Spawn of Possession was a Swedish

technical death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

group, which formed in 1997 in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 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 ...

. The band have collectively released three studio albums. A fourth album was planned, but in 2017 the band announced their split up.

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 Deeds of Flesh is an American brutal death metal band from Los Osos, California, U.S. They were formed in 1993 by Jacoby Kingston, Erik Lindmark (1972–2018) and Joey Heaslet, and remained active until Lindmark's death in 2018. They founded t ...

. 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 or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

''. 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 Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

Hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

Kataklysm Kataklysm is a Canadian death metal band. They have released fourteen studio albums, one EP and two DVDs as of 2020. Kataklysm won their first Juno Award (Canadian equivalent of the Grammy) for best album of the year in the "heavy metal" categ ...

, Exhumed, Vomitory, and

Carpathian Forest Carpathian Forest is a Norwegian black metal band formed by Nattefrost and Nordavind in 1992. History In late 1990, the band originally started under the name Enthrone by Nattefrost (then bearing the pseudonym Lord Nosferatu) and Nordavind ...

. 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

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 is an independent extreme metal record label specialising predominantly in death metal, operating out of Tilburg in the Netherlands. Founded in late 2003 by Ruud Lemmen, who was initially responsible for European distribution for ...

. 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 are an Australian technical death metal band formed in Hobart, Australia in 1999. Mainstay members are Dave Haley on drums and his brother Joe Haley on guitar. Their lead vocalist, Jason Peppiatt, joined in 2004. In 2008 they signed ...

, Mephistopheles) and Christian Muenzner (ex- Obscura, ex-

Necrophagist Necrophagist was a German technical death metal band founded and fronted by guitarist and vocalist Muhammed Suiçmez. The band used baroque music-influenced compositions paired with extreme metal drumming. The name originates from the Greek ro ...

) 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 Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

(ex-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." In the same year, Norwegian bassist

Erlend Caspersen Erlend Caspersen (born 1982) is a Norwegian bassist who currently plays in Abhorrent and Igorrr. He also played for Deeds of Flesh, Spawn of Possession and Blood Red Throne. He is notable for his aggressive bass tone and highly technical playin ...

(Blood Red Throne, The Allseeing I), known for his highly technical playing, also joined the band to complete the lineup. 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 March 13, 2012, with three new members, Spawn of Possession released their third retail album, ''

Incurso ''Incurso'' is the third and final studio album by Swedish death metal band Spawn of Possession, released in 2012. The album title is Latin for "I raid" or "I attack." It features two new band members, Christian Münzner on lead guitars and Erl ...

'', which was met with very positive reactions from fans and critics alike, being their most technical and heavy record up to date. It is often being dubbed as 'one of the most influential modern death metal records, next to

's ''

Epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

'' and Obscura's ''

Cosmogenesis Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...

'', all of which Muenzner performed on. However, most of the music was written by Jonas Bryssling with assistance of Erlend Caspersen on certain songs. On August 4, 2017 the band announced on Facebook they were breaking up, stating:

Influences

Spawn of Possession have been influenced by many different artists from various subgenres, mainly from

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. They have been influenced by artists such as

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, Monstrosity,

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, b ...

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling ...

Suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

Gorguts Gorguts is a Canadian death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, formed in 1989. The band has been through many personnel changes since its inception; its only constant member has been guitarist and vocalist Luc Lemay, who remains the primary cr ...

Dismember Dismemberment is the act of cutting, ripping, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise disconnecting the limbs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with ...

Edge of Sanity Edge of Sanity was a Swedish death metal band that, alongside Opeth, is commonly regarded as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death and black metal with progressive rock. The group was founded by Dan Swanö in 1989 and ende ...

, and

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...

as well as

art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...

composers such as

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Sylvius Leopold Weiss Sylvius Leopold Weiss (12 October 168716 October 1750) 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. Until ...

and

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

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page (retrieved 2007-07-06)/ref>

Members

;Final line-up *Dennis Röndum − drums (1997−2006), vocals (1997−2006, 2010−2017) *Jonas Bryssling − guitar (1997–2017) *Christian Münzner − guitar (2009–2017) *

− bass (2008–2017) *Henrik Schönström − drums (2010–2017) ;Live musicians *Mikael Petersson - vocals (2001) *Ben Lawless - guitar (2010) *Danny Tunker − guitar (2012) ;Former *Jonas Hagström - bass (1997-2000) *Jonas Karlsson - guitar (1997-2009) *Niklas Dewerud - bass (2000-2008) *Kelly Izquierdo - vocals (2002-2003) *Jonas Renvaktar - vocals (2003-2009) *Richard Schill - drums (2008-2010) *Matthew "Chalky" Chalk - vocals (2009-2010) ;Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

'' (2003) * ''Noctambulant'' (2006) * ''

'' (2012) ;Demos * ''The Forbidden'' (demo, 2000) * ''Church of Deviance'' (demo, 2001)

References

{{Authority control Swedish technical death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2017