Eucharist is a
Swedish melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
band, which released two
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
s in the 1990s, and a third in 2022.
History
Eucharist's first album, ''A Velvet Creation'' (1993), featured Markus Johnsson (
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
), Thomas Einarsson (guitar), Tobias Gustafsson (
bass guitar
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
), and
Daniel Erlandsson
Daniel John Erlandsson (born 22 May 1976) is a Swedish musician, best known as the drummer in the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy and as former drummer of extreme metal bands Carcass and Brujeria.
His early work includes drumming on the In ...
(
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
), while for the second, ''Mirrorworlds'' (1997), they were reduced to the trio of Johnsson, Erlandsson, and bass guitarist Martin Karlsson. One of numerous groups involved in establishing the very
melodic
A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term c ...
style now known as the
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
Sound, Eucharist did not fare particularly well in the face of the era's stiff competition, resulting in
personnel
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
eventually joining rival bands. Most notably, original bass guitarist Gustaffsson joined the
power metal
Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...
band
Armageddon
Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...
, and drummer Erlandsson worked for a time with Gothenburg scene leaders
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990 out of the Swedish death metal, Swedish death metal scene. Their lineup has changed several times, with vocalist Anders Frid ...
before settling in permanently with
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...
.
Eucharist was founded in Veddige, a small city about 40 km from
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, some time around 1989. A
demo released in 1992 became a classic in the metal underground. It was titled ''Greeting Immortality''. The same year,
Obscure Plasma Records released the ''Greeting Immortality'' 7" (without the consent of the band), and in 1993 the band recorded a song named "The View" for a Deaf Records (
Peaceville Records
Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society, as well as a former drummer of Sore Throat) in Dewsbury, England, in 1987. ...
)
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
called ''Deaf Metal Sampler''. Afterwards, the band suddenly split up.
But soon after,
Wrong Again Records asked them to re-unite and sign a deal, which they did. Eucharist entered the studio and recorded their first album ''A Velvet Creation'', which was released in 1993, with the cover misprinted in the wrong color. In the summer of 1994, two songs, "Wounded and Alone" and "The Predictable End", were recorded for a compilation album released by Wrong Again Records entitled, ''W.A.R. Compilation vol 1'', released in 1995.
Eucharist split up again and some members started playing in other bands. Erlandsson, for example, played drums on two tracks of In Flames' EP ''
Subterranean
Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to:
* Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made
Literature
* ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins
* ''Subterranean Magazine'', an American fa ...
''. In 1996, Johnsson and Erlandsson started working with Eucharist again and they were instantly offered a deal by WAR Music (a new label risen from the ashes of Wrong Again Records) and the album, ''Mirrorworlds'', released in 1997 was the result. But again, after a short tour in early 1998, Eucharist split up.
In 2001, ''A Velvet Creation'' was re-released on
Regain Records
Regain Records is a Swedish-based independent record label. The label predominantly released death metal and black metal albums. Regain Records was founded from what remained of the former label, Wrong Again Records, by Per Gyllenbäck in 1997. ...
on both CD and
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
. This time remastered, and with the two songs from the ''W.A.R. Compilation'' session as
bonus track
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
s. The cover was also printed in the correct color, but this time Markus Johnsson's name was misprinted as Marcus Johansson. In 2011 Mirrorworlds was released for the first time on vinyl by Wolfsbane records, including a limited edition version with a bonus 7" featuring 'The View' from 1993's Deaf Metal Sampler released by Deaf Records a sublabel of
Peaceville
Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society, as well as a former drummer of Sore Throat) in Dewsbury, England, in 1987. ...
.
As of April 2016, the band reunited with the original line up playing the first show in 18 years at Metal Reunion PTD3 festival at Sweden.
In 2022, the band's third album ''I Am the Void'' was released. This album shows a more
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 ...
sound, without completely sacrificing the band's
death metal
Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
roots.
Discography
Studio albums
*''
A Velvet Creation'' − 1993, 2001 (reissue)
*''
Mirrorworlds'' − 1997, 2003 (reissue)
*''
I Am the Void'' - 2022
EPs and demos
*''Rehearsal'' − 1991 (
demo)
*''Greeting Immortality'' − 1992 (
EP)
*''Demo '92'' − 1992 (Demo)
*''A Velvet Creation'' − 1993 (demo)
References
External links
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eucharist
Swedish melodic death metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 1998