Biography
Impious emerged among the many death metal acts that arose across Scandinavia during the 1990s, yet the Swedish group has built its identity on a refusal of anything understated or restrained. Instead, the band has cultivated a sound defined by relentless aggression—thick, scorching, and suffocating—clearly shaped by Slayer’s example and designed to ignite mosh pits while exhausting anyone who listens. Far removed from the “melodic death metal” and “symphonic black metal” currents that swept through many Nordic bands, Impious rejects the melodic hooks, elaborate arrangements, and power-metal flourishes those styles often incorporate. The group instead commits itself to sheer, unyielding intensity, an approach that has kept it outside mainstream attention while securing a devoted following inside the European death-metal and black-metal underground.
Frequent personnel shifts have marked Impious’ path, a pattern common to many bands in death metal, black metal, and grindcore. The band originated in Trollhättan, Sweden, in April 1994 when vocalist and guitarist Martin Åkesson joined forces with guitarist Valle Adzic. Early difficulties securing a steady drummer led Johan Lindstrand to serve on a temporary basis. Robin Sörqvist joined on bass, and the Åkesson/Adzic/Lindstrand/Sörqvist configuration captured the 1995 demo Infernal Predomination. The following year Impious tracked its second demo, The Suffering, now with Marko Tervonen behind the kit. Tervonen, like Lindstrand before him, viewed the role as short-term and departed after several months. When the band recorded the 1997 demo Promo ’97, Ulf Johansson occupied the drum stool, distinct from the Swedish jazz pianist and trombonist of the same name born in 1956.
Also in 1997, Impious issued its debut full-length album, Evilized, through the independent Swedish label Black Sun Records. The group returned to Black Sun for a second album that was tracked in 1999 and appeared in 2000, a period that brought further membership adjustments. That year Åkesson stepped away from guitar duties to concentrate solely on vocals, Sörqvist moved from bass to lead guitar, and Erik Peterson was brought in on bass. Johansson exited in early 2002; Mikael Norén assumed the drum position. With Norén aboard, Impious recorded its third album, The Killer, for Hammerheart Records. In 2004, marking the band’s tenth year, the five-piece lineup of Åkesson on lead vocals, Adzic and Sörqvist on guitars, Peterson on bass, and Norén on drums completed Hellucinate, released by Metal Blade. The band followed with Holy Murder Masquerade in early 2007.
Frequent personnel shifts have marked Impious’ path, a pattern common to many bands in death metal, black metal, and grindcore. The band originated in Trollhättan, Sweden, in April 1994 when vocalist and guitarist Martin Åkesson joined forces with guitarist Valle Adzic. Early difficulties securing a steady drummer led Johan Lindstrand to serve on a temporary basis. Robin Sörqvist joined on bass, and the Åkesson/Adzic/Lindstrand/Sörqvist configuration captured the 1995 demo Infernal Predomination. The following year Impious tracked its second demo, The Suffering, now with Marko Tervonen behind the kit. Tervonen, like Lindstrand before him, viewed the role as short-term and departed after several months. When the band recorded the 1997 demo Promo ’97, Ulf Johansson occupied the drum stool, distinct from the Swedish jazz pianist and trombonist of the same name born in 1956.
Also in 1997, Impious issued its debut full-length album, Evilized, through the independent Swedish label Black Sun Records. The group returned to Black Sun for a second album that was tracked in 1999 and appeared in 2000, a period that brought further membership adjustments. That year Åkesson stepped away from guitar duties to concentrate solely on vocals, Sörqvist moved from bass to lead guitar, and Erik Peterson was brought in on bass. Johansson exited in early 2002; Mikael Norén assumed the drum position. With Norén aboard, Impious recorded its third album, The Killer, for Hammerheart Records. In 2004, marking the band’s tenth year, the five-piece lineup of Åkesson on lead vocals, Adzic and Sörqvist on guitars, Peterson on bass, and Norén on drums completed Hellucinate, released by Metal Blade. The band followed with Holy Murder Masquerade in early 2007.
Albums
