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Adversity weeds out the weak, and when combined with Norse mythology, only the strongest warriors will witness the apocalypse, for only the strong are worthy enough to die gloriously. Named after the ship that will carry giants to their death at Ragnarök - the world's last battle - the Armageddon-inducing music of Sweden's NAGLFAR will ensure that death will have its day.
The band from Umeå burst onto the scene in 1992 with their "Stella Trajectio" demo, and vocalist Jens Rydén and bassist Kristoffer "Wrath" Olivius soon secured a contract with Wrong Again Records. Recorded at Abyss Studios with Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy), their 1995 debut album, Vittra, spread like poison through water and is still regarded as a milestone in Swedish melodic black metal eight years after its release.
Soon afterwards, the band lost their drummer. Their location made it difficult to find a successor in the midst of demand for a second album, but NAGLFAR did not succumb to pressure. Even after losing their rehearsal spaces over ten times, the band triumphed by finding drummer Mattias Grahn in 1998 and released Diabolical, resulting in a European tour with Deicide, Six Feet Under and Amon Amarth. Two years later, guitarist Marcus "Vargher" Norman of Bewitched replaced Morgan Hansson and assisted NAGLFAR with their stand-out performances at the Wacken and Party-San Open Air festivals following the release of their five-song EP, Ex Inferis, called "an exercise in meticulous playing and seriously thrashy craft" by Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles.
After a five-year wait, NAGLFAR's third album, Sheol (Hebrew for "hell") treads through a blurry boundary of black and death metal that seethes in a foundation of thrash brutality, hailed by Metal Maniacs as "a monumental cataclysm of blackened death metal" and destined to become one the best albums of 2003. Featuring album artwork by Dark Tranquillity's Niklas Sundin and recorded, mixed, & mastered at Ballerina Audio by Nils Johansson in Umeå, Jens Rydén's visceral battle cry steers you through the war in hell found in the aftermath of war, waged by the men of NAGLFAR who fear no death. We recommend you accept the protection offered you on the tour.
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