Thou Shalt Suffer were a band that was part of the early Norwegian black metal scene. It formed in 1990 at Akkerhaugen, Norway, under the name "Dark Device". Its style was mainly

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 ...

, though it included some

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 ...

traits, alongside

Ihsahn Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn (), is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer, best known for his work with black metal band Emperor. Tveitan is also a founding member of Tho ...

's trademark keyboard melodies. The band split up in late 1991 when its members formed

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

Ildjarn Ildjarn was a Norwegian cult black metal project that formed in 1991. Ildjarn recorded music until 1997 but did not officially end until 2005. The man behind Ildjarn was Vidar Vaaer, although some releases were collaborations with a musician kno ...

. In 2000, Ihsahn used the name Thou Shalt Suffer for his solo project. That year he released ''Somnium'', an album of ambient songs influenced by

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and followed by the Renaissance ...

History

Thou Shalt Suffer began in 1990 when vocalist Ihsahn met guitarist

Samoth Samoth (born Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen, 9 June 1974) is a Norwegian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the country's black metal scene. He is well known for his distinct guitar work and drumming in the band Emperor, as well as his formatio ...

at a clinic for rock musicians. The two started playing together under various names, such as Dark Device, Xerasia, and Embryonic. They eventually settled on Thou Shalt Suffer. It was during this time Ihsahn began to develop his skills as a keyboard player, and his trademark sound can be heard on the band's recordings. In 1991, the band recorded two demos, ''Into The Woods Of Belial'' and ''Open the Mysteries of Your Creation''. Both recordings exhibited a distinct style which would eventually develop into the classic "Emperor sound" of Ihsahn's and Samoth's later careers. Most of the band's early material was recorded on Ildjarn's 4-track recording device (which he later used to record his solo albums) and featured very raw and dirty production. When Samoth began writing music outside of the band, Thou Shalt Suffer began to dissolve. Bassist Ildjarn and drummer Thorbjørn Akkerhaugen both left the band. Ildjarn formed his own eponymous project

(which was often contributed to by both Ihsahn and Samoth), while Akkerhaugen went on to found Akkerhaugen Studios. At this point (late 1991),

had come into full swing, and Thou Shalt Suffer was put on hold. Ihsahn did not completely abandon the band, however – instead, he used the name to release dark neo-romantic orchestral music. The first Thou Shalt Suffer full-length album was released in 2000, titled ''Somnium''. It was composed and produced entirely by Ihsahn. The band's original two demos were pressed to CD and released to the public. This compilation, simply titled ''Into The Woods of Belial'' was re-released and widely distributed in 2004. For the time being, Thou Shalt Suffer seems to be on hold once again, as Ihsahn is focusing primarily on his solo career because his previous project,

Peccatum Peccatum was an avant-garde metal band from Norway. Their influences range from black metal, progressive metal, industrial music, symphonic metal and gothic metal to European classical music and contemporary music. History Peccatum was formed b ...

, has been terminated.

Discography

*''Rehearsals '90'' (1990) (as Xerasia) *''The Land of the Lost Souls'' (1990) (as Embryonic) *''4-track Rehearsal'' (1991) *''Open The Mysteries of Your Creation'' (1991) *''Into the Woods of Belial'' (Demo) (1991) *''Into the Woods of Belial'' (Compilation) (1997 / 2004) *''Somnium'' (2000)

Band members

Former members

- guitar (1990–1991), bass (1991), drums (1991) *

(Vidar Vaaer) - bass (1991) *Thorbjørn Akkerhaugen - drums (1991)

Final line-up

- vocals, guitar, keyboard (1990–1991, 2000)

Related bands

- The black metal band which Thou Shalt Suffer eventually evolved into (with members Ihsahn and Samoth). *

- The eponymous band of former Thou Shalt Suffer bassist Vidar Vaaer, known musically as Ildjarn.

References

{{Authority control Norwegian black metal musical groups Norwegian death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1990 1990 establishments in Norway 1990 disestablishments in Norway Musical groups reestablished in 2000 Musical groups from Notodden