Vintersorg, or Andreas Hedlund, is a goth / black / doom metal musician and vocalist from Skellefteå in Sweden. Recently it also became the name of his band. The name can be translated to "winter sorrow".

Biography

In 1994 Hedlund and a handful of fellow musicians started their own band under the name Vargartron ("Wolf throne"), with the goal to take black metal into a new dimension. The plan was to introduce clean vocals, acoustic guitars and heavy doomy riffs, as opposed to the then dominant high pitched screaming and ultra-hard and fast paced riffs. In 1996, however, after several less successful line-up changes, the band collapsed, and Vintersorg, who was their vocalist and guitar player, decided to continue by himself, and taking their original ideas with him.

He worked more or less alone for about two years, with only a couple of guest artists dropping in (among others, guitarist Mattias Marklund whom he had worked with on several earlier occations), and in the summer of 1998 he released the EP "Hedniskhjärtad" ("Pagan heart"), followed shortly by the full-length album "Till Fjälls" ("Into the mountains") later that year.

Vintersorg's style is very epic and melodic, with distinct folk music inspired twists and turns. The vocals are very unique, clean and midrange, which separated him from many of the other black and death metallists out there at the time. That very sound also dominated his 1999 release, "Ödemarkens Son" ("Son of the wasteland"). In 2000, the excellent album "Cosmic Genesis" was released, which took a slightly different turn. The lyrics are a lot less "folky", and take up subjects such as existentialism, science, the infinity of space, nicely mixed with philosophical and spiritual contemplations. With this album the aforementioned guitarist Mattias Marklund is also introduced as an official member of the band.

(I have been unable to locate their latest album, but I'll throw in a tiny review of that one as well, as soon as I can get my paws on it.)

Hedlund recently joined the band Borknagar as their vocalist, but Vintersorg is still active, and they're already working on a new album. He has also been active in two other swedish bands; Otyg and Havayoth.

Line-up

  • Vintersorg: Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard
  • Mattias Marksund: Guitar
Other performers that have contributed on various albums:
  • Vargher (Marcus Normal): Synth, electronics
  • Cia Hedmark: Vocals
  • Andreas Frank: Guitar
  • Nils Johansson: Keyboard
  • Vidvandre (Christer Pedersen): Keyboard

Discography

Released under the Napalm Records label:

  • 1998 - Hedniskhjärtad (EP)
  • 1998 - Till Fjälls
  • 1999 - Ödemarkens Son
  • 2000 - Cosmic Genesis
  • 2002 - Visions From the Spiral Generator

The band's official homepage can be found at http://www.vintersorg.com/

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