In the Woods ...

T

he history of In The Woods ... dates back to 1990 and the creation of another band, Green Carnation. With that band splintering in 1992, three of the members, Anders Kobro (drums), Christian Botteri (guitars), Christopher Michael Botteri (bass), Jan Kenneth Transeth (vocals) and Oddvar Moi (R.I.P. 2013; guitars) decided to shift direction away from the death metal of that band's early period, and after recruiting new members, In The Woods ... was born. Originally described as black metal, that term was never sufficient description, as the orchestration and experimentations demonstrated a much more varied sound than simple black metal. They preferred a low profile back in the day, often using cryptic pseudonyms frequently neglecting to say who played what, and in general opting for the semi-anonymous mystery band route.

Debuting with Heart of the Ages (1995), In The Woods ... would follow up with Omnio (1997) adding second vocalist Synne Diana Larsen.

Strange in Stereo (1999) saw Christer-André Cederberg take over second guitar. But after releasing the Three Times Seven on a Pilgrimage compilation in 2000, it was announced that a concert in December of that year (later released as Live at the Caledonien Hall in 2003) would be their last.

In 2014 the original core of Kobro and the Botteri brothers regrouped and a new version of In The Woods ... was born with a shift to a more progressive metal style fresh out of Green Carnation (that would also reform soon after).

Adding James Fogarty (vocals/guitars/keyboards/lyrics), Pure would arrive in 2016.

Cease the Day (2018) saw the Botteris go, with Bernt Sørensen and Kåre André Sletteberg taking both guitar slots. Diversum (2022) and Otra (2025) saw Nils Olav Drivdal (bass/keyboards) and Bernt Fjellestad (vocals) joining.