Originally formed in 1989 by mastermind Snorre Ruch, Marius Vold, and Bård Faust (Emperor), Norwegian band Thorns has inspired a great number of acts such as Satyricon, Mayhem, Dissection, and Emperor, mainly due to Snorre's highly influential style of playing & creating riffs on the early Thorns demo tapes. So impressed was Euronymous of Mayhem, that Snorre became second guitarist in the band for a while & his riffs were used in classic Mayhem tracks. 'Thorns' was the band's debut (& only, thus far) full-length studio album. It was released in 2001 and is a cult slice of highly-individual Norwegian black metal, including experimental and sometimes industrial influences along with synth passages to create a chilling yet clinical slice of extremity. The album was notable for featuring Satyr of Satyricon on vocals, a duty shared between songs with the vocal talent of Aldrahn (ex-Dødheimsgard) and the recording line-up also featured Hellhammer of Mayhem on drums. The outcome was a unique and original album which is today considered a cult classic release by critics.
