Quorthon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Quorthon
|
|
|---|---|
Quorthon in 1990 during the Hammerheart promo tour
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Börje Forsberg |
| Also known as |
|
| Born | 17 February 1966 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Died | 3 June 2004 (aged 38) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genres |
|
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | c. 1980–2004 |
| Labels |
|
| Associated acts |
|
| Website | (defunct) |
Thomas Börje Forsberg (born February 17, 1966 – died June 3, 2004) was a musician from Sweden. Most people knew him by his stage name, Quorthon. He started the band Bathory and wrote all their songs. Bathory was very important because they helped create two types of heavy music: black metal and Viking metal. Quorthon played many instruments. He wrote the music and words for all of Bathory's albums. He also sang and played guitar.
Contents
Quorthon's Music Career
Quorthon started the band Bathory in 1983. He was 17 years old at the time. His father, Börje Forsberg, helped him record his early albums. His father also ran a Swedish record company called Tyfon Grammofon. This company later released most of Bathory's albums through a part of their business called Black Mark Production. The first album was recorded in a garage.
In the 1980s, Bathory did not perform live very often. The albums they released during this time helped to create a new style of music called black metal. Pictures of the band also helped to define what this music style looked like.
In the 1990s, Quorthon decided to take full control of Bathory. He stopped playing live concerts. Instead, he focused on recording music with other musicians he hired. The band's music style also changed. It became slower and heavier. This new style, which often had lyrics about Norse mythology, became known as Viking metal. From then on, Quorthon usually played the bass guitar on his albums. He also often used a drum machine or a hired drummer.
Quorthon also paid for Bathory's only music video. It was for the song "One Rode to Asa Bay". This song was from their fifth album, Hammerheart. The video was shown on MTV's Headbangers Ball.
In 1993, Quorthon took a break from Bathory. He recorded and released two albums under his own name, "Quorthon". The first album, called Album, came out in 1994. His last two solo releases were in 1997. They were Purity of Essence and an EP (a shorter album) called When Our Day Is Through. The music he made as "Quorthon" was more like rock music. It was different from Bathory's black metal and Viking metal style. Working on these solo albums gave him new ideas for Bathory. Bathory's next albums went back to a fast, heavy style called thrash metal. After that, he returned to his Viking metal style, especially for the Nordland albums.
Quorthon's Death
On June 3, 2004, Quorthon was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm, Sweden. He was 38 years old. He died because of a congenital heart defect, which is a heart problem someone is born with.
Music Albums
Albums by Bathory
- Bathory (1984)
- The Return…… (1985)
- Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987)
- Blood Fire Death (1988)
- Hammerheart (1990)
- Twilight of the Gods (1991)
- Jubileum Volume I (1992)
- Jubileum Volume II (1993)
- Requiem (1994)
- Octagon (1995)
- Blood on Ice (1996)
- Jubileum Volume III (1998)
- Destroyer of Worlds (2001)
- Nordland I (2002)
- Nordland II (2003)
Albums by Quorthon
- Album (1994)
- When Our Day Is Through EP (1997)
- Purity of Essence (1997)
See also
In Spanish: Quorthon para niños
