TORCHBEARER
Pär
Johansson Lead Vocals
Christian Älvestam Guitars & Backing Vocals
Göran Johansson Guitars
Mikael Degerman Bass
Henrik Schönström Drums
In
2003, Christian Älvestam (Unmoored, Incapacity,
Solar Dawn) asked his friend and co-member of his
other bands, Henrik Schönström, if he would
be interested in handling the drums in what would
later become Torchbearer, which, of course, he was.
They started to look for suitable members with the
right background and personality.
Finding
musicians was not that hard. Älvestam had been
in contact with Göran Johansson (Setherial, Chaosdaemon)
for a few years and the idea of doing something together
had been ever present, but the opportunity hadn't
yet come up, until now. Johansson accepted the invitation
as he had been looking forward to work with Älvestam
for quite some time. Pär Johansson (Satariel)
was at least equally enthusiastic, as he and Älvestam
also had been pondering the idea of working together.
He invited his co-member from Satariel, Mikael Degerman,
who was already acquainted with the other members,
and the line-up for Torchbearer was complete.
The
collaboration between the five members began with
the exchanging of ideas and concepts, and to their
surprise they found out that they all had a similar
vision of how the band should sound… and slowly
the album "Yersinia Pestis" was conceived.
In
December 2003, the band entered Black Lounge Studio
to record their debut album, with Jonas Kjellgren
(Carnal Forge, Centinex) behind the mixing console.
After two weeks of long days and intensive work at
Black Lounge, and some additional recordings after
the studio sessions, the recording process was finally
finished. Peter in De Betou and Torchbearer then mastered
"Yersinia Pestis" at Tailor Maid, adding
those final touches to complete the album.
Torchbearer's
"Yersinia Pestis" is a raw mixture of death-
and thrash metal, enhanced with cold elements of black
metal.
Guest
musician: Tomas Johanson from Unmoored (guitar solos)
Artwork:
Pär Johansson
