Necrophobic was a Swedish death metal band formed in 1989 by drummer Joakim Sterner and guitarist David Parland. The pair played with a revolving-door lineup of musicians before the permanent addition of guitarist Martin Halfbahn prior to recording their debut album, The Nocturnal Silence, in 1993. Following the addititon of vocalist/bassist Tobias Sidegard, Necrophobic released the four-song Spawned By Evil in 1996 as a teaser for the full-length release Darkside, which bowed later that same year. Third Antichrist was released in fall 2000 through Black Mark Records, but it marked the fourth release from the group to be mishandled by their US distributors. A switch to Hammerheart Records led to Bloodhymns, the first of their traditional death metal releases to see American shores through the label.