Bloodbath

Bloodbath arose as a death metal supergroup assembled from veterans of prominent Swedish groups such as Opeth, Katatonia, and Edge of Sanity, channeling vintage Scandinavian death metal in the style of early Entombed while folding in touches of Floridian U.S. death metal from Morbid Angel and Obituary. The unit took its name from the Cancer track “Blood Bath” by the British thrash legends, issuing a three-song EP as its 1999 debut before delivering the full-length Resurrection Through Carnage in 2002. Although members remained occupied with their primary bands, Bloodbath built a fervent audience that carried the project through the following two decades, producing occasional bursts of sonic ferocity including The Fathomless Mastery in 2008 and The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn in 2018.

Formed in Stockholm during 1998, the initial lineup of Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth, Katatonia, Steel), Anders “Blakkheim” Nyström (Katatonia, Bewitched), Jonas Renske (Katatonia), and Dan Swanö (who had worked with nearly every Swedish metal band and musician) released the debut EP Breeding Death in 1999. The EP stirred considerable attention, leading the band to record and issue a full-length; Resurrection Through Carnage reached stores in 2002. With Opeth’s profile ascending, Åkerfeldt exited Bloodbath in 2004, after which Swanö shifted from drums to guitar. To fill the resulting gaps, Bloodbath recruited Hypocrisy vocalist Peter Tägtgren and Witchery (later Opeth) drummer Martin “Axe” Axenrot. This lineup quickly recorded the second album, Nightmares Made Flesh, released in 2004.

While the group had turned somewhat more earnest—without endangering Katatonia’s position—2005 brought Tägtgren’s departure yet also Åkerfeldt’s brief return for one event: a well-received and notably scarce live set at Germany’s Wacken Open Air Festival that year. After the performance, Swanö likewise departed, and the next several years found Bloodbath maintaining a low profile while searching for a new vocalist and guitarist. In 2007 the band resurfaced, announcing guitarist Per “Sodomizer” Eriksson (21 Lucifers, Genocrush Ferox) and work on an EP titled Unblessing the Purity. January 2008 saw Åkerfeldt rejoin as vocalist for the EP, which appeared in March. The four-song release was followed by the long-awaited live CD/DVD of the 2005 Wacken Festival show, The Wacken Carnage, and the third studio album The Fathomless Mastery. Åkerfeldt left again in 2012; in 2014 the group added Paradise Lost vocalist Nick Holmes to fill the position. Holmes’ first outing with the band, the 2014 album Grand Morbid Funeral, also featured guest appearances from Autopsy’s Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler. Holmes remained for the fifth album, 2018’s The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn, which included guest spots from Jeff Walker (Carcass), Karl Willetts (Bolt Thrower, Memoriam), and John Walker (Cancer). In 2022 Napalm Records reissued the band’s first three releases—Breeding Death, Resurrection Through Carnage, and Nightmares Made Flesh—digitally and on vinyl with bonus tracks.