Pitchfork reviews the Plastic Mastery cover of the David & the Citizens song "Songs Against Life": http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/wearetheworld/singles/p/plasticmastery-songagainstlife.shtml
New bands confirmed for the Øyafestivalen in Norway: Thom Hell, The Beautiful People, Mattias Tellez and Under Byen.
Updated tourdates for Kaospilot w/Angora Static:
04/02 - The Dog And Parrot, Newcastle (UK)
04/03 - tbc, Glasgow (UK)
04/04 - Doghouse Bar, Dundee (UK)
04/05 - Studio 24, Edinburgh (UK)
04/06 - Belfast (IRL)
04/07 - Fred Zepplins, Cork (IRL)
04/08 - Dublin (IRL)
04/09 - Yorkshire House, Lancester (UK)
04/10 - Fenton, Leeds (UK)
04/11 - tba, Manchester (UK)
04/12 - The Marrs Bar, Worcester (UK)
04/13 - Le Pub, Newport (UK)
04/14 - Free Butt, Brighton (UK)
04/15 - tbc, Rennes (FR)
04/16 - Le Napoléon, Tours (FR)
04/17 - tbc, Bordeaux (FR)
04/18 - tba, Llodio (SPA)
04/19 - tba, Zaragoza (SPA)
04/20 - La Nau, La Roca del Vallès (SPA)
04/21 - tba (FR)
04/22 - tba (FR)
04/23 - L'Austrasique, Nancy (FR)
04/24 - Erdbeermund, Karlsruhe (GER)
04/25 - tba, Leverkusen (GER)
04/26 - tba, Magdeburg (GER)
04/27 - Münster or Bremen (GER)
04/28 - Bremen if Münster happens (GER)
Musique Machine's better-late-than-never best of 2003 list includes a ton of Scandinavian artists: http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=48
Mustasch and Pauline are doing a couple of the upcoming Rookie festival tourdates. Read more.
Hammerfall drumer Anders Johansson recounting his side of the split with Stratovarius: http://www.hammerfall.net/news/
Unleashed mainman Johnny Hedlund on the new album:
"Hail warriors! Unleashed is currently in the studio for yet another deadly assault on mankind. We are done recording drums and some guitars at the present. I also have done some pre-work on the vocals. The recordings will continue throughout February and we hope to be done by the end of the month. We aim for 15 songs of pure hell!!
This record is the most intense, brutal and aggressive record in the history of the band. We will leave no one alive, take no prisoners, and if you can't stand some of the worst hell there is out there......DON'T GO NEAR THIS RECORD!
But if you live in the same world as we do,....REJOICE DEMONS!"
Long-running Norwegian black-metal act Ancient has set "Night Visit" as title for their sixth album, due out June 1 on Metal Blade. The band says they have been "focusing more on dynamics and power this time, in order to make it an album very catchy and interesting."
Listen to "Awakening" from Nocturnal Rites: http://www.centurymedia.de/century/mainarea/audio.aspx?id=nocturnal_rites__awakening.rm
The song comes from the band's sixth album "New World Messiah", due on March 22 on Century Media.
Here's the tracklist for the new Laakso EP "Aussie Girl":
01. Aussie girl
02. Truck driver
03. Sunday night
04. Words are worst
05. Good weather, stormy love
06. The union
The EP was produced by Bear Quartet guitarist Jari Haapalainen and is the second single from the album "I Miss You, I’m Pregnant". Look for it on March 3 from Adrian Recordings.
Download the title track from the new Dismember album "Where Ironcrosses Grow": http://www.hammerheart.com/mp3/dismember_whereironcrossesgrow.mp3
The CD is set for a March 8 release through Karmageddon Media. Here's the full tracklist:
01. Where Ironcrosses Grow
02. Forged With Hate
03. Me-God
04. Tragedy Of The Faithful
05. Chasing The Serpent
06. Where Angels Fear To Tread
07. Sword Of Light
08. As The Coins Upon Your Eyes
09. Children Of The Cross
10. As I Pull The Trigger
Kristofer Åström has been confirmed as another one of the Export Music Sweden delegates heading over to play the US in March. Dates:
03/17 - CBGB's, New York
03/19 - Coppers Tank North, Austin (tbc)
03/21 - The Troubadour, Los Angeles
His new mailorder-only ep "There For" will be out on StarEP in February/March. A new full-length is due later this year around September.
Tiger Lou's new album ""Is my head still on?" has been confirmed for a March 10 release on Startracks. The Tiger is also scheduled to vist Rocket Radio in Stockholm tomorrow. Tune in live at 5:30pm if you're local, but you can also listen on the 'Net.
New at Musique One-Stop: Pics of Voice of a Generation from the record release show for their new album "The Final Oddition".
A couple special treats added today. First off, we got two new streaming playlists on the right showcasing what I consider to be a great selection of Scandinavian singer/songwriter-type acts who are getting a lot of attention these days. As I've said here before, there's quite a bit of talent in this genre and I think it's quite possibly the place to watch for the next breakout artist. Listen for yourself! And as hinted on the player console, I will doing a more in-depth write-up in the near future.