Pain
Metal icon Peter Tägtgren has produced the harshest and most underground music of the European metal scene — Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, Celtic Frost, among many others. His own band, Hypocrisy, is one of the most revered melodic death metal bands in the world. Lately, however, Tägtgren has been creeping into the mainstream with his solo project, Pain, a pop-rock, industrial metal outfit that specializes in radio-friendly, tongue-in-cheek anthems that still retain the dark edginess of the Nordic metal god’s earlier work.
Tagged: heavy metal, Sweden, Swedish bands
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Luke Jackson’s debut album, And Then Some
In the Spring of 2006, a seven-year email correspondence culminated in the meeting of Luke Jackson and Magnus Börjeson. Jackson had long been a devoted fan of two of the Swedish musician’s former bands: Beagle and Favorita, and the two songwriters finally met in Paris where Börjeson was mid-tour playing in The Cardigans. By the end of the weekend, Jackson had accepted an invitation to record in Sweden, which he took up in January 2008. He set to work in the studio with Magnus on bass and Christoffer’s Brainpool bandmate Jens Jansson on drums. Upon his return to London, he sent the rough mixes of the songs to renowned London-based string arranger Robert Kirby (who has orchestrated works by Nick Drake, Elvis Costello, and Elton John). Kirby loved the songs and offered to write orchestrations for the album and accompany Jackson to Sweden to conduct the necessary recording sessions with nine players from Malmö’s Opera Orchestra. It is the collision of these two worlds which makes his album, And Then Some, so compelling. Densely layered guitars and vocal harmonies fuse with sweeping string lines, none of which ever draw the ear too far from what lies at the heart of Jackson’s music.
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I almost forgot — metal is really about being drunk, pissed, offensive, and satanic. I have Bestial Mockery to thank for this. Their no-frills black thrash is barebones and snarling without being too dead-pan serious. These guys from Sweden are clearly having a blast worshiping the Dark One in the tradition of old-school bands like Venom, early Bathory, and Sodom. Nothing too original here, but it’s fun as hell.
Diablo Swing Orchestra are a Swedish band straight out of a Tom Waits nightmare. They sound exactly like their name suggests, making dirty, raucous swing, updated with some punky power chords, but the operatic Swedish vocals and nearly death-metal growls separate the band from the swing revivalists of the late ’90s. Definitely not the kind of band one would expect coming out of a Scandinavian country. But hell, there’s no rule that says creepers and fuzzy dice don’t go well with Viking helmets.
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Illustrated guide to the Assad clan
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YOU'RE SAYING (4)
Gerry said | 30 October, 2008
I swear I knew that. This is what happens when you write at 4am. May the metal gods strike me down.
Mitchell said | 31 October, 2008
How do I listen to it?
Gunzhard said | 25 February, 2010
The pain link doesn’t work.
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David F said | 30 October, 2008
Pain sure has produced a lot of Swedish bands. But the ones you mention in the article aren’t Swedish. The first two are Norwegian and the last one Swiss! : )