Roger Tiegs (born 18 June 1972 in Umeå), better known by his stage name Infernus, is a Norwegian black metal musician and Satanist.[3][4] He is the sole founding member and chief ideologist of the black metal band Gorgoroth, formed in 1992, in addition to being the founder and head of Forces of Satan Records. While mainly a guitarist, Infernus has also participated as bassist, drummer and vocalist on several recordings released both by Gorgoroth and other bands.
Biography
The formation of Gorgoroth
Infernus founded the black metal band Gorgoroth in Sunnfjord in 1992 after allegedly making "a pact with the Devil".[4] The first Gorgoroth demo, A Sorcery Written in Blood, was released in 1993, and led the band to acquiring a record deal with French label Embassy Productions. The first full-length Gorgoroth album, Pentagram, was released in 1994. In the following years, the band experienced several line-up changes, with Infernus being the sole original member to continue in the band. Joining members of black metal bands such as Ulver, Immortal, Enslaved, and Molested, Infernus participated as bassist on Borknagar's self-titled debut album, released in 1996. After signing a deal with German label Malicious Records, Gorgoroth released the albums Antichrist in 1996 and Under the Sign of Hell in1997, with Infernus writing all the music and the majority of the lyrics, in addition to performing both guitar and bass duties on the albums.
Gorgoroth tenure with Nuclear Blast
After the release of Under the Sign of Hell and a European headlining tour in 1997, Gorgoroth was signed by the major German metal label Nuclear Blast. In 1998, Infernus and Gorgoroth-guitarist Tormentor, who had joined the band in 1996, released an album as black metal side project called Desekrator, which also included members of Enslaved and Old Funeral. Infernus wrote the majority of the first two Gorgoroth albums released on Nuclear Blast, Destroyer (1998), and Incipit Satan (2000), while Tormentor, wrote the albums' title tracks. After performing live with Gorgoroth on several festivals and tours both in Europe and South America, Infernus became one of the founding members of the black metal band Orcustus in 2002, a band consisting of members and ex-members of Gorgoroth, Gehenna, and Enslaved. Twilight of the Idols - In Conspiracy with Satan, Gorgoroth's third release on Nuclear Blast, was released in 2003.
Rape conviction
In 2003, Infernus was accused of repeatedly raping a woman for hours with a friend at an after-party in his apartment.[5] He was initially sentenced to three years in prison in 2005, but appealed the sentence and was acquitted of rape but convicted of gross negligent rape and sentenced to one year in prison.[5][6][7] He served four months in prison in the winter of 2006 and 2007 before being released on parole.[6]
Gorgoroth controversy in Kraków and transfer to Regain Records
On 1 February 2004, Infernus and Gorgoroth performed a live show in Kraków, meant to be released on a video album by Metal Mind Productions. Due to the satanic nature of the live show, which featured sheep heads on stakes, "crucified" nude models, satanic symbols and eighty litres of sheep's blood, the band and video producers were accused of breaking the Polish blasphemy laws. The tapes from the concert were confiscated by the Polish police for 4 years, but the concert was finally released on DVD in the summer of 2008 as Black Mass Krakow 2004.[8] In 2005, Infernus and Tormentor, who had quit Gorgoroth in 2002, released a cover version of Von's "Satanic Blood" under the name Norwegian Evil.[9] After leaving Nuclear Blast in 2004, Infernus and Gorgoroth signed on Swedish record label Regain Records, which released the next Gorgoroth album, Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam, in 2006.
Forces of Satan Records
On 6 June 2006 Infernus started his own record label, Forces of Satan Records, dedicated to only releasing albums by bands with a "clear-cut Satanic profile".[10][11] The label's first release was the Gorgoroth live EP Bergen 1996, followed by albums by the Italian black metal band Black Flame, the Brazilian death metal band Ophiolatry, and the Serbian black metal band Triumfall.
Gorgoroth name dispute
In October 2007, singer Gaahl and bassist King attempted to fire Infernus from Gorgoroth, marking the start of the Gorgoroth name dispute. In March 2009, Infernus announced that he had won the rights to the Gorgoroth name following a trial with Gaahl and King.[12] The court stated that King and Gaahl had excluded themselves from the band when they had attempted to fire the guitarist.[12] The court further stated that Infernus cannot be excluded from Gorgoroth unless he himself should decide to quit.[12] With the departure of Gaahl and King, Infernus recruited drummer Tomas Asklund of Dissection and bassist Bøddel of Obituary, as well as former-Gorgoroth vocalist Pest and guitarist Tormentor for the recording of their next album.
Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt and Instinctus Bestialis
Gorgoroth released the album Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt in 2009. Infernus thanked both current and former members of the band, as well as several members of the black metal scene and community in the album's liner notes. In 2015, Gorgoroth released their ninth studio album, Instinctus Bestialis.
Assault and hospitalization
In early August 2023, Infernus was assaulted and hospitalized following Gorgoroth's appearance at the Beyond the Gates Festival in Bergen.[13] The injuries led to an absence from the band's following shows and the cancellation of a planned tour of Mexico in October.[14] Infernus returned to live performances in late November.[15]
Beliefs
Infernus is a theistic Satanist and, as the founding member of Gorgoroth, has built the band on his philosophy and religion, proclaiming himself as 'Satan's Minister on Earth.'[3] When asked in March 2009 about what he specifically practiced, he described it as a Gnostic form of Satanism.[16] In an interview conducted in March 2009 following the conclusion of the Gorgoroth name dispute with former colleagues Gaahl and King of Hell, he explicitly reaffirmed that he was 'the ideological backbone of Gorgoroth.'[17] He has expressed opposition to the Church of Satan based on commercial frivolity, and when asked about this on a couple of occasions in 2009, he also said that he disagreed with their basic values:[17][18]
'Basically, because they reject a theist view upon being. I do not regard man as the center of the universe. These are my views and they are not the views of any humanist or so-called atheist.'[19]
^ ab"Bio/Manifesto". Gorgoroth official website. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007. Gorgoroth was founded by Infernus in 1992 as a strategy to perpetrate sonic and spiritual violence upon the world in order to bring forth change in peoples perception of being therein. Thus, through metal music, Satan's minister on earth summoned an avatar of the forces of darkness and did let it manifestate through a variety of attempts on creating what was perceived as ultimate black metal taking form on stage as well as in a variety of studio recordings. [...] With the devoted presence of the new full-time members Gaahl and King, as well as a not a day too early achieved social and mental fundament for future work, a deal was inked with the german label Nuclear Blast and the band to a bigger extent adopted the position as a live performance act taking upon them several tours worldwide bringing its sinister presence and the word of Satan to new territories...
^ abInfernus (Gorgoroth): Nu-mi pasa de Gaahl - METALHEAD.ro (2009)
^"Interview with Newsweek Poland, 2006". Gorgoroth official website. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007. No, Church of Satan is not for me. They had their thing in the late 60's and 70's rebelling and making it more or less accepted what they were up to, practising some easy to identify with and to defend kind of Satanism openly, bringing it into popular culture transcending music and film industry. What appears to me is that they have a lot of fun and circus going on, and thats good for them. Nevertheless, as a Christian have, I also have a concept of a God, and to me Satanism is not only about some 3 rd force psychological development approach, nor some more spicy humanist attempt to get to grips with things.
