Short Story Cenotaph

Short Story Cenotaph - Drottinn, Aptorian Demon and Invidious

I always had a soft spot in my heart for bands that released one or two fantastic pieces and then took a long hiatus. Whether they end up returning or not. Because as I grow older, more knowledgeable, and finding hidden classic bands becomes more unlikely, those are the older pieces I end up chasing. It's become exceedingly rare for a band with a great discography to sneak up on me, and while I'd love for all these bands to have followups to match the debut, here are some that don't...(yet?)

Drottinn-

You'd think releasing 17 minutes of music would exclude a band from a club of one hour heroes, but you'd be wrong for two reasons. The first is that much like life and the American healthcare system, I am unfair. The second is that the idea of having a Vánagandr death metal equivalent to their peerless black metal makes me giddy. That was what Drottinn was poised to be. Sturla Viðar (ex- vocalist and guitarist for Svartidauði) and D.G (Misþyrming) getting together to record evil, cold death metal to shake caskets and trouble involved parents. Everything seemed poised for the band to make the term "Vángandr Death Metal" a reality and this demo puts their full potential on display. Three fucking songs and already a band to watch out for. Their demo tape was even distributed to a wide audience by Terratvr Possessions and they preformed their first and only gig at Howls of Winter VII.

Sadly, it was not to be, but if you can get your hands on it, "Í helgum dýrðar ljóma" is a wildly captivating and abrasive experience.

Fate-

The band doesn't exist anymore, and while I don't have any contact with the band, Ola of Terratvr told me in no uncertain terms to not expect any further releases.

Aptorian Demon-

Moving from the cold winter expanse of Iceland to... the cold winter expanse of Norway. Aptorian Demon was one of the early big names in the Nidaros scene we all know and love today. Forming in the mythical time of 2005, Aptorian Demon exemplifies the dark, claustrophobic sound that the scene would later be known for. A lot of the band's members would later go on to play for Mare, One Tail, One Head, Manii and Whoredom Rife amongst others.

The band released* an 7" entitled "Angst, jammer og fortvilelse" (Angst, Lamentation and Despair)  in 2005 and a full length entitled "Libertus" in 2012. Both are well worth the time of anyone looking for a uniquely aggressive and desolate dive into the Nidaros sound.

Fate-

Their Metal Archives page states that Aptorian Demon is active but seeing as they haven't released anything since 2012 and don't play live, I don't know how accurate that is. They accredit two different drummers who are both involved in other projects (Sundli in Mare and Beyond Man, and Gionata "Omega" of Darvaza and Chaos Invocation among many, many others) but the core members have been quiet.  That being said, between EP and LP the band took 7 years so I wouldn't put it past them to come in with a sophomore.

Invidious-

In what's quickly becoming a very Scandinavian first chapter of One Hour Heroes, we finish off in the warm and tropical lands of eastern Sweden. If you're anything like me, you'll take your In Solitude related Uppsala scene Metal wherever you can get it.  Well, Invidious was a short lived supergroup that involved the Åhmen brothers (ex-In Solitude, ex-Repugnant, No Future,) Hampus "Hampe" Eriksson (Degial, Unpure, and live guitar for Watain,) Andreas Meisingseth, and Andreas Bolldén (Black Soul Choir.) A later incarnation replaced Bolldén with J.K (Ensnared) on drums.

The band only released 14 minutes of music all together, a 2011 EP entitled "In Death". Well actually, 37 if you count the Katalysator demos, but I couldn't hunt those down. However, "In Death" in 14 minutes showed massive potential. It really harnesses a lot of the strengths of the member's other bands to put together something special. It has the aggressive ugliness from Degial, the murky dark atmosphere of In Solitude and hints and bits of every member's personality. It never eclipses their other bands, but seeing as they set the bar so incredibly high with them, it's still great for what it is.

Fate-

Definitely wouldn't hold my breath. Hampe is being kept very busy by Watain, Degial and Unpure. The Åhman brothers are both involved in a myriad of other projects. J.K is still doing Ensnared and in 2020 released a very interesting death metal demo with a band called Avlivad, a collaboration between a couple of figures from the Swedish scene and the Spanish one.

NOTE-

If anyone in the know wants me to update the story with news about these bands, feel free to use the contact me feature and I'll edit it ASAP