Khold was formed in Oslo, Norway in 2000, by Sarke and Gard. These two musicians came from the band Tulus, and Khold was formed because of a desire to be a "real band", with a steady, complete lineup and opportunities to play live shows. They recruited two musicians to fit the empty slots: Rinn and Eikind. A demo was recorded, and late 2000 Khold was signed by Moonfog. The first Khold album, Masterpiss of Pain, was released in 2001, with a critic referring to the album as a "fresh breath upon the black metal scene". Later in the year, Khold went touring in Europe to support the album. Khold's second album, Phantom, was released in 2002 on Satyr from Satyricon's Moonfog label. Since Khold at that time did not have a bass player after Eikind left the previous year, former Tulus bassist Sir Graanug was hired for the Phantom sessions. Brandr was then helping out for a couple of gigs until Grimd joined later in the year. In the same year, Khold joined forces with Satyricon on a Nordic tour. They once again joined Satyricon for another six weeks on a European tour the following year. In late 2003, Khold recorded their third albumMørke gravers kammer, and also made a music video for the song "Død". The album was released in 2004, through Candlelight Records. The following year, Khold went on yet another Norwegian tour. Both Phantom and Mørke gravers kammer were nominated for the Alarm award in the respective years of their release. In 2005, Khold recorded their fourth album, Krek, which was released on 10 October by Tabu Records. In 2006, Khold was put on a hiatus for an undetermined length of time. The reason given was that the members needed time to think. Gard and Sarke continued Tulus, and Rinn built a studio to record/produce bands, as well as continuing with Sensa Anima. Khold returned in 2008 with a new album, Hundre År Gammal, which was released on 9 June. After returning to the live scene in 2011 at the Wacken Open Air festival Khold has been playing a couple of festivals each year. In 2014 Khold released yet another critically acclaimed album entitled 'Til Endes' and continue to perform at festivals throughout Europe and the US.
Style
Lyrical style
Drummer Sarke explained their lyrical style thus:
Our lyrics deal much about death and what surrounds death. Always the old way: sickness, mad people, ancient beliefs and so on. Hildr writes our lyrics and she does it very well. The reason we have Norwegian lyrics is because it fits our music better and gives us more inspiration to make dark, cold music.
Regarding the religious aspect often present in black metal, Sarke noted:
We are not into Jesus or whatever; we write our own stories. We can of course use the name God or Satan in our lyrics. If so, its just a part of a story. I can't understand why people still believe in that shit.
Musical style
Khold play their music in a raw and primitive manner, using only guitar, bass guitar and drums. The lyrics are all written in ancient Norwegian, with the intention of enhancing the songs' concepts. Their music has been described as "black 'n' roll" by some.
