Thomas "Quorthon" Forsberg, the visionary founder of BATHORY, was found dead in his Stockholm apartment on June 3rd, 2004, at the age of 38. The cause of death was heart failure. Working almost entirely alone from a Stockholm suburb, Quorthon had single-handedly invented two distinct subgenres of metal. The first three BATHORY albums — "Bathory" (1984), "The Return..." (1985), and "Under the Sign of the Black Mark" (1987) — created the blueprint for Scandinavian black metal that MAYHEM, BURZUM, DARKTHRONE, and an entire Norwegian scene would later build upon. Then, beginning with "Blood Fire Death" (1988) and "Hammerheart" (1990), he invented Viking metal, pioneering clean vocals, choir arrangements, and epic historical themes that ENSLAVED, AMON AMARTH, and MANOWAR would carry forward. Few individuals have shaped extreme metal's DNA as profoundly. His death at 38 remains one of metal's most devastating losses.
