In Battle is an

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band from

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

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 ...

. The main lyrical themes of the band focus on

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

and war.

History

The original line-up consisted of John Frölén on guitar and bass, John Odhinn Sandin on vocals, Håkan Sjödin on guitar and bass, and Otto Wiklund on drums.In Battle biography @ Official Site
Håkan Sjödin left the band early so that he could play with Setherial full-time. The band's first album, titled '' In Battle'', was recorded at Sunlight Studio in Stockholm, Sweden and was released through

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal, hard rock and folk/folk rock/folk metal. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach a ...

in 1997. Their second release, called '' The Rage of the Northmen'', came in March 1998. It was recorded at Ballerina Audio, Umeå, Sweden. In 1999 the only member left was Frölén, who started writing material for a third album. In 2002 he began rehearsing with Sandin (this time on drums), soon asking Hans Carlsson (guitar) of Diabolical to join the band. In 2003, Nils Fjellström of

Aeon The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...

replaced Sandin on drums and Sandin went back to handling the vocals and the '' Soul Metamorphosis'' EP was recorded at Necromorbus Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004, their album '' Welcome to the Battlefield'' (which was recorded in three different studios) was released through Cold Records and

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

. The album was mixed and mastered by

Erik Rutan Erik Rutan (born June 10, 1971) is an American heavy metal musician and record producer. He is the guitarist and lead vocalist of death metal band Hate Eternal, as well as the lead guitarist for Cannibal Corpse. Rutan has also played with Mor ...

from the bands

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...

and

Hate Eternal Hate Eternal is a Florida death metal band from St. Petersburg, Florida. The band currently consists of founding guitarist/vocalist Erik Rutan and bassist J. J. Hrubovcak. To date, Hate Eternal has released seven studio albums: '' Conquerin ...

. Rutan also donated a guitar solo to the album. In April 2005, the band parted ways with their label partner Cold Records after that album's release. In 2006, In Battle signed a contract with Nocturnal Art Productions and began working on their 4th full-length album, which turned out to be '' Kingdom of Fear''. The album was released on September 3, 2007. In Battle are currently working on a fifth studio album with a working title of ''Flames & Death''.In Battle news @ Official Site

Line-up

Current members

Source: * John Odhinn Sandin - vocals (1996–1998, 2002–present) * John Frölén - bass (formerly guitar) (1996–present) * Hasse Karlsson - guitar (2002–present) * Nils Fjellström - drums (2003–present)

Former members

* Håkan Sjödin (aka Mysteriis) - guitar/bass (1996–1997) * Otto Wiklund - drums/vocals (1996–1998) * Marcus Edvardsson - bass (2003)

Discography

*'' In Battle'' (full-length, 1997) *'' The Rage of the Northmen'' (full-length, 1999) *'' Soul Metamorphosis'' (EP, 2003) *'' Welcome to the Battlefield'' (full-length, 2004) *'' Kingdom of Fear'' (full-length, 2007) *'' Flames & Death'' (full-length, TBA)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1996 Swedish death metal musical groups Swedish black metal musical groups Swedish viking metal musical groups Musical groups from Sundsvall