Madder Mortem

The Norwegian sonic experimentalists who would become Madder Mortem assembled in 1993, initially operating under the name Mystery Tribe. Singer Agnet M. Kirkevaag, guitarists B.P.M. Kirkevaag and Christian Rudd, bassist Boye Nyberg, and drummer Sigurd Nielsen formed the core lineup, yet frequent involvement in outside projects kept membership in constant flux. Their singular blend of black and death metal, progressive rock, and experimental music therefore took shape only gradually across the ensuing years, first surfacing on the Days in Sorrow demo and then, following the name change, on the 1997 Misty Sleep EP. The band issued its debut album Mercury in 1999 to widespread critical praise, only for momentum to falter when label Mysanthropy closed its doors; the group nearly dissolved when every member except the Kirkevaag duo departed. Guitarist Erik Ulvo Langnes, bassist Paul Mozart Bjorke, and drummer Mads Solas were soon recruited, and after signing with The End Records the reconfigured ensemble delivered the ambitious, quasi-conceptual Deadlands in 2002.