Angry Metal Guy

OK. So, my friend just updated his status on Facebook saying that, indeed, Pain of Salvation is going to be participating in Melodifestivalen, which Daniel Gildenlöw describes in detail in his blog post from the band’s website:

After the flights back to Sweden we had less than 24 hours at home before taking off for Australia. During those few hours I had to pack, take a bath and prepare the audio CDs and mixes for Melodifestivalen. For those who don’t know what Melodifestivalen is, it is the biggest thing in the Swedish music industry. A huge machinery built to single out the Swedish contender for the Eurovision Song Contest. Out of thousands and thousands of sent in songs, 30 are selected by a jury to participate in this national contest, viewed by half the population when it’s on TV. It’s a big thing, to say the least! Do you recall a week with two Thursdays, some two months back? It was that day when hell froze over, remember? That was the day they told us Pain of Salvation would be participating in Melodifestivalen. It just doesn’t happen.

For those of you who are not familiar with Eurovision or, the preliminaries that are Melodifestivalen, these things are about as metal as, say.. American Idol. That is to say, they are not fucking metal at all. They’re not metal even a little bit. There is not a shred of metal in this stuff. “Sure,” you say, “but Lordi got famous because of Eurovision!” To which I respond “Exactly!” Lordi, while funny, is certainly not a band that anyone over the age of 8 takes seriously at all. And that should give you the idea of what it means that Pain of Salvation, the progressive rock idols that are incredibly well loved in the prog scene (the word “overrated” almost comes to mind, though they are exceptionally talented), are going to be in Melodifestivalen.

The best part about this whole thing is the interview on the SVT site.

Even if you can’t understand Swedish you should check out the end where they slaughter this song (which I was informed of by Angry Metal Girlfriend, who totally knows this stuff.. haha)

Though, he points out thoughtfully that Lena Philipsson should have won with that song, and after listening to it I think he’s absolutely right. One wonders if Daniel Gildenlöw can dance like she can… If so, maybe they can pull off the big upset.

I kyped this from Blabbermouth ’cause they had it first:

Fredrik “North” Norrman (guitar) and Mattias “Kryptan” Norrman (bass) have both left Sweden’s KATATONIA. The band states, “We respect their decision and would like to take the opportunity to collectively thank them both for all the years gone by, all the ups and downs we shared out on the road, in the studio and basically the memories and moments we shared of our 20s growing up together.

“Fredrik was with us for 15 years and Mattias for 10 years and we were lucky to have the same intact lineup going since 1999, but it’s true what they say — all good things come to an end.

“We also know that out of the ashes of a setback new possibilities open up. We’ve already found temporary replacements for the upcoming tours and this will not affect any of our agenda or plans for 2010. Currently filling in for Fredrik on guitar will be longtime guitar tech and also guitarist of BLOODBATH, Mr. Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson while we have Niklas ‘Nille’ Sandin filling Mattias‘ shoes on bass until we decide how to move on with the replaceable positions on a permanent long-term.”

The Norrman brothers have released the following statement regarding thier decision to leave KATATONIA:

Fredrik: “This is definitely the hardest decision I’ve ever made. It’s absolutely grievous to say the words ‘quit KATATONIA,’ even worse to make it happen.

“It’s been 15 really good years and I would like to thank the guys in the band and all people that I’ve meet on the road. I’ll now watch KATATONIA from your side.”

Mattias: “It’s with great sadness I have decided to leave KATATONIA after 10 fantastic years.

“This decision was probably the toughest I have ever made. The reason for this is many small factors that makes it hard for me to be away from home this forthcoming year. It’s going to be a lot of touring in the future so the time for this desicion had to be done now. And I will point out that there is no personal argue between us in the band, just that the time for touring isn’t right for me… This is not what I wanted, but family always comes in the first place.

“I would like to thank Jonas, Anders, Daniel, Fred and our crew for all those years together. It has truly been the best in my life. And a big thanx to all fans and all good friends I have made out there. You are the best and you will be missed…

“I really hope that one day when the time is right be able to continue the journey with the band.

“I wish all the best to you guys!! I’m really gonna miss the life on the road with you!”

Marionette – Enemies
Rating: 2.0/5.0 – Blasé and derivative, show it to your 12 year old brother to get him into better music later
Label: Listenable Records
Website: myspace.com/marionettesweden
Release Dates: EU: Out Now! | US: 2010 release in the works

Marionette may well be Sweden’s very first deathcore band!  Well, I guess there could be others, but i’ve not been exposed to them (and frankly, I’m pretty OK with that).  Some trends miss Sweden, like nu-metal did for the most part, but unfortunately this one didn’t.  So there are a couple of things that I need to say up front, for people not familiar with the context with which Marionette will be dealt.  First, the biggest thing in the Swedish underground right now is Japanese stuff.  Kids are running off and learning Japanese; everyone and their dog is listening to bands like Dir En Grey and girls decked out in lolita garb are running around in parks playing with dolls and having picnics with every piece of pink they can gather together. This is a trend, and it is a matter of conforming to specific things that are very specific to individuals in that scene.  In fact, people from that scene are, in my experience, highly judgmental, obsessed with outward appearance, cliquey and lame.  So something in my brain breaks when I have 5 over-dressed glam kids with too much hairspray and neckties screaming “YOU CONFORM!” at me, while playing music that sounds like a blend of In Flames and good ol’ American deathcore.  That is to say: ugh.

This record has been well-received because of it’s well-produced, crushing blend of melodic death metal with the chug heavy, breakdown-infused core.   Actually, the reviews have been extremely positive and I find that to be surprising, because this CD makes my brain react like Teflon: everything just slips right off of it.  Every hook, breakdown and screamed word reach my ears and make my brain go “Yup.  Sooo… Think Sports Center is on?”  I find myself zoning out somewhere in the middle of this album, only to awake when it goes off, having never noticed that the second half of the record has already played and I’ve not heard it.  I actually went back and started this record over at the halfway mark and stopped doing other things in order to be able to actually hear the rest of the record.

Enemies is, of course, smooth as hell.  It was produced by Fredrik Nordström, and the band is obviously talented players.  However, there isn’t anything novel or interesting about this album aside from the occasional keyboard melody or guitar melody that catches your ear, Enemies is an exercise in “in one ear and out the other.”   The lyrics, from what I can tell, are fairly boring and narcissistic (självupptagen) and the vocalist sounds like a mix of that Gothenburg sound and metalcore and deathcore bands from all over the globe.

All of that said, Marionette is the perfect gateway band to extreme metal for a new generation of post-emos who only listen to bands that wear makeup.  These guys are slick as hell, they’ve got groove and melody that the kids will like and if they’ve never heard real metal up until now, they’ll probably think they’re really great.  Like all gateway bands, they’ll eventually get left behind for heavier pastures, but that catchy approach will probably serve them well in the grand scheme of things.

I had a scheduled interview with Evile in Stockholm, but so sadly the bassist for that band passed away from an acute illness that he contracted in Luleå, Sweden on the 5th of October.   Mike Alexander died at the age of 32, and just as they were starting a big European tour with metal monsters Amon Amarth.  Obviously my condolences go out to the band and the family.  That fucking sucks.

Here’s the official statement:

Sadly, just a few days into their European tour with Amon Amarth, Evile’s Mike Alexander was suddenly taken ill and rushed to hospital, but tragically passed away in Luleå, Sweden.

Evile members Matt Drake, Ol Drake and Ben Carter have released the following statement:

“This is so hard to find the words to express fully how we feel. We can’t believe or accept what’s happened. One minute we’re talking to our buddy, Mike, the next minute we can never speak to him again.

There’s so many things rushing through our heads that we want to say, do and feel. We half expect him to come round the corner and call us ‘dickheads’. We can’t get our heads around it.

It upsets us so much that he was away from his family when this happened, although knowing Mike, we’re at least glad he was on tour doing what he loves.

We’re lost for words. We all miss him so much already. He was such a headstrong, genuinely nice guy who loved music and his family. We’ve got so many brilliant memories with him.

Our hearts go out to his daughter, family and friends at this tragic,
difficult time.

Mike is much loved and is sorely missed.

Rest in peace, brother.”