Jon Andreas Nödtveidt (28 June 1975 – 13 August 2006)[1] was a Swedish musician best known as the founder, vocalist and lead guitarist of the Swedish black metal band Dissection. With the band, he released the seminal and influential extreme metal albums The Somberlain (1993) and Storm of the Light's Bane (1995).[2][3][4][5] In addition to Dissection, Nödtveidt performed with several other projects, including Ophthalamia, The Black, De Infernali and Nifelheim, and also worked as a journalist for Metal Zone, where he covered the growing black metal scene.
Jon Nödtveidt | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Jon Andreas Nödtveidt |
Also known as |
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Born | Strömstad, Sweden | 28 June 1975
Died | 13 August 2006 Hässelby, Sweden | (aged 31)
Genres | |
Occupation | Musician |
Instruments |
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Years active |
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Formerly of |
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In 1998, Nödtveidt was sentenced to ten years in prison for accessory to murder.[6] Upon his release from prison in 2004, he resumed his work with Dissection and released the album Reinkaos (2006).[7] Nödtveidt died by suicide on 13 August 2006, at the age 31.[8]
Career
editIn the beginning of his musical career, Nödtveidt was a member of the heavy metal band Thunder with his younger brother Emil, and thrash metal bands Siren's Yell and Rabbit's Carrot. In 1989, he formed the extreme metal band Dissection together with bassist Peter Palmdahl. Following the release of the demo The Grief Prophecy and the EP Into Infinite Obscurity in 1991, the band released their debut album, The Somberlain, in 1993.
In 1994, Nödtveidt joined Nifelheim as a session guitarist, and released the albums The Priest Of Satan and A Journey In Darkness with black metal bands The Black and Ophthalamia respectively. During the summer of 1995, Nödtveidt joined the newly formed Satanic organization Misanthropic Luciferian Order (MLO).[9] Later that year, Dissection released their second studio album, Storm of the Light's Bane. In 1996, Nödtveidt formed the dark ambient band De Infernali and released the album Symphonia De Infernal the following year.
In July 1998, Nödtveidt was convicted of being an accessory to the 1997 murder of Josef ben Meddour.[10] He restarted Dissection upon his release from prison in 2004 and embarked on the Rebirth of Dissection tour.[7][11] In 2006, the band released their third studio album, Reinkaos. In May of that year, Nödtveidt announced that the band would split up following a short tour in support of their new album.[12] Dissection played their final show on 24 June 2006 in Stockholm on Midsummer.[13]
Death
editOn 13 August 2006, Nödtveidt was found dead in his apartment in Hässelby by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a circle of lit candles.[14]
Early reports indicated that he was found with an open copy of the Satanic Bible, but these were later dismissed by Dissection's guitarist Set Teitan. According to him, "it's not any atheist, humanist and ego-worshipping The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey that Jon had in front of him, but a Satanic grimoire. He despised LaVey and the 'Church of Satan'."[15] The said "Satanic grimoire" is reputed to be the Liber Azerate, one of the publishings of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, of which Nödtveidt was a member since the early stages of the cult. The lyrics of the final Dissection album, Reinkaos, were co-written by Nödtveidt's friend Vlad (Victor Draconi)[a] who wrote the Liber Azerate under the pseudonym Frater Nemidial and was convicted of murder in 1998.[6]
Nödtveidt's brother, Emil "Nightmare Industries" Nödtveidt, the rhythm guitarist and keyboardist of gothic industrial metal band Deathstars, wrote a song named "Via the End" the night he heard about Nödtveidt's suicide. The song appeared on Deathstars' 2009 album Night Electric Night.
Regarding his views on suicide, Nödtveidt said:
The Satanist decides of his own life and death and prefers to go out with a smile on his lips when he has reached his peak in life, when he has accomplished everything, and aim to transcend this earthly existence. But it is completely un-satanic to end one's own life because one is sad or miserable. The Satanist dies strong, not by age, disease or depression, and he chooses death before dishonor! Death is the orgasm of life! So live life accordingly, as intense as possible![17][7]
Discography
editWith Dissection
editStudio albums
- The Somberlain (1993)
- Storm of the Light's Bane (1995)
- Reinkaos (2006)
Compilation albums
- The Past Is Alive (The Early Mischief) (1997)
- I Am the Great Shadow (2021)
Live albums
- Live Legacy (2003)
- Live in Stockholm 2004 (2009)
- Live Rebirth (2010)
EPs
- Into Infinite Obscurity (1991)
- Where Dead Angels Lie (1996)
- Maha Kali (2004)
Video albums
- Rebirth of Dissection (2006)
With The Black
edit- The Priest of Satan (1994)
With Ophthalamia
edit- A Journey in Darkness (1994)
With De Infernali
edit- Symphonia De Infernali (1997)
- Nifelheim (1995)
- Devil's Force (1998)
Other appearances
edit- Necrophobic – Darkside (1997) (vocals on "Nailing The Holy One")
- Diabolicum – The Dark Blood Rising (The Hatecrowned Retaliation) (2001) (lyrics for "Sound The Horns Of Reprisal")
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ Dissection.nu DISSECTION Official Website; retrieved 13 September 2008.
- ^ Andrew, J. (19 February 2015). "Blackened Melodic Death Metal: A History Lesson - Page 2 of 7". Metal Injection. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Injection, Metal (15 February 2012). "Essential Black Metal Listening: DISSECTION The Somberlain". Metal Injection. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Distefano, Alex (12 August 2015). "The 10 Best Swedish Metal Bands – OC Weekly". Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ DiVita, Joe (22 May 2015). "10 Best Metal Albums of 1995". Loudwire. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ a b (in Swedish) Ohlin (2012), p. 13.
- ^ a b c Blabbermouth (18 August 2006). "DISSECTION's JON NÖDTVEIDT: 'The Satanist Chooses Death Before Dishonor'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Blabbermouth (18 August 2006). "Exclusive: DISSECTION Frontman JON NÖDTVEIDT Commits Suicide". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ DISSECTION. Interview with Jon Nödtveidt, June 2003 Archived 14 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Harris, Chris; Wiederhorn, Jon (25 August 2006), "Metal File: Light This City, Gwar, Dissection & More News That Rules", MTV.com, MTV, archived from the original on 9 February 2012, retrieved 28 June 2011
- ^ Blabbermouth (14 October 2004). "DISSECTION: Stockholm Show Moved To Bigger Venue (Again)". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ Blabbermouth (22 May 2006). "DISSECTION Announce Plans To Split: 'We Have Reached The Ending Chapter'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ BraveWords. "DISSECTION's Midsummer Massacre Gig To Be "A Lengthy Set Of Both Old And New"". bravewords.com. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "Dissection Frontman Jon Nödtveidt Commits Suicide". Metal Storm. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
- ^ Blabbermouth DISSECTION Guitarist: JON NÖDTVEIDT Didn't Have Copy Of 'The Satanic Bible' At Suicide Scene Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 9 September 2006.
- ^ "Mordet i Keillers park". Svenska Mord (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ Jon Kristiansen, Metallion: The Slayer Mag Diaries, 2011, p. 569