Quorthon

{{Short description|Swedish musician (1966–2004)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Quorthon | image = Quorthon - Young.jpg | caption = Quorthon in 1990 during the Hammerheart promo tour | birth_name = Thomas Börje Forsberg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1966|2|17|df=y}} | birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden | death_date = {{death date and age|2004|6|3|1966|2|17|df=y}} | death_place = Stockholm, Sweden | alias = {{flatlist| * Ace Shoot<ref name="Scandinavian Metal Attack">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Scandinavian Metal Attack |quote=Ace Shoot.}}</ref> * Ace Spunky Black Spade<ref name="YellowGoat1">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Bathory |title-link=Bathory (album) |others=Bathory |year=1984 |quote=Album design by Ace spunky black spade and Quorthon.}}</ref> * Ditch Brodie }} | occupation = {{flatlist| * Musician * singer * songwriter * multi-instrumentalist }} | years_active = c. 1980<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jRRvfWp95FIC&pg=PA27 Swedish Death Metal]'': "If I hadn't started to play in punk bands around '79–80 I could have ended up on the streets, with a needle in my arm. Luckily, I didn't have any such friends, so I got involved with the punk movement, and was inspired by bands like Exploited and GBH."</ref>–2004 | genre = {{flatlist| * Black metal * Viking metal * thrash metal }} | instruments = {{flatlist| * Vocals * guitar * bass * percussion }} | past_member_of = Bathory | website = }}

'''Thomas Börje Forsberg''' (17 February 1966 – 3 June 2004),<ref name="DagensNyheterDeathNotice">Date stated in the death notice for Ace Börje Forsberg that his family put in the swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 23 June 2004, the death notice also included the lyrics to the Bathory song Hammerheart.</ref> better known by the stage name '''Quorthon''', was a Swedish musician. He was one of the founders, as well as the sole songwriter, of the band Bathory, which pioneered the black metal genre and is credited with creating the Viking metal style.<ref name="Blod Eld Död">Johannesson, Ika & Klingberg, Jon Jefferson. (2011) ''Blod Eld Död - En svensk metalhistoria'', Alfabeta Bokförlag AB, p. 51-68.</ref> A multi-instrumentalist, Quorthon wrote the music and lyrics on all of Bathory's albums and performed vocals and guitars.

== Career == {{Main|Bathory (band)|label 1 = Bathory}} Quorthon formed Bathory in 1983 when he was 17 years old, after briefly playing in the Oi! band ''Stridskuk'', which also featured drummer Johan "Jolle" Elvén and bass player Rickard "Ribban" Bergman, who later played on early Bathory demos and, in Bergman's case, albums.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DANIEL EKEROTH – Under The Influence Of BATHORY (May 2012) {{!}} Features / Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine |url=https://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/feature-bathory-05-12/ |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=kanz-noz |title=Bathory - Interview Anno 2003 |url=http://psychopathological.over-blog.com/article-2411721.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |website=le blog psychopathological |language=fr}}</ref> Early Bathory member Jonas Åkerlund has stated that he and his cousin Frederick Melander were the original members of Bathory; Ace was recruited into the band when they were looking for a new vocalist/guitarist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jonas Åkerlund: “I have tapes of Bathory in the rehearsal studio”|work=Louder Sound|date=29 March 2022|access-date=1 April 2026 |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/jonas-akerlund-bathory-interview}}</ref> He recorded his early albums together with the help of his father Börje Forsberg (1944 - 2017) who was also the head of the Swedish record label Tyfon Grammofon that would go on to release most of Bathory's albums through the subsidiary Black Mark Production. The first album was recorded in the garage of schlager writer Peter Himmelstrand, dubbed Studio Heavenshore.<ref name="Blod Eld Död" />

During the mid-to-late 1980s, live performances by Bathory were rare, and in 1988, Bathory quit doing live appearances entirely. Albums from this period contributed to the then-burgeoning black metal subgenre, and rare photographs of the band helped in part to define its image. Beginning in the 1990s, Quorthon took full control of Bathory, still choosing to avoid performing live in order to spend more time recording music with hired musicians, as well changing style from the black metal of the 1980s to a slower, heavier style which eventually became the founding of the Viking metal genre, due to its lyrics being focused on Norse mythology.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The Metal Crypt - Blood Fire Death Interview |url=https://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/interviews.php?intid=890 |access-date=19 December 2025 |website=www.metalcrypt.com}}</ref>

Quorthon also personally paid for the production of Bathory's only music video, for the song "One Rode to Asa Bay", taken from their fifth studio album, ''Hammerheart''. The video was shown on MTV's ''Headbangers Ball'', though Quorthon had not yet seen it at the time he was interviewed for the program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ONE RODE TO ASA BAY |url=https://digilander.libero.it/equimanthorn_bathory/vid.htm |access-date=16 December 2025 |website=digilander.libero.it}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=November 2025|reason=More sources to this claim are needed for confirmation. (Current citation could have used Wikipedia as source)}}

In January 1994, Quorthon set Bathory aside and recorded a solo album, called ''Album'',<ref>{{cite journal |work=Heavy Metal Magazine|volume=3|title=QUORTHON BATHORY|date=November 1994 |url=http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/palladium/6646/interview1.htm |access-date=27 April 2026 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010531113116fw_/http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/palladium/6646/interview1.htm|archive-date=31 May 2001|quote=So in Jan. '94 I recorded my first solo album simply entitled "Album".}}</ref> which was released that September.<ref>{{cite web|work=Todestrieb|title=25 Years Ago: QUORTHON (Bathory) releases Album|date=27 September 2019 |url=https://todestrieb.co.uk/blogs/daily-noise/25-years-ago-quorthon-bathory-releases-album |access-date=30 April 2026 |language=en}}</ref> He recorded ''Purity of Essence'' in August 1996.<ref>{{cite journal |work=Victim Magazine|volume=5|title=QUORTHON BATHORY|date=March 1997|url=http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/6646/victimmag5.htm |access-date=28 April 2026|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020529225144fw_/http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/6646/victimmag5.htm|archive-date=29 May 2002|quote=I started in May, June last year and we entered the studio the 14th of August I believe.}}</ref>

The albums released under the Quorthon moniker drew more influence from alternative rock than Bathory's black/Viking metal style. While working on these albums he found new inspiration to continue composing music for Bathory. Bathory's next albums were in a retro-thrash metal style, before he veered towards his Viking metal style once again, especially on the ''Nordland'' saga.

== Death and tributes == On 3 June 2004, Quorthon was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm. The cause of his death was a congenital heart defect. He was 38 years old.<ref name="SaJavlaMetal">{{cite AV media| people = Hillborg, Yasin (Director)| title = Så jävla metal| medium = DVD| date = 2011}}</ref>

The month following his death, several members of the Norwegian black metal scene gathered to perform Bathory songs in a set titled A Tribute to Quorthon at the Hole in the Sky festival in Bergen, Norway. The lineup included Abbath (Immortal), Apollyon (Aura Noir), Faust and Samoth (Emperor and Zyklon), Gaahl (Gorgoroth), Grutle Kjellson and Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved), Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) and Satyr (Satyricon).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blabbermouth |date=23 June 2004 |title=Norway's Black Metal Elite To Pay Tribute To BATHORY Mastermind |url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/norway-s-black-metal-elite-to-pay-tribute-to-bathory-mastermind/ |access-date=8 November 2023 |website=BLABBERMOUTH.NET |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=EIDE |first=LARS EIRIK |date=24 August 2004 |title=Black metal-stjerner samles i Bergen |url=https://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/black-metal-stjerner-samles-i-bergen/65988874 |access-date=8 November 2023 |website=dagbladet.no |language=no}}</ref>

The black metal supergroup I featuring Abbath, Ice Dale of Enslaved, King ov Hell of Gorgoroth and former-Immortal drummer Armagedda dedicated the song "Far Beyond the Quiet" from their 2006 album ''Between Two Worlds'' to Quorthon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=I {{!}} BETWEEN TWO WORLDS - Official Website - Abbath, Ice Dale, Armagedda, TC King |url=http://i-metal.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801133418/http://i-metal.net/ |archive-date=1 August 2015 |access-date=2 October 2025 |website=i-metal.net}}</ref>

''Blood Fire Death – A Tribute to Quorthon and the music of Bathory'' is a music project dedicated to honouring the music of Quorthon and Bathory. The project started in 2024 for the 20th anniversary of Quorthon's death.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Blood Fire Death |url=https://revelationsmusic.no/blood-fire-death |access-date=19 December 2025 |website=Revelations music |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Blood Fire Death - A Tribute To Quorthon And The Music Of Bathory – Live In Bergen 2024 |date=2024 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/32183907-Blood-Fire-Death-A-Tribute-To-Quorthon-And-The-Music-Of-Bathory-Live-In-Bergen-2024 |access-date=19 December 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The project has been appearing live since the start, having played at a variety of festivals, the largest being Beyond the Gates and Brutal Assault.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lehtinen |first=Arto |date=13 March 2025 |title=Brutal Assault 2025 : A Tribute to Quorthon and the Music of Bathory to BA |url=https://www.metal-rules.com/2025/03/13/brutal-assault-2025-a-tribute-to-quorthon-and-the-music-of-bathory-to-ba/ |access-date=19 December 2025 |website=Metal-Rules.com |language=en-US}}</ref> They are also set to play at Tons of Rock in 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Program |url=https://www.tonsofrock.no/program#zPgK5CbHo1_artist-2061709 |access-date=19 December 2025 |website=www.tonsofrock.no}}</ref>

== Legacy == In 2015, Alex Distefano of ''OC Weekly'' referred to him as "one of the most mysterious figures in extreme metal."<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 August 2015 |title=The 10 Best Swedish Metal Bands – OC Weekly |url=https://www.ocweekly.com/the-10-best-swedish-metal-bands-6574181/ |access-date=28 August 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2023, Andy O'Connor of ''Spin'' wrote: "Though other acts have gone on to more visible success, no one still looms quite as large in Swedish metal as Quorthon, the man behind Bathory. He was not only partially responsible for inventing black metal, he reinvented it a few times prior to black metal’s explosion in the early to mid-’90s."<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Andy |date=25 July 2023 |title=The 15 Best Swedish Metal Records |url=https://www.spin.com/2023/07/the-15-best-swedish-metal-records/ |access-date=29 August 2025 |website=SPIN |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Discography ==

=== As Bathory ===

* ''Bathory'' (1984)<ref name="YellowGoat3">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Bathory |title-link=Bathory (album) |others=Bathory |year=1984 |quote=1984 Tyfon Grammofon AB}}</ref> * ''The Return......'' (1985) * ''Under the Sign of the Black Mark'' (1987)<ref name="UTSOTBM1">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Under The Sign Of The Black Mark |title-link=Under The Sign Of The Black Mark |others=Bathory |year=1987 |quote=1987 Under One Flag ...1987 Tyfon Grammofon AB}}</ref> * ''Blood Fire Death'' (1988)<ref name="BFD">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Blood Fire Death |title-link=Blood Fire Death |others=Bathory |year=1988 |quote=1988 Take Out Music ... 1988 Under One Flag}}</ref> * ''Hammerheart'' (1990)<ref name="Hammerheart">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Hammerheart |title-link=Hammerheart |others=Bathory |year=1990 |quote=1990 Noise International ... 1990 Tyfon Grammofon AB}}</ref> * ''Twilight of the Gods'' (1991) * ''Jubileum Volume I'' (1992) * ''Jubileum Volume II'' (1993) * ''Requiem'' (1994) * ''Octagon'' (1995) * ''Blood on Ice'' (1996) * ''Jubileum Volume III'' (1998) * ''Destroyer of Worlds'' (2001) * ''Nordland I'' (2002) * ''Nordland II'' (2003)

=== As Quorthon === * ''Album'' (1994) * ''When Our Day Is Through'' EP (1997) * ''Purity of Essence'' (1997)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{Discogs artist}} *{{MusicBrainz artist|id=bf348cda-3377-4888-82dc-85bba1a2d50a}}

Category:1966 births Category:2004 deaths Category:20th-century Swedish male singers Category:Black metal singers Category:Black metal musicians Category:Thrash metal musicians Category:Singers from Stockholm Category:Swedish heavy metal singers Category:Swedish multi-instrumentalists Category:Burials at Skogskyrkogården Category:Black Mark Production artists