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Known as Misanthropic Orchestra, DIABOLICAL was formed late 1996 by Sverker Widgren, who today is the only remaining original member still in the band.
The first studio recording took place at Studio Mysak, Sundsvall, late 1997, and resulted in a 1-track demo that appeared on several underground compilations in 1998/99. On this recording, Keuron did the drums, Phamarus did the bass and Jens ’Agilma’ Blomdahl (1978-2007, RIP) handled the vocals.
April 1998 Widgren was dissatisfied with the Orchestra’s bad productivity, the reason why Keuron was replaced by Söderberg the same month. At this point the band became DIABOLICAL. During the rest of 1998 a lot of members played with DIABOLICAL at rehearsal sessions, but after an unsuccessful studio session in August 1998 it was decided that the band should continue without a permanent bass player.
The next recording took place in October 1998, and this was what later became the "Northern Triumphators" demo. It was recorded as a 3-piece at Green Castle Studio, with Widgren on guitars, Blomdahl on vocals and Söderberg on drums. Only a few weeks later, DIABOLICAL recorded their contribution to the "Metal Militia vol.3", a compilation that was supposed to be released in 1998, but was delayed until 2001. DIABOLICAL’s version of "No Remorse" was rehearsed and recorded in a big hurry, and does unfortunately not represent what they had in mind at the time.
After the studio sessions in 1998, not much happened around DIABOLICAL for a few months. Members went in and out, until H.Carlsson finally was invited to join in June 1999. DIABOLICAL then had many new songs, of which one was recorded in August 1999 at Studio 4 - "The Dreaming Dead". This studio session was the first time that M.Ödling sang in the band, replacing Blomdahl.
In January 2000, DIABOLICAL returned Studio 4, to record their first CD-release. Three new songs were captured, and together with the earlier mentioned "The Dreaming Dead", this recording was what became the "Deserts of Desolation" MCD. "Deserts of Desolation" was released in May 2000 by Cadla Communications (W.Europe), Guano Records (E.Europe) and the Civilian Death Network (America). The response was mainly positive, and more than 3.000 copies were distributed worldwide.
In July 2000, after the release of "Deserts of Desolation", DIABOLICAL signed to the Italian record label Scarlet Records. The band’s first full-lenght album, "Synergy", was recorded at Studio Underground, VästerÃ¥s, August 2000. This recording was produced by P.O. Saether (CARNAL FORGE, EBONY TEARS etc.) and was released in April 2001. The response for "Synergy" was far better than expected. DIABOLICAL got a lot of offers to do live appearances all over Europe, but the band was never meant to be on the road in the first place, and therefore decided to turn all offers down. This, however, was soon about to change.
In May 2001 DIABOLICAL was asked to do a gig in Örebro, Sweden. Around the same time J.Berndt (MÖRK GRYNING) was asked to join the band as a live-basist, he liked the idea, and in June 2001 DIABOLICAL did their first live appearance, which was mainly considered an "experiment" by the band, in order to see how the music would work in a live-situation. The "experiment", however, was very successful, and it was therefore decided that DIABOLICAL would continue as an active live-band.
In August/September 2001 DIABOLICAL returned to Studio Underground and P.O. Saether to record the follow-up to "Synergy". The music this time was faster, more aggressive, brutal and more straight to the point than the music on "Synergy" was, and the album was entitled "A Thousand Deaths".
DIABOLICAL did their first Scandinavian tour in November 2001, which consisted of seven gigs in Sweden & Denmark, where they played with bands like PORTAL, HATESPHERE, GRAVE, MÖRK GRYNING, WITHERED BEAUTY etc. The response for the DIABOLICAL’s performances was far beyond expected, and a second tour, consisting of 4 Swedish dates with CENTINEX, was booked for March 2002. The same month J.Berndt did his last gig with DIABOLICAL due to increased tour activities with his main band, MÖRK GRYNING. The band immediately recruited a new basist; R.Bergsten (HECTORITE).
"A Thousand Deaths" was released through Scarlet Records in March 2002 (World War III Music in America, September 2002), and it received even better reviews and response in general from the Death Metal community.
The positive reactions following the release of "A Thousand Deaths" resulted in a four week long European tour with VOMITORY, AMON AMARTH, CALLENISH CIRCLE and SINS OF OMISSION (23 gigs, April/May 2002). This was the first longer European tour of DIABOLICAL and established them further among the dedicated fans of Diabolical Death Metal.
After the tour, it was decided that a new rhythm section was needed, so Rickard Persson (bass) and Henric Ohlsson (drums, THEORY IN PRACTICE now SCAR SYMMETRY) were invited to join, and with this line-up a couple of gigs was done in July 2002 (one of them co-headlining OPEN HELL FESTIVAL in Czech Republic). This line-up didn’t last long though, because already in August it was agreed between the band and Henric that two bands on this level were too much even for him. Henric continued to focus on his former band, and DIABOLICAL started to look for someone to replace him.
DIABOLICAL started to audition drummers in the autumn, but it turned out to be hard to find someone that could contribute to the band’s steady development and take the music one step further. Finally in February 2003, after 6 months and many auditions, the man for the job was finally discovered; Carl Stjärnlöv.
In April/May 2003 DIABOLICAL did 10 gigs in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland and Belgium, together with DEFLESHED and TAETRE. This was the most successful tour that DIABOLICAL had done so far.
The "Battle Royal Tour" was followed by festival gigs in Sweden (2000 Decibel in May and Smack Rockfestival in June), Austria (Kaltenbach Open Air, July) and Czech Republic (Obscene Extreme, July), appearances that were also very successful.
.......to be continued.....
