Members:

Biography

Formed in late 2002 and hailing from the city of Oslo, Norway, Andrè Kvebek (guitar), John Espen Sagstad (guitar) and Eirik Renton (drums) started PANTHEON-I as an outlet for their fascination of extreme and melancholic music. They recorded but never released a 4-track demo (DEMO MMIII) in mid 2003, this demo was for promotional use only. The demo received great response from the metal-underground and different Magazines worldwide. The band entered the studio once again in January 2004 to record 2 songs. These songs were released on a 7” vinyl by the band in September 2004, and once again they received great response worldwide.

After taking in Tor Risdal Stavenes (bass) , Gunhild Mathea Olaussen (violin) and Live Julianne Kostøl (cello) in early 2004 to complete their line-up, the intended sound of PANTHEON I was finally complete! The band started doing live gigs, to spread the fast and brutal music of PANTHEON I to the masses.

In the summer of 2004, PANTHEON I decided to record their first full-length album “Atrocity Divine”. The album consisted of 11 brand new tracks, and was faster and more versatile then the two previous recordings. It took the band almost a year to finish the album due to economically reasons and the fact that the band decided to prioritise live-gigs instead of the record. After completion the album was quickly picked up by “World Chaos Productions” for an early 2006 release.

Eirik decided to leave PANTHEON I in May 2005, as he felt he had lost his inspiration to play drums in extreme metal. Several auditions were spent during the summer of 2005, and they found Dan Theobald from U.K. Blackmetallers “Twisted Autumn Darkness” whose technique and speed took their music to a new level of intensity and brutality. The band decided to record a new 4-track promo-cd and it will be sent out solely for promotional reasons in an attempt to help the band secure more gigs! Gunhild left the band in April 2006. Unable to rehearse and spend enough time on PANTHEON I left here no decision but to leave the band.

The band set to work on their second full-length album during the summer 2006, and in September they signed to Candlelight Records for future releases. PANTHEON I entered the studio in late November 2006 and recorded their second full-length album, entitled “The Wanderer And His Shaodw”. The album came out in early 2007 in USA and Europe, and has received great reviews.

After the release of the second album PANTHEON I focused on playing live, and spent the rest of 2007 playing gigs in Norway while working on new material. At the end of the year PANTHEON I played outside Norway for the first time, as they accompanied Mayhem as the main support band on a 8 gigs tour in France.