Kristian Wåhlin (born 4 December 1971) is a Swedish musician, singer, graphic designer and album cover artist for many bands in the

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

scene worldwide. He is often credited under his pseudonym Necrolord.

Biography

Wåhlin's interest in art began while attending Schillerska Grammar School, a secondary educational institution in central

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. He has referenced Romantic and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

painters like

Caspar David Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich (; 5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romanticism, German Romantic Landscape painting, landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

and

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

as early influences. This interest also coincided with the time in which he studied music. At the age of 17, Wåhlin formed Grotesque (as guitarist) with school friend

Tomas Lindberg Tomas Lindberg (born 16 October 1972), also known as "Tompa" and "Goatspell", is a Swedish vocalist who has fronted many death metal bands, most notably At the Gates. He has been active as a musician and composer since the late 1980s. He also t ...

on vocals, Alf Svensson on guitar, and Tomas Eriksson on drums. The 1990 break-up of Grotesque would lead to the formation of At the Gates, who would be credited as instigators of the "

melodic death metal sound". Wåhlin would collaborate with Lindberg and other At the Gates members a short time additionally in the

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, 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 death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band Liers in Wait, and would go on to design the "Russian icon" cover-art of At the Gates' cornerstone release, '' Slaughter of the Soul''.

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 of ...

, who shared practice quarters with At the Gates, would display illustrations by Wåhlin on the cover of '' The Somberlain'' and also '' Storm of the Light's Bane''; the latter featuring the infamous scene of the "grim reaper horseman" in the middle of a snow-covered forest tundra. '' In the Nightside Eclipse'', the debut of seminal 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 tr ...

band

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, would also be graced with his work on the cover. Wåhlin would continue as an album artist for several other bands in the European

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, doom, power and

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal music, heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different ...

collective throughout the 2000s. ''Liers in Wait'' and ''Decollation'' would feature musical contribution by Wåhlin before both groups folded in the mid-1990s. In 1995 he started

band Diabolique, where he was joined by some musicians from bands in which he had previously participated. Diabolique's latest release was ''The Green Goddess'' in 2001. They are currently writing material for an upcoming 2010 album. Wåhlin also collaborated with longtime friend Lindberg in the hardcore band The Great Deceiver. His art studio is located in Höganäs municipality, Sweden.

Discography

Album covers

References

External links

Official website: Kristian Wåhlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wahlin, Kristian 1971 births Living people Swedish heavy metal guitarists Swedish heavy metal singers Swedish heavy metal drummers Swedish graphic designers 20th-century Swedish painters Swedish male painters 21st-century Swedish painters Swedish album-cover and concert-poster artists 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish guitarists 21st-century Swedish drummers 21st-century Swedish male singers Liers in Wait members Diabolique (band) members 20th-century Swedish male artists 21st-century Swedish male artists Musicians from Gothenburg