn EP (1996) and The Crystal Palace debut album (1996).
6. Old Man's Child: Mastered the Born of the Flickering album (1996).
7. Aphrodisiac: Contributed with the track Children, it is I on the Nonsense Chamber album (1997).
8. De Press: Features Rygg on the track Orawski Psalm of the Potargano Chałpa album (1997).
9. Emperor: Ulver did a remix of the track Sworn (1999). Rygg also mastered the album Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1997).
10. Mayhem: Produced, mixed and mastered the Wolf's Lair Abyss MCD (1997).
11. Hagalaz Runedance: Ulver did a remix of the track The Falcon Flies off the Urd: That which was MCD (1999).
12. Fleurety: Features Rygg on Last Minute Lies off the Department of Apocalyptic Affairs album (2000). He also engineered and co-produced said album.
13. SCN: Features Rygg on Rise Above off the Inside Out album (2001).
14. Zyklon: Features Rygg on the two tracks Chaos Deathcult and Transcendental War - Battle between Gods of the World ov Worms album (2001).
15. Kåre João: Rygg does backing vocals on the Sideman album (2002).
16. Magenta: Features Rygg on the two tracks Vandalistvirgin and Backstabber Nation on the All Over single (2002). Rygg is also featured on the tracks I need my Love, Vandalistvirgin and Mermaid off the Little Girl Lost album (2003).
17. Star of Ash: Features Rygg on the two tracks The Nudity of Light and In the Throws of Guilt off the Iter.Viator album (2002) which he also co-produced. He is also featured on the songs Blood, Bones and a Skull and Crossing Over off the album The Thread (2008).
18. 1349 Rykkinn: Unspecified appearance on the Brown Ring of Fury album (2003).
19. Merzbow: Ulver did a remix of Denki No Numa for the Frog: Remixed and Revisited album (2003).
20. The Gathering: Rygg sings a duet with Anneke van Giersbergen on A Life all Mine off the Souvenirs album (2003).
21. Virus: Rygg is credited with "Backyard barks" on the song Queen Of The Hi-Ace off the Carheart album (2003).
22. Tuner: Rygg appears with a 'single growl' on the first track White Cake Sky on the Pole album (2007), recorded in USA (2005–2006).
23. Ihsahn: Rygg sings Homecoming off The Adversary (2006).
24. Solefald: Rygg plays the role of Loki on the song Loki Trickster God from the (2006) album Black For Death: An Icelandic Odyssey Part 2.
25. Sunn O))): Ulver provided production and contributions to the track CUT WOODeD on WHITEbox (2006).
26. Professor Fate: For the album Inferno (2007), Rygg performed vocals on the track "Limbo."
27. V:28: Features Rygg on the track The Absolute off the Violution album (2007).
28. Alkaline Trio: Ulver contributes with string arrangements and samples on the album Agony and Irony (2008).
29. Ava Inferi's third album Blood of Bacchus contains guest vocals by Garm on the track Black Wings (2009).
30. Dimmu Borgir's Abrahadabra (2010): Rygg sings clean vocals on the last track "Endings and Continuations".
31. Zweizz & Joey Hopkins: Zweizz & Joey Hopkins (2011): Vocals on the track "The Goat".

Notes

1. ^ "The End Records - Ulver biography"

External links

• Jester Records
• Ulver's official webpage

Persondata
Name	Rygg, Kristoffer
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 9, 1976
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death