You need STRID in your life! And collection...

...here on a compilation vinyl from Kyrck Production released in 2007 numbered to 500 copies, my is number 353.

As always Kyrck does something special with their releases. This one comes with a great poster and an amazing insert with pictures from the old days. The color is "haze" don't know about that? To me it looks kind of grayish/black.

It also available on a standard black vinyl but also on a clear LP that's hand numbered to 50 with a different sleeve. It just have a black cover with only the Strid logo on it. I prefer the artwork my copy has of this compilation even if they used the black logo cover artwork on their only demo.

Side-A has every song Strid has ever released. There is actually only 3 songs in total in approx 25 minutes.

Two from the Strid (1994) 7" EP and the one only song from their demo End Of Life (1993).

That might sound cheap but with what they deliver in 11 minutes on the End Of Life song makes it worth buying the entire compilation for alone in my opinion. Of course for the equally great Strid EP songs also.

Side-B has all 5 songs from their second demo Pandemonium (1992) when the band were called Malfeitor.

Not as refined or with the atmospheric mature sound to it as Strid has. But I recommend getting this compilation for the Malfeitor demo also. 

This rather unknown Norwegian Black Metal band started playing in 1991. In Askim a small town near the Swedish border, as Malfeitor. They changed name to Battle for a short while 1992-93. Battle that meaning strid in English, before finally setting with Strid as their name in 1993.

As Malfeitor they released 2 demos the song 666 Hear My Call is featured on both of them. For the time of its release in 1992 the Pandemonium demo sounds amazing both now and then.

They released their only demo as Strid in 1993 the already mentioned demo End Of Life.

Then in 1994 Strid signed with one of my favorite record labels of all time. The short lived (1994-97) German based company Malicious Records. 

Some others that released their debuts albums or EP's on the same label was Dødheimsgard; Zyklon-B; Borknagar; Vond etc. just to name a couple.

So you can see why I hold Malicious Records in such high regard.

The Strid 7" EP was one of the first releases by the record company. Also the first vinyl release, as far as I know on the label.

Strid was only released on the 7" vinyl format. Maybe not the smartest decision either by Malicious and/or the band? This is one of my more wanted 7" releases but the price is hard to justify with me already owning this compilation.

They re-released the demo End Of Life on a single-sided cassette on Malicious Records in 1994. At the era when CD was already established as the standard format for music it might not benefited the band.

When one looks at Strid over at Metal Archives there's a claim that Strid were "creators of the Depressive Black Metal genre". That might be true? It's not a subgenre within the scene that I got most knowledge about really.

Because this isn't something you play when drinking with friends, singing along headbanging to exactly.

Despite my lack of knowledge Strid are a lot better then other bands associated with that DBM genre or whatever it's called in my opinion. Also isn't all Black Metal supposed to be striving for reaching the darkest and invoke certain moods sides of the human mind? 

But speaking of darkness and depression... The original Strid & Malfeitor vocalist/bassist Storm aka. Rot real name Espen Andersen died by suicide in 2001.

Also the original guitarist for both bands Lars Fredrik Bergstrøm died in 2014 at the age of 39.

The members of Strid weren't known in the scene with a bunch of side projects or participated with a lot of other famous bands.

Strid officially quit in 2001 even if the band hadn't been active as far as I know after the 1994 EP.

However in 2009 the Strid returned once again.

With a very prominent guy in the scene Vicotnik on bass & vocals mainly known from his work in the excellent Dødheimsgard but also many more bands like Ved Buens Ende.

Guitarist Ravn Harjar had joined the band in 1994 and played on the Strid EP. He was also shared the vocal duties with Vicotnik.

Joined by members of Strid/Malfeitor the drummer in both bands Lost/Jardar (not the same guy from Old Man's Child) and also the now deceased Lars Fredrik Bergstrøm, both were members until 2014.

They did some shows together, over at www.setlist.fm one can find 2 gigs in 2010 one at John Dee in Oslo and also a one in Finland. It's not the most accurate or reliable source because they played more then those two gigs.

On YouTube you can also see an amazing performance of the song End Of Life with Vicotnik on vocals. It's from 2011 and recorded at Halle 101 in Speyer, Germany.

There's also a video of Nattvandring from the 1994 Strid 7" from the same concert, with guitarist Ravn Harjar on vocals, it's not as good in quality as the other one. But am including both in the post because they are the only Strid live performances I have ever seen or found.

In 2015 the band dissolved after 6 years due to internal conflict but also due to the fact of the death of Lars Fredrik Bergstrøm. But the band reappeared a couple of years later.

The official lineup Strid as of 2017 consists of the new drummer Svein Egil Hatlevik mostly known from his work in the amazing Fleurety. With Vicotnik (bass/vocals), Ravn Harjar (guitar/vocals) and Sigmund Hansen (guitar).

Official t-shirt were sold over at Morbid Wrath Records in 2018. Strid will play live in September this year at the Prophecy Fest 2019 in Balver Höhle, Germany.

That looks like an amazing place for concerts, do a Google search for more pics. Think that would be a very fitting location for their music. It's basically in a cave. Really wish to attend... Who knows... Maybe...

Anyway the story of this Norwegian band Strid is certainly an interesting one.

Had they continued making music after 1994 when vocalist/bassist Storm (Espen Andersen) was still alive they could have been something other then just a cult band for die hard fans like me of the early to mid 90's Norwegian scene.

If you are into albums like Written In Waters (1995) by Ved Buens Ende or Min Tid Skal Komme (1995) by Fleurety you definitely should look into this compilation.

I'm still hopeful that through all the very hard troubles they endured during their career that Strid will be a force to be recon with once again. Hopefully material that's unreleased or unrecorded will be unleashed for all. The legacy of Espen and Lars Fredrik definitely deserves that!