Sargeist is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 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....

 band formed in 1999. Originally created as a solo

Solo album

A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...

 project by Shatraug of the Finnish black metal act Horna

Horna

Horna is a Finnish black metal band that formed in 1993. The band has appeared on over thirty releases including splits, demos, EPs and albums since 1995, which have been released through numerous record labels.-History:...

, he was joined by other members since 2000, who were subsequently released from the band. After the demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 recording Tyranny Returns (2001), the line-up was augmented by Hoath Torog and Horns, both from the Finnish black metal outfit Behexen

Behexen

Behexen are a Finnish black metal band founded in 1994. They adopted a more traditional approach to black metal by incorporating raw characteristics. Their first full-length release was "Rituale Satanum", released in 2000 and followed by "By the Blessing of Satan" in 2004...

, and this line-up has remained stable to this day.

Both musically and lyrically, Sargeist stays close to the roots of Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n "old school" black metal. Lyrical subjects thus often deal with Satanism

Satanism

Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 and anti-Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 blasphemy

Blasphemy

Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...

, as well as darkness

Darkness

Darkness, in contrast with brightness, is a relative absence of visible light. It is the appearance of black in a color space. When light is not present, rod and cone cells within the eye are not stimulated. This lack of stimulation means photoreceptor cells are unable to distinguish color...

, depression

Depression (mood)

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...

, misanthropy

Misanthropy

Misanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...

 and hate. The band's name combines the two German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 words, "sarg" (coffin

Coffin

A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...

) and "geist" (spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

, ghost

Ghost

In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

), and derives from the song "The Old Coffin Spirit" by the black metal band Rotting Christ

Rotting Christ

Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene.- Line-up :...

. All members go by pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

s (their real names are unknown).

Former

• Lord Volos – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
   (on Heralding the Breath of Pestilence)
• Gorsedd Marter – [unknown] (on Tyranny Returns)
• Makha Karn – [unknown] (on Tyranny Returns)

Discography

Year	Title	Type
1999	Nockmaar	Demo
2000	Heralding the Breath of Pestilence	Demo
2001	Tyranny Returns	Demo
2002	Reaping with Curses and Plague	Single (split with Merrimack)
2003	Satanic Black Devotion	Studio album
2004	Wraith Messiah	Single (split with Temple of Baal)
2004	In Ruin and Despair	(EP) (split with Horned Almighty Horned Almighty Horned Almighty is a Danish Black metal band. The band was formed by S. and Hellpig . After a year of using programmed drums, Harm was recruited into the band in 2003. Luger and Aries joined in 2005.-Current line-up:*S... )
2004	Sargeist & Funeral Elegy	(EP) (split with Funeral Elegy)
2005	Disciple of the Heinous Path	Studio album
2006	Dead Ravens Memory	Single (split with Bahimiron)
2008	The Dark Embrace	(EP)
2010	Let The Devil In	Studio album

• 2005: Funeral Curses (compilation album)

External links

• Sargeist Official Website (currently unavailable)
• Sargeist Bandpage on Moribund Records
• Sargeist on Encyclopaedia Metallum
• Sargeist on Discogs
• Interview (2003) with Shatraug by Brett VanPut on Transcending the Mundane
• Review of Disciple of the Heinous Path (2005) by J. Bennet on Decibel Magazine