Stockholm, Sweden

Cited as one of the driving forces behind the ultra-bleak, black metal subgenre depressive suicidal black metal (DSBM), Sweden's Lifelover was formed in 2005 in Stockholm by Jonas Bergqvist and Kim Carlsson. Bergqvist chose the deliberately ironic name Lifelover after being having the phrase hurled at him by an acquaintance he particularly loathed. Combining elements of post-punk, goth rock, dark ambient, and doom metal, Lifelover issued their debut album, Pulver, via Goatowarex in 2006, followed by Erotik (2007), Konkurs (2008), and Sjukdom (2011), the latter of which proved to be the band's last studio album as a result of the accidental overdose death of guitarist/co-founder Bergqvist. ~ James Christopher Monger