It's a Trap! Scandinavian music journal

It may not concern Swedish bands, but a reunited Twisted Sister has been confirmed as the headliner for the upcoming Sweden Rock festival to take place June 6-8, 2003 in Sölvesborg, Sweden. The other confirmed acts so far are Blind Guardian (GER), Jethro Tull (UK), Y&T (US), Krokus (GER), Budgie (UK), Kamelot (US), Peer Günt (FIN), Sonata Arctica (FIN), and Tankard (GER). And yes, TS will be wearing full make-up. Awesome.

The new album from Amon Amarth "Versus The World" will see a US release on January 14. A limited 2xCD "Viking Edition" will be available, filled with various demo tracks and a remastered version of the band's first EP. A European tour around April is also in the works.

Apparently Caesars Palace will have to be known as The Caesars outside Sweden. The tour with t(I)NC may have been cancelled, but I still think they're just about to break to the big time.

Wanna win a copy of the latest Hellacopters single "Carry Me Home"? Find the name of the artist who originally recorded the b-side "Big Guns" and email it with your name and address to hellacopters_com@hotmail.com before December 15. They've got 10 copies to give away, so get on it.

Bjorn Olsson's (ex-TSOOL, Union Carbide Productions) second album "UPA" just came out and is available in the US from Forced Exposure. Aquarius Records has a review and some samples in their new release list this week, too. If you're into psychedelic instrumental music, you should definitely check it out.

Nine only got to do 2 of the 8 shows planned with Motörhead before getting the boot from the tour. Seems that Lemmy felt the band Meldrum was more important and Nine had to go. The band says there's no hard feelings, but I bet they're bummed - I know I would be. Unfortunate, but that's the way it goes, I guess.

I put up a track from Peter, Bjorn and John today. It's quality power-pop - reminds a bit of British Invasion kinda stuff. Look to your right.

There's a bunch of news today about what bands are gonna be on Musikbyrån and various other Swedish TV programs in the future, but since I can't watch it, I ain't gonna post it. I guess if you really want me to make note of that stuff you can let me know. Otherwise, I'll stick with news relevant to the rest of the world.

Dee Rangers will be travelling to London in January to record their new record at Toe-Rag Studio. Having just finished up with working on the latest White Stripes album, producer Liam Watson will oversee the proceedings.

Dark Funeral has severed their ties with US label Necropolis Records. Their statement on the matter:

Before we signed this North American deal with Necropolis Records, we were warned by pretty much everybody to not sign with them. It is apparently well-known within the scene as well as between various business associates that Paul and his Necropolis record label have routinely not paid most they have worked with.

They have defaulted on payments towards their artists, for studio sessions, to their distributors etc. We had heard these rumours, and the warnings coming in to us, but we didn't want to judge anyone before we had investigated it further by ourselves.

Usually there are too many rumours circulating out there and its way too often they lack evidence and/or any substance. After many discussions and meetings with Paul Thind, we, the band and our label MNW/No Fashion Records decided to sign and license Diabolis Interium for North America to Necropolis Records.

Since we had our suspicions we protected ourselves by Dark Funeral would like to put this unfortunate incident behind them now and move on to the future.

The band plans to continue working on writing and rehearsing new material very soon. Anybody labels interested in working with them should contact either Lord Ahriman and/or Emperor Magus Caligula.

Whaddya know? Found time to update today anyway. Fixed some bad links, too. People should tell me about these things.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy have cancelled their upcoming UK tour with Danko Jones and Caesars Palace citing a back injury suffered by lead singer Dennis Lyxzen. The statement from the band:

Unfortunately The (International) Noise Conspiracy have been forced to cancel their upcoming UK tour due to serious back problems for the singer Dennis Lyxzén.

The problems arose during last weekend, but didn´t seem very serious in the beginning. However, as it only got worse and to a point where Dennis had problems walking he went to a doctor yesterday morning who said that there´s no way he can perform on stage for at least the next two weeks.

Dennis has a serious muscle inflammation, and will be having tests done later this week.

The band wants to apologise to everyone involved in this tour and to their fans, but hopes for everyone´s understanding of the situation.

As it is unclear if and when the dates will be re-scheduled, check back for further information or tickets can be refunded at point of purchase

Of course, that's all fine and dandy, but the skeptic in me sees more trouble a-brewing on the horizon. Thing is, the rumor mill has been going on about possible complications in the long term relationship between Dennis and keyboardist Sara. Is the "back injury" simply a red herring? Is this really just the beginning of the end? Time will tell I suppose, but I don't think the future's all that bright.

Kent and ZTV seem to be having a little bit of a public feud. What gives?

Sweden student radio top 20:

Leaving the chart:
(14) The Klerks "She She She"
(15) Noir Désir "Le Vent Nous Portera"
(16) Swizz Beats "Bigger Business"
(17) Spotrunnaz ft. Timbuktu "Mr Mista"
(18) The Venue "What's In His Head?"
(19) The Streets "Don't Mug Yourself"

The latest issue of Denim Zine will be out November 29. It includes interviews with bands such as Hanoi Rocks, Backyard Babies, The Maggots, 69 Hard and more. Instructions on how to get yourself a copy are on their site.

Entombed got themselves into a bit of a pickle with a Finnish promoter and had to cancel their Rock at Sea show. Read all about it. In other Entombed news, the band has entered the studio yet again and you read their daily reports right here. 3 days in, there's not too much of substance to report, but things do seem to be going quite well.

I didn't see it myself, but apparently TSOOL did a great job playing on Conan the other night. Keyboardist Martin was flown in special for the event, as he was being filled in for by Olle of the Whyte Seeds during the just-ended US tour. Martin opted out so he could spend time with his new baby and family, but he should be back around with the band next time. Anyway, the song they played was "Sister Surround" and I'll try and find a video of it if I can.

Expect less-frequent updates over the next couple days, as it's Thanksgiving weekend in America. Otherwise, not a whole lot going on today. I added a couple new links, though.

Check out the new video "Piss on You" from The Wannadies featuring a guest appearance by Petter right here.

Isolation Years will finally see a US release for their debut album "Inland Traveller" in March 2003 on Galaxy Gramophone Records. It's a great record, so be sure to check it out if you haven't already. The band just finished up with their next release, too. It's not titled yet, but we can probably expect it around mid-2003 with a fall US release to follow assuming all goes well.

Randy recorded demos for 12 new songs this past weekend. How many of those will actually make it on their next record is yet to be decided. In other news, the band has booked a show in Piteå on December 27.

Soilwork is preparing to record their next album for a late spring release. The band will be doing guitars and keyboards at Queenstreet Recording with Fredrik Nordström and then moving over to Dug Out Studios to work on drums with Daniel Bergstrand. Finally, the band will go to Nordström's home base of Studio Fredman to complete vocals, bass, and mixing.

Håkan Hellström's got a tour diary going. It's in Swedish, of course, so if anyone wants to translate the more interesting tidbits for me, I'd be grateful.

Don't forget about TSOOL on Conan tonight.

New music today: Motorpsycho and Ulver from Norway plus super-hype band of the moment, The Sounds. Look to your right.

Believe it or not, but The Haunted are set to appear on the MTV show "Cribs". Apparently MTV newsman Iann Robinson is a big fan of the band. So yeah, if you want to see a tour of the band's homes, check out the show on December 4.

Finnish doom band Shape of Despair has a new bassist, Sami Uusitalo. The band is scheduled to enter the studio early next year to record their next album. Expect a late 2003 release on Spinefarm Records.

Crystal Committee (ex-Starmarket) will have their debut album out in February on Chalksounds Records. Entitled "Forever Overhead", it was recorded at Studio Gröndal. I'm not positive, but I assume it was produced and engineered by studio owner Pelle Gunnerfeldt of Fireside.

Also out on Chalksounds in the near future is the new album from Moonbabies. The band is still working hard in the studio, so a release isn't expected until around March.

Export Music Sweden (ExMS) reports that net earnings for exports from the Swedish music industry grew 37% in 2001 from the year previous for a total of 500M euros. And that wasn't even all that great, they say as sales weren't quite as good as hoped for. 2002 looks to be better though. with good sales coming from TSOOL, In Flames and others.

The Ark, Håkan Hellström, Robyn, and The Sounds will be performing on the Swedish TV show Faddergalan on December 9th.

See the new Madrugada video for the song "Majesty" here: High or Low. The band has also put up a tour diary on their website. Check it out.

Rumor has it that The Soundtrack of Our Lives will be back to tour the U.S. in February and March with a stop at South by Southwest along with Citizen Bird/Silverbullit and Isolation Years. Look for them on Late Night With David Letterman in late January, too.

Backyard Babies frontman/guitarist Dregen is recovering nicely from his mugging injuries and the band has resumed rehearsals and preparing demos for their upcoming album. In other news, the band has also made their first foray into the world of sports by becoming an official endorser of their local hockey team, Njckey Club. The endorsement consists of the BB skull logo being stenciled onto one of the face-off circles.

Remember to watch Conan O'Brien on November 26 to see The Soundtrack of Our Lives perform.

Sweden student radio top 20:

Leaving the chart:
(10) The Crash "New York"
(11) Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Machine"
(13) Peter Bjorn And John "I Don't Know What I Want Us To Do"
(17) The Distillers "City of Angels"
(18) Marit Bergman "This Is the Year"
(20) Adam Green "Dance With Me"

The Knife (ex-Honey is Cool) has got a new record coming out. The first single and video "Heartbeats" will drop January 7 with the album "Deep Cuts" following on January 27.

After a rare concert appearance on Halloween, Notre Dame frontman Snowy Shaw went straight back to Fredman Studio in Sweden to record the next album from Dream Evil. The planned title is "Evilizer" and Snowy contributed four tunes. Work Notre Dame's next album will continue soon.

Watch the video for "The Band" from Mando Diao:

Real: High / Low   Windows: High / Low

Listen to Peter, Bjorn and John play live on P3 here and here. For those that don't know, the members of PBJ have connections to artists such as Caesars Palace, TSOOL, The Plan, Marit Bergman, and Nicolai Dunger among others.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives are keeping busy now that they seem to be on the up and up in America. A rumor that they were gonna be back around on the West Coast with Oasis looks to be false as it's been said they'll be back again next year with another tour of their own. Not to mention they got a new album to record. Remember, their current release "Behind the Music" is already over a year old even though most Americans are just starting to hear the band for first time.

The predictions for the upcoming Rockbjörnen competition have been announced. You have until December 9th to vote and then the top 5 artists from each category will go into the final round.

Robyn threatened by a Muslim priest? Read all about it, I guess. (In Swedish)

Bad Tase Records reports that they've finally figured out what Logh means. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia is says that log or logh is "The smallest liquid or dry measure of the Hebrews, equal to about 1 pint."

Willowtree is about to embark on a 11 show German tour. The band was voted the best unsigned act in Europe as part of 2001's Emergenza band competition. Their debut single "Summer on TV" will be out early in the new year on Undertow Records with an album to follow in March.

Norweigan metal/industrial act Red Harvest is gonna do a UK tour in December. The Bezerker, Labrat, and Insision will support:

Dec. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Bierkeller
Dec. 11 - London, UK @ Underworld
Dec. 12 - Leeds, UK @ Joseph's Well
Dec. 13 - Glasgow, UK @ Strawberry Fields
Dec. 14 - Sheffield, UK @ Corporation

Preview a couple tracks from Omnium Gatherum's upcoming album "Spirits And August Light" here. Rage Of Achilles Records will release the album on February 24.

The details for the upcoming final EP from Hederos and Hellberg has been announced. It will be called "Take Care" and it comes out December 9th on Silence. The tracks are "Take Care", "I Can't Hold Myself In Line", "It Ain't Me, Babe" and "Be With Me". The first and last tracks are originals, while the middle two are by Merle Haggard and Bob Dylan respectively. Marit Bergman sings a duet on the latter tune.

MTV Up North is taking votes for the top videos of 2002. Check it. While I could care less about the actual voting, they provide streaming versions of most of the contenders for your enjoyment.

A new week and some new tunes: Bloodbath is members of Katatonia and Opeth doing that classic Swedish death metal thing. The Flaming Sideburns got that dirty rock n' roll thing going on. The Motorhomes put out one of the best pop records this year. And Mando Diao's got a sound that's a little bit Motown, a little bit garage rock.

Speaking of Opeth, they just recently completed work on their upcoming album "Damnation", hot on the heels of the just-released "Deliverence". Billed as the mellow companion album to "Deliverence"'s heaviness, the album is presently being mixed by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree for a March 2003 release. The band claims it's "nothing like anything we've ever done before" and has a "strong '70s vibe both in material and production." Opeth will be doing some touring in support of the already-released album with dates already confirmed for London and Greece in December. They say there's more to come, so you may wanna check their website for the latest.

Finland's Children of Bodom have completed work on their next album. It's called "Hate Crew Deathroll" and will be released on January 7, 2003. View the artwork here.

Borknager has announced their plans to record the follow-up to "Empiricism". Oystein G. Brun's statement on the matter:

"We estimate to use about 4-6 months to record the album, as we want to use the time needed to get the album as close to perfection as possible. The album will be recorded in the same recording facilities as last time (Fagerborg and Toproom Studios) with Børge Finstad behind the desk. Musically the album will be a continuation of 'Empiricism'. Apart from that, we deem the right to keep the rest as a secret... he,he.... As of yet, there is no title for the album, but some song titles are ready: 'Cyclus', 'The Inner Ocean Hypothesis', 'The Wonder', 'Quintessence', 'Future Reminiscence' and 'Relate (Dialogo)'."

The Swedish Hit Music Awards were this past weekend. Kent and The Sounds won some awards, along with a bunch of international acts that I don't care about. Check out this article for the scoop. (In Swedish, list at bottom)

The Hellacopters are about the release their the next single from the album "By the Grace of God" on December 2nd. The a-side will be "Carry Me Home" with a cover of Rory Gallagher's "Big Guns" on the flipside. Listen to "Carry Me Home" right here.

I was thinking about these guys just the other day and wondering what they were up to. Amorphis has just entered Finnvox studios in Helsinki, Finland to begin work on their next album. Currently label-less as they have finished out their contract with Relapse, they expect the album to be ready for a summer 2003 release. They also plan to do a couple shows in the near future:

Nov. 30 – Skopje, MAC @ Skopje Trade Fair
Dec. 13 - St. Petersburg, RUS @ Youth Place
Dec. 14 – Moscow, RUS @ DK
Dec. 20 – Tampere, FIN @ Pakkahuone

In the spirit of keeping busy, frontman Pasi Koskinen's "black metal" project Ajattara is currently recording their new album, "Kuolema" (Death). Look for it around March 2003.

Kent won the "Best Nordic Act" prize at the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards in Barcelona. The other acts nominated for the category were The Hives, Saybia, The Crash and Röyksopp. In a short interview with MTV Europe, Markus Mustonen had this to say when asked if they were pleased to be the best band in Northern Europe:

Yeah, extremely pleased actually because the bands in this category are really, really good. We love Röyksopp and The Hives of course, they´re old friends of ours. We´re really pleased and very, very happy!

Mustonen went on to say that the band currently out on the road and will soon hit Stockholm with support acts The Sounds and Melody Club. Watch or read the rest of the interview here.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy have a "Your Choice Live" album out. More info here.

Misconduct have a new MCD entitled "New Beginning" coming out on their own Side by Side Records. A video is being filmed for the title track and the band promises to post it on their website by the end of the month.

Arch Enemy is postponing the first leg of their upcoming European tour, so now the first show will be at Eindhoven on November 29th. Ticketholders are advised to hold onto their tickets, as the shows will probably still happen in January. A full statement on the matter is expected on Monday.

If you didn't already know about it, Export Music Sweden is sponsoring a show in Paris on December 19th with Weeping Willows, Hederos & Hellberg, and The Sounds. It might be H&H's last show, so check it out if you can.

In even more news about The Sounds, they were invited by the Foo Fighters to open for them in Oslo and Köpenhamn in early December. They also got a write up in Aftonbladet (Swedish only). Gee, think someone's on their way up or what? I suspect we'll continue to hear a lot about this band in the future.

Nicolai Dunger live on the radio mp3s to your right.

Rumor has it that pysche-act Dungen will be contributing music to the upcoming Disney film "Eat Your Heart Outs", but Virgin is denying it for now. However, you can listen to samples of the band here.

Katatonia just finished laying down the guitars for their new record and have moved onto vocals, the final stage before mixdown. If they manage to improve over their last album, the stellar "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", I will be quite impressed.

The Cardigans just put up a new entry in their recording diary. Check it out.

The good people over at Flex Your Head and Bad Taste Records have put together a Satanic Surfers contest. Check it out.

Håkan Hellström will headline the Rocktåget tour package next summer. Rocktåget took the year off last summer as the bands Kent, Thåström, The Hellacopters and Mando Diao all had their own smaller, but successful tours. Håkan is no stranger to Rocktåget, having played the tour in 2001 with Magnus Uggla and The Ark.

Speaking of The Ark, they will be making some appearances on Swedish TV in the near future: Ola on SVT 1 on Dec. 5 at 8:45 pm (reruns at 2 pm Dec 6 and 12:15a m Dec. 9) plus the whole band on "Grynets Show" on SVT 1 Nov. 15 at 7 pm.

You probably could care less, but in celebration of 50 years of existance, the British music asked the public to vote for their all-time favourite singles. And of those selected for the top 100, Abba are one of the best represented acts with five entries to their credit. They're also the only Swedish act on the list. Their highest ranking track is "Dancing Queen" at number 8.

I added a guestbook today. Feel free to leave me a message.

On Nov. 8th, Nicolai Dunger did a radio interview for The Whole Wide World with Rita Houston on WFUV 90.7 NY. The archived broadcast isn't available quite yet, but when it is I will try to get an mp3 version to put up here.

Bob Hund got themselves a museum exhibit over at the Dunkers Kulturhaus in Helsingborg beginning November 21st. See some photos from the Stockholm exhibit here. The band also contributes to the new comp entitled "Friends of the Bumblebee", along with Thurston Moore, Jim O´Rourke, David Grubbs, Mats Gustafsson, Leif Elggren, Dan Fröberg, Mats Lindström and Daniel Rosenhall. It was produced by Dan Fröberg and Mats Gustafsson and includes an essay by Magnus Haglund.

Logh just back from their successful European tour and posted a couple new interviews and reviews on their website.

Sahara Hotnights are the band of the week over at fan2fan.com.

The A*Teens will be hosting MTV Up North next Monday and answering fan submitted questions. They'll also be doing a Swedish tour coming up soon.

Inge from t(I)NC also plays in the band Totalt Jävla Mörker (Total Fucking Darkness) whose debut album "Det ofrivilliga livets maskineri" was just released on Distortion. Fans of Discharge-style punk should check 'em out.

A new week and some new tunes to your right. The links page is good to go now, too.

The new issue of Rolling Stone (the one with the Simpsons covers) has a short blurb about the Flaming Sideburns in the 'New Faces' section.

The video for "Cloud Connected" from In Flames has reached the number 2 position on the Swedish video program Spinn (SVT 1). The band is currently taking some time off before they head out on a tour of Asia in December.

The new Håkan Hellström album "Det är så jag säger det" has gone platinum in Sweden, with over 60,000 copies sold. "Don't Stop the Music" from artist Robyn has gone gold with sales of over 30,000. Other big sellers on the Swedish charts include Roxette's "The Ballad Hits" and Kent's "FF/VinterNoll2".

Division of Laura Lee has dropped off the first week of the Burning Heart Records Heart Attack Tour. Labelmates The Peepshows, Bombshell Rocks, and Raised Fist will continue on without them as they proceed across Holland, Belgium and the UK. Here's what guitarist/singer Per Stålberg had to say about the unfortunate situation:

It came to a point where we could not even plug in our guitars without crying in pain, and therefore we have to cancel the shows. We have been having those troubles for a while, but carried on anyway as we hate the idea of cancelling shows. But after the first Heart Attack shows in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Örebro we realized we were not able to carry on as the injuries and illness did not only make us feel bad - it also affected our stage appearance so much that we cant continue doing this in consideration to ourselves and to our audience.

DoLL may rejoin the tour, pending a doctor's diagnosis to come later this week.

Randy finished up with the recording of 6 songs for their as-yet-untitled upcoming album. Jocke Åhlund of Caesars Palace helped out with production on a track, too. They plan to continue rehearsing new material with the goal of getting them recorded in December.

Sahara Hotnights just finished up with the filming of a video for the track "Alright, Alright (Here's My Fist, Where's The Fight?)" in Los Angeles with "Jackass - The Movie" director Jeff Tremaine. Members of the Jackass crew make appearances in the video.

The program "Musikbyrån" on SVT will show "The Hellacopters US Tour" documentary on Friday, December 6th. More info here.

Check out this VH1 Feature on The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

Nicolai Dunger will be making some appearances on Swedish TV coming up soon: 11.12 on Nyhetsmorgon TV4 and 11.15 on Riktig Talkshow SVT2.