Purified in Blood is a Norwegian hardcore metal band that formed in Hommersåk, Rogaland, Norway in 2003. The band had two diverse vocalists in Hallgeir Skretting Enoksen and Glenn Cato Rasmussen. Stig Skog Andersen handled bass guitar, Tommy Svela and Sander Loen handled guitar duties, while Anders Mosness played the drums. They released their first EP Last Leaves of a Poisoned Tree in 2004. Their first full-length Reaper of Souls followed in 2006. Due to differences in regards to their initial common straight edge philosophy the band decided to pull the plug in 2007.
After almost a year and a half later, Purified in Blood reformed in 2008 with shows at the Norwegian Hove festival and a concert with Madball in Oslo. 2010 was the year Purified in Blood returned with fire. The new album Under Black Skies will always be a milestone representing a fresh start with no genre shackles. Heaven knows the horizon has expanded to the unlimited regarding making music and Under Black Skies is the result of this. The new album unveils a band that has developed ferociously since their first full-length Reaper of Souls in 2006. Heavier than ever before, these Norwegians are ready to conquer and destroy all that comes in their way. Still contributing to the awareness of our earths withering condition; they continue to dethrone injustice with all their strength through their lyrics and apperance. Recording Under Black Skies took place, with producer Ashley Stubbert behind the table, just outside Stavanger, their hometown. With the heavy swells from the North Sea being their nearest neighbor they laid down the tracks that later would be mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis, Botch) in Seattle, US. The writing process was inspired by a lot of diverse music. It’s all there in the new album that will be released in Norway this Spring by Universal, international release to follow. With the 2006 Alarm Award for best live act freshly in memory Purified in Blood brings brutality to the table every time they enter a stage. No exceptions. They have shared stages with bands like Slayer, Mastodon, In Flames, Converge and Hatebreed to name a few. Touring US, Europe and Scandinavia multiple times made them the peerless double-axe double-vox live attack they are today. Regarding 2010, Purified in Blood will once again show the world the heaviness they carry with their presence, be it on stage or with their upcoming album Under Black Skies.
This metal influenced hardcore is what you get as these kids' first meeting with music came through Iron Maiden and Slayer. The message carried by Purified in Blood involves political matters such as human/animal liberation, anti capitalism, third world conditions another important issues that highly require the world's attention.
A lot has happened the last year for Purified in Blood. After many live shows (national and international) and a couple of demos released, things started to happen for the band. They've been twice in the US. As their EP "Last Leaves of a Poisoned Tree" was released, on New Eden Records (CA, USA), they went on a three week US tour to promote it. Together with Undying (US), Purification (IT) +++ they traveled from coast to coast and got good support.
In October 2004 they went on a short Norway/Sweden tour and played with such bands as Most Precious Blood (US), Maroon (GER) and Destiny (GER). The EP has gotten some good reviews since the release. Purified in Blood is known for their high energy live act. They also recently won the national underground music contest for unsigned bands 2004 (ZOOM 04) and that has drawn a lot of attention to the band. In 2006, they released their full-length album Reaper of Souls, turning more to their metal roots than with previous more hardcore-oriented releases.
Vocalist Glenn Cato Rasmussen parted ways with the band in 2011 to focus on his career as a tattoo artist, but occasionally appears with the band on concerts. He now plays bass guitar in the doom/stoner rock band Helldiver.
In 2012, Purified in Blood signed with Indie Recordings and released their third album Flight of a Dying Sun.
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