Beseech

Swedish quintet Beseech coined the term “symphonic goth metal” for their fusion of doom, death, and orchestral textures laced with gothic atmosphere. Fronted by Jorgen Sjoberg on vocals, the lineup of lead guitarist Robert Spanglund, rhythm guitarist Klas Bohlin, bassist Andreas Wiik, and drummer Morgan Gredaker began shaping this hybrid approach in 1992. Across six years and three progressively assured demo recordings they refined an unconventional sonic blend, adopted sweeping thematic concepts, and adopted ornate Baroque-inspired stage attire before inking a deal with Metal Blade. The resulting 1998 debut From a Bleeding Heart earned largely favorable notices and introduced keyboardist Mikael Andersson alongside his wife, soprano Anna Andersson. Anna’s successor Lotta Hogin joined for the follow-up, Black Emotions, issued in 2000 by Pavement Music. Sjoberg then stepped aside, yielding the microphone to Erik Molarin for 2002’s Souls Highway. Drama arrived in 2004, succeeded the next year by Sunless Days on Napalm Records; those two releases marked the band’s last studio output for nearly a decade. A revised configuration resurfaced in 2013, and in 2016 Despotz Records released the group’s sixth album, My Darkness, Darkness, which introduced vocalist Angelina Sahlgren Söder.