Thorns (band)

Thorns is a Norwegian black metal band that formed in 1989 and was part of the early Norwegian black metal scene. They made two highly influential demos in the early 1990s, Grymyrk and Trøndertun, but have only released one full-length album.

Biography

In 1989, Snorre W. Ruch and Marius Vold formed the band Stigma Diabolicum and recorded one demo. In 1990, bass player Harald Eilertsen and drummer Bård G. Eithun joined. As the use of Latin within black metal "had escalated" (according to the Stigma Diabolicum re-release booklet), the name was changed to Thorns in 1991. The same year, Eilertsen and Ruch recorded the Grymyrk demo, which had a great impact on the black metal scene and, together with Mayhem guitarist Euronymous, coined the Norwegian black metal riffing, as Darkthrone drummer Fenriz points out. As the band members were "spread far across Norway", they could rarely rehearse; some of the rehearsals were recorded on tape. In 1992, the Trøndertun demo was recorded. The same year, Ruch became Mayhem's second guitarist and disbanded Thorns for a few months.