Quorthon

Thomas Börje Forsberg (17 February 1966 – 3 June 2004),[4] better known by the stage name Quorthon,[5] was a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer.[5] He was one of the founders, as well as the sole songwriter, of the band Bathory, which pioneered the black metal genre and is credited with creating the Viking metal style.[6] A multi-instrumentalist, Quorthon wrote the music and lyrics on all of Bathory's albums and performed vocals and guitars.

Quorthon
Quorthon during the 1980s wearing a Bathory shirt
Born
Thomas Börje Forsberg

(1966-02-17)17 February 1966
Stockholm, Sweden
Died3 June 2004(2004-06-03) (aged 38)
Stockholm, Sweden
Resting placeStockholm, Sweden
Other names
  • Ace Shoot[1]
  • Ace spunky black spade[2]
  • Ditch Brodie
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • record producer
Years activec. 1980[3]–2004
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass
  • percussion
Labels
Associated acts
Websitebathory.nu

Career
Main article: Bathory

Quorthon formed Bathory in 1983 when he was 17 years old, after briefly playing in the Oi! band Stridskuk, which also featured drummer Johan "Jolle" Elvén and bass player Rickard "Ribban" Bergman, who later played on early Bathory demos and in the case of Bergman, albums.[7] He recorded his early albums together with the help of his father Börje Forsberg who was also the head of the Swedish record label Tyfon Grammofon that would go on to release most of Bathory's albums through the subsidiary Black Mark Production. The first album was recorded in the garage of schlager writer Peter Himmelstrand, dubbed Studio Heavenshore.[6]

During the mid-to-late 1980s, live performances by Bathory were rare. Albums from this period contributed to the then-burgeoning black metal subgenre, and rare photographs of the band helped in part to define its image. Beginning in the 1990s, Quorthon took full control of Bathory, choosing to forgo performing live in order to spend time recording music with hired musicians, as well changing style from the black metal of the 1980s to a slower, heavier style dubbed "Viking metal", due to its lyrics being focused on Norse mythology. From this point onward, he also played bass guitar on almost all of his albums, and mostly used a drum machine or a session drummer.

Quorthon also personally paid for the production of Bathory's only music video, for the song "One Rode to Asa Bay", taken from their fifth studio album, Hammerheart. The video was shown on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, though Quorthon had not yet seen it at the time he was interviewed for the program.

In 1993 Quorthon set Bathory aside and recorded and released two albums under the name "Quorthon". The first, called Album, was released in 1994. The final two solo releases emerged in 1997, Purity of Essence and the EP When Our Day Is Through. The albums released under the Quorthon moniker were more rock-oriented than Bathory's black/Viking metal style. While working on these albums he found new inspiration to continue composing music for Bathory. Bathory's next albums were in a retro-thrash metal style, before he veered towards his Viking metal style once again, especially on the Nordland saga.

Death

On 3 June 2004, Quorthon was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm, Sweden. The cause of his death was a congenital heart defect.[8]

Discography

As Bathory

As Quorthon
  • Album (1994)
  • When Our Day Is Through (1997)
  • Purity of Essence (1997)

References
  1. Scandinavian Metal Attack (Media notes). Ace Shoot.
  2. Bathory (Media notes). Bathory. 1984. Album design by Ace spunky black spade and Quorthon.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. Swedish Death Metal: "If I hadn't started to play in punk bands around '79–80 I could have ended up on the streets, with a needle in my arm. Luckily, I didn't have any such friends, so I got involved with the punk movement, and was inspired by bands like Exploited and GBH."
  4. Template:Date stated in the death notice for Ace Börje Forsberg that his family put in the swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on June 23, 2004, the death notice also included the lyrics to the Bathory song Hammerheart
  5. Bathory (Media notes). Bathory. 1984. Produced by Quorthon & the BossCS1 maint: others (link)
  6. Johannesson, Ika & Klingberg, Jon Jefferson. (2011) Blod Eld Död - En svensk metalhistoria, Alfabeta Bokförlag AB, p. 51-68.
  7. "Bathory - Bathory". www.bathory.nu. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  8. Hillborg, Yasin (Director) (2011). Så jävla metal (DVD).
  9. "Various – Scandinavian Metal Attack". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-03-30. Scandinavian Metal Attack ... Released: 1984
  10. Bathory (Media notes). Bathory. 1984. 1984 Tyfon Grammofon ABCS1 maint: others (link)
  11. Under The Sign Of The Black Mark (Media notes). Bathory. 1987. 1987 Under One Flag ...1987 Tyfon Grammofon ABCS1 maint: others (link)
  12. Blood Fire Death (Media notes). Bathory. 1988. 1988 Take Out Music ... 1988 Under One FlagCS1 maint: others (link)
  13. Hammerheart (Media notes). Bathory. 1990. 1990 Noise International ... 1990 Tyfon Grammofon ABCS1 maint: others (link)
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