Ville Pystynen, also commonly known by his main stage name, Shatraug, is a Finnish-born musician. In 1993, he formed the Finnish

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw ( lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

band

Horna Horna (formerly known as Shadowed) is a Finnish black metal band that formed in 1993. The band has appeared on over thirty releases including splits, demos, EPs and albums since 1995, which have been released through numerous record labels. T ...

. Besides Horna, Pystynen has played in several bands of different genres of metal. He founded and has played bass and guitar for Sargeist since 1999. He is also known for playing bass and guitar for

Behexen Behexen is a Finnish black metal band founded in 1994. They adopted a more traditional approach to black metal by incorporating raw characteristics. Their first full-length release was ''Rituale Satanum'', released in 2000 and followed by ''By ...

from 2004–2015. Pystynen also has several solo and smaller projects which, in some, he plays all instruments and sings for. Pystynen has a wide interest in playing instruments, being a live session musician, as well as writing lyrics. He is also trained in programming, mixing and engineering music. He owned and ran Grievantee Productions, and Warmoon Records. Ville also owns his own recording studio. Pystynen is said to be inspired by

Quorthon Thomas Börje Forsberg (17 February 1966 – 3 June 2004),Date stated in the death notice for Ace Börje Forsberg that his family put in the swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 23 June 2004, the death notice also included the lyrics to the Batho ...

and has stated that Bathory has a massive influence on Horna's existence. He has also said to be inspired by bands such as

Beherit Beherit is a black metal band from Finland. The band was formed in 1989 by Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho), Black Jesus (Arjo Wennström) and Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen), with the purpose of performing "the most primitive, sava ...

Impaled Nazarene Impaled Nazarene is a Finnish extreme metal band that started as black metal but have incorporated elements of grindcore, thrash metal and death metal, and have grown more towards hardcore punk. History The band formed in November 1990, with fo ...

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

and

Darkthrone Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leading ba ...

. Pystynen has been criticized for NSBM ties.

Work as a lyricist

Pystynen writes most of Horna's lyrics in Finnish with many recurring themes. Apart from usual black metal themed lyrics, some of the lyrics on early Horna albums were about fantasy and the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

. For example, '' Kohti Yhdeksän Nousua'' (Towards Rising of the Nine) refers to Tolkien's ring wraiths, and 'A Ring to Rule' (which is uncommonly written in English) from the 1999 EP Perimä Vihassa Ja Verikostossa, regards the

One Ring The One Ring, also called the Ruling Ring and Isildur's Bane, is a central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–55). It first appeared in the earlier story ''The Hobbit'' (1937) as a magic ring that grants the w ...

. According to Shatraug, a large record label approached Horna and attempted to negotiate with them to join their label. Pystynen refused, however, as the label wanted them to use more lyrics in English.

Personal life

Pystynen was conscripted for Finnish military service in 2000. He was kicked out for being violent toward a commanding officer. He is married, and is the father of two children.

Discography

;Horna *'' Kohti Yhdeksän Nousua'' (1998), Solistitium Records *'' Haudankylmyyden Mailla'' (1999), Solistitium Records *'' Sudentaival'' (2001), Woodcut Records *''

Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne ''Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne'' is the fourth full-length studio album released by the black metal band Horna. The title of the album is complete gibberish unless you remove the even letters, with the remaining odd letters spelling "''Evange ...

'' (2005), Woodcut Records *'' Ääniä Yössä'' (2006),

Moribund Records Moribund Records, also known as Moribund Cult or just Moribund, is an extreme metal record label based out of Port Orchard, Washington. It was founded in 1993 by Odin "The Old Goat" Thompson, the label owner and manager. Other staff include Ra ...

*'' Sotahuuto'' (2007), Moribund Records *'' Sanojesi Äärelle'' (2008), Debemur Morti Productions / Deviant Records *'' Musta Kaipuu'' (2009), Debemur Morti Productions *'' Askel lähempänä Saatanaa'' (2013), World Terror Committee

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shatraug Living people 21st-century Finnish male singers English-language singers from Finland Finnish heavy metal musicians Lead guitarists Black metal musicians Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Finnish male singers