Biography
Sweden's Deathwitch emerged as one of two primary side projects undertaken by Sacramentum guitarist/vocalist Niklas "Terror" Rudolfsson, the other being the death/doom outfit Runemagick. The band specializes in deliberately coarse, unrefined thrash metal laced with deathly overtones and a deliberately shocking, moronic blend of Satanic and scatological lyrics that echo earlier Scandinavian and Brazilian groups active in the mid-to-late 1980s. Formed in 1996 with assistance from vocalist Reaper (also of Bewitched), guitarist Alf Necrohell (also known as Fredrik Johnsson, Runemagick partner), and bassist Lady Death (also known as Emma Karlsson, likewise affiliated with Runemagick), Deathwitch issued a rapid series of albums through the close of the decade: 1996's Triumphant Devastation, 1997's Dawn of Armageddon, 1998's The Ultimate Death, and 1999's Monumental Mutilations. The final pair of those releases featured guitarist Doomentor, bassist Peter "Carnivore" Palmdahl, and drummer Corpse. Throughout this period the group seldom appeared onstage and later entered an extended hiatus before recruiting guitarist Slade Doom and drummer Morbid Juttu to record 2002's Deathfuck Rituals and 2003's Violence, Blasphemy, Sodomy. Deathwitch show little sign of ascending or vanishing and are expected to persist as an ongoing project for the foreseeable future.