Einherjer is a Viking metal band from

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, founded in 1993. Some of the band's

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s are heavily folk influenced, while others have a more traditional symphonic black metal sound. Their lyrics retell

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

legends, and each of their albums has its own theme. The band split up in early 2004 after releasing the album '' Blot'' in December 2003, but later reformed. In December 2004, all members of Einherjer's last lineup, including the band's founders Frode Glesnes and Gerhard Storesund, founded the

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, . ...

band Battered together with bass guitarist Ole Moldesæther. In September 2008, Einherjer announced that they would reunite to do some selected shows across Europe in 2009, including the Ragnarök, Kaltenbach and Wacken festivals. The band signed with Indie Recordings in December 2010; their first album in eight years, '' Norrøn'' was released in September 2011. Einherjer has since released three more studio albums, and the latest one, ''North Star'', was released on February 26, 2021.

Name

The band's name is taken from Norse mythology, where the term Einherjar describes the slain warriors who have gone to

Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat ...

and joined Odin's table.

Battered

The band was reconstituted in 2004 as "Battered", a thrash band that included Glesnes, Storesund, and Herløe. A new vocalist joined them in 2005, Siggy Olaisen, The band only released one demo, ''...Beyond Recognition'', and one album—also named ''Battered''—before disbanding. The self-titled debut album was released February 27, 2006, in Norway; and March 13 in the rest of Europe. The American release date for the album was April 4, 2006.

Personnel

Current lineup

* Frode Glesnes (previously Grimar) - vocals, guitar and bass (1993 - 2004, 2008–present) * Gerhard Storesund (previously Ulvar) - drums and keys (1993 - 2004, 2008–present) * Ole Sønstabø - Lead guitar (2016–present) * Tom Enge - Guitar & backing vocals (2020–present)

Previous members

* Aksel Herløe - guitar (1999 - 2004, 2008 - 2020) * Rune Bjelland (previously Nidhogg) - vocals (1993 - 1997) * Audun Wold (previously Thonar) - bass, keyboards, guitar (1993 - 1997) * Stein Sund - bass (1995 - 1997) * Ragnar Vikse - vocals (1997 - 2002) * Erik Elden - bass (1998)

Session and touring musicians

* Tchort - bass (1998 - 1999) * Stein Sund - bass (1999) * Jon Lind - bass (2000 - 2001) * V'Gandr - bass (2001) * Kjell Håvardsholm - bass (2002) * Sigve Husebø - bass (2003) * Eirik Svendsbø - backing vocals and bass (2008 - 2014)

Battered band members

* Sigurd "Siggy" Olaisen - lead vocals (Headblock) * Frode Glesnes - guitar and vocals (Einherjer) * Aksel Herløe - guitar (ex-Einherjer) * Gerhard Storesund - drums (Einherjer) * Ole Moldesæther - bass (Headblock)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Dragons of the North'' (1996) * '' Odin Owns Ye All'' (1998) * '' Norwegian Native Art'' (2000) * '' Blot'' (2003) * '' Norrøn'' (2011) * '' Av Oss For Oss'' (2014) * ''

Dragons of the North XX A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' (2016) * '' Norrøne Spor'' (2018) * ''North Star'' (2021)

EPs

* '' Leve Vikingånden'' (1995) * ''Aurora Borealis'' (1996) * ''

Far Far North ''Far Far North'' is a three-song EP released by the band Einherjer in 1997. The final two tracks are re-recorded versions of songs from the band's 1995 EP '' Leve Vikingånden''. Those two songs have Norwegian language lyrics, while the titl ...

'' (1997)

Compilation albums

* ''Aurora Borealis / Leve vikingånden'' (2013)

Demos

* ''Aurora Borealis (1994)'' * ''...Beyond Recognition'', (Battered) 2004

References

External links

*
Battered's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Einherjer Norwegian thrash metal musical groups Norwegian viking metal musical groups Norwegian symphonic black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups reestablished in 2008 1993 establishments in Norway 2004 disestablishments in Norway Musical groups from Haugesund