Acheron () was an American

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, that was formed by Vincent Crowley in 1988. The band is named after the mythological river

Acheron The Acheron ( or ; ''Acheron'' or Ἀχερούσιος ''Acherousios''; ''Acherontas'') is a river in the Epirus (region), Epirus region of northwest Greece. It is long, and has a drainage area of . The river's source is located near the vil ...

( – Akhérōn) located in the underground kingdom of

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

ancient Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient ...

. They are not to be confused with 1990s Australian death metal band Acheron, nor the 1980s/1990s American power metal band Acheron, nor any of several lesser known European thrash and death metal bands with similar names between the 1980s and the present.

History

Founded in 1988 by vocalist/bassist/songwriter Vincent Crowley (formerly of

Nocturnus Nocturnus, currently Nocturnus AD, is a Florida death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1987 by the drummer and vocalist Mike Browning (ex–Morbid Angel). History Formation Nocturnus was formed in 1987 by drummer and vocalist Mike Brown ...

, and leader of the Satanic youth group "Order of the Evil Eye"),Rivadavia, Eduardo " Acheron Biography,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Acheron's musical output is almost exclusively Satanic and Anti-Christian in content. Early albums featured interludes by Peter H. Gilmore. Crowley was appointed as a priest in the

Church of Satan The Church of Satan (CoS) is a religious organization dedicated to the religion of LaVeyan Satanism, Satanism as defined by Anton Szandor LaVey. Founded in San Francisco in 1966, by Anton LaVey, LaVey, it is considered the "oldest satanic reli ...

by its founder, Anton Szandor LaVey, and began spending a lot of his time debating local televangelists, limiting Acheron's output for a time. He later disassociated himself from the church to act independently.Apicella, Vinnie
Acheron – ''Tribute To The Devil's Music''
(review), Ink19 In 2003, the band released an album of cover songs, ''Tribute to the Devil's Music'', including tracks originally recorded by

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mille Petrozza, Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen Reil, Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli- ...

, and

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

. On April 26, 2010, Vincent Crowley announced the band's breakup. On December 27, 2010, it was announced that Acheron have reunited. The band broke up again in 2019, and Vincent has since focused on underground projects.

Members

Final members

* Vincent Crowley – Guitars (1988–1991, 1996–1998, 2008), Vocals (1991–1994, 1994–2010, 2010–2019), Bass (1991–1994, 1994–2010, 2010–2019) * Art Taylor – Guitars (2009–2010, 2012–2019) * Shaun Cothron – Guitars (2011–2012, 2014–2019) * Brandon Howe – Drums (2014–2019)

Past members

Vocals

* Michael Smith – Vocals (1988–1990) * Rhiannon Wisniewski – Vocals (2002)

Guitars

* Belial Koblak – Guitars (1989–1991) * Pete Slate – Guitars (1991–1992) * Tony Blakk – Guitars (1992, 1994, 1995) * Vincent Breeding – Guitars (1992, 1994–1995) * Trebor Ladres – Guitars (1994–1995) * Michael Estes – Guitars (1996–1999, 2001–2004) * Bryan Hipp – Guitars (1998) * Ben Meyer – Guitars (1998) * Bill Taylor – Guitars (1999) * Stacey Connolly – Guitars (2004) * Max Otworth – Guitars (2006–2010, 2010–2012) * Ash Thomas – Guitars (2008–2009) * Eric Stewart – Guitars (2010)

Bass

* David Smith – Bass (1988–1991) * Troy Heffern – Bass (1996)

Keyboards

* Peter H. Gilmore – Keyboards (1988–1989) * John Scott – Keyboards (1996–1999) * Adina Blase – Keyboards (1998–1999) * Aaron Werner – Keyboards (2001–2005)

Drums

* James Strauss – Drums (1988–1989, 1989–1991, 1991–1992) * Ron Hogue – Drums (1989) * Robert Orr – Drums (1991) * Michael Browning – Drums (1992, 1994–1995) * Joe Oliver – Drums (1995) * Richard Christy – Drums (1996–1998) *

Tony Laureano Tony Laureano is a heavy metal drummer originally from Puerto Rico. He has played for a number of metal bands (either as a full band member or a session drummer) including Dimmu Borgir, Nile, Angelcorpse, Malevolent Creation, God Dethroned, ...

– Drums (1998) * Jonathan Lee – Drums (1998–1999) * Daniel Zink – Drums (2001) * Kyle Severn – Drums (2002–2010, 2010–2014) * Scott Pletcher – Drums (2010)

Timeline

Discography

*''Messe Noir'' (Demo, 1989) *''Rites of the Black Mass'' (1991, re-released in 2006) *''Alla Xul'' (7", Demo, 1992) *''Rites of the Black Mass'' (Turbo, 1992) *''Hail Victory'' (CD, Metal Merchant, 1993) *''Satanic Victory'' (CD, Turbo, 1994) *''Lex Talionis'' (CD, Turbo, 1994; reissued as ''Lex Talionis: Satanic Victory'', Blackened, 1997) *''Anti-God, Anti-Christ'' (CD, Moribund, 1996) *''Those Who Have Risen'' (CD, Full Moon Productions, 1998) *''Compendium Diablerie: The Demo Days'' (CD, Full Moon Productions, 2001) *''Xomaly'' (2002) *''Rebirth: Metamorphosing Into Godhood'' (CD, Black Lotus, 2003) *''Tribute to the Devil's Music'' (CD, Black Lotus, 2003) *''The Final Conflict: Last Days of God'' (CD, Displeased Records, 2009) *''Kult Des Hasses'' (CD, Listenable Records. 2014)

References

External links

Official website
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Acheron at Rockdetector
at

* *Rivadavia, Eduardo " Acheron – ''Rebirth: Metamorphosing Into Godhood'' (review), Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
Acheron interview
Metal Message

Voices From the Darkside {{Authority control American black metal musical groups Musical quartets from Pennsylvania Heavy metal musical groups from Pennsylvania Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2010 Musical groups disestablished in 2019 Musical groups from Pittsburgh