Vincent Crowley Art Taylor Shaun Cothron Brandon Howe
Acheron (/ˈækərən,-ɒn/) was an American
death/
black metal band from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that was formed by Vincent Crowley in 1988.[1][2] The band is named after the mythological river
Acheron (
Ancient Greek: Ἀχέρων – Akhérōn) located in the underground kingdom of
Hades in
ancient Greek mythology. They are not to be confused with 1990s Australian death metal band Acheron, nor the 1980s/1990s American power metal band Acheron, nor any of several lesser known European thrash and death metal bands with similar names between the 1980s and the present.
History
Founded in 1988 by vocalist/bassist/songwriter Vincent Crowley[3] (formerly of
Nocturnus, and leader of the Satanic youth group "Order of the Evil Eye"),[4] Acheron's musical output is almost exclusively
Satanic and
Anti-Christian in content. Early albums featured interludes by
Peter H. Gilmore.[4] Crowley was appointed as a priest in the
Church of Satan by its founder,
Anton Szandor LaVey, and began spending a lot of his time debating local televangelists, limiting Acheron's output for a time.[4] He later disassociated himself from the church to act independently.[5]