HERR MORBID (All Verbal Abuse, Nihilism, Anti-Conformism, Intolerance, Cosmic Pessimism, Negative Megalomania through Anthems of Misery, Vocal Suffering & Six-String Litanies) RAZOR SK (Paranoid Fixation And Celebration Of Total Void through Lead Melancholy & Disheartened Arpeggios) ALGOL (Low-End Violence, Self-Medication Madness & Loss Of Mental Sanity through 5-String Degeneration) ASHER (Unstoppable Beating Against Everything And Everyone, Self-Glorification and Wiser Pessimism through Drums Of Doom)
Influences
"NIHILISM (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position that argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value. Nihilists generally assert that objective morality does not exist, and that no action is logically preferable to any other in regard to the moral value of one action over another. Nihilists that argue that there is no objective morality may claim that existence has no intrinsic higher meaning or goal. They may also claim that there is no reasonable proof or argument for the existence of a higher ruler or creator, or posit that even if a higher ruler or creator exists, humanity has no moral obligation to worship them. The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence." /
"NONCONFORMISM is in general the refusal to conform to common standards, conventions, rules, customs, traditions, norms or laws." /
"PESSIMISM, from the Latin pessimus (worst), is the decision to evaluate, perceive and view life in a generally negative light." /
"SATURN RETROGRADE is probably the least pleasant influence around." /
"MISANTHROPY is a general dislike, distrust, or hatred of the human species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people. The term is also applicable to those who self-exile themselves or become loners because of the aforementioned feelings. Misanthropy may be motivated by feelings of isolation or social alienation, or simply contempt for the prevailing characteristics of humanity." /
"ANTISOCIAL (against society) can refer to a person who is harmful or hostile to others, or society in general. "
The band was born in March 1999 from the will of Herr Morbid and another mysterious musician known as Torment. After a few months Torment left the band and Herr Morbid decided to continue as a one-man band. The first, self-produced MCD "Obscura Arcana Mortis" was recorded in May 1999 but released only 1 year later (June 2000) due to several problems. The style on this MCD was an obscure, occult and aggressive Black Metal with some depressive shades. In the meantime Herr Morbid decided to move towards a more melancholic, depressive and slow-paced Doom/Black Metal approach, and some new songs in this vein were written between 1999 and 2000. The result was the first full-lenght album "Songs To Leave", recorded during the year 2000 and 2001. With this album FORGOTTEN TOMB contributes to the birth of a new sub-genre in Black Metal, the so-called "Suicidal Black Metal", together with a few other bands such as Shining and Abyssic Hate. In 2001 the band signed a deal with the swedish label Selbstmord Services, but the album release was delayed of 1 year, due to the misfunctional way of working of the label itself. In the end, "Songs To Leave" was finally released in August 2002 on CD and Limited LP. The album received enthusiastic reactions by both critics and Black/Doom Metal fans worldwide, selling several thousand copies and establishing FORGOTTEN TOMB as one of the most promising bands in the Extreme Metal field.
In the beginning of 2003 the band entered the famous Abyss Studios in Sweden to record the second full-lenght album, titled "Springtime Depression". Engineered by renomed producer Tommy Tagtgren, the album featured Wedebrand (former Shining member) on drums, with Herr Morbid still playing all the other instruments. Originally meant to be released on Selbstmord Services, the album was unleashed on CD through french label Adipocere Records instead (during June 2003), while the 2LP limited version was released on german Blut & Eisen Prod . "Springtime Depression" redefined the FORGOTTEN TOMB' sound, getting rid of other influences and creating its own, typical style. The album was hailed by fans worldwide and all the reviews on Metal magazines/webzines were still totally enthusiastic, making "Springtime Depression" a cult-album instantly (notice that this album today is considered by many the milestone of the band, and it has influenced lots of bands around the world during the years following its release). In the meantime FORGOTTEN TOMB became a live-band too, with a line-up formed by Herr Morbid on Rhythm Guitar/Vocals + some session musicians. A few gigs were played in Italy, then in the following months an official 4-piece line-up was announced, including the new members Razor SK on Lead/Clean Guitars, Algol (already member of the band HIEMS) on Bass and Asher (already member of DOMINA NOCTIS) on drums. With this line-up FORGOTTEN TOMB played several successful gigs all around Europe in the fall of 2003, both as headliner and in festivals.
In the beginning of 2004 the band has recorded its 3rd full-lenght album, named "Love's Burial Ground", released in September 2004 on CD through Adipocere Records. The original cover artwork -eloquently showing the picture of a child with a gun in her mouth- got censored, so the album was released with an alternative artwork in a slipcase edition. This album showed the natural progression of the band, able to evolve without forgetting the beginnings, and introduced the new additional member of the band: Mr. Nordvargr from Sweden (main-mind of MZ412, NORDVARGR), who played 3 Ambient/Industrial intermezzos. The band played several gigs in Europe during 2004, often as headliner in some Doom and Black Metal festivals.
During 2005 the band re-released the previously sold-out album "Songs To Leave" in a new digipack edition on Adipocere Rec. and then took a break, to focus on some side-projects and to clear up the mind about the future direction of the new material. In the meantime FORGOTTEN TOMB started to write and rehearse brand new songs between Fall 2005 and Spring 2006, erasing the rumours spread by people on the Internet about a split-up. In the meantime, Nordvargr got too busy with his projects, so the band decided to go on without him. After signing a new deal with the italian well-known label Avantgarde Music, the band entered the studio in May 2006 to record the 4th full-lenght opus, grimly titled "Negative Megalomania". Released in January 2007, this album showed a significative evolution of the band, which added many new elements to their classic style, creating a bleak, perverse and apocalyptic vision of life and future. The album remarked the leadership of FORGOTTEN TOMB in the Dark Metal genre, and it found its highlight in the first possible Single of the band in its career, with "The Scapegoat" song, which showed the surprising clean vocals of mastermind Herr Morbid. As the band itself said, this album opened up a new beginning for FORGOTTEN TOMB, and demonstrated the capacity of the band of evolving its sound in different directions.
After the release of their avantgarde masterpiece "Negative Megalomania" in January, the first months of 2007 saw the re-release of the band's old demotape through the italian label Eerie Art Records, due to the massive request of fans for it. The CD, named "Obscura Arcana Mortis: The Demo Years", includes the remastered original Demo + 2 live bonus-tracks recorded in 2004. It was limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies and it featured new graphics and never-seen-before pictures. Shortly after, "Negative Megalomania" has been also re-released in the USA by Season Of Mist on July 31, 2007. In the meantime, the band played several live-shows around Europe in 2007/2008 to support the latest album.
In January 2009, the band finally re-entered the studio to record a special double-CD to celebrate its 10-years anniversary, titled "Vol.5: 1999-2009". Featuring a Black Sabbath-inspired cover-artwork, the album includes reworked versions of all of the band's classics, as well as 2 cover-versions of Nirvana and Black Flag, plus 1 brand-new track. All the material has been recorded live in studio to preserve the original FT live-feeling. The album release-date got delayed, and now it is expected to be released around September/October 2009. In the meantime the band is playing live-shows around Europe and it's also working on its new full-lenght album titled "Under Saturn Retrograde", to be recorded in the end of 2009 and hopefully to be released in Spring 2010. Stay tuned, and check out the next band' live shows...
"NIHILISM (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position that argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value. Nihilists generally assert that objective morality does not exist, and that no action is logically preferable to any other in regard to the moral value of one action over another. Nihilists that argue that there is no objective morality may claim that existence has no intrinsic higher meaning or goal. They may also claim that there is no reasonable proof or argument for the existence of a higher ruler or creator, or posit that even if a higher ruler or creator exists, humanity has no moral obligation to worship them. The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence." /
"NONCONFORMISM is in general the refusal to conform to common standards, conventions, rules, customs, traditions, norms or laws." /
"PESSIMISM, from the Latin pessimus (worst), is the decision to evaluate, perceive and view life in a generally negative light." /
"SATURN RETROGRADE is probably the least pleasant influence around." /
"MISANTHROPY is a general dislike, distrust, or hatred of the human species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people. The term is also applicable to those who self-exile themselves or become loners because of the aforementioned feelings. Misanthropy may be motivated by feelings of isolation or social alienation, or simply contempt for the prevailing characteristics of humanity." /
"ANTISOCIAL (against society) can refer to a person who is harmful or hostile to others, or society in general. "
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