Oscar Karlsson 1976 – 2016

On March 4 the Swedish death metal band Gates Of Ishtar posted on their Facebook page: “It is with much sadness and regret that we have learned that our drummer and friend Oscar Karlsson has passed away at the age of 39. Words cannot express how we feel. Oscar was a fantastic human being and a great friend and he will be dearly missed.”

It is currently unclear and undisclosed what happened but the extreme music scene has lost a great drumming talent at such a young age. Oscar first came onto the worldwide album scene as a teenager with Gates Of Ishtar and played on two of their three albums that were released very close together in the mid to late ’90s; the 1996 debut ‘A Bloodred Path’ and the band’s third and final album before they prematurely broke up, 1998’s ‘At Dusk And Forever’. The band’s debut is regarded by many as one of the finest examples of melodic Swedeath, mixing the razor sharp riffing and melodies much like their countrymen Dissection, At The Gates and Unanimated with the galloping heavy metal and harmonies of classic Maiden with Oscar’s impressive drumming driving the songs along. All … Read More