Darkwoods My Betrothed

Darkwoods My Betrothed was a black metal band from Kitee, Finland.[1]

Formed in 1992 as Virgin Cunt, they set out to be the "most blasphemous black metal band in Europe", in a rather tongue-in-cheek sense. After recording a couple demos under this name, the band started to take themselves a lot more seriously and changed their name to Darkwoods My Betrothed. They recorded the demo Dark Aureolis Gathering in 1994, not too different from the band's roots in extreme black metal, but it started to show serious maturity in the song-writing and delivery; not only a traditional black metal shriek, the singers also did a wail-type of scream.

In 1995, Hammerheart Productions released Heirs of the Northstar, their first full-length album, which was a turning for the group. The band started to experiment with a slower-paced and more melodic viking metal sound, and usage of "drunken Viking" style clean vocals mixed with the traditional black metal screams. The lyrics were also quite different from those in the demo days; rather than dark and Satanic rantings, bassist/lyricist Teemu started a powerful fascination with Odinism and the Gods of Valhalla, and anger towards Christianity.

1996 saw the release of Autumn Roars Thunder, this time under the Solistitium label. Though retaining the same anti-Christian and Odinistic rhetoric, the music itself moved away from the melodic viking approach and entered back into a faster, more black metal-oriented direction.

In 1998, the band returned with Witch-Hunts, a conceptual album which eschewed much of the melodic stylings of the previous two albums; the Viking metal sound was replaced with black metal. Due to numerous delays by the record label, it was released roughly one year after it was originally planned.

After the release of "Witch-Hunts", the band split up for a few years until they came back in 2000 with a new line-up, a compilation album and potential live work. In 2001, the band split up again and has not reunited or released new material since.

Discography
Demos
Dark Aureolis Gathering (1994)
Albums
Heirs of the Northstar (1995)
Autumn Roars Thunder (1996)
Witch-Hunts (1998)
Compilations
Dark Aureoles Gathering (Compilation) (2000)
Band members
Last known line-up
Spellgoth - vocals (Baptism, Black Death Ritual, Slave's Mask, Trollheim's Grott, Turmion Kätilöt, Prevalent Resistance)
Julma (aka Emperor Nattasett aka Pasi) - bass, backing vocals (Barathrum, Furthest Shore, Nattvindens Gråt, Hellboozer Union)
Icelord - guitars (WRTX)
Larha - drums (Black Death Ritual, Deathchain, Trollheim's Grott, Forgotten Horror)
Magician - keyboards (WRTX)
Former members
Hexenmeister (Teemu) - bass
Erno Vuorinen - guitar
Ante Mortem - guitar
Hallgrim (Jouni) - guitar
Session musicians
Tero Leinonen - drums
Tuomas Holopainen - keyboards
Trivia
Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish was a frequent session keyboard player for the band, playing synth on all their full-length albums and, according to the band, he would continue to play with them if they need him. He also composed the music for a few songs, such as the last piece of Yggdrasil's Children Fall and Autumn Roars Thunder.
Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen got his musical career started in this band. He would be later known as the guitarist for the popular band Nightwish.