Antestor

Antestor was formed in 1989 under the name Crush Evil, and changed their name to Antestor i 1992. The recording of Jesus, Jesus ver du hjå meg appeared on a Norwegian compilation album in 1993. The song was also featured on the first demo tape of Antestor which was released in 1994. The Norwegian unblack metal band is credited for starting the northern European Christian black metal scene. Antestor is the only Christian band to have an album released by Cacophonous Records, which has also released records by bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Sigh, and Cradle of Filth. The band's only release on Cacophonous, The Return of the Black Death (later rereleased as Kongsblod), proved influential for the Christian black metal movement, and has sold over 10,000 copies. In the late 1990s they dubbed their musical style as "sorrow metal" rather than black metal because the black metal movement was publicly affiliated with Satanism in Norway. The group has gone through several line-up changes over the years, and currently Antestor consists of the founding guitarist Lars Stokstad (Vemod), vocalist Ronny Hanielsen (Hansen) (Vrede), bassist Erik Normann Aanonsen, guitarist Robert Bordevick, and drummer Henning Børven. The original vocalist Kjetil Molnes (Martyr), guitarist Erling Jørgensen (Pilgrim) and drummer Svein Sander (Armoth) left the band around 2000, Vegard Undal (Gard) left the band in 2005. The reputable Norwegian extreme metal drummer Jan Axel Blomberg (Hellhammer) played session drums for their 2005 album The Forsaken and Det tapte liv EP. Years active: 1989 - Present