Biography
When the formidable, critically acclaimed, and heavily influential Swedish melodic death metal troupe and Earache recording artist At the Gates chose to disband while still at their peak, three of its members promptly launched the Haunted. Uncertainty lingered, however, over where vocalist Tomas Lindberg would next apply his throaty growls. That question found its answer in 1998 through the creation of the Great Deceiver, a metallic quintet whose streamlined hardcore direction aligned more closely with the Haunted’s Pantera-styled approach than with At the Gates’ traditionally metal-oriented melodic savagery. Brutality nevertheless defined the band’s output through pounding rhythms, bone-rattling riffage, abrasive eagerness, and breakneck velocity. A Metal Hammer writer compared the Great Deceiver’s sound to Sepultura’s landmark Roots album “meets Neurosis,” a characterization that captured the Swedes’ style with reasonable accuracy.
The group’s initial release, the Jet Black Art mini-CD/10" EP, appeared first in Europe on Swedish indie Bridge Records before Trustkill, a label more rooted in hardcore, licensed it for the United States in 2000. Shortly after the EP’s completion, original drummer Hans Nilsson departed, leaving Kalle Anderson to take his place alongside Lindberg, bassist Matti Lundell, and the dual guitar and songwriting partnership of Johan Osterberg and Kristian Wahlin. Songwriting for the band’s debut full-length began soon afterward, yet paused when Lindberg contributed vocals to the metal supergroup Lock Up during a tour after that act’s singer stepped away to pursue other work. Lindberg’s additional commitments at the time included fronting the Crown, an outfit that has featured members of Napalm Death and Dimmu Borgir and, for a period, Hypocrisy.
Interviews from late 2001 found Lindberg affirming that the Great Deceiver remained active despite his outside projects. The band’s subsequent album, A Venom Well Designed, emerged in mid-2002 on Peaceville, with Terra Incognito following in fall 2003. Massachusetts-based Deathwish Inc became the group’s new home in spring 2007, and the label prepared its first Great Deceiver release, Life Is Wasted on the Living, for an August launch that year.
The group’s initial release, the Jet Black Art mini-CD/10" EP, appeared first in Europe on Swedish indie Bridge Records before Trustkill, a label more rooted in hardcore, licensed it for the United States in 2000. Shortly after the EP’s completion, original drummer Hans Nilsson departed, leaving Kalle Anderson to take his place alongside Lindberg, bassist Matti Lundell, and the dual guitar and songwriting partnership of Johan Osterberg and Kristian Wahlin. Songwriting for the band’s debut full-length began soon afterward, yet paused when Lindberg contributed vocals to the metal supergroup Lock Up during a tour after that act’s singer stepped away to pursue other work. Lindberg’s additional commitments at the time included fronting the Crown, an outfit that has featured members of Napalm Death and Dimmu Borgir and, for a period, Hypocrisy.
Interviews from late 2001 found Lindberg affirming that the Great Deceiver remained active despite his outside projects. The band’s subsequent album, A Venom Well Designed, emerged in mid-2002 on Peaceville, with Terra Incognito following in fall 2003. Massachusetts-based Deathwish Inc became the group’s new home in spring 2007, and the label prepared its first Great Deceiver release, Life Is Wasted on the Living, for an August launch that year.
Albums
