Bathory, formed in 1983 in Stockholm, are highly regarded among the first wave of black metal bands and have become highly influential in defining the genre. Although a few band members came and went, the one consistent member was Tomas Forsberg, better known as Quorthon. Forsberg, a multi-instrumentalist who wrote the majority of the band's music and lyrics, served as the main singer. The group disbanded in 2004, when Forsberg died of heart failure at the age of 38. They released 12 studio albums.
Dissection was a controversial black metal band formed by guitarist and vocalist Jon Nödtveidt in Strömstad in 1989. The band released three studio albums between 1993 and 2006, as well as three EPs. Between 1997 and 2004, Nödtveidt was in prison for being an accessory to a murder. Upon his release, Nödtveidt recruited a new band and released one more album before the band split in 2006. In August 2006, Nödtveidt committed suicide. Controversy followed the band throughout their career due to members' involvement with the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, a satanic organization.
Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson formed Marduk in the city of Norrköping in 1990 in an attempt to create the most blasphemous band of all time. The band has gone through several members in its time with Håkansson being the only constant member, but the band nevertheless managed to release 11 studio albums dealing with typically dark subject matter such as Satanism, World War II and death. Although the band started out as black metal, its style could now fall under the category of death metal.
Alastor Mysteriis and Devothan formed Setherial in Sundsvall in 1993. The band has released six studio albums as of 2011 and has gone through several lineup changes in that time, with Mysteriis being the only continuous member. Setherial's music and imagery can be summarized as Satanic and thus anti-Christian, and their most recent album as of 2011 was 2010's "Ekpyrosis." They employ a great deal of makeup and fake blood for live performances and promotional photographs.
Watain formed in Uppsala in 1998, released debut album "Rabid Death's Curse" in 2000, and has released three more albums since then as of 2011. As with many other black metal bands, the lyrical content and aesthetics of the band regard Satan and other anti-Christian sentiment. The band gained a certain amount of notoriety in 2006, when some of the members did a Hitler salute at a performance in Germany. This action led to their labeling as a National Socialist band, but the band has denied this.