Andreas Hedlund (born 17 September 1973), better known by his stage names Vintersorg and Mr. V, is a Swedish vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who has played in several heavy metal bands.
Biography
Hedlund's musical career came to be at or around 1991 when he was a member of a short-lived death metal project called "Masticator", which only lasted a single demo in the same year, yet his most notable musical exploit came in 1994 when he and a few other musicians formed "Vargatron" (Swedish for "Wolfthrone"). The original style was meant to be rooted in black metal but using mostly clean vocals and only a few moments of the traditional grim screaming. After a few line-up changes, the group broke up in 1996, but Hedlund still wanted to work with the songs he wrote for Vargatron and decided to record them by himself. As a result, he revived the act as a solo project and changed its name to "Vintersorg", a project he continues to this day.
In 1997, he took part in an obscure side project called "Cosmic Death," as vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist, playing a more traditional
melodic black metal
Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal.
The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death me ...
style than what he plays in his solo work. It only lasted a single year and recording before being shelved, yet was resurrected in 2006 without Hedlund.
As the year 2000 arose, so did a new project for Hedlund. This new band, Havayoth, was a gothic metal band formed by Marcus "Vargher" E. Norman from
Ancient Wisdom
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
Throne of Ahaz
A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monar ...
and
Morgan Hansson Morgan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend
* Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin
* Morgan (singer), ...
, also from Naglfar. Hedlund sang on the 2000 album, ''
His Creation Reversed
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
'', but left the band a few years later before he participated with them on anything else. The band continues on today without Hedlund.
Borknagar and Cronian
Following the departure of ICS Vortex as vocalist, Borknagar was in need of a new singer. Having been friends for some time, Øystein G. Brun asked Hedlund to take the reins for their forthcoming album, '' Empiricism''. Hedlund joined the band in 2001 and he released a total of six albums with the bands, five with
Century Media Records
Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million.
Background
Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...
, and one with Indie Recordings.
Being long time friends, Øystein G. Brun and Hedlund eventually began to form a musical bond and found a mutual vision. They played with the idea of a band starting in 2000, but when Hedlund joined Borknagar the idea was put on hold for some time. Starting in 2005, the project finally returned though, originally called Ion, and now called
Cronian
Cronian is a progressive/avant-garde metal band from Norway and Sweden founded in 2004 by Øystein Brun and Andreas Hedlund, also known as Vintersorg. Music that went beyond standard song structures to create a cinematic feel, while invoking images of grand and epic arctic landscapes was the goal, and the goal came into fruition on 27 March 2006 with the release of '' Terra'', through
Century Media Records
Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million.
Background
Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...
.
While recording True North, Hedlund 'amicably' left Borknagar in 2019, due to health and work-related issues. However, he continued to collaborate with Brun on
Cronian
Cronian is a progressive/avant-garde metal band from Norway and Sweden founded in 2004 by Øystein Brun and Andreas Hedlund, also known as Vintersorg.Benny Hägglund
Benny or Bennie is a given name or a shortened version of the given name Benjamin or, less commonly, Benedict, Bennett, Benito, Benson, Bernice, Ebenezer or Bernard.
People Bennie Given name
*Bennie M. Bunn (1907–1943), American Marine offic ...
, long time friend of Hedlund, and live drummer for Vintersorg, began working on music for a project that would combine melody and aggression into energetic songs. He eventually felt compelled to ask Hedlund for support in this project, thus
Fission
Fission, a splitting of something into two or more parts, may refer to:
* Fission (biology), the division of a single entity into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts into separate entities resembling the original
* Nuclear fissio ...
was born. With Benny playing drums, guitar, and bass, and Hedlund singing and adding his experimental edge to their melodic
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
with his unique synths, the band recorded their first full-length, entitled '' Crater'', released in 2004 through Napalm Records.
In the autumn of 2004, Hedlund began writing music in his spare time. The difference though was this music was a reflection of a more personal, emotional side of his mind, and it came out in the form of
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
he had become known for. As he continued to write more, this project began to culminate into a full-fledged solo band, which he called Waterfield.
Eventually Hedlund had enough material for a full-length album, which he released through Lion Music on 20 January 2006 under the title '' The Astral Factor'', now with the band name Waterclime.
Hedniskhjärtad
Vintersorg (; "Winter Sorrow" in English) is a Swedish band from Skellefteå, formed in 1994 under the name Vargatron (Wolfthrone in English). Musically, Vintersorg has covered a wide number of heavy metal genres; while the band is mostly ro ...
(EP)'' (1998)
* ''
Till fjälls
''Till fjälls'' ("To the Mountains") is the first full-length album by Swedish folk metal band Vintersorg. Stylistically this continued in the same musical vein as the previous album, Hedniskhjärtad, with black metal-style riffs, harsh vocals ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Ödemarkens son
''Ödemarkens son'' ("Son of the Wilderness") is the second full-length album by Swedish progressive/folk metal band Vintersorg. It was released on 16 November 1999. It builds on the folk metal of the previous album.
Track listing
Personnel
* ...
'' (1999)
* ''
Cosmic Genesis
Vintersorg (; "Winter Sorrow" in English) is a Swedish band from Skellefteå, formed in 1994 under the name Vargatron (Wolfthrone in English). Musically, Vintersorg has covered a wide number of heavy metal music, heavy metal genres; while the ...
The Focusing Blur
Vintersorg (; "Winter Sorrow" in English) is a Swedish band from Skellefteå, formed in 1994 under the name Vargatron (Wolfthrone in English). Musically, Vintersorg has covered a wide number of heavy metal genres; while the band is mostly r ...
Epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
'' (2004)
* ''
Origin
Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Comics and manga
* ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002
* ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...