History & Biography Graveland is the band of one Rob Darken who professes hatred for Christianity, belief in white supremacy and affection for his Polish heritage. Oddly his alias and the band's monicker are not in Polish. Still he has often espoused his adherence to the ideals of an "Aryan empire." The solo project was formed in the winter of 1991 and came to the underground's attention with the Necromanteion and Drunemeton demos of 1992. Further lo-fi tapes entitled Epilogue and In The Glare Of Burning Churches would later be pressed professionally. During this time Robert would contribute to Behemoth’s demos. In 1993, drummer Capricornus (who would later have much trouble with the law) joined Graveland followed by Karcharoth in 1994. Despite this only Darken is a true member with the latter leaving the band in a bitter dispute and committing suicide in 2004. These musicians were also the core members of Infernum.
Darken would promote The Temple Of The Fullmoon in the mid-‘90s as a self-proclaimed Satanic organization. He would also run Isengard Distribution.
Thousand Swords was released by Austria's Lethal Records, which Darken later accused of theft. Darken told multiple interviewers including Ichorzine that, "We knew that fucking Michael Piesch was a thief and liar, but we signed a contract and you know what happened later. But this matter is still open. Vienna is not so far away from Wroclaw. This fucking scoundrel will know our hatred soon. In underground there are many shitty rip-offs, poseurs and scums of society." Darken would also accuse Osmose and Nuclear Blast of misdeeds and added, "Big commercial labels stink of Jewish shit." The group found a home in the racist No Colours Records. Following The Voice Of Blood featured the song White Hand's Power by convicted murderer Hendrik Möbus (a.k.a. Jarl Flagg Nidhögg) of the band Absurd from Germany. Immortal Pride was a softer album with much keyboard-orientation and a Viking theme.
Lord Winds is a folk rock band. In 2001 Darken released a split-CD with Polish skinheads Honor through the white power Resistance Records. The band’s Pamięć I Przeznaczenie of 2012 was a rerecorded Memory And Destiny through new label Warheart. A 2013 compilation of early materials was (again) called In The Glare Of Burning Churches and featured liner notes by Nergal of Behemoth. Darken, however, had told Ichorzine in 1997, "They just only copy Norwegian bands" and "Behemoth is popular among pacifistic antifascist organizations and submen from underground who wants to destroy us. I despise them and I remind you that Behemoth does not represent Polish black metal scene and Nergal, this fucking scoundrel, goes to Norway to look for friend, because in Poland he does not have any. Nergal is not worth of representing Polish black metal scene because he despise it." 2014’s Ogień Przebudzenia was a new version of The Fire Of Awakening. Darken changed the entirety of his backing band in 2015.
The Messe Des Morts festival, which was scheduled to take place in Montreal, Canada on Saturday, November 26th 2016 was cancelled “for safety reasons” following a campaign and protest by anti-fascist organizers against Poland’s Graveland, which is a NSBM and white supremacist band. This would have been Graveland’s first show in Canada. Pagan Cult Never Dies Guatemala was taped in Guatemala City in 2017. Pagan Cult Never Dies was taped in Ecuador. The band and Commander Agares issued a split in 2022. The band also appeared at Finland’s Steelfest alongside Entombed, A.R.G. and many others. The festival’s poster omitted billing Graveland’s presence. Live In France was released independently in 2023. No Colours Records gave Thousand Swords its almost annual rerelease in late 2023. The band also announced entitled The Temple Of Infernal Fire, another compilation with the usual imitation cover versions and a new record for No Colours.
Darken married Russian singer Olga Lantseva in 2016 and installed her as the vocalist for Lord Wind.
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