Impious - History

History

Swedish Swedish thrash/death metal band Impious was formed by Valle Adzic and Martin Åkesson in April 1994. The band had some difficulties finding a permanent drummer, so a friend of theirs, Johan, filled in as a session drummer. Shortly after that, Robin Sörqvist joined the band on bass. Impious recorded their debut demo in the summer of 1995, called Infernal Predomination.

Shortly after the recording session, drummer Johan had to quit the band due to lack of time, since he had to do military service. Finding a permanent drummer turned out to be harder than they expected. No drummer was found, so another friend, Marko, filled in, also just as a session drummer. In May 1996 the band recorded their second demo, titled The Suffering, at Los Angered Recording with Andy La Rocque.

Shortly after the recording, a permanent drummer was finally found. Ulf Johansson accepted the job and this was the first time the band had a complete lineup. In the summer of 1997, Impious recorded their third demo called Promo '97. This demo never got to be released. At the same recording session, the band covered a Sepultura song for the tribute album Sepulchral Feast. Impious covered the song "Inner Self". "Promo '97" resulted in a record deal with Swedish label Black Sun Records, and in December 1997, Impious recorded their debut album, Evilized, in Sunlight Studios with producer Tomas Skogsberg. The album was released in the summer of 1998. In October 1998, the band entered Los Angered Recording once again, but this time to cover a Metallica song for the tribute album Metal Militia III. The song "One" was covered.

In January 2000, the band recorded their second album in Studio Mega with engineer Chris Silver. Unfortunately, it took almost a year for Black Sun to release the album. In the summer of 2000, Impious decided to make drastic line-up changes. Martin, who had always sang and played the guitar, quit playing the guitar to concentrate on vocals. Robin switched from bass to lead guitar. There was now no bass player, so Erik Peterson was asked to join the band, and he accepted.

In March 2001, Impious recorded a four song promo in Studio Mega. The promo was sent to different labels with the intention to get a new deal. Impious then decided to sign a deal with Hammerheart Records.

In February 2002, drummer Ulf Johansson left the band, just five weeks before the recording of the new album. Impious hired in Mikael Norén, and in a few weeks he had learned all 10 songs for the new album. In March 2002, the band recorded their third album, The Killer, once again at Studio Mega with Chris Silver. Also an MCD was recorded later that year, including "The Deathsquad" from the album The Killer, plus a re-recorded version of "Extreme Pestilence" from Evilized, plus three covers from Metallica, Running Wild and Mötley Crüe, along with two songs from their "Promo 2001". This MCD was released in January 2003 when the band went on a European tour together with Necrophobic and Satariel.

In February 2004, Impious paid respect to the fathers of death metal, Possessed, by appearing on the tribute album Seven Gates of Horror together with bands as Cannibal Corpse, Sadistic Intent, Vader, Sinister, Angel Corpse and Amon Amarth. Also in February 2004, Impious signed a worldwide deal with Metal Blade Records.

During the time between May and July, Impious recorded their fourth album Hellucinate at Studio Mega, except all vocals and solos which were recorded at Valle Adzic's own Deadline Studio.