I had a great time at this show. The venue was very nice, small, and intimate, the drinks weren't too expensive, and at least one of the bands that played was very good. I saw Shout Out Louds play support for the magnificent The Magic Numbers the week before this show, but I didn't really enjoy them too much that time. This time though, their quirky indie rock was perfectly suited, and to describe the whole experience in one word I had to say it was very cozy. By the way, the "main band" this night was VHS or BETA (they were rubbish).
- Simon Tagestam
It's Thrash Friday once again and this time we're turning to Enslaved for a classic piece of Norwegian metal. Way back in 1995, when the band was still singing exclusively in their mother tongue, they recorded this cover of the Slayer classic "Jesus saves" for the "Slatanic slaughter" tribute record. Even though mostly everyone plays it safe and doesn't stray too far from the original compositions, it's an amazing compilation that features some of the best Scandinavian metal acts of the day: Dissection, At the Gates, Edge of Sanity, Seance, Hypocrisy and more. It was so good they even put out a lesser quality sequel disc that I foolishly purchased. Anyhow, as anyone who's seen Enslaved live should already know, the band takes their art very seriously, but isn't afraid to enjoy themselves while doing it. What better way to kick back than covering one of metal's greatest bands? If that's not a perfect way to start off your Friday, then I don't know what is.
Stratovarius has posted a bunch of international tourdates taking them out on the road until the end of the year: http://www.stratovarius.com/index2.php?section=tour2005
Finland's The Rasmus are currently recording their new album "Hide from the sun" in Stockholm alongside the same production crew responsible for their breakthrough hit "Dead letters". Does that mean we can expect the same overproduced, watered-down semi-gothic mediocrity? The record is confirmed for an international release on September 12 and the first single is set to drop on August 29.
The new Jens Lekman album "Oh you're so silent Jens" has been confirmed for a June 8 release via Service Records. The disc contains Jens' first three EPs: "Maple Leaves", "Rocky Dennis in Heaven" and "Julie" along with some unreleased bonus songs. Samples and full tracklist info here: http://www.srvice.com/serv020.html
Regurgitate will be going into the studio this summer to do some preproduction for their next record and also to record a song for an upcoming Napalm Death tribute. Don't forget that the band will be heading over to the US to play the Maryland Deathfest alongside fellow Swedes General Surgery and Birdflesh, among many other fine grind acts. More details available here: http://www.marylanddeathfest.com/
Bedroom Records will be releasing a CDR EP from solo artist Agent Simple entitled "I got mad at the kids" on May 28. Download some samples at his website: http://www.agentsimple.tk/
Upcoming releases planned for Malmö-based label Blackstarfoundation:
bsf19: Rob & The Pinhole Stars/Björn Kleinhenz - split CD
bsf20: Meleeh - "Another low a new hollow" CD
bsf21: Lasse Fabel - "Ordkanonbatteri" CD
Finnish music blog Lupatarkastaja posts a new mixtape compiled by Timo Häkkinen of the bands Atakhama, Sotajumala and Wherevictimslie: http://lupatarkastaja.samizdat.info/2005/05/19/luuvitosen-vippi-4-timo-hakkinen-atakhama/
Aa Records will be releasing a live album from noise collective Skull Defekts together with Norwegian artist Lasse Marhaug sometime around the end of July, just after they play together in Norberg. A proper debut album from Skull Defekts is due out on the label around December.
The Ricochets will be entering Athletic Studio in Halden on June 15 to begin recording their next album, tentatively titled "Isolation".
CNN is reporting that Norway's Wig Wam is favored to win this year's Eurovision: http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/20/eurovision.ap/index.html
Aversionline reviews the latest Soilwork: http://www.aversionline.com/reviews/2427/
ExMS is now posting biweekly sound samples of new music: http://www.exms.com/swede_music/swede_music.htm
If you read the disclaimer you'll see that it's pay-to-play which is kind of a bummer, but at least it's fairly cheap. Too bad all the featured artists look pretty darn boring so far. Oh-well.
PopMatters echoes some of my personal sentiments about The Perishers' "Let there be morning": http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/p/perishers-lettherebe.shtml