Having first been influenced by the '80s hardcore and crossover bands, Nihilist were soon introduced to the likes of Death and Kreator; the cross-pollination of influences would soon breed its own virulent new hybrid strain as the so-called "Skogsberg Sound".
Over the years the line-up would feature Johnny Hedlund (guitar), Lars-Göran Petrov (vocals), Matthias Boström (vocals), Uffe Cederlund (guitar), Nicke Andersson (drums), Leif Cuzner (a.k.a. Leffe; guitar), Johnny Hedlund (guitar), Alex Hellid (guitar) and Lars-Göran Petrov (vocals) but they would manage to release only three demos in the form of Only Shreds Remain (1988), Premature Autopsy (1988) and Drowned (1989) before splitting. The Nihilist (1987-1989) compilation followed posthumously in 2005.