This is the debut album by the Swedish crew and it must be said from the offset that there's a distinct blandness about it that's not only down to the production, but also because of a terrible attempt at emulating past success. Terrortory's thing seems to be to write tunes in the styles of a heap of already-revered bands, stick them all together, and hope for a winning formula. In Flames, The Haunted, Opeth, Sentenced and a shitload of others that are familiar but that I can't quite put my finger on are referenced here, none of which are mimicked to the point where you could say the material that Terrortory has written is better. There's also a tiny bit of old school Metallica to be found on some of the melodic parts and, while those are actually okay, this album as a whole is a very uninspiring -- indeed, a very boring -- listen. The production does get part of the blame despite the fact that everything is clear and bright, it's just that there's a lack of any punch whatsoever, even in the album's better moments. It's quite possible that when faced with material as dull and repetitive as this producer Henrik Wiklund simply lost the will to live. I know I did. - John Norby
The nominees for the 2012 Swedish Grammis have been announced:
Best Album: Anna Ternheim - The Night Visitor Deportees - Islands & Shores Ison & Fille - För Evigt Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes Veronica Maggio - Satan I Gatan
Best Artist: Deportees Lykke Li Melissa Horn Swedish House Mafia Veronica Maggio
Best Electronic/Dance: Adrian Lux - Boy / Alive Avicii - Levels/Fade Into Darkness Little Dragon - Ritual Union Rebecca & Fiona - I Love You, Man Swedish House Mafia - Save The World/Antidote
Best Hip-Hop/Soul: Adam Tensta - Scared Of The Dark Alexis Weak - Till Minne Av Ison & Fille - För Evigt Movits! - Ut Ur Min Skalle Timbuktu - Sagolandet
Best Hardrock/Metal: Graveyard - Hisingen Blues Hammerfall - Infected In Flames - Sounds Of A Playground Fading Opeth - Heritage The Haunted - Unseen
Best Jazz: Freddie Wadling - With A License To Kill Georg Riedel, Sarah Riedel & Nicolai Dunger - Cornelis Vs Riedel Magnus Öström - Thread Of Life Nils Landgren - The Moon, The Stars And You Tonbruket - Dig It To The End
Best Songwriter: Anna Järvinen - Anna Själv Tredje Anna Ternheim - The Night Visitor Lykke Li, Björn Yttling & Rick Nowels - Wounded Rhymes Melissa Horn - Innan Jag Kände Dig Veronica Maggio/Christian Walz - Satan I Gatan
Best Song: Avicii - Levels Den Svenska Björnstammen - Vart Jag Mig I Världen Vänder Eric Amarillo - Om Sanningen Ska Fram (Vill Du Ligga Med Mig?) Eric Saade - Popular Petter & September - Baksmälla September - Mikrofonkåt Swedish House Mafia - Save The World Timbuktu - Resten Av Ditt Liv Tove Styrke - White Light Moment Veronica Maggio - Jag Kommer
Best Music Video: Gustav Johansson - Karl X Johan "Flames (Uncompromised Cut)" Magnus Renfors - Peter Jöback, Filmen Till Albumet "Livet, Kärleken Och Döden - La Vie, L'amour, La Mort" Max Vitali - Robyn "Call Your Girlfriend" Slobodan Zivic - Kriget "Submission" Ted Malmros/Gustaf Von Arbin - Peter Bjorn And John "Gimme Some"
Best Newcomer: Adrian Lux Aleks Den Svenska Björnstammen Newkid Rebecca & Fiona
Best Pop: Ane Brun - It All Starts With One Anna Ternheim - The Night Visitor Jonathan Johansson - Klagomuren Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes Veronica Maggio - Satan I Gatan
Best Producer: Christian Walz Johan Eckeborn Masse Salazar Shellback Tobias Fröberg
Best Rock: Deportees - Islands & Shores Eldkvarn - De Berömdas Aveny Kebnekajse - Idioten Me And My Army - Thank God For Sending Demons
Samling - När Mullret Dövar Våra Öron Blir Vi Rädda
Best International Success: Avicii Little Dragon Lykke Li Opeth Swedish House Mafia
Best Lyrics: Anna Ternheim - The Night Visitor Jonathan Johansson - Klagomuren Mauro Scocco - Musik För Nyskilda Melissa Horn - Innan Jag Kände Dig Veronica Maggio/Christian Walz - Satan I Gatan
Best Innovator: Avicii Deportees Erato Looptroop Rockers Veronica Maggio
The nominees for Swedish Radio's P3 Guld awards have been announced:
Artist: Melissa Horn - Innan jag kände dig Kapten Röd - Fläcken som aldrig går bort Lykke Li - Wounded rhymes Veronica Maggio - Satan i gatan Timbuktu - Sagolandet
Group: Deportees - Islands & shores In Flames - Sounds of a playground fading Movits! - Ut ur min skalle Rebecca & Fiona - I love you, man Those Dancing Days - Daydreams & nightmares
Newcomer: Avicii Newkid Niki & The Dove Rebecca & Fiona Den Svenska Björnstammen
Song:
Call my name - Tove Styrke
Jag kommer - Veronica Maggio
Levels - Avicii
Resten av ditt liv - Timbuktu
Vart jag mig i världen vänder - Den Svenska Björnstammen
Guldmicken (best live): Daniel Adams-Ray Graveyard Melissa Horn Kapten Röd Veronica Maggio
Dance: Avicii - Samlad produktion Axel Boman - Samlad produktion Jonsson/Alter - Mod L-wiz - Samlad produktion Rebecca & Fiona - I love you, man
Hip-hop/soul: Ison & Fille - För evigt Mohammed Ali - Vi Newkid - Alexander jr Ferrer Stockholmssyndromet - Underhunder Timbuktu - Sagolandet
Pop: JJ - Samlad produktion Jonathan Johansson - Klagomuren Anna Järvinen - Anna själv tredje The Sound of Arrows - Voyage Syket - With love
Rock/metal: Arch Enemy - Khaos legions Graveyard - Hisingen blues The Haunted - Unseen In Flames - Sounds of a playground fading Opeth - Heritage
Looks like In Flames will be heading out on a big European tour this fall and will be bringing along fellow Swedes Ghost and Norwegians Insense for a number of dates.
It's safe to say at this point that In Flames will never make another "Jester race", so expectations must be adjusted accordingly. Even though the chorus sounds like Finnish pop-metal (see: late-era Sentenced, Lordi, etc.), I think I must admit that I actually like this. Trust me, I'm surprised too.
will be releasing the next In Flames album in Sweden. Entitled "Sounds of a playground fading" and recorded with Roberto Laghi, Daniel Bergstrand and Örjan Örnkloo at the band's own IF Studios in Göteborg, the official release date is June 15 with the first single "Deliver us" coming in early May.
Ridiculous, but I don't doubt that the dudes in the band are stoked: Scottish distillery Glenfarclas has teamed up with In Flames for their own specially branded whiskey. Read more (in Swedish) at the band's website: http://www.inflames.com/News.aspx
I don't really pay much attention to new-school metal, but it makes sense that Scarred By Beauty won best upcoming talent at the most recent Danish Metal Awards because they really are one the best examples of where the genre is at nowadays. All the elements are in good balance: the heaviness, the melodies, the syncopation and technicality, the breakdowns. I hear similarities to bands such as Meshuggah, In Flames and The Psyke Project, but they also throw in a few curveballs like the Deftones, an influence they actually manage to incorporate much better than you might expect. Had I read it before I heard it, I would not have believed it, but these youngsters nail it. Still, not the sort of stuff I really care for, but there's no denying that they are damn good at it.
, the new label founded by Anders Fridén of In Flames which signed Umeå act Khoma (remember?), has changed their name to and has partnered with to handle the release of said album. Expect the first single in March with the full-length to follow in April.
Terrortory