The band named themselves after the song "Blood Bath" from the album To the Gory End by Cancer. A year after being formed, the band, then consisting of Mikael Åkerfeldt on vocals, Dan Swanö on drums, Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström on guitar, and Jonas Renkse on bass, released their EPBreeding Death, followed two years later by their debut albumResurrection Through Carnage. In 2004, Åkerfeldt left Bloodbath to free up more time for his primary band Opeth. To replace him, Bloodbath brought in Peter Tägtgren. The lineup changed further, with Swanö switching to play the guitar instead of drums. Martin Axenrot took his place and the band was now bigger and more serious, no longer just a secondary project. The band's second full release, Nightmares Made Flesh, was released in Europe in September 2004. In February 2005, Tägtgren left the band due to "conflicting schedules". That same year, Åkerfeldt rejoined the band for a single live show at Germany's Wacken Open Air on August 5. Prior to the show, the band commented on the Wacken show: "Not only the first, but also the last gig for Bloodbath "; later it also turned out to be the last one with Swanö. In September 2005, Bloodbath started searching for a new lead singer. In August 2006, the band announced the departure of Swanö from their ranks due to musical differences, as well as Swanö being busy with other projects. They simultaneously closed the vocal auditions, announcing that no suitable singer had been found. On March 27, 2007, the band announced that a new line-up would shortly be unveiled, along with news that they were producing new material, to be released on a mini-CD towards the end of summer. In August 2007, Renkse wrote a message on the band's official discussion forum which suggested that work was in progress. On January 30, 2008, it was announced via the Bloodbath website that Åkerfeldt would be rejoining the line-up on vocals, along with new member Per Eriksson on guitar. In March 2008, the EP Unblessing the Purity was released. Also released in 2008 was the Wacken live CD/DVD The Wacken Carnage. Bloodbath released their third full-length album, The Fathomless Mastery, in October 2008. On April 25, 2011, Bloodbath released their second DVD, Bloodbath over Bloodstock, which contains their performance at Bloodstock Festival 2010, as well as their 2008 performance at Party San. On November 1, 2011, during the final show of the American Opeth/Katatonia tour at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, MD, Bloodbath performed a surprise encore after Opeth's set. On April 14, 2012, Blakkheim announced that Åkerfeldt officially left the group. Blakkheim has said in multiple interviews that they have a new vocalist set, but they cannot reveal the identity at the moment due to the lack of contract. When asked in one interview whether the new vocalist was known or not, Blakkheim said, "Oh, he's a legend!". On September 16, 2014, the band announced the new Bloodbath vocalist as Nick Holmes from Paradise Lost.
