Tormentor

This is the Official Tormentor Crypt on MySpace.



Tormentor was formed in 1986, in Hungary, among the first Black Metal bands of the 1980s. In between 1986-1990 Tormentor had lots of famous gigs in Hungary. After the first demo "The Seventh Day of Doom" (1987) the band had more and more attention. Then, in 1988, they recorded "Anno Domini" which was definitely a highlight of the extreme metal scene at the time.



For many reasons (e.g. old political system, censorship, state dependent labels) it was impossible to release it in Hungary in 1989 but thanks to the fans it started to be distributed in the old underground way: copied by the fans from tapes to tapes and soon it arrived to Scandinavia and Norway. "Anno Domini" and Tormentor were the reason why Attila Csihar was later asked to be the vocalist for Mayhem for the "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" album, which became another milestone in Black Metal.



Discography:

7th Day Of Doom (Demo, 1987)

Anno Domini (Album, 1988)

Live In Hell (Live, 1999)

Live in Damnation (EP, 2000)

The Sick Years (Live, 2000)

Recipe Ferrum (Album, 2001)

Anno Domini remastered (Album, 2005)



Tormentor has from the very beginning played Black Metal. They were influenced by the ancient Black Metal gods of the early 1980s, but they certainly have their own unique originality. Some has even linked some parts of their music to Hungarian folk music. In fact, this band is Hungarian, and that only make them even more unique. Tormentor consists of a strong musicianship, even though this is Black metal in the old vein, it is being performed with great professionality. In songs as the instrumental track "Lyssa" you can hear some really amazing guitar work. In Tormentor's music you can hear everything from raw and intense parts, both primitive and technical, to the more atmospheric type of themes with synth and a more slow/ midpaced tempo. Tormentor was in fact maybe one of the first Black Metal bands to compose atmospheric songs with for example the use of synth. There are not many bands back in the late 80s who have created such music. Tormentor is a quite unique musical act. They have meant a lot to a lot of today's Black Metal bands. Many see them as an strong influence, but sadly enough many haven't had the opportunity to get to know this band, as their recordings only has been available as bad quality copies on tradinglists around the world. A lot of the newcomers in today's scene has yet to experience the musical entity Tormentor. The debut demo "The 7th day of Doom" has a very raw production, but it still maintains the true feeling. It has unfortunately been bootleged on CD now. The plan was to have it officially and professionally done through Nocturnal Art Productions, but there are doubts to whether or not this will happen due to the bootleg release. "Anno Domini" was also recorded as an album. The band was offered a deal for it on Euronymous' cult label Deathlike Silence Productions, but due to a lot of difficulties it was delayed. Tormentor's vocalist Attila Csihar, who is now quite famous for his insane and inhuman way of using his voice, was later asked to do the vocals on Mayhem's then long awaited "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" album. During Attila's stay in Norway more concrete things were sorted out between Tormentor and DSP, so finally Deathlike Silence were ready to put the album out, but before they came that far Euronymous was murdered, and the whole thing fell apart. Osmose Production from France was also once about to sign Tormentor, but again something failed. A newly started label named Nocturnal Art Productions managed after a while to get hold of the original DAT master to "Anno Domini", and also managed to get the exclusive rights for the recording. The whole process took a while, but Nocturnal Art has finally managed to put out the "Anno Domini" album on both CD and limited edition LP. As for the band itself, they did actually spilt-up in 1991. The band later reformed and recorded a more avantgarde album called "Recipe Ferrum" for Avantgarde Music.



Another note that has to be made is the fact that there are a load of bootlegs circulating, a live album, a live EP, a CD re-release of the "7th." demo etc.