Samoth (born Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen, 9 June 1974) is a Norwegian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the country's

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 ...

scene. He is well known for his distinct guitar work and drumming in the band

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, as well as his formation of the

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 ...

band Zyklon. In very early Emperor releases, he was called Samot (his name "Tomas" backwards), and with the formation of Zyklon he became known as Zamoth. Samoth was the owner of the record label Nocturnal Art Productions and had a close relationship with Candlelight Records.

Biography

Samoth was born on 9 June 1974 in Hammerfest. He is the son of Spoonful of Blues bass player Jens Haugen, who encouraged his son to play bass guitar. He grew up in Akkerhaugen, Norway. When Samoth was a young man, he met fellow musician Vegard Tveitan, who would later become known as

Ihsahn Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn ( ), is a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer who is best known for his work with the black metal band Emperor (Norwegian band ...

, at a rock

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. The two soon became friends and started playing music together. They formed a band and moved through various names – they were called Dark Device, Xerasia, and finally Embryonic. The group eventually settled on the name Thou Shalt Suffer in 1991. They were playing an early form of

with keyboards strongly influenced by

, particularly vocally. Samoth and

's friendship proved to be strong, and the two eventually took their musicianship to a new level. Partially due to the influence of

Euronymous Øystein Aarseth (22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the No ...

of the band Mayhem, Samoth left Thou Shalt Suffer and with Ihsahn, began writing music for a new band called

(in which he played drums). Ihsahn was the only member of Thou Shalt Suffer to remain, and soon bass player Mortiis and drummer Faust were recruited for Emperor; Samoth moved back to his more familiar position of guitar. At this point, the group was playing fully developed black metal. Emperor was quick to release several demos in 1992 and 1993, which gained them recognition and popularity in the underground. Mortiis did not stay in the band, and decided to form his own, more electronic-based solo band. He was succeeded by Tchort. In 1994, Samoth was sentenced to 16 months in prison for burning Skjold Church in

Vindafjord Vindafjord is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Haugaland. Since 2005, the administrative centre of the municipality has ...

, together with

Varg Vikernes Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian musician and author best known for his early black metal albums and later for his crimes. His first five records, released under the name Bu ...

. The

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

was committed during a pause in the recording of the Burzum EP ''Aske'' (''Ashes''), where Samoth performed as a session bass player. As Tchort and Faust were also imprisoned at this time, Ihsahn was the only remaining band member outside prison, and Emperor did not release another album for three years. Tchort and Faust did not return to the band. After years of playing in Emperor and being featured on various black metal side projects, Samoth, in conjunction with Ihsahn, decided to dissolve Emperor in 2001 due to their differing musical tastes. Although black metal was both Samoth and Ihsahn's biggest influence and favorite genre of music, Samoth was leaning toward a futuristic death metal sound, while Ihsahn was more influenced by

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

and symphonic metal. After Emperor's final release, '' Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise'', composed entirely by Ihsahn, Emperor was no more. Samoth went on to play guitar with fellow drummer Trym in the death metal band Zyklon. Emperor regrouped in 2006 with the core trio of Ihsahn, Samoth and Trym augmented by a bassist and a keyboardist, and played a few one-night-off gigs in Europe and US in 2006 and 2007. Recently Samoth was involved in Norwegian-American supergroup Scum, which also featured Bård Faust, Cosmocrator of Mindgrinder, Chasey Chaos of Amen and Happy Tom from Turbonegro. Samoth did voice work for 2007's

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

cartoon ''

Metalocalypse ''Metalocalypse'' is an American Musical film, musical adult animated television series created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for Adult Swim. It premiered on August 6, 2006. The television program centers on the larger-than-life melodic deat ...

'' episode "Dethfashion". In 2008, Samoth formed The Wretched End with Cosmo and went on to release 3 albums: Ominous (2010), Inroads (2012) and In These Woods, From These Mountains (2016).

Personal life

Haugen was married to German musician Andrea Haugen (née Meyer), with whom he fathered a daughter. The couple later divorced. On 13 October 2021, Andrea was killed alongside four other people in the Kongsberg attack. After his divorce from Andrea, he married his second wife Erin, with whom he also has a daughter.

Endorsements and equipment

;Endorsements * ESP Guitars & Basses * Marshall Amplifiers *Vader Cabinets * Dunlop Picks * Ernie Ball Strings ;Other equipment * Gibson Guitars * Jackson Guitars * B.C. Rich Guitars * Fender Basses *ENGL Amplifiers * Peavey Amplifiers * Pearl Drums & Hardware * Sabian Cymbals *Ahead drumsticks ;Drum kit Samoth has stated in an interview with ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' that the following kit was used by himself to record drum tracks for the demo "'' Wrath of the Tyrant''". *

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

Export Drums (jet black w/ black hardware) ** Bass Drum ** Snare Drum ** Mounted Tom ** Mounted Tom ** Mounted Tom ** Floor Tom **Pearl Eliminator Double Pedal * Sabian and Wuhan Cymbals ** Sabian Solar Ride ** AA Sizzle Hats ** Wuhan China ** B8 Rock Crash ** AA splash ** Wuhan china ** B8 Pro Heavy Crash ** AAX Metal Ride ** Wuhan China

Discography

References

External links

Nocturnal Art Productions
– Samoth's record label

– Samoth's interview for The Lodge

– Samoth's interview for The Lodge {{Authority control 1974 births Living people Norwegian male bass guitarists Norwegian heavy metal guitarists Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian heavy metal drummers Norwegian male drummers Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Norwegian rock guitarists Musicians from Hammerfest Satyricon (band) members Gorgoroth members Zyklon members Arcturus (band) members Emperor (band) members 20th-century Norwegian criminals 21st-century Norwegian drummers 21st-century Norwegian bass guitarists Norwegian male criminals Norwegian arsonists