Konkhra

Konkhra, among Denmark’s foremost death metal outfits, launched its career in 1989 and soon circulated a pair of early recordings—“Vicious Circle,” which also served as the group’s temporary moniker, and “Malgrowth.” These efforts paved the way for the 1992 promotional EP Stranded, issued through an unlikely partnership with a tattoo magazine, followed by the full-length debut Sexual Affective Disorder in 1993. Once Anders Lundemark on vocals and guitar, Kim Mathiesen on guitar, Lars Schmidt on bass, and Johnny Nielson on drums coalesced into a relatively steady configuration, the quartet embarked on a U.S. trek alongside Suffocation. That same year, 1994, also saw the release of the Facelift EP and the second album Spit or Swallow. Captured at the Roskilde Festival, the 1995 live set Live Eraser was promoted as the first “death & roll” concert recording—an expression popularized by Swedish act Entombed. Internal tensions soon fractured the lineup, yet Lundemark swiftly reassembled a new ensemble featuring guitarist James Murphy, whose résumé included Death and Obituary, drummer Chris Kontos of Machine Head, and bassist Thomas Christensen; together they tracked the atmospheric, widely praised 1997 album Weed Out the Weak. Predictably short-lived, the configuration changed when Kontos departed and was replaced by former Invocator drummer Per M. Jensen ahead of 1999’s The Freakshow EP. After completing sessions for Come Down Cold later that year—an album that veered toward an alternative-rock sensibility—Murphy resumed his peripatetic path, while Jensen exited to join Swedish band the Haunted. A lengthy hiatus ensued until Lundemark revived Konkhra in 2003 with the straightforward Reality Check, supported once more by guitarist Kim “Hakim” Mathiesen, bassist Lars Schmidt, and the returning Johnny Nielsen.