Samoth
Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen (born 9 June 1974), better known by his stage name Samoth, is a Norwegian black metal guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He is well known for his distinct guitar work and drumming in the band Emperor, as well as his formation of the death metal band Zyklon. In very early Emperor releases, he was called Samot (his name "Tomas" backwards), and with the formation of Zyklon he became known as Zamoth. Samoth was the owner of the record label Nocturnal Art Productions and had a close relationship with Candlelight Records. BiographySamoth was born on 9 June 1974 in Hammerfest. He is the son of Spoonful of Blues bass player Jens Haugen, who encouraged his son to play bass guitar. He grew up in Akkerhaugen, Norway. When Samoth was young, he met fellow musician Vegard Tveitan, who would become known as Ihsahn, at a rock clinic in Bergen. The two became friends and started playing music together. They formed a band and moved through various names – they were called Dark Device, Xerasia, and finally Embryonic. The group eventually settled on the name Thou Shalt Suffer in 1991. They played an early form of black metal with keyboards strongly influenced by death metal. Partially due to the influence of Euronymous of the band Mayhem, Samoth left Thou Shalt Suffer and with Ihsahn, began writing music for a new band called Emperor (in which he played drums) with bass player Mortiis and drummer Faust. Samoth moved back to guitar. At this point, the group was playing fully developed black metal. Emperor released several demos in 1992 and 1993, which gained them recognition and popularity in the underground. Mortiis did not stay in the band, and was succeeded by Tchort. In 1994, Samoth was sentenced to 16 months in prison for burning Skjold Church in Vindafjord with Varg Vikernes.[1] The arson was committed during a pause in the recording of the Burzum EP Aske (Ashes),[2] where Samoth performed as a session bass player. As Tchort and Faust were also imprisoned at this time, Ihsahn was the only remaining band member outside prison, and Emperor did not release another album for three years. Tchort and Faust did not return to the band. After years of playing in Emperor and being featured on various black metal side projects, Samoth and Ihsahn dissolved Emperor in 2001 due to their differing musical tastes. Although both favored black metal, Samoth was leaning toward a futuristic death metal sound, while Ihsahn was more influenced by progressive metal and symphonic metal. After the release of Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise, composed entirely by Ihsahn, Samoth went on to play guitar with drummer Trym in death metal band Zyklon. Emperor regrouped in 2006 with Ihsahn, Samoth and Trym, who were joined by a bassist and a keyboardist. They played a few one-off shows in Europe and US in 2006 and 2007. Samoth was involved in Norwegian-American supergroup Scum, which also featured Bård Faust, Cosmocrator of Mindgrinder, Chasey Chaos of Amen and Happy Tom from Turbonegro. In 2007, Samoth did voice work for the episode "Dethfasion" of Adult Swim's animated series Metalocalypse. In 2008, Samoth formed The Wretched End with Cosmo and released three albums: Ominous (2010), Inroads (2012) and In These Woods, From These Mountains (2016). Personal lifeHaugen was married to German musician Andrea Haugen (née Meyer), with whom he fathered a daughter. The couple later divorced. On 13 October 2021, Andrea was killed alongside four other people in the Kongsberg attack.[3] After his divorce from Andrea, he married his second wife Erin, with whom he also has a daughter.[4] Endorsements and equipment
Discography
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