Shatraug

Ville Pystynen
Birth name Ville Petteri Pystynen
Also known as Shatraug, Hellseeker, Malice Pooper, Ghoul, Fornicator, Skaldi Shatraug
Born Finland
Genres
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • bass guitar
  • keyboards
  • drums
Years active 1993–present
Labels
  • Grievantee Productions
  • Hammer of Hate
Associated acts
Website horna666.com

Ville Pystynen, also commonly known by his main stage name, Shatraug, is a Finnish-born musician. In 1993, he formed the Finnish black metal band Horna. Besides Horna, Pystynen has played in several bands of different genres of metal. He founded and has played bass and guitar for Sargeist since 1999, and guitar for Behexen since 2009. Ville also has several solo and smaller projects which, in some, he plays all instruments and sings for.

Pystynen has a wide interest in playing instruments, being a live session musician, as well as writing lyrics. He is also trained in programming, mixing and engineering music. It is important to note that he owns a record label by the name Grievantee Productions, which several bands belong to. Ville also owns his own recording studio.

Ville is said to be inspired by Quorthon and has stated that Bathory has a massive influence on Horna's existence. He has also said to be inspired by bands such as Impaled Nazarene, Emperor and Darkthrone.[1]

Work as a lyricist

Ville writes most of Horna's lyrics in Finnish with many recurring themes. Apart from usual black metal themed lyrics, Pystynen writes about fantasy and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.[2] For example, Kohti Yhdeksän Nousua (Towards Rising of the Nine) refers to Tolkien's ring wraiths, and 'A Ring to Rule' (which is uncommonly written in English) from the 1999 EP Perimä Vihassa Ja Verikostossa, regards the One Ring. There are also some Horna lyrics which regard themes from World War II, for example, Oi Kallis Kotimaa (O'Precious Fatherland) from Musta Kaipuu.

According to Shatraug, a large record label approached Horna and attempted to negotiate with them to join their label. Pystynen refused, however, as the label wanted them to use more lyrics in English.

Life outside music

Ville belonged to the Finnish military service in 2000.[3] He was kicked out, however, for being violent toward a commanding officer. He is also the father of two children.

Discography

Horna
Main article: Horna § Discography

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.