The manifestation of MACTÄTUS began in 89/90 by Hate Rodvitnesson (vocals) and Gaut (guitar) under the banner of "Blasphemy" and soon after Ty (guitar) was recruited. For some time the band tried out several members but it wasn't until Mjolne (drums) joined the ranks in '93 till the band found a suitable member. At this time the band decided to change their name to MACTÄTUS, which is Latin for slaughter and sacrifice. The bands meaning behind the name is the sacrifices they make to slaughter the christianity, in their fight against the "divine" light. MACTÄTUS are strongly against christianity and part of the concept of the band is to fight to rid their old pagan kingdom from such a plague. The band name reflects the main elements in the band regarding lyrics, music, individual aims and points of view. Also at this time MACTÄTUS recorded their first demo entitled "In Sorrow" which to this day has remained un-released and probably will never be put out. Not long after this time MACTÄTUS started to make new music and a new demotape was recorded entitled "Sorgvinter" which was recorded in 1996, and this gave the band a deal with the French label, Embassy Productions. MACTÄTUS released one album entitled "Blot" under this label. At the same time the bands first bass player Herr Bukkefot was recruited, Herr left the band shortly after "Blot" was recorded and the band once again had to look for new members for MACTÄTUS. Embassy Productions ripped MACTÄTUS off big time, and they recieved all material from "Blot" around '98 when Embassy Productions went bankrupt. Soon after this MACTÄTUS hooked up with two new members, Forn (synth) and Istar (bass), and recorded a MCD entitled "A Dark Journey" in April '98 for lables only, distributed to a few select lables the band was soon after signed to Austria's NAPALM RECORDS with a 4 album contract. Not long after this MACTÄTUS went into Akkerhaugen Studio to record their first album under NAPALM entitled "Provenance Of Cruelty" with some help from Samoth (Emperor) with producing and the album was released in '99. This is in a way the bands debut album, because Embassy Productions did a really bad job with "Blot" and very few people have heard about that release. "Provenance Of Cruelty" also involved help from Kathrine Abrahamsen, who performed some female vocal parts on the release, she has been involved with many bands in the past, mostly Irish Folk music, and Nocturno Culto of Dark Throne submitted some lyrics for the track "Draped In Shadows Of Satan's Pride" as well as the lyrics on the track "Sleepless Soul" were writen by Tony Abrahamsen, both exclusively for the use of MACTÄTUS. Cover art for the release was the work of Petagno who is known for doing art for bands like Motorhead etc... MACTÄTUS logo was designed by the Riddick Brothers. Soon after "Provenance Of Cruelty" was released MACTÄTUS again faced member problems with the departure of Istar and the band then shortly after recruited a new bassist by the name of Mefistofeles. Both Forn and ex-member Istar play in another band called SVARTAHRID. The year is now 2000 and MACTÄTUS have recorded their new and second full length release for NAPALM RECORDS entitled "The Complex Bewitchment" and should be released around March 2000.
