Bloodbath

There are multiple bands that share this name. 1) Bloodbath is a death metal band from Stockholm, Sweden formed in 1998. Critically acclaimed as a "superstar line-up" of death metal, the band is the brainchild of Anders Nystr?m (Katatonia, Diabolical Masquerade), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia, October Tide), Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, and many more), and Mikael ?kerfeldt (Opeth). The whole project was the upshot of one rip-roaring night, intended to reinvent old school death metal.

1) Bloodbath is a death metal band from Stockholm, Sweden formed in 1998.
Critically acclaimed as a "superstar line-up" of death metal, the band is the brainchild of Anders Nystr?m (Katatonia, Diabolical Masquerade), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia, October Tide), Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, and many more), and Mikael ?kerfeldt (Opeth). The whole project was the upshot of one rip-roaring night, intended to reinvent old school death metal.

?kerfeldt left Bloodbath after "Resurrection Through Carnage" because of his duties in his primary band Opeth. Peter T?gtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain, The Abyss) replaced Mikael and did vocals for the "Nightmares Made Flesh" release.

Mikael ?kerfeldt helped the band out at Wacken Open Air 2005, after T?gtgren departed. The performance was not released for a long time, as it remained shrouded in legal and copyright disputes, eventually surfacing as the 'Wacken Carnage DVD'.

This show was their one-and-only live performance up to 2008 since, in August 2006, Dan Swanö was asked to amicably leave Bloodbath due to "restrictions on his behalf to devote more time and effort to the future of this project that it would require by taking things to the next level i.e. touring and playing live", and his future vision for Bloodbath's concept heading "in the almost opposite direction as his desire for death metal was to be of a less brutal kind". Moreover, up to 2008, the band remained without a vocalist, during which time they held an open audition online, later stating they were appalled because, "so many applications could barely be listened to because of the extreme low quality in talent." However, they also said that while some of the applicants were really good, "criteria on other levels failed." The audition was officially closed on August 2nd, 2006, at the same time as the announcement of Swan?'s departure from the band. The band's future was viewed by most as bleak.

On March 27th the band announced a new line-up and the release new material soon, which would "put elite death metal on the map." On January 30th, 2008, in an unexpected and equally phenomenal development, the band announced that the vocalist on their new mini-CD, titled Unblessing The Purity, would be none other than Mikael ?kerfeldt, and Per ?Sodomizer' Eriksson (ex-21 Lucifers, ex-Genocrush Ferox) would join him on guitars. Their current line-up is:

Mikael ?kerfeldt - vocals
Anders ?Blakkheim' Nystr?m - guitar
Per ?Sodomizer' Eriksson - guitar
Jonas Renkse - bass
Martin ?Axe' Axenrot - drums

On March 7th, 2008, the band announced a return to the stage, co-headlining the Party.San Metal Open Air Festival on August 8th. The mini-CD was released on Peaceville Records on March 10th, 2008. The 'Wacken Carnage DVD' was released shortly after (May 19th, 2008) - almost three years after the actual concert - with the band commenting they were past their "best expiration date" when the project started, and that this concert proves that their "old school principled death metal values remain timeless."

The band headlined Finland's Pellavarock Festival on August 9th and went back into the studio for their third full-length album, The Fathomless Mastery. While it was released to rave reviews in October of 2008, many agree it strays from the "old schoolery" of their previous work.

Official website: http://bloodbath.biz

2) Bloodbath was a thrash / death metal band from Belgrade, Serbia formed in 1988. The band is now disbanded.

Discography:
1989 - Toxic Death (Explosive Records)
1992 - Traumatic Memories (Explosive Records)
1993 - Frustration (SilverCross Records)

Last known line-up:
Damjan - vocals
Stacha - guitars
Kerry - guitars
Vlada - bass
Mengele -drums

Mengele is now a drummer of popular Serbian hardcore reggae band Eyesburn. Eyesburn has toured Europe with SoulFly.

3) Bloodbath was an improvising funk / noise rock / free jazz band. They released only one live album titled "Live Bloodbath Live".

Line-up:
John King - guitar and vocals
Otomo Yoshihide - turntables and guitar
Tatsuro Kondo - keyboards
Takeharu Hayakawa - bass
Jun Aoyama - drums

Guests
Kazutoki Umezu - alto and soprano sax, clarinet and bass clarinet
Koichi Makigami - vocals