Enthral

History

1995: The band was formed by Kjetil Hektoen and Gunnhild Bratset in their home town of Sunndalsøra, Norway. The purpose was to perform atmospheric music in the guise of black metal. After a relocation to the capital of Oslo, the band continued rehearsing and developing their music.

1996: The band, having now taken the name Enthral, recorded their first demo with a session bass player in the month of March this year. 'Demo 1996' was primitively recorded on a 4-track portastudio and released in an extremely limited number. Following a summer of much rehearsing, the band recorded the track 'Awaiting the Rise of the Forestgod' in August. Some days later, a video recording of this track took place, though it has never been officially released. The audio track nevertheless appeared on the Hot Records compilation CD 'The Rape of the Holy Trinity' in 1997.

1997: Enthral was offered a recording deal by Hot Records and recruited bassist Martin Rafoss as a permanent member and integral part of the band. May saw the release of 'Prophecies of the Dying' - Enthral's first album, recorded in the short time span of four days. In the following months, the band grew, obtaining a second guitarist; Espen Simonsen (ex- The Flesh), as well as a keyboardist, Stian Aarstad (ex- Dimmu Borgir).

1998: Enthral's second album, and also the last on Hot Records, was released. Bearing the name 'The Mirror's Opposite End', it fulfilled the band's contracted period of two years and two albums.

1999: In the period of 1998/1999, the band recorded two demos, not intended for release, but still some copies, containing a selection of tracks, were distributed to record companies. Before the recording of the second of these demos, Espen Simonsen left the band for personal reasons. No new recording contracts were signed, although some offers were made. The terms were not up to par. In hindsight, these recordings were vital as to evolve the band's music into new forms.

2000: A new demo, simply entitled 'Demo 2000', was recorded, differing vastly from the previous material. The band really felt they were on to something exciting. The demo was never released, but a few copies were sent around. This year Enthral also participated on a King Diamond tribute album, released on Necropolis Records, the chosen track being 'The Portrait'.

2001: Enthral aquired a new guitarist, Danne Persson (ex- The Ancient's Rebirth), to start rehearsing a live set. Unfortunately, after a period of progression, their paths parted as he was unable to continue with the band.

2002: The band hooked up with another guitarist, Ronny Hansen. This time around it all worked out much better, as he became a permanent member of the band. Enthral signed a deal with the Dutch label Displeased Records, on the basis of 'Demo 2000'. In the process, keyboardist Stian Aarstad left the ranks of the permanent line-up, now functioning as an occasional session player and engineer for the band.

2003: Work on the third album began in February. It was a slow process, as the studio time was very thinly spread across the next couple of months. In June 2003, the album 'Subterranean Movement' was released, to great critical acclaim. The album continues the thread from the 'Demo 2000' recording (as well as containing the three tracks from that demo), and is a much different experience from the previous albums. The framework is tighter. There still is atmosphere, but where that atmosphere used to be epic and dreamily melodic, it is now colder, harsher, more bizarre. Much due to the riffs and arrangements not being at all as straight-forward as before, not to mention some truly sick vocal lines. Martin Rafoss, Ronny Hansen and Stian Aarstad are out of the band. The line-up consists of Kjetil Hektoen and Gunnhild Bratset, the rotten core.

2009: Having been without a label for several years, and only recording one demo in 2006, Enthral catch the attention of Duplicate Records, who agree to release their fourth full-length album. Meanwhile, the excellent 2006 demo is remastered and turned into the 'Spiteful Dirges ' mini-cd, released in January 2010 in a mini-gatefold cover, limited to 1000 copies.

(source: Enthral, April 2010)