An off-shoot of Norwegian black metal legends Emperor, Zyklon was founded by guitarist/bassist Zamoth (aka Samoth, as he is known in Emperor), who wanted to focus on the more modern and aggressive aspects of the latter band's style. Compared with Emperor, Zyklon has a more hard-edged and less atmospheric or majestic sound; its members have chosen the broader extreme metal tag, as opposed to black metal, to describe their music. (They have also made a point of distinguishing themselves from Zyklon-B, another, earlier, Emperor off-shoot.) Zyklon was founded in 1998, but their official lineup took a couple of years to fully come together, solidifying in the year 2000 with drummer Trym (also of Emperor) and bassist/lead guitarist Destructhor (Myrkskog) filling in the other instrumental slots. Their first album, World of Worms, came out on Candlelight Records in 2001 with Daemon from Limbonic Art handling lead vocals. The lyrics for World of Worms were written entirely by one-time Emperor drummer Bard "Faust" Eithun, further highlighting the Emperor connection. ~ William York