Daniel Rostén in 1993 had a solo band called Winds but never released anything and would later dissolve the project. Rostén joined Funeral Mist under the "Arioch" pseudonym as bassist in the summer of 1994, before the band's first demo recordings. Once all old members left, Rostén led the band and recorded the second demo Havoc in summer/autumn 1996 with the new drummer Necromorbus. With Necromorbus, Rostén would also record and release the EP Devilry in 1998 through Shadow Records. Rostén would later bring guitarist Nachash to record Salvation, Funeral Mist's debut album, which was released through Norma Evangelium Diaboli in 2003. Arioch also played guitar and sung in Triumphator in the 1990s and contributed the lyrics to the French band Antaeus' song Sanctus, released on De Principii Evangelikum in 2002. Rostén and his social circle were notorious in the Stockholm metal scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to their antisocial activities. Rostén runs Holy Poison Design, a graphic design company which has done artwork for a variety of black metal artists, most notably Teitanblood, Ofermod and Behemoth, as well as being Marduk's in-house graphic artist for their albums' artworks and merchandise since 2007.
Marduk and other projects (2004 onward)
In 2004, Rostén joined Marduk as vocalist prior to the completion of the band's album Plague Angel, replacing longtime vocalist Legion. Marduk's founder and guitarist Morgan Håkansson had contributed the lyrics to the Triumphator song Heralds of Pestilence. Mortuus introduced a decidedly distinct and different vocal style to Marduk to that of his predecessor, and it was due to his credentials as vocalist in Funeral Mist that Håkansson contacted Rostén by telephone. After careful consideration Rostén accepted Håkansson's offer to join Marduk. In contrast to Legion, Håkansson has stated that Rostén has shared his interest in enthusiasm for Marduk's lyrical content, which has notably consisted of subject matter such as Biblical tales, Third Reich history and World War II. In 2012, Mortuus also sang on Merrimack's album The Acausal Mass, as the band's member Perversifier stated after Rock Hard journalist Jan Jaedike compared some of Merrimack's material to "the least comfortable stuff of Marduk with Mortuus". He was not mentioned in the album's booklet though because Merrimack did not want to use his name for promotion. In 2009 Rostén released the second Funeral Mist record Maranatha, which he followed up with a compilation; Trisagion in 2013, and the third Funeral Mist album, Hekatomb in 2018. In 2012 he also started a new solo project called DomJord, which focuses on electronic music but didn't release its debut album Sporer until March 13th, 2020 through Vidfare Productions in collaboration with Norma Evangelium Diaboli and The Ajna Offensive.
Controversy
In December 2009 Rostén, while performing live at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, a shirtless fan who was drunk approached Rostén onstage trying to hug him, Mortuus grabbed the man by the head, flipped him over onto his back on the stage, and pushed him off it. This incident was recorded on video and was subject to mixed reception from observers. In April 2018, Mortuus and Marduk drummer Fredrik Widigs were accused of purchasing items from the Nordic Resistance Movement, a Swedish neo-Nazi organization, after sale records for various purchases were uncovered, including Mortuus and Widigs' real names, personal email addresses, and shipment records confirmed the material was shipped to their home addresses. The items included stickers and flyers promoting the NMR and the books "Our Way - The Nordic Party Movement Party Program" and "National Socialism - The Biological Worldview". Marduk denied these claims on their official Facebook page stating, "No Marduk member has ordered anything from the website in question, or ever had any form of interaction with the organisation operating it. This is all we have to say about the matter."
Views on black metal
Arioch points out that "A band that claims to play Black Metal must always have Satanism and nothing but Satanism as the highest priority in their music and concept as well as in their personal lives" and that neither the voice, nor the sound and musical style make a black metal band. He considers "estructive Satanism and fanatic Devil worship" to be "the very foundation of everything labelled 'Black Metal'".
