Erik Lindhardt

Erik Magnus Lindhardt grew up in a working-class family in Aarhus, born January 12, 1995. Metal wasn’t just music in his household – it was a way of life. When he found his father’s beat-up acoustic guitar in the attic at age 11, it felt like destiny.

Without money for lessons, Erik taught himself through sheer determination, wearing out online tutorials and borrowing dog-eared music books from the local library. By 14, he’d scraped together enough cash for formal lessons while simultaneously diving deep into extreme metal techniques through workshops and the vibrant Aarhus underground scene.

The Norwegian black metal scene and Gothenburg death metal sound shaped his early playing, particularly bands like Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates. But he wasn’t content to just copy – he was drawn to the melodic threads running through even the most brutal music. During his late teens and early twenties, he bounced between death metal bands, black metal projects, and doom metal groups in Aarhus’s underground scene. These years taught him versatility and how to blend raw aggression with unexpected melody.

His musical perspective shifted when he discovered bands like Dimmu Borgir and Septicflesh. Here was extreme metal that wasn’t afraid to incorporate orchestral elements – it opened up a whole new world. This revelation drove him to study music theory and composition on his own, focusing on how orchestral arrangements could enhance rather than dilute metal’s power.

Meeting Anna Ravnholt in late 2023 through Copenhagen’s metal scene was a meeting of opposites that somehow made perfect sense. His extreme metal background and her classical training could have clashed, but instead they discovered a shared vision: creating symphonic metal that bridged the gap between orchestral grandeur and extreme metal intensity. Together, they founded Grief and The Maiden in early 2024.

His guitar work on “Ashes of Vanity” (May 2024) showcases everything he’d learned – black metal tremolo picking, crushing doom riffs, death metal aggression, all woven together with sophisticated orchestral arrangements. The follow-up, “From Ashes to Starlight” (October 28, 2024), pushed these elements even further.

Erik’s playing is all about versatility. He’ll shift from atmospheric clean passages to devastating riffs without missing a beat, using custom Ibanez guitars with Bare Knuckle pickups through a complex rig of high-gain amps and effects. His songwriting merges the raw aggression of his underground days with the layered complexity demanded by symphonic metal, creating the perfect foundation for Anna’s soaring vocals.

Now living in Copenhagen, Erik maintains a home studio where he continues to participate in various extreme metal projects as a session musician and producer. He’s become known for mentoring younger musicians, helping them find their own voice in the underground scene. Despite his extreme metal roots, he’s a strong advocate for musical diversity. In interviews, he often talks about how working with Anna has expanded his horizons and deepened his appreciation for classical composition.