Luciferion

In 1993 the Swedish black metal outfit Luciferion was assembled by Michael Nicklasson on guitar and vocals, Wojtek Lisicki also handling guitar and vocals, Martin Furagen on bass, and Peter Weiner on drums. The group laid down its debut album, Demonication (The Manifest), in 1994. Two years afterward, the independent local imprint Listenable Records issued the recording, which drew from both death and black metal yet resisted classification as either style alone. Although the album earned overwhelmingly positive reviews, persistent distribution obstacles hindered its reach and soon drove the band into a lengthy hiatus, during which Nicklasson linked up with the melodic death metal sensations Dark Tranquility. Luciferion eventually regrouped, with Nicklasson, Lisicki, and Furagen now joined by drummer Hans Nilsson to deliver their long-awaited follow-up, the conceptually ambitious 2003 release The Apostate.