Witchery is a Swedish blackened thrash/

speed metal Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It is desc ...

band formed by former members of Satanic Slaughter in 1997. The current lineup consists of guitarists

Patrik Jensen Patrik Niels Jensen (born 24 November 1969) is a Swedish guitarist. He is the rhythm guitarist and a founding member of the extreme metal bands The Haunted (1996–present) and Witchery (1997–present), and also a former guitarist for Orchris ...

and Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, vocalist Angus Norder, and drummer Chris Barkensjö.

History

The band began in 1997 when Swedish cult band Satanic Slaughter split up in a way that basically only left their singer Ztephan Dark in the band. Thus the proto-version of Witchery started out with Satanic Slaughter members Patrik Jensen (Orchriste, The Haunted), Rickard "Rille" Rimfält, vocalist Toxine (Seance, Total Death), drummer Mique (Seance), and bassist Sharlee D'Angelo (

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 ...

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with LaVeyan Satanism (often with ironic ...

) on board. In 1998 they recorded and released their debut '' Restless And Dead'' through Necropolis Records, the name of the album being a pun on '' Restless and Wild'' an album by German heavy metal icons Accept. Witchery quickly gathered a cult following with their combination of serious, technical thrash metal and all topics "dead". Their strictly tongue-in-cheek humour, often involving executions, murder, necrophilia, resurrections and other morbid topics can be spotted in song titles and album names as well as in their very own mascot – an animated skeleton called "Ben Wrangle", the name being a pun on the Swedish word "benrangel" which best translates into "skeleton". Witchery also have their own heavy metal salute, a derivation from the original

sign of the horns The sign of the horns is a hand gesture with a variety of meanings and uses in various cultures. It is formed by extending the index finger, index and little fingers while holding the middle finger, middle and ring fingers down with the thum ...

"Evil Eye" ward popularized by

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hel ...

called "The W". For properly "doing the W" only the ring finger and thumb of the performing hand touch. Rumour has it that the salute came into being as somebody in the band tried to do the metal salute with a cigarette between his fingers. This "W" is not to be confused with the Shocker. Later that year, Witchery released the ''Witchburner'' minialbum. The EP featured three originals and four cover songs bearing witness to the individual musicians' influences, among them Accept, W.A.S.P and

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

. The track "Witchburner" being the first ever recording of the band and like the other two original tracks "The Executioner" and "The Howling" only available on this EP so far. In 1999, Witchery embarked on a U.S. tour 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 ...

and

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian progressive metal band with black metal and folk influences. It was founded in Bergen in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun primarily as a black metal band before later switching to a more melodic and progressive style. Borkn ...

. Their second full-length album '' Dead, Hot and Ready'' was unleashed soon thereafter, a six-week European tour following in 2000. '' Symphony For The Devil'', the band's 2001 release, was recorded at Berno Studio (

Amon Amarth Amon Amarth () are a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, Sweden, Tumba, formed in 1992. The band take its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking myt ...

Dark Funeral Dark Funeral is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, founded by guitarists Blackmoon and Lord Ahriman in 1993. They emerged during the second wave of black metal. Their lyrical themes have traditionally pertained to Satanism and anti ...

) in Malmö, Sweden with new drummer, Martin "Axe" Axenrot (

Bloodbath Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup (music), supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air (in 2005) and Bloodstock Open A ...

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). Witchery returned to tour North America later that year with The Haunted. Returning to Berno Studios in 2004, the band recorded '' Don't Fear The Reaper'', this time entrusting mixing duties to Tue Madsen and his Antfarm Studios (The Haunted,

Heaven Shall Burn Heaven Shall Burn is a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently sig ...

, Himsa). After recording the album, the band signed a worldwide record deal with

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...

In April 2010, black metal singer Legion (Erik Hagsted, ex-Marduk, ex-Devian) joined the band to replace Toxine who had to drop out because of schedule issues. According to the press release the split happened by mutual agreement. The new album entitled "Witchkrieg" (a play on the word

Blitzkrieg ''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with ...

) was released in June 2010. On 19 June 2010, the band played at the annual Metaltown festival in

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 ...

Their sixth studio album, '' In His Infernal Majesty's Service'', was released on 25 November on

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

. It was followed by ''I am Legion'' in 2017.

Band members

Current members

– guitars (1997–present) *Richard Rimfält – guitars (1997–present) *Angus Norder – vocals (2016–present) *Chris Barkensjö – drums (2016–present) * Victor Brandt – bass (2022–present; touring 2017)

Former members

* Sharlee D'Angelo – bass (1997–2022) *Toxine (Tony Kampner) – vocals (1997–2010) *Mique (Micke Pettersson) – drums (1997–1999) *

Martin Axenrot Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot (born 5 March 1979 in Linköping, Linköping, Sweden) is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive metal band Opeth (2005-2021). Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Know ...

– drums (1999–2016) *Legion (Erik Hagstedt) – vocals (2010–2011) * Emperor Magus Caligula – vocals (2011–2016)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Restless & Dead'' (1998) *'' Dead, Hot and Ready'' (1999) *'' Symphony for the Devil'' (2001) *''Don't Fear the Reaper'' (2006) *'' Witchkrieg'' (2010) *'' In His Infernal Majesty's Service'' (2016) *''I Am Legion'' (2017) *''Nightside'' (2022)

EPs

*'' Witchburner'' –

Necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

(1999)

References

External links

Witchery page at Century Media
* {{Authority control Swedish thrash metal musical groups Swedish death metal musical groups Speed metal musical groups Swedish black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1997 Century Media Records artists Nuclear Blast artists Musical groups from Linköping