Thorns

Biography

Thorns, also known as Stigma Diabolicum, is a Norwegian black metal band that formed in 1989 as part of the early Norwegian black metal scene. They made two influential demos in the early 1990s, Grymyrk and Trøndertun, but have only released one full-length album.

History

In 1989, Snorre Westvold Ruch (born January 21, 1972), also known under the stage name Blackthorn, and Marius Vold formed the band Stigma Diabolicum and recorded one demo. In 1990, bass player Harald Eilertsen and drummer Bård "Faust" Eithun joined. As the use of Latin within black metal "had escalated" (according to the Stigma Diabolicum re-release booklet), they changed the name to Thorns in 1991. That year, Eilertsen and Ruch recorded the Grymyrk demo, which greatly impacted the black metal scene and, together with Mayhem guitarist Euronymous, coined the Norwegian black metal riffing, as Darkthrone drummer Fenriz points out. As the band members were "spread far across Norway", they could rarely rehearse; some rehearsals were recorded on tape. In 1992, they recorded the Trøndertun demo. That year, Ruch became Mayhem's second guitarist and disbanded Thorns for a few months.
In 1994, Ruch was sentenced to eight years in prison for admitting to being an accomplice in the murder of Euronymous. According to Euronymous's murderer, Varg Vikernes, Ruch was "in the wrong place at the wrong time".
After a long period of silence due to Ruch's imprisonment, Thorns reappeared in 1999 with the split album Thorns vs. Emperor, consisting mainly of old Thorns songs performed by Emperor and vice versa. In 2001, the band released the debut album Thorns, with drummer Hellhammer and vocalists Satyr and Dødheimsgard's Aldrahn.
In October 2007, Greek label Kyrck Productions released the Stigma Diabolicum compilation, which featured the Grymyrk×GrymyrkJune 1991 · Studio album · DemoSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1Lovely Children3:29A2Fall2:20A3Thule6:52A4Fairytales4:02A5Home6:43A6You That Mingle May2:40 and Trøndertun×Trøndertun1992 · EP · DemoSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracksA1Ærie Descent4:59A2Funeral Marches to the Grave5:17A3Eli Er Stygg demos, as well as material from the Stigma Diabolicum demos Lacus de Luna and Luna de Nocturnus and two tracks ("Thule" and "Fall") from a 1991 Thorns rehearsal.
A follow-up to the 2001 debut was announced in September 2008.
The lineup of Thorns has undergone changes since 2001. Snorre is still involved as a guitarist, and Aldrahn has continued as a vocalist. Bassist Jon Wesseltoft, guitarist Christian Broholt, and drummer Kenneth Kapstad have joined the band.

Members

Snorre Ruch – guitars/keyboards/programming
Jon Wesseltoft – bass/baritone guitar
Aldrahn – vocals
Christian Broholt – guitars
Kenneth Kapstad – drums

Former members

Bård G. Eithun - drums
Marius Vold - vocals, bass
Harald Eilertsen - bass on Grymyrk
Terje Kråbøl - drums on Trøndertun
Ronny K. Prize - bass on Trøndertun
Satyr - vocals on Thorns
Aldrahn - vocals on Thorns
Hellhammer - drums on Thorns

Related bands

Thorns Ltd. is an experimental/drone/art-circuit offshoot of Thorns. The project was started in 2003 by Finn Olav Holthe (of The 3rd and the Mortal), Jon Wesseltoft and Snorre Ruch to explore the aesthetics of sound and its influence on the listener, using multichannel playback systems and various audio preparations.
The band first produced sound for Norwegian visual artist Bjarne Melgaard's works displayed at the Playlist exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2004. Ruch and Holthe had previously contributed sound to Melgaard's Interface to God exhibition at Kunsthalle zu Kiel in 2002. Thorns Ltd. has later contributed sound to works by New York artist Banks Violette and others.
Holthe left the band in 2006. Ruch and Wesseltoft have continued as Thorns Ltd. in addition to their work in Thorns.