Schaliach was a

Christian metal Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal, or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian-themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band-members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...

band formed by Peter Dalbakk and

Ole Børud Ole Arnold Børud (born 6 December 1976) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and audio engineer. He is known both for his solo recordings and as a member of the groups Arnold B. Family, Schaliach, Extol, and Fle ...

from

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

, Norway. Dalbakk served as the band's vocalist, while Børud handled all the instrumentation. In 1995, the duo released a 3-song demo. The following year, they debuted with a studio album, '' Sonrise'', in 1996 through Petroleum Records. Three songs from that recording were then featured on the Rowe Productions compilation album ''Northern Lights: Norwegian Metal Compilation'', which was also released in 1996. The band also contributed the song "Purple Filter" to the compilation album ''In the Shadow of Death: A Scandinavian Extreme Music Compilation'', released in 2000 through Endtime Productions. "Purple Filter" was also included as a bonus track on the 2005 re-lease of ''Sonrise.'' Dalbakk was also part of the

unblack metal Unblack metal (also known as Christian black metal or White metal) is a religious philosophy and subgenre within black metal, inheriting several characteristics of it, such as the melody, the lyrics and the aesthetics (corpse paint), whose artis ...

band Vardøger, and Børud had joined the

progressive death 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 ...

band

Extol Extol is an extreme metal band from Bekkestua, Norway, that was formed in 1993. The band is known for playing a variety of different styles of heavy metal music, metal which include progressive metal, Christian death metal, black metal and thra ...

and also started a career as a solo artist. The two artists would years later, in 2015, team up again to found the progressive death metal project Fleshkiller.

Genre and style

The genre performed by the band was described variously as

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

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 ...

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 ...

death-doom Death-doom (also known as death-doom metal or doom-death) is a fusion genre of death metal and doom metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep death growl, growling vocals and double bass dr ...

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal music, heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. Børud's guitar work was strongly influenced by

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, with one reviewer describing it as a "metal symphony." Its lyrics were explicitly Christian, drawing heavily from the Bible and emphasizing the love of God for all humans. Schaliach has been compared to the output from

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish progressive metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive meta ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, Solitude Aeturnus,

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards). Dream Theat ...

, Threshold,

Shadow Gallery Shadow Gallery is an American progressive metal band formed in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania during the early 1980s. It was originally called Sorcerer. After changing their name to Shadow Gallery, taken from the graphic novel ''V for Vendetta' ...

, and Teramaze.

Discography

* '' Sonrise'' - 1996 * ''Northern Lights: Norwegian Metal Compilation'' - 1996 *# "The Last Creed" *# "You Maintain" *# "Coming of the Dawn" * ''In the Shadow of Death - A Scandinavian Extreme Music Compilation'' - 2000: Contributed "Purple Filter"

Band members

* Peter Dalbakk – vocals *

– guitar, bass, drums

Genre and style

Discography

Band members

References

Further reading