Øystein Garnes Brun (born 14 April 1975) is the guitarist and founder of the Norwegian

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 ...

supergroup

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 ...

. He has been the only permanent member of the group and has written almost all of their songs. Brun is noted for having many albums already written ahead of time.

Biography

After releasing two full-length albums with the death metal band

Molested Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

, Brun grew tired of playing death metal, and decided to form a more melodic metal band, inspired by the burgeoning black metal scene. He wrote a group of songs which would eventually become the first songs by

Borknagar

Brun gathered a cast of musicians who were well known in the black metal scene including

Infernus Roger Tiegs (born 18 June 1972 in Umeå), better known by his stage name Infernus, is a Norwegian black metal musician and Satanist. He is the sole founding member and chief ideologist of the black metal band Gorgoroth, which was formed in 1 ...

Gorgoroth Gorgoroth is a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen. It was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus, who is also the only original member remaining, and the band have since released nine studio albums. Gorgoroth are a Satanic band and have ...

, Erik Brødreskift of

Immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

and

Ivar Bjørnson Ivar Skontorp Peersen, best known by his stage name Ivar Bjørnson (born 27 November 1977 in Etne), is a Norwegian composer/guitarist for the progressive black/viking metal band Enslaved. Biography Bjørnson is, along with Grutle Kjellson, o ...

of Enslaved, and

Kristoffer Rygg Kristoffer Rygg (born 9 September 1976), also known as Garm, Trickster G. Rex and God Head, is a heavy-metal vocalist, musician and producer known primarily for his work with Ulver, Arcturus, and Borknagar. Biography Born in Oslo but raised i ...

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...

Head Control System Head Control System is a cross-national rock/metal band featuring Portuguese Daniel Cardoso (ex-Sirius and ex-Re:aktor) and Norwegian Kristoffer Rygg (of Ulver and ex- Arcturus and ex-Borknagar). Head Control System is currently part of North-A ...

, and

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. The stature of these musicians caused

Malicious Records Malicious may refer to: Films and video games * ''Malicious'' (1973 film) (''Malizia''), an Italian comedy starring Laura Antonelli * ''Malicious'' (1995 film), an American thriller starring Molly Ringwald * ''Malicious'' (2018 film), an Americ ...

to award the band with a contract without even hearing them. After the release of their debut album, the band was signed to

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 ...

, where they remained until 2006. In 2007, they had a three album contract with

Indie Recordings Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

, which was terminated in 2011. The band resigned to Century Media shortly after. Through the years, the personnel has changed, but the sound is influenced mainly by Brun, so the style of music has been consistent despite a revolving lineup.

Cronian

In 2004, Brun and

Andreas Hedlund Andreas Hedlund (born 17 September 1973), better known by his stage names Vintersorg and Mr. V, is a Swedish vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who has played in several heavy metal bands. Biography Hedlund's musical career came to be at or aro ...

founded

Cronian Cronian is a progressive/avant-garde metal band from Norway and Sweden founded in 2004 by Øystein Brun and Andreas Hedlund, also known as Vintersorg.

, an epic sounding heavy metal band which had been in planning stages since before Hedlund had joined

. Their debut album

Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

was produced by

Dan Swanö Dan-Erland Swanö (born 10 March 1973), also known as Dan "The Man" Swanö, is a Swedish musician and record producer who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale, lately vocalist, keyboardist and ...

and released in 2006 on

. allmusic ((( Cronian > Overview )))/ref>

Discography

With Molested

*''Blod Draum'' (1995) *''Stormvold'' (EP) (1997)

With Borknagar

*''

'' (1996,

Century Black 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 ...

) *'' The Olden Domain'' (1997,

) *''

The Archaic Course ''The Archaic Course'' is the third studio album by Norwegian heavy metal band Borknagar. It is the first album to feature Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs on vocals following the departure of Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg (who, according to Øystein Brun, ...

'' (1998, Century Media Records) *'' Quintessence'' (2000, Century Media Records) *''

Empiricism In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empir ...

'' (2001, Century Media Records) *'' Epic'' (2004, Century Media Records) *''

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * Origin (comics), ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * The Origin (Buffy comic), ''The Origin'' (Bu ...

'' (2006, Century Media Records) *''

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

'' (2010,

) *'' Urd'' (2012, Century Media) *''

Winter Thrice ''Winter Thrice'' is the tenth studio album by Norwegian heavy metal band Borknagar. This is the only album to feature drummer Baard Kolstad and the last to feature longtime members Vintersorg and Jens F. Ryland. Track listing Personnel Bo ...

'' (2016, Century Media) *''

True North True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole. Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward the ...

'' (2019, Century Media)

With Cronian

*''

'' (2006) *''

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

'' (2008) *'' Erathems'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brun, Oystein 1975 births Living people 21st-century Norwegian guitarists 21st-century Norwegian male singers 21st-century Norwegian singers Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian heavy metal guitarists Norwegian heavy metal singers Norwegian rock guitarists Norwegian rock singers English-language singers from Norway Borknagar members Place of birth missing (living people)