How bands come to exist and the connections between their lives and their music is usually of only secondary importance (if important at all) to the appreciation of the music itself. Yet in some cases it proves interesting, and might even shed a bit of light on what we’re hearing, and this is such a case.

We are told that the origins of the Swedish black metal band Blodskam dates back to 1998 when the two brothers Aghora and Dödfödd (as they have named themselves) “decided it was time to put the family madness on public display”. But rather than fighting in public to the dismay of their parents (or maybe they did that, too), they began writing music. But it took quite a long time for the bad seeds planted then to bear fruit, “due to other musical engagements, and some mental health issues”. Continue reading »