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Samoth
Samoth on Metalmania 2007
Background information
Birth name	Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen
Also known as	Samoth
Genre(s)	Heavy metal, Black metal
Occupation(s)	Musician, Songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, Bass guitar, Drums
Associated acts	Emperor, Zyklon

Samoth (born Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen in 1974) is a prominent musician in the Norwegian black metal scene. He is well known for his distinct guitar work in the band Emperor, as well as his formation of the death metal band Zyklon. In very early releases, he was called Samot, and with the formation of Zyklon he became known as Zamoth. Samoth is the owner of the record label Nocturnal Art Productions.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Equipment 3 In the Nightside Eclipse Studio Kit 4 Wrath of the Tyrant Demo Studio Kit 5 Reverence Kit 6 Personal discography 7 External links

Samoth's first instrument was drums at age 3. He later picked up the Guitar and Bass Guitar at age 5. When Samoth was a young man, he met a fellow musician, who would later become known as Ihsahn, at a rock clinic. The two soon became friends and started playing music together. They formed a band and moved through various names – they were called Dark Device, Xerasia, and finally Embryonic. The group eventually settled on the name Thou Shalt Suffer in 1991. They were playing an early form of black metal strongly influenced by death metal, particularly vocally.

Samoth and Ihsahn's friendship proved to be strong, however, and eventually the two took their musicianship to a new level. Partly due to the influence of Euronymous of the band Mayhem, Samoth dissolved Thou Shalt Suffer and began writing music for a new band called Emperor (in which he played drums). Ihsahn was the only member of Thou Shalt Suffer to remain, and soon bass player Mortiis and drummer Faust were recruited; Samoth moved back to his more familiar position of guitar. At this point, the group was playing fully developed black metal. Emperor was quick to release several demos in 1992 and 1993, which gained them recognition and popularity in the underground.

Around this time, Samoth, then-Emperor bassist Tchort, members of the band Mayhem and Varg Vikernes (Burzum) went on a spree of church arsons that struck fear in Norway during the early-mid 90s. Samoth and Tchort were arrested and given jail sentences, which put Emperor in a bit of a stand-still; they would not release their second album for another three years as the rest of the band awaited Samoth's parole. Tchort would not return to the band.

After years of playing in Emperor and being featured on various black metal side projects, Samoth, in conjunction with Ihsahn, decided to dissolve Emperor in 2001 due to their differing musical tastes. Samoth was leaning toward a futuristic death metal sound, while Ihsahn was more influenced by gothic metal and symphonic metal. After Emperor's final release, Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise, composed entirely by Ihsahn, Emperor was no more. Samoth continues to play guitar with fellow drummer Trym in black/death metal band Zyklon.

Emperor regrouped late 2003 with the core trio of Ihsahn, Samoth and Trym augmented by a bassist and a keyboardist. Samoth played drums for Emperor from late 2003 - 2005 and switched back to guitar in 2006.

Recently Samoth was involved in Norwegian-American supergroup Scum, which also featured Bård Faust, Cosmocrator of Mindgrinder, Chasey Chaos of Amen and Happy Tom from Turbonegro.

He has one daughter with ex-wife Andrea M. (Nebel) Haugen. He remarried since his divorce.

Samoth also did voicework for 2007's Metalocalypse episode "Dethfashion".

Samoth played drums on the Satyricon track "The Dawn of a New Age" from the album Nemesis Divina.

Amplifiers: ENGL Powerball, Marshall JCM 2000, Peavey 5150, Vader Cabinets

Guitars: ESP Eclipse II, ESP EX-400 w/ Diamond Plate, ESP V-500, Jackson DK1, Jackson RR1, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, ESP Les Paul, B.C. Rich Warlock

Basses: B.C. Rich Warlock, Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, Peavey Custom Shop 5 String

Drums: Pearl MMX Masters, OCDP Pro

Cymbals: Paiste Dimensions, RUDE, Signature, 2002

Pedals: Pearl Eliminators w/ Tama Iron Cobra wood beaters or Pearl Quad beaters

Heads: Remo

• Bass Drum: Clear Powerstroke 3 / Clear Emperor
• Snare Drum: Coated Ambassador / Coated Emperor / Coated Emperor X
• Toms: Clear Emperor

Sticks: Ahead 7A, Vic Firth SD1 General

Microphones:

• Bass = Audix D6, Audio Technica clip-on
• Snare = Audix i5, Sennheiser Snare Condensor
• Toms = Audio Technica ATM-350 clip-on, Sennheiser MD441

Accesories:

• Danmar PDKP Bass Drum Impact Pad
• Danmar Metal Kick Bass Drum Impact Pad
• Ahead Drummer's Gloves
• Ahead Grip Tape

• Pearl MMX Masters Drums (Emerald Burst w/Black Hardware)
  • 22" x 18" Bass Drum (x2)
  • 13" x 6.5" Steel Snare Drum
  • 8" x 8" Mounted Tom
  • 10" x 9" Mounted Tom
  • 12" x 10" Mounted Tom
  • 16" x 16" Floor Tom
  • 18" x 16" Floor Tom
• Paiste Cymbals (customized that all cymbals have Paiste signature logo in black ink)
  • 14" RUDE Hi-Hat
  • 16" RUDE Crash/Ride
  • 17" RUDE Crash/Ride
  • 8" Signature Splash
  • 9" RUDE Cup Chime
  • 18" RUDE Crash/Ride
  • 18" RUDE China
  • 20" RUDE Power Ride
  • 19" RUDE Crash/Ride

• Pearl MMP Masters Premium (Green Sparkle w/ black hardware)
  • 22" x 18" Bass Drum (x2)
  • 14" x 5" Birch Snare Drum
  • 10" x 8" Mounted Tom
  • 12" x 9" Mounted Tom
  • 13" x 10" Mounted Tom
  • 16" x 16" Floor Tom
  • 18" x 16" Floor Tom
• Paiste Cymbals
  • 14" 2002 Sound-Edge Hi-Hat
  • 16" Dimensions Power Crash
  • 17" 2002 Crash
  • 10" Signature Splash
  • 8" Signature Splash
  • 18" Dimensions Power Crash
  • 20" 2002 Rock Bell Ride
  • 20" 2002 China

• OCDP Pro (Jet Black w/ black hardware)
  • 22" x 18" Bass Drum (x2)
  • 13" x 6.5" Maple Snare Drum
  • 8" x 7" Mounted Tom
  • 10" x 8" Mounted Tom
  • 12" x 9" Mounted Tom
  • 13" x 10" Mounted Tom
  • 14" x 12" Mounted Tom
  • 16" x 16" Floor Tom
  • 18" x 16" Floor Tom
  • 14" x 12" Marching Snare Drum
• Paiste Cymbals (custom coated in white)
  • 14" RUDE Hi-Hat
  • 16" RUDE Crash/Ride
  • 18" RUDE China
  • 17" RUDE Crash/Ride
  • 8" Signature Splash
  • 6" Signature Splash
  • 8" Exotic Percussion Cup Chime / 8" 2002 Cup Chime
  • 18" RUDE Crash/Ride
  • 13" Signature Power Hi-Hat
  • 20" Dimensions Powerbell Ride (discontinued)
  • 18" RUDE China
  • 14" Signature Thin China
  • 13" Exotic Percussion Mega Cup Chime / 13" Signature Mega Cup Chime

• Thou Shalt Suffer - Into the Woods of Belial [Demo] - (1991) (Guitar)
• Thou Shalt Suffer - Open the Mysteries of Your Creations [Demo] - (1991) (Guitar)
• Emperor - Wrath of the Tyrant [Demo] - (1992) (Drums)
• Ildjarn - Seven Harmonies of Unknown Truths (Demo) - (1992) (session vocals)
• Emperor - Emperor / Hordanes Land [Split w Enslaved] - (1993) (Guitar)
• Burzum - Aske [EP] - (1993) (session bass)
• Emperor - As the Shadows Rise [EP] - (1994) (Guitar)
• Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse - (1994) (Guitar, Bass, Drums)
• Gorgoroth - Pentagram - (1994) (Bass)
• Satyricon - The Shadowthrone - (1994) (Bass)
• Satyricon - Nemesis Divina - (1996) (Drums on track 1)
• Arcturus - Constellation [EP] - (1995) (Guitar)
• Zyklon-B - Blood Must Be Shed [EP] - (1994) (Guitar)
• Emperor - Reverence [EP] - (1997) (Guitar, Bass, Drums)
• Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk - (1997) (Guitar)
• Hagalaz' Runedance- The Winds That Spoke of Midgard's Fate-(1998) (War drums, violas and contrabass)
• Emperor - Thorns Vs. Emperor [Split] - (1999) (Guitar and bass)
• Emperor - IX Equilibrium - (1999) (Guitar)
• Zyklon - World ov Worms - (2001) (Guitar)
• Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise - (2001) (Guitar)
• Zyklon - Aeon - (2003) (Guitar)
• Notodden All Stars - Valfar, ein Windir - (2004) (guitar on cover of "Destroy")
• Scum - Gospels for the Sick- (2005) (Guitar)
• Zyklon - Disintegrate - (2006) (Guitar)

• Emperor Official Homepage - The famous black metal band which Samoth founded.
• Zyklon Official Homepage - Samoth's black/death metal band.
• Nocturnal Art Productions - Samoth's record label.

Arcturus
Steinar Sverd Johnsen | Jan Axel Blomberg | Knut Magne Valle | Hugh Mingay | Simen Hestnæs | Tore Moren
Kristoffer Rygg | Carl August Tidemann | Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen | Marius Vold | Dag F. Gravem | Øyvind Hægeland
Albums
Aspera Hiems Symfonia | La Masquerade Infernale | The Sham Mirrors | Sideshow Symphonies
EPs
My Angel  | Constellation  | Constellation LP
Compilations/DVD's/Bootlegs
Reconstellation  | Disguised Masters  | Aspera Hiems Symfonia/Constellation/My Angel  | Shipwrecked In Oslo
Labels
Putrefaction Records | Nocturnal Art | Ancient Lore | Century Black | Misanthropy Records | Music For Nations | Candlelight Records | The End Records | Jester Records | Season of Mist
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