Kristian Eivind Espedal born 7 August , better known by his stage name Gaahl , is a Norwegian vocalist. He is best known as the former frontman of Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He is also the founder and lead vocalist of Trelldom and Gaahlskagg. Gaahl was born in in Sunnfjord , a district in the county of Sogn og Fjordane , Norway. He spent his youth living in a sparsely populated valley called Espedal , in the municipality of Fjaler.
Gaahl and his family still have homes in the valley, although he now spends much of his time in Bergen. Gaahl became involved with black metal in , when he co-formed the band Trelldom with guitarist Tyrant and bassist Taakeheim. They released a demo in March , with Goat Pervertor on drums.
Gaahl and Tyrant recorded and released Trelldom's first album, Til Evighet , in early , with help from drummer Ole Nic. In , they released the album Til et Annet with drummer Mutt. That year, Gaahl became involved with the bands Sigfader and Gaahlskagg.
The latter included Skagg, Thurzr and Mutt. Sigfader and Gaahlskagg each released an EP in Gaahl joined Gorgoroth in , and was first heard on their fourth album Destroyer , although he only sang on the title track.
He made his live debut in May that year, when Gorgoroth played five dates in Germany alongside Cradle of Filth. The music was entirely written by guitarists Infernus and Tormentor , while the lyrics were written by Infernus and Gaahl; the latter having written the lyrics for the title song and "Ein Eim av Blod og Helvetesild". This was also the first Gorgoroth album to feature elements of industrial , dark ambient , and noise music. Gaahl's imprisonment meant that he was unable to record his vocals until January A police investigation took place with allegations of religious offense which is prosecutable under Polish law and cruelty to animals.
