Deathstars
Encyclopedia
Deathstars is a Swedish band from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 that perform industrial
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...

 and gothic
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...

 metal. Formed in 2000, the group are noted for their dark horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

-themed lyrics, pessimistic and misanthropic social commentary
Social commentary
Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means, or commentary on social issues or society...

, distinctive trademark face paint, dark stage uniforms and physical appearances that correspond to gothic fashion
Gothic fashion
Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture; a dark, sometimes morbid, eroticized fashion and style of dress. Typical Gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, black lips and black clothes. Both male and female goths wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernails. Styles are...

. They have released three full-length studio albums; Synthetic Generation
Synthetic Generation
Synthetic Generation is the debut album of the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars. This was also the onlyalbum to have Beast X Electric on Lead guitar-Track listing:All tracks composed by Nightmare Industries and Whiplasher....

(2002 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and 2003 in North
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

), Termination Bliss
Termination Bliss
Termination Bliss is the second album by the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars released in 2006.-Track listing:#"Tongues" – 3:45#"Blitzkrieg" – 4:04#"Motherzone" – 4:06#"Cyanide" – 3:55#"The Greatest Fight on Earth" – 3:53...

(2006) and Night Electric Night
Night Electric Night
- Personnel :* Cat Casino – guitars* Bone W. Machine – drums* Whiplasher Bernadotte – lead vocals* Skinny Disco – bass guitar, backing vocals* Nightmare Industries – guitars, keyboards- Chart positions :...

(2009). Deathstars have supported live acts by bands such as Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...

 and Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

, the latter band which was in part inspiration for Deathstars. Deathstars will be supporting Rammstein on their upcoming Made In Germany 1995-2011 tour.

The current lineup of the band consists primarily of members from Swordmaster, a black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 project that has former members of Dissection
Dissection (band)
Dissection was a black metal band from Strömstad, Sweden. The band was formed in 1989, by Jon Nödtveidt. The band released its first EP in 1991. They disbanded in 2006, after Nödtveidt's suicide.- Band overview :...

, and Ophthalamia
Ophthalamia
Ophthalamia was a Swedish heavy metal band that formed in 1989.-Biography:Ophthalamia was started in 1989 by singer All and guitarist It, both also active in the musical groups Abruptum and Vondur. The band named themselves Ophthalamia after a fantasy-world created by It. He created and named the...

. The band currently consists of Whiplasher Bernadotte (lead vocals), Nightmare Industries (guitar and keyboards), Skinny Disco (bass guitar, backing vocals), Vice (drums) and Cat Casino (guitar).

Formation, Synthetic Generation (2000–2003)

The members of the band have known each other from childhood after growing up in Strömstad. The members have considered Deathstars to be a metamorphosed version of 1993 founded black metal act, Swordmaster, featuring former Dissection
Dissection (band)
Dissection was a black metal band from Strömstad, Sweden. The band was formed in 1989, by Jon Nödtveidt. The band released its first EP in 1991. They disbanded in 2006, after Nödtveidt's suicide.- Band overview :...

 drummer Ole Öhman
Ole Öhman
Ole Christian Öhman is a drummer who played in Dissection but left the band after the album Storm of the Light's Bane was released in 1995...

 ("Bone W Machine") and guitarist Emil Nödtveidt ("Nightmare Industries"). Deathstars is fronted by Andreas Bergh ("Whiplasher Bernadotte") and saw Erik Halvorsen ("Beast X Electric") on guitar. The band took on both a radical image and change in musical direction for the album Synthetic Generation.

According to "Nightmare Industries" in an interview, the name "Deathstars" itself was never intended to be a reference to the Death Star
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...

 in Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

, but was in fact supposed to be an amalgamation of "Death Metal" and "Stars". They cite bands such as Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

 as an early inspiration, and have recently been compared to Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...

, The Kovenant
The Kovenant
The Kovenant is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo/Hamar. The band originally formed as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish electronic band of the same name....

 and Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...

.

Synthetic Generation
Synthetic Generation
Synthetic Generation is the debut album of the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars. This was also the onlyalbum to have Beast X Electric on Lead guitar-Track listing:All tracks composed by Nightmare Industries and Whiplasher....

first surfaced in Sweden during March 2002 on LED Recordings, but would be picked up for European release by the German Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...

 label the following year.

Originally only a live bass player for Deathstars, Jonas Kangur ("Skinny Disco") became an official member on October 1, 2003.

Before Synthetic Generation
Synthetic Generation
Synthetic Generation is the debut album of the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars. This was also the onlyalbum to have Beast X Electric on Lead guitar-Track listing:All tracks composed by Nightmare Industries and Whiplasher....

was released, several demos were recorded, two of which are freely available on the internet; 'Razor End' and 'Black Medicine'. 'Razor End' is the most unusual as it is a song with strong female vocals, and is more like Synthetic Generation's material, whereas 'Black Medicine', can be described as featuring parts of 'The Last Ammunition', 'Tongues' and 'Blitzkrieg' from Termination Bliss
Termination Bliss
Termination Bliss is the second album by the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars released in 2006.-Track listing:#"Tongues" – 3:45#"Blitzkrieg" – 4:04#"Motherzone" – 4:06#"Cyanide" – 3:55#"The Greatest Fight on Earth" – 3:53...

. 'Black Medicine' may be linked to the song 'Tongues' as the song 'Tongues' describes "white medicine".

Termination Bliss, new line-up (2004–2006)

Plans to commence recording of a second album in June 2004 were delayed as, returning home from an appearance at the Wave Gotik Treffen
Wave Gotik Treffen
Wave-Gotik-Treffen is an annual world festival for "dark" music and arts in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds play at several venues throughout the city over 4 days...

 festival in Leipzig, Germany, Deathstars had over $15,000 worth of gear stolen from their tour bus. The band later landed the support to the resurrected Dissection
Dissection (band)
Dissection was a black metal band from Strömstad, Sweden. The band was formed in 1989, by Jon Nödtveidt. The band released its first EP in 1991. They disbanded in 2006, after Nödtveidt's suicide.- Band overview :...

 at their Stockholm Lilla Arenan gig in late October.

Deathstars undertook album recordings in early 2005 at the band's own Black Syndicate Studios for the Termination Bliss album.

In outside activity, both Emil Nodtveidt and bassist Skinny scored production credits on the Dissection album Reinkaos
Reinkaos
Reinkaos is the third and final studio album by Swedish melodic black/death metal band, Dissection. The album is a drastic change from the band's previous material, leaving the early influences of black metal and heading towards Gothenburg metal...

. Deathstars also remixed the track "Vyperpunk" on Dope Stars Inc.
Dope Stars Inc.
Dope Stars Inc. is an alternative and industrial rock band formed in Rome, Italy in late 2002, though the band was not officially formed until 2003. The band was founded by Victor Love, Darin Yevonde, Grace Khold and Brian Wolfram. They have four albums and three EPs released, with the latest being...

's Neuromance
Neuromance
Neuromance is the debut studio album by Italian industrial rock band Dope Stars Inc. and is also the first project by the band released under the Trisol Music Group label. Lyrically it focuses on traditional cyberpunk beliefs and themes...

album.

The band parted ways with guitarist Erik Halvorsen in August, citing "lack of enthusiasm".

Termination Bliss
Termination Bliss
Termination Bliss is the second album by the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars released in 2006.-Track listing:#"Tongues" – 3:45#"Blitzkrieg" – 4:04#"Motherzone" – 4:06#"Cyanide" – 3:55#"The Greatest Fight on Earth" – 3:53...

saw release in January 2006. Limited edition variants added a "Driven On" remix of the track "Blitzkrieg" by Mortiis
Mortiis
Mortiis is a band from Notodden, Norway fronted by Håvard Ellefsen, who is also known as the namesake of the band. The name is a misspelling of the word 'mortis', which is the pronunciation used by the band. However, Mortiis started as the solo project of Ellefsen as a means to convey a story...

.

The band supported Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

 on their 2006 tour through Europe.

In September 2006 Deathstars' website announced that Eric Bäckman ("Cat Casino") was now a full time guitarist for Deathstars.

Night Electric Night (2007–2011)

In September 2007 Deathstars' website announced that they would open shows for Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...

 on their European tour throughout January and February 2008. Deathstars headlined a few shows on their own between the dates they performed with Korn. Later, it was announced that "Bone W Machine" would not partake in the upcoming European tour with Korn due to personal reasons. Bergh attributed this to the fact that the drummer "had to take care of his family back home". Fellow Swede Adrian Erlandsson
Adrian Erlandsson
Adrian Erlandsson is a prolific Swedish heavy metal drummer, who currently plays in Brujeria, Netherbird, with his wife in Nemhain and in Yorkshire doom metal band Paradise Lost...

, who has also played the drums for Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

, filled in on the drumming duties for the tour.

For the next upcoming studio album, Deathstars producer and guitarist Nightmare Industries wrote the song "Via The End" when he heard of the suicide of his brother, Jon Nödtveidt
Jon Nödtveidt
Jon Andreas Nödtveidt was a lead guitarist and vocalist of the Swedish black metal band Dissection, which he founded in 1989....

. Of the album, lead Deathstars vocalist Whiplasher said: "I am very pleased with how the songs illustrates our lives, because that’s what it’s all about - our everynight situations and the timeless sounds of the depraved city. I just wanted to combine serious personal issues, destructive city nighttime, naked bodies and the dark presence of Russia. It is the absolute Fort Knox of modern dark rock".

On 29 October 2007 Deathstars entered Metrosonic Recording Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to begin the recording of their third studio album. The mixing was set for January 2008 with the album scheduled for release during Spring 2008. In a January 2008 interview, Bergh revealed that Deathstars' third studio album would be titled Deathglam. However after Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

 releasing Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic is the ninth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on September 12, 2008 through Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album to feature bassist Robert Trujillo and the first to be produced by Rick Rubin, making this Metallica's first album...

, they soon changed the new album's name to Night Electric Night and jokingly stated that Deathstars themselves inspired the signature font and the track name 'Cyanide' on the Metallica album. Later on, Whiplasher revealed (also jokingly) that the new album will now be titled Master of Muppets (a play on the famed Metallica album, Master of Puppets
Master of Puppets
-Personnel:Metallica* James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar on track 1, first solo on tracks 2 and 7* Cliff Burton – bass, backing vocals* Lars Ulrich – drums* Kirk Hammett – lead guitarProduction...

).

Also, in May 2008, Nuclear Blast released an ultimate edition of the bands second album Termination Bliss called Termination Bliss Extended containing a CD and DVD. This contains 1 bonus track, "Termination Bliss (Piano Version)", but does not include "Blitzkrieg (Driven On Version)". The special-DVD includes all the music videos and special "making of" them. They have also released a single DVD entitled "Termination Bliss EXTENSION".

On November 7, 2008, Deathstars announced on their official Myspace page the full track listing of the newest album, its release date as the 30th January, 2009, and the first single, 'Death Dies Hard' would be aired on Bandit Rock 106.3 Stockholm. The following day, the artwork for the standard edition cover was also released.

On their official webpage Deathstars announced on the 31st January '09 that they would be completing the 2nd leg of their European tour in the UK and announced the dates at 15 different locations to happen in April '09.

March 10 gave news on the "attack on America". On the Deathstars official web page, it was announced that they had signed with Bieler Bros Records. Night Electric Night is slated to be released in America on May 19 with supporting tour dates following thereafter. To date Deathstars have not toured in North America in support of Night Electric Night as they claimed they would, nor has there been any tour dates set.

Throughout 2010 Deathstars continued touring Europe to support Night Electric Night. And in late May, 2010 Deathstars played 4 shows in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Later the band would re-release Night Electric Night as a (2CD, DVD) set, with the second cd containing remixes and 2 unreleased songs.

On August 25 2011, Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...

 official web site announce they will play as supporting act on their "Made In Germany 2011 European Tour".

On October 24, 2011 via their official Facebook page, Deathstars announced Oscar Leander, AKA Vice, as their new drummer following the departure of Bone W. Machine. They also announced that the video for the new single "Metal" would premier on November 4, 2011.

Acclaim

In 2007, Metal Hammer Magazine presented Deathstars with the Best Newcomers Award at the Golden Gods Awards. The same year the band also won the "Champions Belt" at the Get In The Ring Contest at the Hammersmith Apollo
Hammersmith Apollo
Hammersmith Apollo is a major entertainment venue located in Hammersmith, London. Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace cinema, being re-named the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. On the "Lords of Metal" review website, Deathstar's latest album Night Electric Night
Night Electric Night
- Personnel :* Cat Casino – guitars* Bone W. Machine – drums* Whiplasher Bernadotte – lead vocals* Skinny Disco – bass guitar, backing vocals* Nightmare Industries – guitars, keyboards- Chart positions :...

was given a rating of 84%.

Band members

Current members
  • Andreas "Whiplasher Bernadotte" Bergh (b. May 2, 1977) – lead vocals
  • Jonas "Skinny Disco" Kangur (b. July 25, 1979) – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Emil "Nightmare Industries" Nödtveidt (b. November 11, 1976) – rhythm guitar, keyboards
  • Oscar "Vice" Leander – drums
  • Eric "Cat Casino" Bäckman (b. May 24, 1988) – lead guitar


Former members
  • Erik "Beast X Electric" Halvorsen – lead guitar
  • Ole "Bone W. Machine" Öhman
    Ole Öhman
    Ole Christian Öhman is a drummer who played in Dissection but left the band after the album Storm of the Light's Bane was released in 1995...

     (b. October 1973) – drums


Sessional members
  • Ann Ekberg – additional female vocals
  • Johanna Beckström – additional female vocals
  • Adrian Erlandsson
    Adrian Erlandsson
    Adrian Erlandsson is a prolific Swedish heavy metal drummer, who currently plays in Brujeria, Netherbird, with his wife in Nemhain and in Yorkshire doom metal band Paradise Lost...

     - session drums
  • Oscar Leander - session drums

Discography

Albums
  • Synthetic Generation
    Synthetic Generation
    Synthetic Generation is the debut album of the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars. This was also the onlyalbum to have Beast X Electric on Lead guitar-Track listing:All tracks composed by Nightmare Industries and Whiplasher....

    (2002)
  • Termination Bliss
    Termination Bliss
    Termination Bliss is the second album by the Swedish industrial metal band Deathstars released in 2006.-Track listing:#"Tongues" – 3:45#"Blitzkrieg" – 4:04#"Motherzone" – 4:06#"Cyanide" – 3:55#"The Greatest Fight on Earth" – 3:53...

    (2006)
  • Night Electric Night
    Night Electric Night
    - Personnel :* Cat Casino – guitars* Bone W. Machine – drums* Whiplasher Bernadotte – lead vocals* Skinny Disco – bass guitar, backing vocals* Nightmare Industries – guitars, keyboards- Chart positions :...

    (2009)

Videography

  • "Synthetic Generation" (2001)
  • "Syndrome" (2002)
  • "Cyanide" (2005)
  • "Blitzkrieg" (2006)
  • "Virtue to Vice" (2007)
  • "Death Dies Hard" (2009)
  • "Metal" (2011)
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