is an extreme
Black Metal band from
Norway . Over the years Gorgoroth has experimented with
Noise and
Industrial overtones, but professes no interest in that particular style. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes, leaving guitarist Infernus as the only remaining original member. Their style, however, has remained relatively consistent from album to album. The name
Gorgoroth is taken from the
J.R.R. Tolkien series ''
The Lord Of The Rings '', in which it is a dead plain of evil and darkness in the land of
Mordor .
Gorgoroth was formed in of
Emperor participated on the album by recording the bass tracks. After ''Pentagram'' was completed and released, Goat left the band and was replaced temporarily by Frost from
Satyricon . This led the band directly into the recording of ''Antichrist'', their sophomore release. Vocalist Hat decided to leave Gorgoroth in
1995 , but not until after he had finished recording the vocal tracks. It was at this time Gorgoroth's well-known vocalist Pest joined. ''Antichrist'' was a highly successful release, and led to the band's first live performances supporting
Cradle Of Filth . They also toured Norway and
England with Satyricon and
Dissection . Soon the name Gorgoroth was commonplace in the black metal underground, if somewhat overshadowed by some of the more infamous black metal bands such as
Mayhem or Emperor.
Following the release of the band's third album, ''Under The Sign Of Hell'' (
1997 ), and Gorgoroth's first headlining
European tour, the well-known
German Heavy Metal Record Label Nuclear Blast sought to sign Gorgoroth. The band accepted the offer in
1998 . The first album recorded and released for Nuclear Blast was ''Destroyer'' (1998). New singer Gaahl joined the band at this time, but was heard on only one song – the title track – on ''Destroyer''.
In
1999 , Gorgoroth began journeying into unknown territory with the recording of ''Incipit Satan''. Though written by Infernus once again, the album delved into musical ideas not expanded upon by the group in previous recordings. Songs such as "Will To Power" showcased strong industrial,
Dark Ambient , and noise influences (more so than on ''Destroyer'' and ''Under The Sign Of Hell'', both of which showed signs of experimentation). The song "When Love Rages Wild In My Heart" featured clean,
Bluesy vocals reminiscnet of
Danzig . Overall, the album displayed extreme
Progressive tendencies, yet still retained a traditional black metal edge and Infernus' signature sound.
Three years later – after further line-up changes, Gorgoroth began writing their most recent album, ''Twilight Of The Idols''. The album showed a return to a more solidified black metal style, but was still quite different from early Gorgoroth releases, mainly due to the fact that most of the album's songs were written by bassist King Ov Hell rather than Infernus. After the release of ''Twilight Of The Idols'', Gorgoroth terminated their contract with Nuclear Blast.
On February 1st, 2004, during a live broadcast concert in
Krakow Poland , the band displayed sheep heads on stakes, a bloodbath of 80 liters of sheep's blood, satanic symbols, and four naked crucified models on stage. One of the two female models fainted. A police investigation took place with allegations of religious offense and cruelty to animals. Though these charges were considered, the band was not charged. The whole controversy lead to the band being dropped from the roster of the Nuclear Blast Tour and the footage of the concert being confiscated by the police.
Shortly after the Poland Incident, singer Gaahl was sentenced to 18 months incarceration for the beating of a 41-year old man and threatening to drink his blood in Norway in
2002 . He appealed the case, and in spring 2005, he was sentenced to 14 months in jail as well as paying the victim 180 000
NOK . He has yet to serve the sentence because of the structure of Norway's legal system.
In February 2005, Infernus was accused and convicted of raping a young woman at an after-party. She claimed she was kept hostage and abused for more than an hour before she managed to flee in just a towel. Infernus was found not guilty of the actual rape, but was still charged with his indifferent attitude as the rape was committed by a friend of his and he did nothing to stop it. He is looking at a year in Norwegian prison.
- ''Pentagram'' - ( 1994 )
- ''Antichrist'' - ( 1996 )
- ''Under the Sign of Hell'' - ( 1997 )
- ''Destroyer'' - ( 1998 )
- ''Incipit Satan'' - ( 2000 )
- ''Twilight of the Idols'' - ( 2003 )
- ''Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam'' - ( 2006 )
- ''Gaahl'' - Vocals - ( 1998 -)
- ''Infernus'' - Guitar - ( 1992 -)
- ''King Ov Hell''- Bass - ( 1999 -)
- 1349 and Satyricon - Drummer Frost's main bands
- Darkthrone - An important black metal band which influenced Gorgoroth's earlier albums.
- Obtained Enslavement - A symphonic black metal band that Pest sang for during their existence.
- Trelldom - A side-project of vocalist Gaahl.
- Gaahlskagg - Another side-project of Gaahl's.
- Borknagar - A melodic, medieval, black metal-influenced band which Infernus played bass for in 1995 , and Grim was Drummer .
