The Duskfall is a melodic death metal band from Sweden created by Mikael Sandorf (Helltrain, Gates of Ishtar) in 2001. They have it all - the sheer power of finest thrash riffing, death metal grooves, and out-of-this-world haunting melodies. They released a demo in 2001, and 4 albums between 2001-07. They split-up in 2008 but have returned in 2014 for more!
Formed by guitarist Mikael Sandorf in Luleå, Sweden during 2001, The Duskfall emerged from the ashes of the legendary but short-lived melodic death metal band Gates Of Ishtar. Before they were named The Duskfall - at the time they were called Soulash - the group suffered from a number of line-up changes and technical problems with both Tommi Konu (bass) and Urban Carlsson (drums) leaving the band. After months of searching, an old friend from Gates Of Ishtar, Oskar Karlsson, came to the rescue as a drummer and Kaj Molin replaced Tommi on bass. Finally all seemed in place with a full line-up and in summer of 2001 their 5-track demo Deliverance was released with Sandorf performing vocal duties. Shortly after, vocalist Kai Jaakkola joined the band and all 5 demo tracks were re-recorded and re-arranged for their full length debut Frailty was released November 2002, produced by Daniel Bergstrand and Örjan Örnkloo (In Flames, Darkane, Thyrfing) who also mixed, engineered, and performed guest keyboards and guitar.
Their second CD, Source released December 2003 was recorded once again at Daniel Bergstrand's Dug Out Studios. They were joined by Joachim Lindbäck who performed guest solos. Critical response was good and the band projected their music forward with a more distinctive sound. After the release of Source, the lineup curse struck again - Kaj and Joachim decided to leave to band to focus on other things in life. This was a setback but the band got help from Antti Lindholm on guitar & bass, and Marco Eronen took over live bass duties from 2005-06.
Shortly after Antti joined up, a record contract was drawn up with Nuclear Blast and Lifetime Supply of Guilt was released in August 2005. This album was more straightforward than the previous two releases and was not as well received by critics and some fans. Daniel Bergstrand and Örjan Örnkloo once again produced. A music video was created for the song Shoot It In and the track was heavily featured in the video game The Darkness released in 2007 on PS3. Another Swedish extreme metal band, Defleshed (which Duskfall drummer Oskar Karlsson had been in) was also featured on the games' soundtrack.
Their fourth album The Dying Wonders of the World was released in October 2007 on Nuclear Blast, produced by Daniel Bergstand. Matte Järnil, who joined the band in 2006, played bass (and later joined related band Helltrain in 2009), giving Antti the opportunity to focus exclusively on guitar. Lawrence Mackrory (Darkane), who previously performed guest vocals on the debut album Frailty, returned to perform guest vocals once more. On this album, they somewhat returned to form and received a middling response from critics. This was the only album to not feature cover artwork by Seth Siro Anton.
On August 4, 2008, a statement on the official website stated that the band had decided to call it a day, following the departure of main songwriter and founder of the band Mikael Sandorf.
In Spring 2014, after much rumor, the band officially returned with a new lineup, notably including Fredrik Andersson on drums. Sandorf is the only remaining original member. Their upcoming sixth full-length album will be released on German label Apostasy Records.
Official facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDuskfallSweden
Official myspace: https://myspace.com/theduskfa11
Current line-up:
Mikael Sandorf - guitars [2001-]
Ronny Edlund - rhythm guitar [2014-]
Jonathan Storm - bass [2014-]
Fredrik Andersson - drums [2014-] (Amon Amarth, ex-A Canorous Quintet)
Magnus Klavborn - vocals [2014-]
Previous members:
Oskar Karlsson - drums [2001-08] (Helltrain, ex-Gates of Ishtar, ex-The Everdawn, ex-Sarcasm, ex-Scheitan, ex-Defleshed)
Kai Jaakkola - vocals [2001-08] (Deathchain, Deathbound, Monsterspank)
Antti Lindholm - guitar [2004-08] (Monsterspank)
Kaj Molin - bass [2001-05]
Matte Järnil - bass [2006-08](Helltrain)
Joachim Lindbäck - guitar [2003-04]
Glenn Svensson - guitar [2001-02]
Urban Carlsson - drums [2001]
Jonny Ahlgren - guitar [2001]
Tommi Konu - bass [2001]
Kim Bjäle - bass [2014]
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