Thorns (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Thorns


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Origin = Trondheim, Norway
Genre = Black metal
Electronic music
Years_active = 1989 - present
Label = Moonfog Productions
Associated_acts = Dødheimsgard, Mayhem, Satyricon
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Thorns is a Norwegian black metal band that formed in 1989 and was part of the early Norwegian black metal scene. They made two highly influential demos in the early 1990s, "Grymyrk" and "Trøndertun", but have only released one full-length album. A second full-length album will be released in the first quarter of 2009.

Biography

Thorns was formed by Snorre W. Ruch, Marius Vold and Bård G. Eithun in 1989, initially under the moniker Stigma Diabolicum. After the first demo was recorded, Stigma Diabolicum began to fall apart, and following the "Trøndertun" demo, Ruch continued Thorns as a solo project, with the help of several prominent members of the Norwegian black metal scene. The demos / rehearsal tapes "Grymyrk" and "Trøndertun" had a great impact on the black metal scene.

After a long period of silence, Thorns reappeared in 1999 with the split album "Thorns vs. Emperor", consisting mainly of old Thorns songs performed by Emperor and vice versa. "Thorns Vs Emperor" was meant to introduce Thorns to the scene and to a newer audience, unaware of Thorns' earlier efforts. Then, in 2001, the long awaited debut album "Thorns" was released, which featured famed Norwegian drummer Hellhammer, as well as vocals by Satyricon's Satyr and Dødheimsgard's Aldrahn.

In October 2007, Greek label Kyrck Productions released the "Stigma Diabolicum" compilation, which featured both the "Grymyrk" and "Trøndertun" demos, as well as material from the Stigma Diabolicum demos "Lacus de Luna" and "Luna des Nocturnus" and two tracks ("Thule" and "Fall") from a 1991 Thorns rehearsal.

A follow up to the 2001 debut was recently announced, Snorre had this to say:

"We are in the process of recording our second album now. We are working in Oera Studio here in Trondheim with Jostein Ansnes and a couple of other good technicians. We started recording drums on September 1 and will start recording guitars and bass the coming week. Vocals will be recorded in a separate session later this fall, and we will use some time with additional instruments and recordings to accompany the basic instrumentation. We hope to deliver the master to Moonfog before Christmas and that the album will be out first quarter of 2009.

"We are proud to say that we have 10 great songs written by myself and Jon Wesseltoft. Lyrics are mainly written by Aldrahn. The material on this album is mostly harder, darker and more energetic than on the 2001 album. Gratification guarantied!!"

The band line up has undergone significant changes since the 2001 album. Snorre is still handling the guitars and Aldrahn will be performing all the vocals on the upcoming album. Bassist Jon Wesseltoft, guitarist Christian Broholt, and drummer Kenneth Kapstad have joined the band.

Members

*Snorre Ruch - Guitars/Keyboards/Programming
*Jon Wesseltoft - Bass/Baritone Guitar
*Aldrahn - Vocals
*Christian Broholt - Guitars
*Kenneth Kapstad - Drums

Former members

*Bård G. Eithun - drums
*Marius Vold - vocals, bass
*Harald Eilertsen - bass on "Grymyrk"
*Terje Kråbøl - drums on "Trøndertun"
*Satyr - vocals on "Thorns"
*Aldrahn - vocals on "Thorns"
*Hellhammer - Drums on "Thorns"

Discography

*1989 – "Luna De Nocturnus" (demo as Stigma Diabolicum)
*1990 – "Lacus De Luna" (demo as Stigma Diabolicum)
*1991 – "Grymyrk" (demo)
*1992 – "Trøndertun" (demo)
*1998 – "Thorns vs. Emperor" (split with Emperor)
*2001 – "Thorns" (studio album)
*2007 – "Stigma Diabolicum" (compilation)
*2009 - "Upcoming Album (studio album)

Related bands

*Mayhem - band in which Snorre played guitars for a short while. He also wrote some of the riffs on "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas". Also Hellhammer's main band.
*Satyricon - Satyr's primary band.
*Dødheimsgard - band for which Aldrahn performed vocals until 2003.

External links

* [http://www.thorns.no/ Thorns official website]
* [http://www.moonfog.no/artists.asp?art=10 Thorns] on Moonfog Productions
* [http://www.rockdetector.com/officialbio,31905.sm Thorns] on Rockdetector
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3cfqxqt0ldhe~T1 Thorns] on Allmusic
* [http://www.voicesfromthedarkside.de/ Interview with Snorre Ruch]
* [http://www.avantgarde-metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=49/ Interview with Bjørn Dencker aka Aldrahn]
* [http://www.myspace.com/thornsband Official Myspace]