Acheron () was an American death/

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...

band from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, that was formed by Vincent Crowley in 1988. The band is named after the mythological river

Acheron The Acheron (; grc, Ἀχέρων ''Acheron'' or Ἀχερούσιος ''Acherousios''; ell, Αχέροντας ''Acherontas'') is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . Its source is ...

( grc, Ἀχέρων – Akhérōn) located in the underground kingdom of Hades in

ancient Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

. They are not to be confused with 1990s Australian death metal band Acheron, nor the 1980s/1990s American power metal band Acheron, nor any of several lesser known European thrash and death metal bands also known as Acheron between the 1980s and the present.

History

Founded in 1988 by vocalist/bassist/songwriter Vincent Crowley (formerly of

Nocturnus Nocturnus, currently Nocturnus AD, is an American death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1987 by the drummer/vocalist Mike Browning (formerly of Morbid Angel). They were known for their science-fiction themed lyrics and use of keyboards, ...

, and leader of the Satanic youth group "Order of the Evil Eye"),Rivadavia, Eduardo " Acheron Biography,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Acheron's musical output is almost exclusively Satanic and

Anti-Christian Anti-Christian sentiment or Christophobia constitutes opposition or objections to Christians, the Christian religion, and/or its practices. Anti-Christian sentiment is sometimes referred to as Christophobia or Christianophobia, although these terms ...

in content. Early albums featured interludes by Peter H. Gilmore. Crowley was appointed a priest in the

Church of Satan The Church of Satan is a religious organization dedicated to the religion of LaVeyan Satanism as codified in '' The Satanic Bible''. The Church of Satan was established at the Black House in San Francisco, California, on Walpurgisnacht, A ...

by its founder, Anton Szandor LaVey, and began spending a lot of his time debating local televangelists, limiting Acheron's output for a time. He later disassociated himself from the church to act independently.Apicella, Vinnie
Acheron – ''Tribute To The Devil's Music''
(review), Ink19 In 2003, the band released an album of cover versions, ''Tribute to the Devil's Music'', including songs originally recorded by

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédé ...

, and Celtic Frost. On April 26, 2010, Vincent Crowley announced that the band was calling it quits. On December 27, 2010, it was announced that Acheron have reunited.

Members

Final members

* Vincent Crowley – Guitars (1988–1991, 1996–1998, 2008), Vocals (1991–1994, 1994–2010, 2010–2019), Bass (1991–1994, 1994–2010, 2010–2019) * Art Taylor – Guitars (2009–2010, 2012–2019) * Shaun Cothron – Guitars (2011–2012, 2014–2019) * Brandon Howe – Drums (2014–2019)

Past members

Vocals

* Michael Smith – Vocals (1988–1990) * Rhiannon Wisniewski – Vocals (2002)

Guitars

* Belial Koblak – Guitars (1989–1991) * Pete Slate – Guitars (1991–1992) * Tony Blakk – Guitars (1992, 1994, 1995) * Vincent Breeding – Guitars (1992, 1994–1995) * Trebor Ladres – Guitars (1994–1995) * Michael Estes – Guitars (1996–1999, 2001–2004) * Bryan Hipp – Guitars (1998) * Ben Meyer – Guitars (1998) * Bill Taylor – Guitars (1999) * Stacey Connolly – Guitars (2004) * Max Otworth – Guitars (2006–2010, 2010–2012) * Ash Thomas – Guitars (2008–2009) * Eric Stewart – Guitars (2010)

Bass

* David Smith – Bass (1988–1991) * Troy Heffern – Bass (1996)

Keyboards

* Peter H. Gilmore – Keyboards (1988–1989) * John Scott – Keyboards (1996–1999) * Adina Blase – Keyboards (1998–1999) * Aaron Werner – Keyboards (2001–2005)

Drums

* James Strauss – Drums (1988–1989, 1989–1991, 1991–1992) * Ron Hogue – Drums (1989) * Robert Orr – Drums (1991) * Michael Browning – Drums (1992, 1994–1995) * Joe Oliver – Drums (1995) *

Richard Christy Thomas Richard Christy Jr. (born April 1, 1974) is an American drummer and radio personality, best known for being the former drummer for several heavy metal bands since the early 1990s, most notably Death, and his tenure on '' The Howard Ster ...

– Drums (1996–1998) * Tony Laureano – Drums (1998) * Jonathan Lee – Drums (1998–1999) * Daniel Zink – Drums (2001) * Kyle Severn – Drums (2002–2010, 2010–2014) * Scott Pletcher – Drums (2010) Timeline

Discography

*''Messe Noir'' (Demo, 1989) *''Rites of the Black Mass'' (1991, re-released in 2006) *''Alla Xul'' (7", Demo, 1992) *''Rites of the Black Mass'' (Turbo, 1992) *''Hail Victory'' (CD, Metal Merchant, 1993) *''Satanic Victory'' (CD, Turbo, 1994) *''Lex Talionis'' (CD, Turbo, 1994; reissued as ''Lex Talionis: Satanic Victory'', Blackened, 1997) *''Anti-God, Anti-Christ'' (CD, Moribund, 1996) *''Those Who Have Risen'' (CD, Full Moon Productions, 1998) *''Compendium Diablerie: The Demo Days'' (CD, Full Moon Productions, 2001) *''Xomaly'' (2002) *''Rebirth: Metamorphosing Into Godhood'' (CD, Black Lotus, 2003) *''Tribute to the Devil's Music'' (CD, Black Lotus, 2003) *''The Final Conflict: Last Days of God'' (CD, Displeased Records, 2009) *''Kult Des Hasses'' (CD, Listenable Records. 2014)

References

External links

Official website
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Acheron at Rockdetector
at

* *Rivadavia, Eduardo " Acheron – ''Rebirth: Metamorphosing Into Godhood'' (review), Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
Acheron interview
Metal Message

Voices From the Darkside {{Authority control Death metal musical groups from Florida American black metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Ohio Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2010 Musical groups disestablished in 2019 Musical quartets