Månegarm

viking metal

Månegarm is a Swedish Viking/black metal band from Norrtälje. The band's name comes from Mánagarmr, a wolf in Norse mythology. The band started from the ideas of Svenne Rosendal, Jonas Almquist, and Pierre Wilhelmsson in 1995. After securing another guitarist in Mårten Matsson and a drummer in Erik Grawsiö, they began rehearsing as Antikrist. By 1996, they had changed their name to Månegarm, after the wolf of Norse legend, apt for a band concentrating on Viking metal, and early that year, they began recording first demo Vargaresa (Wolf's Journey) in 1996. After the recording, Rosendal and Matsson left to be replaced by Jonny Wranning (vocals) and Markus Andé (guitar). With the second demo, Ur Nattvindar, folk metal became part of their sound, including violins and female vocals for the first time, and they were signed by Displeased Records. Soon afterwards, Wranning left the band and was replaced by Viktor Hemgren. At the end of the year, they went back into Sunlight studios to record their first full-length album, Nordstjärnans Tidsålder (The Age of the Northstar). In the summer of 1999, they began recording their next album, Havets Vargar. Because of some difficulty with the recording studio, they took some time off from recording the album. During this time off, Viktor Hemgren was fired, but instead of finding a new vocalist, Grawsiö assumed the duties along with his drumming. Also during this time, Janne Liljekvist was added as a full member. With the line u...