A Canorous Quintet

Emerging in 1991 from the earlier configuration known as A Canorous Quartet, the Swedish death metal group A Canorous Quintet took shape with vocalist Marten Hansen, guitarists Linus Nirbrant and Leo Pignon, bassist Jesper Lofgren, and drummer Fredrik Andersson. Two demo recordings followed, beginning with 1993's The Time of Autumn and continuing with 1994's As Tears, the latter of which later appeared as an EP. The band issued its first full-length album, Silence of the World Beyond, in 1996, then returned two years later with the striking The Only Pure Hate. Mounting commitments to outside projects soon pulled the musicians in separate directions, prompting the dissolution of A Canorous Quintet. The guitarists redirected their energies toward Guidance of Sin, while Andersson aligned himself with the leading Viking death metal band Amon Amarth.