Hades Almighty is a black metal band from Bergen, Norway. They were formed in 1992, originally under the moniker Hades. They were forced to change their name to Hades Almighty in 1998, following complaints from an American band with a prior claim to the name.
History
Hades were formed in Bergen, Norway in 1992 by former Immortal guitarist Jørn Inge Tunsberg and ex-Dark drummer Remi Andersen; they were later joined by Janto Garmanslund on bass and second guitarist Wilhelm Nagel. Their first demo, Alone Walkyng, was recorded in June 1993 at Grieghallen and produced by Pytten; this demo was later to be re-released on CD through the Italian label Wounded Love in 1996. In 1993, Tunsberg was convicted, along with fellow black metal musician Varg Vikernes, for the burning of a Norwegian church inÅsane, which led to a prison sentence. Following the release of the demo, the band signed with Full Moon Productions and recorded their first album, ...Again Shall Be, again at Grieghallen, in June/July 1994. Around this time, they replaced Nagel with Stig Hagenes on second guitar. Hades recorded their second albumDawn of the Dying Sun at Grieghallen in 1996, which was released through Full Moon in 1997. The band supported the release of this album with extensive touring throughout Europe, as well as in Mexico and the US. In 1998 the band was forced to change their name from Hades to Hades Almighty, following complaints from an American act already with a prior claim to the name. Following the name-change, the band began working on their next album, as well as playing at the Wacken Open Air festival. In September 1998 the band released entered Prolog Studios to record Millenium Nocturne, released under license from Nuclear Blast through Hammerheart. They toured Europe to support of the album with Immortal and Benediction, and a separate spate of gigs in the Benelux region with Mayhem and Primordial. Their fourth album Pulse of Decay was released in 2001 through Psycho Bitch Records. Hades Almighty signed a management contract with Khaoz Productions in 2003, and a record deal with Dark Essence Records in 2004; the label re-released Pulse of Decay in 2004 with bonus tracks and a DVD section including the video for the band's own track "Submission Equals Suicide".
