Jon Andreas Nödtveidt (28 June 1975 – 13 August 2006) was a Swedish musician best known as the lead guitarist and vocalist of the Swedish

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band

Dissection Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause o ...

. He co-founded the band in 1989 with bassist Peter Palmdahl.

Career

As the main songwriter and vocalist for Dissection he released the seminal

albums ''

The Somberlain ''The Somberlain'' is the debut album by Swedish black metal band Dissection, released on 3 December 1993. It proved to be a highly influential release for both black metal and melodic death metal. The band dedicated the album to Euronymous, who ...

'' and '' Storm of the Light's Bane''. These albums would prove to be highly influential releases for both black metal and

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavine ...

. In the beginning of his musical career, Nödtveidt formed a heavy metal band called Thunder with his brother Emil in 1988. Their songs were presented in a compilation album of Nödtveidt's music school in

Strömstad Strömstad is a locality and the seat of Strömstad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 6,288 inhabitants in 2010. For historical reasons, Strömstad is called a ''city'' despite its small population. Strömstad became part of S ...

. Nödtveidt also performed in several other projects, including The Black (as Rietas), De Infernali, Nifelheim,

Ophthalamia Ophthalamia was a Swedish black metal band that formed in 1989. History Ophthalamia was formed 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 fa ...

(as "Shadow"), Satanized, Siren's Yell, and Terror, a grindcore band which featured members of

At the Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Gat ...

. He also worked as a journalist in ''Metal Zone'', where he was responsible for keeping track of the growing black metal scene. He was a member of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order (MLO), now known as

Temple of the Black Light The Misanthropic Luciferian Order (MLO) was a satanic occult order founded in Sweden in 1995 and later renamed Temple of the Black Light. The MLO released ''Liber Azerate'', a modern grimoire written by the order's Magister Templi, Frater Nemidia ...

, and the Werewolf Legion, a Swedish criminal organisation based in Stockholm (not to be confused with the Russian Werewolf Legion). Contrary to popular belief, Nödtveidt was not the co-creator of MLO, but "was introduced ..by close friends at a quite early stage." Nödtveidt was convicted of being an accessory to the 1997 murder of Josef ben Meddour, an Algerian gay man. He restarted Dissection upon his release from prison in 2004.

Death

On 13 August 2006, Nödtveidt was found dead in his apartment in

Hässelby Hässelby is a Swedish town that is a part of Hässelby-Vällingby in the city of Stockholm, Sweden, comprising the suburban areas Hässelby Gård, Hässelby Strand and Hässelby Villastad. The territory also corresponds to Hässelby parish in ...

by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a circle of lit candles. Early reports indicated that he was found with an open copy of the ''Satanic Bible'', but these were later dismissed by Dissection's guitarist

Set Teitan Davide Totaro (born 12 September 1978), known professionally as Set Teitan or Sethlans Teitan, is an Italian guitarist based in Sweden. He was the guitarist of industrial black metal band Aborym from 1997 to 2005, lead guitarist for Bloodline f ...

. According to him, "it's not any

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

and ego-worshipping ''

The Satanic Bible ''The Satanic Bible'' is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It is the central religious text of LaVeyan Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been descri ...

'' by Anton LaVey that Jon had in front of him, but a Satanic

grimoire A grimoire ( ) (also known as a "book of spells" or a "spellbook") is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and ...

. He despised LaVey and 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 (Church of Satan), Black House in San Francisco, Cali ...

'." The said "Satanic grimoire" is reputed to be the ''Liber Azerate'', one of the publishings of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, by which Nödtveidt was a member since early stages of the cult. His last album ''

Reinkaos ''Reinkaos'' (stylised as ''REINKAΩS'') is the third and final studio album by Swedish black/melodic death metal band Dissection. It was released through the band's own label Black Horizon Music, which they had formed "out of the need of ta ...

''s lyrics being co-written by his friend Vlad who wrote the ''Liber Azerate'' under the pseudonym Frater Nemidial. Nödtveidt's brother, Emil "Nightmare Industries" Nödtveidt, the rhythm guitarist and keyboardist of

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

band

Deathstars Deathstars is a Swedish industrial metal band from Strömstad. Formed in 2000, the group are noted for their dark horror-themed lyrics, pessimistic and misanthropic social commentary, distinctive trademark face paint, dark stage uniforms and p ...

, wrote a song named "Via the End" the night he heard about Nödtveidt's suicide. The song appears as the fifth track on Deathstar's 2009 album ''

Night Electric Night ''Night Electric Night'' is the third album by Swedish metal band Deathstars. It was released on 30 January 2009 by Nuclear Blast. The album was initially recorded under the working title ''Deathglam''. The album's first single, "Death Dies Har ...

''. Regarding his views on suicide, Nödtveidt said:

Jon Kristiansen Head Not Found is a Norwegian record label, a sublabel of Voices Music & Entertainment, specializing in various heavy metal subgenres. They describe the genres as Black, Death, Doom, Thrash, Gothic, Viking Metal and Ambient. Their parent label is ...

, ''Metallion: The Slayer Mag Diaries'', 2011, p. 569

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nodtveidt, Jon 1975 births Swedish heavy metal guitarists Swedish heavy metal singers Swedish Luciferians Swedish Satanists Swedish murderers Suicides by firearm in Sweden Prisoners and detainees of Sweden Black metal musicians 20th-century Swedish male singers 20th-century guitarists Dissection (band) members Ophthalamia members 2006 suicides 2006 deaths