Cadaver

Formed in the Norwegian town of Fredrikstad in 1988 by singer/drummer Ole Bejerkebakke, guitarist Anders Odden, and bassist Rene Janssen, death metal band Cadaver arrived a tad bit too early to take part in their country's heavy metal coming of age: the infamous "inner circle" crimes, which saw overzealous black metal musicians committing criminal acts ranging from arson to murder.

Predating this horrific national pastime, as well as the black metal surge which propelled it, the group's challenging, but traditional death metal sound was very reminiscent of English grindcore legends Carcass, whose guitarist, Bill Steer, heard their "Abnormal Deformity" demo and helped them get a deal with Earache Records imprint Necrosis. Cadaver's 1990 debut, Hallucinating Anxiety, didn't disappoint. Besides offering an impressive array of songs containing expertly executed, highly inventive death metal (even a tuba could be heard on one track), its grotesque cover artwork — featuring a rotting piece of maggot-encrusted flesh — fulfilled all grindcore prerequisites to boot. Eilert Solstad replaced Janssen soon after the album's release, bringing his very unconventional double bass into the group's already fervent sonic equation, and second guitarist Espen Sollum was added a few months later as well. 1992 saw the release of Cadaver's equally accomplished second full-length, In Pains, but despite their show of promise, the band slowly drifted into obscurity over the next few years, never to return. However, guitarist Anders Odden would return nearly a decade later with a new project called Cadaver Inc..