Samoth
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| Samoth | |
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 Samoth on Metalmania 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen |
| Also known as | Samoth |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal, Black metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Bass guitar, Drums, Vocals, Synth |
| Associated acts | Emperor Zyklon Zyklon-B Gorgoroth Satyricon Mayhem |
Samoth (born Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen on June 9, 1974) is a prominent musician and multi-instrumentalist in the Norwegian black metal scene. 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, and with the formation of Zyklon he became known as Zamoth. Samoth is the owner of the record label Nocturnal Art Productions and has a close relationship with Candlelight Records.
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[edit] Biography
Samoth was born in June 9, 1974 in Hammerfest, Norway. He is the son of Spoonful of Blues bass player Jens Haugen, who encouraged his son to play bass guitar. He grew up and lived in Tromso, Norway and still resides there to this day. When Samoth was a young man, he met a fellow musician, who would later become known as Ihsahn, at a rock clinic in Bergen. The two soon 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 were playing an early form of black metal strongly influenced by death metal, particularly vocally.
Samoth and Ihsahn's friendship proved to be strong, however, and eventually the two took their musicianship to a new level. Partly due to the influence of Euronymous of the band Mayhem, Samoth dissolved Thou Shalt Suffer and began writing music for a new band called Emperor (in which he played drums). Ihsahn was the only member of Thou Shalt Suffer to remain, and soon bass player Mortiis and drummer Faust were recruited; Samoth moved back to his more familiar position of guitar. At this point, the group was playing fully developed black metal. Emperor was quick to release several demos in 1992 and 1993, which gained them recognition and popularity in the underground. Mortiis did not stay in the band, and decided to form his own, more electronic-based solo band. He was succeeded by Tchort
Around this time, Samoth, then-Emperor bassist Tchort, and members of the band Mayhem went on a spree of church arsons that struck fear in Norway during the early-mid 90s. Samoth and Tchort were arrested and given jail sentences, which put Emperor in a bit of a stand-still; they would not release their second album for another three years as the rest of the band awaited Samoth's parole. Tchort would not return to the band.
After years of playing in Emperor and being featured on various black metal side projects, Samoth, in conjunction with Ihsahn, decided to dissolve Emperor in 2001 due to their differing musical tastes. Although black metal was both Samoth and Ihsahn's biggest influence and favorite genre of music, Samoth was leaning toward a futuristic death metal sound, while Ihsahn was more influenced by gothic metal and symphonic metal. After Emperor's final release, Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise, composed entirely by Ihsahn, Emperor was no more. Samoth continues to play guitar with fellow drummer Trym in death metal band Zyklon.
Emperor regrouped in 2006 with the core trio of Ihsahn, Samoth and Trym augmented by a bassist and a keyboardist, and played a few one-night-off gigs in Europe and USA in 2006 and 2007.
Recently 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.
He has one daughter with ex-wife Andrea M. (Nebel) Haugen. He remarried since his divorce. With his wife Erin, he also has a daughter.[1]
Samoth also did voicework for 2007's Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse episode "Dethfashion".
[edit] Beliefs
Samoth is a practitioner of Norse Paganism, like the Scandinavian Vikings many hundreds of years ago. Samoth has stated in numerous interviews that he has never been a Satanist or an Occultist but that he is Anti-Christian.
[edit] Samoth's Drumkit
Samoth has stated in an interview with Metal Hammer that the following kit was used by himself to record drum tracks for "Wrath of the Tyrant" and "In The Nightside Eclipse".
- Pearl Export Drums (jet black w/ black hardware)
- 22" x 18" Bass Drum
- 13" x 6.5" Steel Snare Drum
- 10" x 8" Mounted Tom
- 12" x 9" Mounted Tom
- 13" x 10" Mounted Tom
- 16" x 16" Floor Tom
- Sabian and Wuhan Cymbals
- 20" Sabian Solar Ride
- 14" AA Sizzle Hats
- 18" AA Metal-X China (for In the Nightside Eclipse) / 18" Wuhan China (for Wrath of the Tyrant)
- 19" B8 Rock Crash
- 6" AA splash
- 12" Wuhan china
- 18" B8 Pro Heavy Crash
- 20" AAX Metal Ride
- 22" Wuhan China
[edit] Personal discography
- Thou Shalt Suffer - Into the Woods of Belial [Demo] - (1991) (Guitar)
- Thou Shalt Suffer - Open the Mysteries of Your Creations [Demo] - (1991) (Guitar)
- Emperor - Wrath of the Tyrant [Demo] - (1992) (Drums)
- Ildjarn - Seven Harmonies of Unknown Truths (Demo) - (1992) (session vocals)
- Emperor - Emperor / Hordanes Land [Split w Enslaved] - (1993) (Guitar)
- Burzum - Aske [EP] - (1993) (session bass)
- Emperor - As the Shadows Rise [EP] - (1994) (Guitar)
- Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse - (1994) (drums, bass, guitars)
- Gorgoroth - Pentagram - (1994) (Bass)
- Satyricon - The Shadowthrone - (1994) (Bass)
- Arcturus - Constellation [EP] - (1995) (Guitar)
- Zyklon-B - Blood Must Be Shed [EP] - (1994) (Guitar)
- Emperor - Reverence [EP] - (1997) (Guitar, Bass, )
- Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk - (1997) (Guitar)
- Hagalaz' Runedance- The Winds That Spoke of Midgard's Fate-(1998) (War drums, violas and contrabass)
- Emperor - Thorns Vs. Emperor [Split] - (1999) (Guitar and bass)
- Emperor - IX Equilibrium - (1999) (Guitar)
- Zyklon - World ov Worms - (2001) (Guitar)
- Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise - (2001) (Guitar)
- Zyklon - Aeon - (2003) (Guitar)
- Notodden All Stars - Valfar, ein Windir - (2004) (guitar on cover of "Destroy")
- Scum - Gospels for the Sick- (2005) (Guitar)
- Zyklon - Disintegrate - (2006) (Guitar)
[edit] Endorsements & Equipment
- ESP Guitars & Basses (endorsee)
- Gibson Guitars
- Jackson Guitars
- B.C. Rich Guitars
- Fender Bass Guitars
- Marshall Amplifiers
- ENGL Amplifiers
- Peavey Amplifiers
- Vader Cabinets (endorsee)
- Dunlop Picks & Pedals (endorsee)
- Ernie Ball Strings (endorsee)
- Pearl Drums & Hardware
- Paiste Cymbals
- Sabian Cymbals
- AHEAD drumsticks
[edit] External links
- Emperor Official Homepage - The famous Norwegian black metal band which Samoth founded.
- Zyklon Official Homepage - Samoth's death metal band.
- Nocturnal Art Productions - Samoth's record label.
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