Witchery is a Swedish

blackened thrash 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 emphas ...

band formed by former members of

Satanic Slaughter Satanic Slaughter was a Swedish black metal band. History Having previously performed under the name Evil Cunt, the group first adopted the name Satanic Slaughter in 1985. The current lineup consists of guitarists

Patrik Jensen Patrik Jensen (born 24 November 1969) is a Swedish guitarist and co-founder of the bands, The Haunted (1996-present), and Witchery (1997-present), and also the former guitarist of the bands Orchriste (1987-1990), Seance (1990-1995) Satanic Slaugh ...

and Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, bassist

Sharlee D'Angelo Sharlee D'Angelo (born Charles Petter Andreason, 27 April 1973) is the Swedish bassist for the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, as well as the classic rock/AOR band the Night Flight Orchestra and the stoner metal band Spiritual Beggars. D'A ...

, vocalist Angus Norder, and drummer Chris Barkensjö.

History

The band began in 1997 when Swedish cult band Satanic Slaughter split up in a way that basically only left their singer Ztephan Dark in the band. Thus the proto-version of Witchery started out with Satanic Slaughter members Patrik Jensen (Orchriste,

The Haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

), Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, vocalist Toxine (Seance, Total Death), drummer Mique (Seance), and bassist

(

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with Satan and the occult, Mercyful Fate w ...

) on board. In 1998 they recorded and released their debut ''

Restless And Dead ''Restless & Dead'' is the first album by the Swedish thrash metal band Witchery. Released in 1998 on Necropolis Records, the album features members of the band Satanic Slaughter. The title is a play on the Accept album '' Restless and Wild''. ...

'' through

Necropolis Records Necropolis Records (located in Fremont, California) was a record label founded by Paul Thind in 1993, mainly providing an American home for extreme black metal.

, the name of the album being a pun on ''

Restless and Wild ''Restless and Wild'' is the fourth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released in 1982 in Continental Europe and in 1983 in the US and UK. It was the first Accept album not to be recorded at Delta-Studio, since the band had moved t ...

'' an album by German heavy metal icons

Accept Accept may refer to: * Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc. * Accept (band), a German heavy metal band ** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979 * ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970 * ACCEPT (or ...

. Witchery quickly gathered a cult following with their combination of serious, technical thrash metal and all topics "dead". Their strictly tongue-in-cheek humour, often involving executions, murder, necrophilia, resurrections and other morbid topics can be spotted in song titles and album names as well as in their very own mascot – an animated skeleton called "Ben Wrangle", the name being a pun on the Swedish word "benrangel" which best translates into "skeleton". Witchery also have their own heavy metal salute, a derivation from the original

Sign of the horns The sign of the horns is a hand gesture with a variety of meanings and uses in various cultures. It is formed by extending the index and little fingers while holding the middle and ring fingers down with the thumb. Religious and supersti ...

"Evil Eye" ward popularized by

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted and founded numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and H ...

called "The W". For properly "doing the W" only the ring finger and thumb of the performing hand touch. Rumour has it that the salute came into being as somebody in the band tried to do the metal salute with a cigarette between his fingers. This "W" is not to be confused with the Shocker. Later that year, Witchery released the ''Witchburner'' minialbum. The EP featured three originals and four cover songs bearing witness to the individual musicians' influences, among them

, W.A.S.P and

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

. The track "Witchburner" being the first ever recording of the band and like the other two original tracks "The Executioner" and "The Howling" only available on this EP so far. In 1999, Witchery embarked on a U.S. tour with

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, paganis ...

. Their second full-length album ''

Dead, Hot and Ready ''Dead, Hot and Ready'' is the second full-length album by the Swedish heavy metal supergroup Witchery. Released in 1999, it was the last Witchery album with Mique on drums. The album was called "fast-paced thrash with all the glorious, fun occ ...

'' was unleashed soon thereafter, a six-week European tour following in 2000. '' Symphony For The Devil'', the band's 2001 release, was recorded at Berno Studio (

Amon Amarth Amon Amarth () is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and hi ...

Dark Funeral Dark Funeral is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, founded by guitarists Blackmoon and Lord Ahriman in 1993. They emerged during the second wave of black metal. Their lyrical themes have traditionally pertained to Satanism and anti-Chr ...

) in Malmö, Sweden with new drummer, Martin "Axe" Axenrot (

Bloodbath Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air (in 2005) and Bloodstock Open Air (in 2010). The gro ...

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...

). Witchery returned to tour North America later that year with

. Returning to Berno Studios in 2004, the band recorded ''

Don't Fear The Reaper "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by American Rock music, rock band Blue Öyster Cult from the band's 1976 album ''Agents of Fortune.'' The song, written and sung by lead guitarist Buck Dharma, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, deals with eternal ...

'', this time entrusting mixing duties to Tue Madsen and his Antfarm Studios (The Haunted,

Heaven Shall Burn Heaven Shall Burn are a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently si ...

Himsa Himsa was an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington. Formed in 1998, their band name is from the Sanskrit word himsa, which means "harm" or "violence". The group released four full-length studio albums, two EPs and one DVD before ...

). After recording the album, the band signed a worldwide record deal with

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

In April 2010, black metal singer Legion (Erik Hagsted, ex-Marduk, ex-Devian) joined the band to replace Toxine who had to drop out because of schedule issues. According to the press release the split happened by mutual agreement. The new album entitled "Witchkrieg" (a play on the word

Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...

) was released in June 2010. On 19 June 2010, the band played at the annual

Metaltown The Metaltown Festival was a three-day festival featuring heavy metal bands, held in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was arranged annually from 2004 to 2016. The original Metaltown venue was at Frihamnen, but was moved in 2011 to Göteborg Galopp clos ...

festival in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Their sixth studio album, '' In His Infernal Majesty's Service'', was released on 25 November on

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

. It was followed by ''I am Legion'' in 2017.

Band members

Current members

– guitars (1997–present) *Richard Rimfält – guitars (1997–present) *Angus Norder – vocals (2016–present) *Chris Barkensjö – drums (2016–present) *Victor Brandt – bass (2022–present)

Former members

– bass (1997–2022) *Toxine (Tony Kampner) – vocals (1997–2010) *Mique (Micke Pettersson) – drums (1997–1999) *

Martin Axenrot Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot (born 5 March 1979 in Linköping, Sweden) is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive death metal band Opeth from 2006 to 2021. Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Known f ...

– drums (1999–2016) *Legion (Erik Hagstedt) – vocals (2010–2011) *

Emperor Magus Caligula Emperor Magus Caligula (born Magnus "Masse" Broberg, 23 May 1973)Masse ...

– vocals (2011–2016)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*''

Restless & Dead ''Restless & Dead'' is the first album by the Swedish thrash metal band Witchery. Released in 1998 on Necropolis Records, the album features members of the band Satanic Slaughter. The title is a play on the Accept album ''Restless and Wild''. B ...

'' (1998) *''

'' (1999) *'' Symphony for the Devil'' (2001) *''Don't Fear the Reaper'' (2006) *'' Witchkrieg'' (2010) *'' In His Infernal Majesty's Service'' (2016) *''I Am Legion'' (2017) *''Nightside'' (2022)

EPs

*'' Witchburner'' –

Necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

(1999)

References

External links

Witchery page at Century Media
* {{Authority control Swedish thrash metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1997 Century Media Records artists Nuclear Blast artists