Kristian Eivind Espedal (born 7 August 1975), better known by his stage name Gaahl, is a Norwegian vocalist and painter.
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.
Since leaving Gorgoroth, he has been involved with God Seed, Wardruna, and Gaahls Wyrd.
He was the focus of the documentary True Norwegian Black Metal and also appeared in the film Flukt.
Gaahl was born in 1975 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.
1993
Gaahl became involved with black metal in 1993, when he co-formed the band Trelldom with guitarist Tyrant and bassist Taakeheim.
1994
They released a demo in March 1994, with Goat Pervertor on drums.
1995
Gaahl and Tyrant recorded and released Trelldom's first album, Til Evighet, in early 1995, with help from drummer Ole Nic.
1998
In 1998, they released the album Til et Annet with drummer Mutt.
That year, Gaahl became involved with the bands Sigfader and Gaahlskagg.
The former included Stian Lægreid (Skagg), Tarjei Øvrebotten (Goatboy), Jan Atle Lægreid (Thurzr), Einar Selvik (Kvitrafn) and Mutt.
The latter included Skagg, Thurzr and Mutt.
Gaahl joined Gorgoroth in 1998, 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.
1999
Sigfader and Gaahlskagg each released an EP in 1999.
The first Gorgoroth album to feature Gaahl as main vocalist was Incipit Satan, recorded from July–October 1999.
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.
2002
In 2002, Gaahl was sentenced to 12 months in prison for an assault which took place in 2000, and was ordered to pay the victim 158,000 NOK (about US$25,300).
Gorgoroth began recording their album Twilight of the Idols in May that year.
The incident happened in February 2002 during a late-night party at Gaahl's house in Espedal, when he became involved in a confrontation with a man.
Gaahl was accused of severely beating the man, torturing him for long periods of time and collecting his blood into a cup and threatening to make him drink it.
Gaahl said "I was the one who was attacked, but they think I punished him too hard. As I always say, when people cross my line and I let them know where the line is many steps before they cross it, and still they choose to cross it, then I will be the one to decide what their punishment will be".
He also claimed to have given the man the cup "so that he would not make such a mess in my house with all the blood".
2003
Gaahl's imprisonment meant that he was unable to record his vocals until January 2003.
The album was released in July that year.
2004
In February 2004, Gorgoroth staged a concert in Kraków, Poland, which featured impaled sheep heads, satanic symbols, and a mock-crucifixion performed by naked models doused in blood.
A police investigation took place with allegations of religious offense (which is prosecutable under Polish law) and cruelty to animals.
Though these charges were considered, the band was not charged.
The controversy led to the band being dropped from the Nuclear Blast Tour and the footage of the concert being confiscated by the police.
Following this, Gorgoroth ended their contract with the label.
In May 2004, Gaahl again received a prison sentence, for aggravated assault.
2005
He appealed for a reduced sentence, and in February 2005 he was re-sentenced to fourteen months in prison and ordered to pay the victim 190,000 NOK (about US$30,400) in compensation.
2006
In March 2006, Gaahl recorded vocals for Gorgoroth's next album, Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam.
According to band members, he was in prison from April to December 2006.
2007
In January 2007, Gaahl was the focus of a documentary called True Norwegian Black Metal.
It was shown in five parts on vbs.tv, the broadcast network of Vice Magazine, in April.
