Stian Tomt Thoresen (born 18 November 1976),Shagrath
at Encyclopaedia Metallum known professionally as Shagrath, is a Norwegian musician. He is the vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. History One of the earliest forerunners in what would come to be the sound of symphonic metal was Celtic Frost ...

band

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic lang ...

and Also, founding member, rhythm guitarist and bassist of

Chrome Division Chrome Division is a Norwegian Rock music, rock band formed in 2004. The current lineup consists of founding member Shagrath (also of Dimmu Borgir) on rhythm guitar, along with Eddie Guz as the vocalist, Mr Damage on lead guitar and Tony White ...

Biography

Stian Thoresen was born on 18 November 1976 in

Jessheim Jessheim is a town in the Ullensaker municipality in Akershus of Norway. History The railway station with the Jessheim station was built in 1854 as part of the Hovedbanen line from Oslo to Eidsvoll. The railroad had at the initial construction o ...

. He is a founding member, with

Silenoz Silenoz (born Sven Atle Kopperud, 1 March 1977) is a Norwegian guitarist who is a founding member, along with Shagrath and Tjodalv, of the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, of which he is the primary songwriter. He is also guitarist fo ...

and

Tjodalv Ian Kenneth Åkesson (born 1976), known professionally as Tjodalv, is a Norwegian drummer. He is a founding member of the black metal bands Dimmu Borgir and Old Man's Child. He now plays in Black Comedy and Susperia. Tjodalv played guitar on th ...

, of

. When the band formed in 1993, Shagrath played drums, but switched to vocals before the release of the album ''

Stormblåst ''Stormblåst'' (English: ''Stormblown'') is the second studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released on 25 January 1996 through Cacophonous Records, re-released in 2001 by Century Media, and completely re-re ...

'' in 1996. He has also played keyboards, guitar, and bass. Shagrath played guitar in

Fimbulwinter Fimbulwinter (from , ) is the immediate prelude to the events of Ragnarök in Norse mythology. Etymology comes from Old Norse, meaning "awful, mighty winter". The prefix ''fimbul'', albeit with a largely unknown etymology, means "mighty, gian ...

until the band split up in 1992. Fimbulwinter released one album, ''Servants of Sorcery'', through Hot Records (Shagrath's record label) in 1994. Shagrath is also the rhythm guitarist/songwriter and a founding member of the hard rock band

, which formed in 2004. In late 2009, Shagrath and

King ov Hell Tom Cato Visnes (born 27 November 1974),

. In February 2010 the band released an album entitled '' The Underworld Regime''. Shagrath has also played guest keyboards in the black metal band Ragnarok, and had a solo project named Starkness.

Stage name

Shagrath has said this about his stage name: "Shagrath is an

orc An orc (sometimes spelt ork; ), in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy fiction, is a race of humanoid monsters, which he also calls "goblin". In Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', orcs appear as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevol ...

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

from the book '' Lord of the Rings''. I chose the name thirteen years ago, so it's kinda crappy that ''Lord of the Rings'' has become so big now. Fortunately it he namedidn't get that much attention in the movie, so it turned out all OK." The

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

character Shagrat, an orc commander over Cirith Ungol, is however not a demon in Tolkien lore.

Discography

Chrome Division Shagrath IMGP3255 smial wp

With Dimmu Borgir

*'' Inn i evighetens mørke'' (1994) *''

For all tid ''For all tid'' ( Norwegian: "For All Time") is the debut studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1995 through No Colours. It was remastered and re-released in 1997 through their new label Nuclear B ...

'' (1995) *''

'' (1996) *'' Devil's Path'' (1996) *''

Enthrone Darkness Triumphant ''Enthrone Darkness Triumphant'' is the third studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released on 30 May 1997 through Nuclear Blast. It was the band's first release through Nuclear Blast and also first recorded and pro ...

'' (1997) *''

Godless Savage Garden ''Godless Savage Garden'' is the first compilation album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1998 by Nuclear Blast and re-released on 3 October 2006 with 2 bonus tracks. Two of the five studio tracks on th ...

'' (1998) *'' Sons of Satan Gather for Attack'' (split EP with

Old Man's Child Old Man's Child is a Norwegian black metal band originating from the city of Oslo. The band was founded by Galder (formerly known as Grusom; birth name: Thomas Rune Andersen), who is the sole permanent member of the group. History Old Man's Ch ...

) (1999) *''

Spiritual Black Dimensions ''Spiritual Black Dimensions'' is the fourth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1999 by Nuclear Blast Records. It is a first release featuring keyboardist Mustis and the clean vocals of ICS Vorte ...

'' (1999) *''True Kings of Norway'' (2000) (split with

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 ...

Immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

Ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

, and

Arcturus , - bgcolor="#FFFAFA" , Note (category: variability): , , H and K emission vary. Arcturus is a red giant star in the Northern celestial hemisphere, northern constellation of Boötes, and the brightest star in the constellation. It ha ...

) (1998) *'' Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia'' (2001) *'' Alive in Torment'' (2001) *'' World Misanthropy'' (2002) *''

Death Cult Armageddon ''Death Cult Armageddon'' is the sixth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released on 9 September 2003. It has since sold over 100,000 copies in the United States; the first album under Nuclear Blast to do so; a ...

'' (2003) *''

Stormblåst MMV ''Stormblåst'' (English: ''Stormblown'') is the second studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released on 25 January 1996 through Cacophonous Records, re-released in 2001 by Century Media Records, Century Medi ...

'' (2005) *''

In Sorte Diaboli ''In Sorte Diaboli'' (Latin for "In league with the devil") is the seventh studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released in 2007. It is the band's first concept album. A site on the Nuclear Blast website was created ...

'' (2007) *'' The Invaluable Darkness'' (2008) *''

Abrahadabra Abrahadabra is a significant word within Thelema, a religion founded by Aleister Crowley early in the 20th century. Crowley first proposed this respelling of the word "Abracadabra" in January 1901 and included it in the central sacred text of The ...

'' (2010) *''

Eonian ''Eonian'' is the ninth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, which was released on 4 May 2018. It's the fifth and final album featuring lead guitarist Galder before his departure in August 2024. Background Produc ...

'' (2018)

With Chrome Division

*'' Doomsday Rock 'n Roll'' (2006) *'' Booze, Broads and Beelzebub'' (2008) *''3rd Round Knockout'' (2011) *'' Infernal Rock Eternal'' (2014) *''One Last Ride'' (2018)

With Starkness

*''Unto The Darkly Shining World'' (single) (1996) (solo project)

With Ragnarok

*'' Arising Realm'' (1997) (Guest Keyboards )

With Ov Hell

*'' The Underworld Regime'' (2010)

With Fimbulwinter

*'' Servants of Sorcery'' (1994)

As a guest vocalist

Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Greek language, Hellenized form of the Religions of the ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic language ...

– ''

Sirens Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Si ...

'' (2004, song "The Ring of Sorrow") * Diaz – ''Velkommen Hjem Andres'' (2004, song "Mitt Terningkast") *

Destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...

– '' Inventor of Evil'' (2005, song "The Alliance of Hellhoundz") *

Kamelot Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed by Thomas Youngblood in 1987. The Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album '' Siége Perilous'', and shared songwriting credit with Youngblood until his departure in A ...

– ''

The Black Halo ''The Black Halo'' is the seventh studio album by American power metal band Kamelot. It was released on March 15, 2005, through Steamhammer Records. It is a concept album inspired by Goethe's Faust. Continuing the story introduced in '' Epica ...

'' (2005, songs "March of Mephisto" and "Memento Mori") *

Susperia Susperia is a Norwegian thrash metal band formed in October 1998 by Tjodalv and Cyrus. The band was originally named Seven Sins, but since there was another band with that name they changed it to the title of the horror film ''Suspiria'', chan ...

– ''

Attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

'' (2009, song "Sick Bastard") *

– '' Slaves of the World'' (2009, Born of the Flickering remake) *Crossplane – Class of Hellhound high (2013) song : I will be King *The Carburetors – Laughing in the face of death (2015) song : Lords Of Thunder

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shagrath 1970 births Living people Black metal singers Dimmu Borgir members Norwegian heavy metal bass guitarists Norwegian male bass guitarists Heavy metal keyboardists Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian heavy metal drummers Norwegian male drummers Norwegian heavy metal guitarists Norwegian male singers Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Norwegian rock bass guitarists Norwegian rock guitarists Norwegian rock keyboardists Norwegian rock singers People from Jessheim Musicians from Oslo Rhythm guitarists 21st-century Norwegian drummers 21st-century Norwegian bass guitarists Chrome Division members