Spawn of Possession
Encyclopedia
Spawn of Possession is a death metal
band from Kalmar
, Sweden
, founded in 1997.
After three years the band recorded their first demo, The Forbidden, and right after found bass guitar player Nick Dewerud to fill the empty bass spot. A year later the band went to the studio to record their second demo, Church of Deviance, and in December 2001 Spawn of Possession signed a deal with Unique Leader Records
.
The band worked on new material for the next six months and in June 2002 began recording their debut album, Cabinet. The band ended up in the Pama Studios together with the highly acclaimed producer and engineer Magnus Sedenberg with whom they had worked on previous recordings, and released Cabinet
.
To promote the album, they first toured Europe for four weeks, together with Disavowed
, Vile
, Inhume, and Mangled. Shortly after followed a six-week North American tour together with Unique Leader label mates Severed Savior, Pyaemia
, and Gorgasm. Travelling coast to coast including a five gigs ride to Canada, they played no less than 27 shows on this tour.
After coming back from the US came another European tour, as part of the annual No Mercy package, with bands such as Cannibal Corpse
, Hypocrisy
, Kataklysm
, Exhumed
, Vomitory
, and Carpathian Forest
. After this spring-tour summerfestival the band perform at eight festivals, including Fuck the Commerce (Germany), Stonehenge (Netherlands), Grind You Mother (Italy), and Mountains of Death (Switzerland).
During this period and the beginning of fall 2004, Spawn of Possession also started to work on new material. In mid-September the band joined Cannibal Corpse
as direct support on a 24 show tour throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic/Eastern European states. The successor to the debut album is titled Noctambulant and was released in July 2006 by Neurotic Records
.
On May 11, 2009, the band posted a small preproduction teaser from their as yet untitled new album, commenting that they wanted "to finally break the silence". There are five finished songs and seven others still in the works. The band also explained that "additional lineup changes will be announced soon".
On June 24, 2009, Jonas Bryssling confirmed on Spawn of Possession's message board that Matthew Chalk (ex-Psycroptic
, Mephistopheles) and Christian Muenzner (Obscura
, ex-Necrophagist
) have joined the band. Bryssling states "Two very talented and competent musicians has recently joined Spawn of Possession. Matthew Chalk (Ex-Psycroptic) is going to handle the vocal and lyric writing. Christian Muenzner
(Obscura, ex-Necrophagist) is going to do the Lead Guitar part and unleash his madness into the multicoloured and distorted universe of Spawn of Possession. The Line-up is now complete."
However in September 2010, Dennis Rondum joined back and will handle the vocals instead of Chalky who just joined for a brief period.
In December 2010, Richard Shill has been relieved from drumming duties. The reason cited was that Richard depends very much on actual band practice and with SoP members being scattered all over Sweden, Norway and Germany band practice becomes an impossibility. Henrik Schönström announced as new drummer.
On May 20, 2011 it was announced they were signed to Relapse Records and are beginning work on a new album to be released this fall.
and classical music
. They have been influenced by artists such as
Death, Atheist
, Nocturnus
, Morbid Angel
, Suffocation
, Cannibal Corpse
, Gorguts
, Dismember
, Edge of Sanity
, God Macabre
, and Carcass
as well as art music
composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach
, Sylvius Leopold Weiss
and Dmitri Shostakovich
.
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band from Kalmar
Kalmar
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants .From the thirteenth to the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, founded in 1997.
Biography
Spawn of Possession formed in February 1997, consisting of Jonas Bryssling (guitar), Jonas Karlsson (guitar), and Dennis Röndum (drums).After three years the band recorded their first demo, The Forbidden, and right after found bass guitar player Nick Dewerud to fill the empty bass spot. A year later the band went to the studio to record their second demo, Church of Deviance, and in December 2001 Spawn of Possession signed a deal with Unique Leader Records
Unique Leader Records
Unique Leader Records is a record label ,operating out of Los Osos, California. The label specializes in death metal bands, mostly of the brutal or technical vein. The label has also gained reputation as a fairly solid CD distributor...
.
The band worked on new material for the next six months and in June 2002 began recording their debut album, Cabinet. The band ended up in the Pama Studios together with the highly acclaimed producer and engineer Magnus Sedenberg with whom they had worked on previous recordings, and released Cabinet
Cabinet (album)
Cabinet is the debut album of the Swedish technical death metal band Spawn of Possession.-Track listing:-Credits:* Jonas Bryssling - Guitar* Jonas Karlsson - Guitar* Niklas Dewerud - Bass* Dennis Röndum - Drums, vocals...
.
To promote the album, they first toured Europe for four weeks, together with Disavowed
Disavowed
Disavowed is a death metal band from Amsterdam, Netherlands and Esbjerg, Denmark.-Biography:Inspired by bands like Suffocation, Pyrexia, Vader and Dying Fetus, Disavowed was formed in 2000 from the remnants of Nocturnal Silence. With the goal to write music that is brutal, yet well structured,...
, Vile
Vile (band)
Vile is an American death metal band, formed in 1996 in Concord, California by guitarist Colin Davis and bassist Matt "Favor" Faivre, recruiting the rest of the band from the ranks of disbanded groups such as Lords of Chaos, Entropy, Sporadic Psychosis and Thanatopsis...
, Inhume, and Mangled. Shortly after followed a six-week North American tour together with Unique Leader label mates Severed Savior, Pyaemia
Pyaemia
Pyaemia is a type of septicaemia that leads to widespread abscesses of a metastatic nature. It is usually caused by the staphylococcus bacteria by pus-forming organisms in the blood. Apart from the distinctive abscesses, pyaemia exhibits the same symptoms as other forms of septicaemia...
, and Gorgasm. Travelling coast to coast including a five gigs ride to Canada, they played no less than 27 shows on this tour.
After coming back from the US came another European tour, as part of the annual No Mercy package, with bands such as Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album...
, Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
, Kataklysm
Kataklysm
Kataklysm is a Canadian death metal band. They call their musical style "northern hyperblast" after an advertisement in M.E.A.T. magazine describing another band, Fear Factory, as "hyperblast". The term refers to the extremely fast blast beats that Kataklysm's drummer, Max Duhamel, fuses into the...
, Exhumed
Exhumed
Exhumed may refer to:*Exhumation*Exhumed , a first-person shooter*Exhumed , a deathgrind band* Exhumed Films, a Philadelphia-based "organization* Exhumed river channel, a ridge of sandstone...
, Vomitory
Vomitory
Vomitory can refer to:*Vomitorium, an architectural feature in Ancient Roman amphitheatres.*Vomitory, the entrance to Hell.*Vomitory, a brutal death metal band from Sweden....
, and Carpathian Forest
Carpathian Forest
Carpathian Forest is a Norwegian black metal band formed by Nattefrost and Nordavind in 1990.-Biography:Carpathian Forest emerged with the demo tape "Bloodlust and Perversion" in 1992. In 1993 the band released a second demo: Journey Through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern...
. After this spring-tour summerfestival the band perform at eight festivals, including Fuck the Commerce (Germany), Stonehenge (Netherlands), Grind You Mother (Italy), and Mountains of Death (Switzerland).
During this period and the beginning of fall 2004, Spawn of Possession also started to work on new material. In mid-September the band joined Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album...
as direct support on a 24 show tour throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic/Eastern European states. The successor to the debut album is titled Noctambulant and was released in July 2006 by Neurotic Records
Neurotic Records
Neurotic Records is an independent extreme metal record label specialising predominantly in death metal, operating out of Tilburg in the Netherlands....
.
On May 11, 2009, the band posted a small preproduction teaser from their as yet untitled new album, commenting that they wanted "to finally break the silence". There are five finished songs and seven others still in the works. The band also explained that "additional lineup changes will be announced soon".
On June 24, 2009, Jonas Bryssling confirmed on Spawn of Possession's message board that Matthew Chalk (ex-Psycroptic
Psycroptic
-External links:**...
, Mephistopheles) and Christian Muenzner (Obscura
Obscura (band)
-History:Obscura was founded in 2002 by Steffen Kummerer. The band was named after the Gorguts album Obscura. In 2006 Obscura self-released their debut album Retribution and toured alongside Suffocation within Europe. A European headlining tour through East and South Europe followed in 2007...
, ex-Necrophagist
Necrophagist
Necrophagist is a German death metal band, founded and fronted by Muhammed Suiçmez; a German-born, Turkish guitarist and vocalist. The band is known for its rapid and technical compositions....
) have joined the band. Bryssling states "Two very talented and competent musicians has recently joined Spawn of Possession. Matthew Chalk (Ex-Psycroptic) is going to handle the vocal and lyric writing. Christian Muenzner
Christian Müenzner
Christian Muenzner is a German metal guitarist, best known for playing for technical death metal band Necrophagist from 2002 until 2006, appearing on their 2004 release Epitaph. Prior to being in Necrophagist, he was in the German death metal act Defeated Sanity, featuring on their debut promo,...
(Obscura, ex-Necrophagist) is going to do the Lead Guitar part and unleash his madness into the multicoloured and distorted universe of Spawn of Possession. The Line-up is now complete."
However in September 2010, Dennis Rondum joined back and will handle the vocals instead of Chalky who just joined for a brief period.
In December 2010, Richard Shill has been relieved from drumming duties. The reason cited was that Richard depends very much on actual band practice and with SoP members being scattered all over Sweden, Norway and Germany band practice becomes an impossibility. Henrik Schönström announced as new drummer.
On May 20, 2011 it was announced they were signed to Relapse Records and are beginning work on a new album to be released this fall.
Influences
Spawn of Possession have been influenced by many different artists from various subgenres, mainly from death metalDeath metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. They have been influenced by artists such as
Death, Atheist
Atheist (band)
Atheist is a technical death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984, whose music combines metal riffs with subtle Latin music arrangements and jazz fusion.- History :...
, Nocturnus
Nocturnus
Nocturnus was an American progressive death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida in 1987 by drummer/vocalist Mike Browning . They were known for their science-fiction themed lyrics and use of keyboards, both of which were virtually unknown in extreme metal...
, Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked one Morbid Angel album in its “Top 40 greatest death metal albums”, with their 1989 debut Altars of Madness appearing at number 1...
, Suffocation
Suffocation (band)
Suffocation is an American death metal band that was formed in 1989 in Long Island, New York. The band comprises vocalist Frank Mullen, guitarists Terrance Hobbs and Guy Marchais, drummer Mike Smith and bassist Derek Boyer. Suffocation rose to prominence of death metal and created a blueprint for...
, Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album...
, Gorguts
Gorguts
Gorguts is a technical death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The band's only constant member is Luc Lemay.-History:Gorguts were formed in 1989 by Luc Lemay , Sylvain Marcoux , Éric Giguère and Stephane Provencher...
, Dismember
Dismember (band)
Dismember was a Swedish death metal band that formed in 1988. They are well known in the death metal underground. They split up in October 2011.-History:...
, Edge of Sanity
Edge of Sanity
Edge of Sanity was a Swedish death metal band. Edge of Sanity are regarded alongside Opeth as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death and black metal with progressive rock.- History :...
, God Macabre
God Macabre
God Macabre was Swedish death metal band. They were formed in the winter of 1988 as a grindcore band named Botten På Burken In 1989 the switched to playing death metal and changed their name to Macabre End. They released a demo in September 1990 titled Consumed by Darkness which turned into an...
, and Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
as well as art music
Art music
Art music is an umbrella term used to refer to musical traditions implying advanced structural and theoretical considerations and a written musical tradition...
composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Silvius Leopold Weiss was a German composer and lutenist.Born in Grottkau near Breslau, the son of Johann Jacob Weiss, also a lutenist, he served at courts in Breslau, Rome, and Dresden, where he died...
and Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
.
Current members
- Jonas Bryssling - Rhythm Guitar
- Erlend CaspersenErlend CaspersenErlend Caspersen is a Norwegian fingerstyle bassist, known for his work with bands such as Blood Red Throne, The Allseeing I and session jobs for bands such as Vile, Decrepit Birth, and Incinerate...
– Bass Guitar - Henrik Schönström - Drums
- Dennis Röndum - Vocals
- Christian MuenznerChristian MüenznerChristian Muenzner is a German metal guitarist, best known for playing for technical death metal band Necrophagist from 2002 until 2006, appearing on their 2004 release Epitaph. Prior to being in Necrophagist, he was in the German death metal act Defeated Sanity, featuring on their debut promo,...
- Lead Guitar
Former members
- Jonas Karlsson - Lead guitar
- Niklas Dewerud – Bass
- Matthew Chalk - Vocals
- Jonas Renvaktar - Vocals
- Mikael Petersson - Session vocals
- Ben Lawless - Guitar
- Richard Schill - Drums
Discography
- The Forbidden (demo, 2000)
- Church of Deviance (demo, 2001)
- CabinetCabinet (album)Cabinet is the debut album of the Swedish technical death metal band Spawn of Possession.-Track listing:-Credits:* Jonas Bryssling - Guitar* Jonas Karlsson - Guitar* Niklas Dewerud - Bass* Dennis Röndum - Drums, vocals...
(2003) - NoctambulantNoctambulantNoctambulant is the second album by the Swedish technical death metal band Spawn of Possession. It was released on July 4, 2006.-Track listing:-Credits:* Jonas Bryssling - Guitar* Jonas Karlsson - Guitar* Niklas Dewerud - Bass...
(2006) - TBD (2012)