Vomitory

The lineup for Swedish death metal band Vomitory steadily expanded from its original formation as a trio shortly after forming in 1989, but it never remained stable for very long. Initially the band consisted of Ronnie Olson on bass, Urban Gustafsson on guitar, and Tobias Gustafsson on drums. Not long after playing its first show in 1990, the band opened its ranks to bass player Bengt Sund when Olson decided to handle vocals only. The band expanded again in 1991 with the addition of Ulf Dalegren on guitar. With its lineup somewhat steady and complete for the moment, the group put together a demo by the following year. The eponymous tape made its way through underground music channels, making a name for Vomitory among fans of death metal and bringing the band to the notice of Switzerland's Witchhunt Records. The label issued Moribund, a 7", in 1993. Swedish fans of death metal bought about 500 copies of the release, which featured the songs "Untouchable Challenge," "Undivulged," and the title track. That same year, Olson and the Gustafsson brothers ousted Sund from the group. Thomas Bergqvist stepped in to take the bassist's place. Soon the group began to put together another tape for promotion purposes, but it failed to deliver any major-label prospects. Vomitory instead decided to self-release Through Sepulchral Shadows, and fans bought about 1,000 copies after its release in 1994. A little more than a year later, the group toured Poland. Fadeless Records, a company based in the Netherlands, offered the band a recording deal in 1996, and before the year was over the CD Raped in Their Own Blood was recorded and released. The lineup changed again when Olson and Bergqvist dropped out and vocalist Jussi Linna and bassist Erik Rundqvist came aboard. The CD Redemption...