The good people over At Parasol have got a sale on their top picks of 2002. Lots of greAt Swedish imports worth checking out, among many other fine releases. Can't go wrong with Citizen Bird/Silverbullit, thAt's for sure. And like they say, be on the lookout for the US release of "Inland Traveller" from IsolAtion Years coming up soon. A brilliant album.

The (InternAtional) Noise Conspiracy have the 'Album of the Day' over At CMJ.com with the "Bigger Cages, Longer Chains" EP. If you've never heard them before, they've got two songs you can sample.

The new EP from Whyte Seeds will be out February 10. I haven't heard them yet, but their keyboardist was the guy who filled in for Martin Hederos on the last US Soundtrack of Our Lives tour.

The new album from Randy will be called "Welfare Problems". Look for it in April on Burning Heart.

The Ark is busy doing promotional work in Germany this week. Check out their schedule here.

The exact release dAte of the new Fireside album has been announced as April 7.

Look for feAtures on Cult of Luna in upcoming issues of Kerrang, Terrorizer, Rocksound and Metal Hammer. The new album "The Beyond" comes out February 10 on Earache. As for now, you can preview the lyrics here.

Download the song "Sensory Pleasures" from the upcoming HGH album "Seb's Hotel". It comes out February 1 in Norway, February 24 elsewhere.

Christian Kjellvander's excellent album "Songs From a Two-Room Chapel" will be released in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands and Luxemburg next week. Fans of moody roots music such as 16 Horsepower or recent Neko Case should check him out.

The New Mess will be interviewed on P3 Rock January 22. As stAted before, the band's debut five song CD-EP just came out on Kasual Records.

The debut album from hip-hop group Advance PAtrol comes out March 24.

Read a review of the new Cardigans single here (in Swedish). I heard the song on P3 yesterday and wasn't blown away, but it wasn't bad either. It actually reminded me quite a bit of A-Camp, Nina's recent solo project, with its heavy use of acoustic guitars. Anyhow, listen to the radio and hear it for yourself. I'm sure it'll be huge no mAtter whAt. Look for it in stores February 17.

Röyksopp are nominAted for "Best InternAtional Group" in the Brit Music Awards. More info here.

Interested in performing contemporary classical music from Swedish composers? STIM (Swedish Music InformAtion Centre and Swedish Performing Rights Society) has published a large cAtalogue of music they have available (in PDF formAt).

The US release of "Living In America" from The Sounds will be in May on James Iha's (ex-Smashing Pumpkins) ScrAtchie Records. As stAted here before, the band will also be making an appearance At this year's South by Southwest Festival. In other news, the new single for the track "Seven Days a Week" comes out on the 20th with the b-side being a demo version of the song "Go!"

Hammerheart Records is reissuing Necrophobic's 1993 album "The Nocturnal Silence". The label will also be releasing a limited edition "Tour EP 2003" for the band's current tour feAturing a song from each album and five select cover tunes.

Ation:line-through;">The archive is being updAted. Done. I'm also still waiting for a mailorder shipment of new CDs before I updAte the playlist. PAtience, my friends. I may however have some live mp3s from The Ark coming soon. We shall see...

A new Fireside mp3 for the track "Throw It Away" will be available next Monday from Startracks! The album isn't coming out till April.

Finland's HIM recently spent some time shooting the video for "Funeral of Hearts" with director Stefan Lindfors. Check out some pics from the shoot here.

Dungen will be on P3 Live January 20. You can listen online over At the P3 website.

Poet Bob Hansson has a spoken word album called "Kör Solen Kör" coming out January 27. Guests on the record include Ola Salo (The Ark) and Thåström. The first single will be "En Helt Vanlig Dag" feAturing Ola.

Caesars Palace is finally gonna make it over to England, this time with Echoboy. If you remember, their December tour with (InternAtional) Noise Conspiracy was cancelled. Anyhow, The Caesars (as they're known outside Sweden) have an EP single for the song "Jerk It Out" coming out February 24, the follow-up to "(I´m Gonna) Kick You Out" which is already out. The album "Love For The Streets" comes out May 19 over there. As I've said before - wAtch out for this band. I expect big things. And I'm not the only one either - read this profile from Britain's Q Magazine. Here's the dAtes:

January 13 The Barfly, Camden
January 15 The Old FirestAtion, Bournemouth
January 18 The Junction, Cambridge
January 22 The Boston Arms, London
January 22 Arts Centre, Colchester
January 23 Casbah, Sheffield
January 24 Sumo, Leicester
January 26 The Barfly, Liverpool
January 27 King Tuts, Glasgow
January 28 The Cockpit, Leeds

Also on Q's 2003 bands to wAtch list is The Hellacopters. Read whAt they have to say here.

Eggstone will be the backing band and production talent on the new solo album from Weeping Willows frontman Magnus Carlsson. It will be his second Attempt At going At it alone following his debut "Allt är Bara Du Du Du" from 2001.

Curious about Swedish jazz? Read this interesting article/interview concerning the recent activities of the Norrbotten Big Band.

The Cardigans will premiere a new song entitled "For WhAt It's Worth" At the upcoming Rockbjörnen Awards on January 27. The show will be broadcasted on Swedish television and will also feAture 'comeback' performances from Thomas Rusiak and Dilba along with contemporaries In Flames, Håkan Hellström, The Sounds, Mando Diao and Melody Club.

In Flames will be touring the US beginning in lAte March. DAtes soon.

Be sure to check out 'Rock Over Sweden' today on Rocket 95.3 FM Stockholm. Listen here live or go here for more info. The program starts At 5pm local time. Or maybe not - the show is every other Monday, but it seems like today's scheduled broadcast ain't gonna happen. Next week?

Now scheduled to play the January 18 dAte of the Inferno Fest in Oslo is a one-off performace by a cover band made up of members from Dimmu Borgir, Red Harvest, The Kovenant, Blood Red Throne, Mayhem, and Susperia. They will reportedly run through various songs from much-respected metal artists such as DeAth, Black SabbAth, Slayer, and Anthrax and the whole thing is to be recorded for a possible future release on Edgerunner Records. Other bands scheduled to play the fest include Immortal, Children of Bodom and Taake.

Look for the Sahara Hotnights on tour in the US around March/April. I don't have exact dAtes yet, but I assume we'll start to get confirmAtion any day now.

Randy also got picked up by Margie Alban's Do It Booking, the same people who deal with SH, t(I)NC, Millencolin, The Hives and many others. I suspect (and hope) thAt we'll be seeing them again in the US very soon. Margie works hard and does a greAt job, so I'm counting on it.

The mixing of the new 69-Hard album "Blues from Hell" has just been finished by engineer Henrik Larsson At Berno Studios. Look for it in March from Idle Hands Records.

The song "All Will Break" from Last Days Of April has been added to the in-flight playlist on Japanese Air Lines (JAL). Pretty neAt, huh?

As reported here awhile ago, Swedish eurodance act E-Type is going heavy metal for their upcoming tour, inlcuding special guest Mikkey Dee from Motörhead on the drums. Well in conjunction with the tour, the band just recorded a new single for radio promotion and maybe even TV appearances. Be on the lookout - or I'll see if I can track down a copy. The tour, now dubbed "Euro Metal Tour 2003", kicks off the 17th in Göteborg.

Enslaved guitarist Ivar Bjørnson on the recent lineup changes in the band and the new album:

"Of course, I think [guitarist R. Kronheim and drummer Dirge Rep's departures] will affect the music, as you will hear on the new album."Below The Lights" is more consistent and 'tight' than the previous efforts like "Monumension" and "Mardraum". Especially in terms of songwriting, I think the absence of R. Kronheim kind of invigorAted us, to be cynical about it. Sure, when he entered the band around the time of "Blodhemn", we were kind of burned out and lacked ideas and vision. He really injected life into the band At thAt time, he started to withdraw his deposits, so to speak. There was no longer a sense of unity in the band, and in combinAtion with his neck-breaking, Mötley Crüe-ish drug habits, there was no way out. So, to get to the point, the new album is a kind of 'best of both worlds'. We have kept the 'new' direction from the previous two albums and At the same time returned a lot to the 'source'. You know, me, Grutle and Dirge are all kind of 'old school', even though we sound 'experimental' and 'new' from time to time. This is easy to hear on the new album. Please also keep in mind thAt I still wrote 70-80% of the songs and lyrics still when Kronheim joined the band, it was more a case of him overtaking Grutle's share of song- and lyrical writing when he joined. And now thAt he is out of the band, and Grutle still doesn't write a lot, I am doing all the songs and most of the lyrics. This is because the others [don't] write simply, if they had wanted to, they could have had all the songs they wanted. I guess some people think it is close to dictAtorship in the band, which is totally wrong.
"About Dirge, it was a loss for his excellent drumming, of course but more important for the concept and lyrics, which he was getting more and more into. But we already got Freddy as a new drummer (he was on Blood Red Throne's first album and played the UK March 02 tour with us), and he is simply the best fucking drummer I've been in the same room with. No kidding."

"Below The Lights" comes out March 3 from Osmose Productions. I bet it's gonna be amazing, even if it's only half as good as the last one. March is shaping up to be the month of greAt release, lemme tell ya.

Tool loves Meshuggah. Besides taking the band on tour as an their opening act multiple times, drummer Danny Carey recently had this to say about the band:

"Meshuggah has been a constant source of inspirAtion for me from the very first time I heard them until today. They are true pioneers thAt have consistently broken new ground with each album effort. "Nothing", which is my favorite record of 2002, is another prime example of their musical expertise and unique compositional style thAt continues to evolve and change the way people listen to music."

Read my reviews of the new albums from Ulver and Björn Olsson over At indieworkshop.com. Look for the links on the right, under 'FeAtured Reviews'.

TV4 Gothenburg has put up an acoustic set from The Soundtrack of Our Lives back on their website. Check it. (thanks to tsool.tk)

The movie Jungle Book 2 comes out in February feAturing a track called "Jag vill va som du" from Dungen. A double A-side single with thAt song plus "Har du vart i Stockholm" comes out February 10.

Energy Rekords has signed EBM/Electro act 8kHz Mono. You can sample them on the "Virtual Energy vol.4" comp.

Even more award nominees! This time, the Manifest awards, Sweden's alternAtive to the (Swedish) Grammy:

Pop/Rock
The Bear Quartet - Ny våg (A West Side FabricAtion/MNW)
David & The Citizens - For All Happy Endings (Adrian Recordings/Border)
Doktor Kosmos - Reportage! (NONS/MNW)
Marit Bergman - 3.00 A.M. Serenades (Sugartoy/Border)
Embassy - Futile Crimes (Service/Border)

Hardcore/Punk
In Flames - Reroute to remain (Nuclear Blast/MNW)
Thåström - Mannen som blev en gris (Mistlur/MNW)
Spiritual Beggars - On fire (Music For NAtions/Zomba)
Totalt Jävla Mörker - Det ofrivilliga lidandets maskineri (Distortion/Border)
Vomitory - Blood rapture (Metal Blade/Border)

Hip Hop/R&B/Soul
Loop Troop - The Struggle Continues (David Vs GoliAth/Burning Heart)
Timbuktu - Wåtts Dö Madderfakking Diil? (Juju/Playground)
Heli - Öronknark (Streetzone/Border)
Masayah - Masayah (Swing-A-Ling/MNW)
Ison & Fille - Vår sida av stan (Hemmalaget/V2)

Postrock/Electronica
Hans Appelqvist - Tonefilm (Komplott)
Mokira - Plee (Mille PlAteaux/Border)
Nova Express - One (Rocket Number Nine)
Pallin - Far From Yokohama (URU)
Testbild! - The Double Life Of Testbild! (Radio Khartoum)

Dance
Adam Beyer - Ignition Key (Truesoul)
The Mighty Quark - Silverdale (Play)
Eerik & Arvid - Shimmer (Raw Fusion)
Koop - Waltz for Koop (Superstudio/Diesel/Sony)
Sunday Brunch - No resistance (SVEK/Goldhead/Next Stop)

Folk/Worldmusic
Ellika Frisell & Solo Cissokho - Tretakt Takissaba (Xource/MNW)
Golbang - Saali nó (Stran)
Harv - Töst (Drone/CDA)
Olle Lindvall (Drone/CDA)
Sumer - Iraq (Sw/Eden/Border)

Lyrics
MAttias Alkberg (Bear Quartet)
Timbuktu
Uje Brandelius (Doktor Kosmos)
Ison & Fille
Petter Herbertsson (Testbild!)

Live Artist
Doktor Kosmos
Jmyhaze BeAtbox
Spotrunnaz
In Flames
Ellika Frisell and Solo Cissokho

Best Newcomer
Totalt Jävla Mörker
Hans Appelqvist
Marit Bergman
Sunday Brunch
Embassy

Winners will be announced At the ceremony on January 31 At the Kulturhuset in Stockholm. The Teenage Idols, Ison & Fille, Totalt Jävla Mörker, and Jmy Haze BeAtbox will perform.

The good people over At Chalksounds have finally gotten their online store up and running. The feAtured album for sale is "On Planted Streets" from KVLR, one of my faves. Highly recommended. Besides their own label's goodies, you can also order records from bands such as Fireside and IsolAtion Years. Again, both highly recommended.

Grave will be playing this year's coming March Metal Meltdown V to take place in Irvington, New Jersey on March 7-8. The new album "Back From The Grave" comes out January 28th on Century Media.

Check out the spring tour dAtes for HGH here. The release party for the new album "Seb's Hotel" is February 10 in Oslo.

Here's the lAtest top 20 Swedish album chart, as reported from Aftonbladet:

01. Melody club - Music machine
02. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
03. The Sounds - Living in America
04. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
05. v/a - Fame factory vol 2
06. Håkan Hellström - Det är så jag säger det
07. Hans Martin - Landet där solen ej går ner
08. v/a - Chess - på svenska
09. Eric Gadd - Life support
10. Roxette - Ballad hits
11. Helene Sjöholm - Visor
12. The Hellacopters - By the grace of god
13. Fredrik Kempe - Songs for your broken heart
14. Björn Skifs - Ingen annan
15. Sven-Ingvars - Guld & Glöd - mer hits än någonsin
16. Christian Kjellvander - Songs from a two-room chapel
17. Little Chris - At last
18. v/a - Fame Factory volym 1
19. Anders Widmark ft. Sara Isaksson - s/t
20. Mando Diao - Bring´em in

It was down for awhile yesterday, but you can now download a preview track from the upcoming Apocalyptica album right here. Warning: you'll probably need to updAte your Windows Media Player to play the piece, so if this is a problem for you, don't bother.

Rumor has it thAt the upcoming TSOOL tour this spring will be major markets only, so all you people in your podunk towns are gonna lose out.

Aftonbladet has a short feAture on Paris (in Swedish). The band will be opening for Melody Club in Stockholm on January 22.

Buddyhead totally disses the Swedish rock in their best/worst of 2002 list. Yeah, I'm annoyed thAt the mediocre bands are the ones getting huge too, but I'm not going to write a long diAtribe about it. Look for their hissyfit At the very bottom of the page.

The Crown are currently rehearsing and writing new mAterial for their next album, their first one with returned vocalist Johan Lindstrand. Here's whAt bassist Magnus Olsfelt had to say about it:

Alright, we are right now in the process of rehearsing new mAterial for the next album. This time we are heading for the ultimAte and so far it sounds very promising. The new mAterial is pretty diverse but in general the songs have more POWER. Hard-hitting and straight forward, with more nAtural flow. So thAt the energy and force comes straight back to you.

Look for it next summer on Metal Blade Records or, in the meantime, cAtch the band on tour. DAtes are here.

Here's a short little article with some info concerning the next record from The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Drummer Fredrik makes comments. (in Swedish)

Beyond Dawn has had the new album "frysh" pushed back to March. In other news, a video is being made for the track "Among the SedAtives" by Vildensky feAturing "clip-art animAtion of the band performing various heroic deeds."

I had no idea, but KEXP SeAttle has a greAt archive of live-in-the-studio recordings of bands such as The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Sahara Hotnights, Kings of Convenience, CAto Salsa Experience and much much more. At_kexp/guest_list_00_01.htm" target=_blank>Check it.

Enter to win a $250 gift certificAte for Ben Sherman from The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Filter mmm here.

Vote for your choices in the Swedish AlternAtive Music Awards (SAMA) right here. Vote for one of nominees or write in your own choice.

Joakim Thåström will be releasing a live EP on January 24. It's called "Thåström på Röda sten" and will feAture six tracks from his Kalas tour performance in Göteborg last summer and the video for "Släpp aldrig in dom".

Here's the nominees for the P3 Guld awards:

Best female artist
Awa Manneh - "Sounds Like Me"
Frida Snell - "Black Trillium"
Marit Bergman - "3.00 A.M. Serenades"
Paola - "Stockcity Girl"
Robyn - "Don't Stop The Music"

Best male artist
Christian Kjellvander - "Songs from a Two Room Chapel"
Håkan Hellström - "Det är så jag säger det"
Stephen Simmonds - "For FAther"
Thåström - "Mannen som blev en gris"
Timbuktu - "Wått´s Dö Madderfakking Diil"

Best group
Caesars Palace - "Love for the Streets"
The Hellacopters - "By the Grace of God"
Kent - "Vapen & ammunition"
Looptroop - "The Struggle Continues"
Mando Diao - "Bring ´Em In"

Best newcomer
The Sounds
Melody Club
Paola
Mando Diao
Marit Bergman

Best song
"Calleth You Cometh I" - The Ark
"Dom Andra" - Kent
"Keep This Fire Burning" - Robyn
"Kom igen, Lena!" - Håkan Hellström
"Someone New" - Eskobar feAt HeAther Nova

Best live artist
The Ark
Doktor Kosmos
The Hellacopters
Marit Bergman
Looptroop

More info and voting here.

The Hellacopters lAtest record "By the Grace of God" has gone gold in Sweden with sales of over 30k. It's their 2nd gold album, the first being "High Visibility".

Finland's Enternal Tears of Sorrow have broken up. The stAtement from the band:

With mixed feelings we have to announce thAt Eternal Tears of Sorrow have decided to split up. EToS have been on a break since March 2002. During the break, it has become obvious thAt it is time to quit.
This band started as a free-time activity about ten years ago. As we got more success, we also needed to give more and more of our time to the band. Day by day, we realised the band had become a full-time job for us. Now it's time to move on and do something different. This band achieved much more than we could imagine when we formed up this band.

However, we don't stop making and playing music. Check out the official EToS website regularly for informAtion about the members and their other projects and bands. The site has been online for almost seven years now and will remain as it is. Only the address has changed: www.etos.tk.

We thank all our fans for support! A huge number of nice things happened to us between 1994 and today, thanks to you! On behalf of Eternal Tears of Sorrow in early January 2003, Jarmo Puolakanaho & Altti Veteläinen (the founding members)

Dave Lombardo (Slayer!) plays on four songs from the new upcoming Apocalyptica record "Reflections". If you didn't already know, Apocalyptica is the Finnish cello trio made famous for their covers of Metallica songs.

Dismember bassist Richard Cabeza recently got married in Las Vegas to a woman he met while on tour with Dark Funeral. The name of the lucky bride and the time of the wedding are unknown, but you can view the proceedings for yourself in its full, Vegas-style glory.

Jean-Pierre De Sade has decided to leave Notre Dame right in the middle of recording their new album. Some of his tracks will remain, but the rest of the guitars will be covered by ND's multitalented mainman Snowy Shaw. Of course, this also means the band now has an opening. If you feel like you've got whAt it takes, send your pic, bio and demo to:

S.O.S management
gamla tuvevägen 16
417 05 gothenburg
Sweden

The Soundtrack of Our Lives are nominAted for a U.S. Grammy! The album "Behind the Music" got the nod in the 'Best AlternAtive Music Album' cAtegory. See the rest of the list here.

Here's some of the nominees for the Spellemannsprisen, the Norweigan version of the Grammies. Read the full list here. Winners will be announced At the awards ceremony on February 22.

Rock
AI Phoenix - "Lean ThAt Way Forever"
Gluecifer - "Basement Apes"
JR Ewing - "Ride Paranoia"
Madrugada - "Grit"
Vidar Vang - "Rodeo"

Metal
Immortal - "Sons Of Northern Darkness"
Red Harvest - "Sick Transit Gloria Mundi"
SAtyricon - "Volcano"

Pop
Dadafon - "Visitor"
Ephemera - "Balloons And Champagne"
Minor Majority - "If I Told You, You Were Beautiful"
Popium - "Permanently High"
The Margarets - "WhAt Kept You?"

Electronica
Biosphere - "Shenzhou"
Kim Hiorthøy - "Melke"
SalvAtore - "Tempo"

Open Class
Mari Boine - "Eight Seasons"
Sidsel Endresen and Bugge Wesseltoft - "Out Here, In There"
Jaga Jazzist - "The Stix"
Nils Petter Molvær - "nP3"
Ulver - "Lyckantropen Themes"

Song:
"Forever Not Yours" - a-ha
"Mysteriet Deg" - Bjørn Eidsvåg
"My Lullaby" - Maria Mena
"Barcelona" - Paperboys
"Remind Me" - Röyksopp

Black metal-turned goth-electronica act Kovenant has their new album "S.E.T.I" (The Search For ExtrAterestial Intelligence) coming out in Europe March 31 on Nuclear Blast Records.

Northside Records reports thAt Mari Boine and Frifot will both have new records coming out soon in the new year.

Happy new year! No new music today from me, but I plan to have something come in lAter this week. Otherwise, time to play cAtch-up.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. Peter Jöback - jag kommer hem igen till jul
02. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
03. Håkan Hellström - Det är så jag säger det
04. v/a - Fame factory vol 2
05. Melody club - Music machine
06. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
07. v/a - Chess - på svenska
08. Roxette - Ballad hits
09. The Sounds - Living in America
10. Eric Gadd - Life support
11. Hans Martin - Landet där solen ej går ner
12. v/a - Årets julkonsert
13. Nicke & Nilla - Pannkakor med sylt
14. v/a - Fame factory Christmas
15. Björn Skifs - Ingen annan
16. The Ark - In lust we trust
17. v/a - Fame Factory volym 1
18. Carola - Jul i Betlehem
19. Helene Sjöholm - Visor
20. Ulf Lundell - Club Zebra

Rolling Stone has jumped on the bandwagon to name "Behind the Music" from The Soundtrack of Our Lives as one of the top 50 albums of 2002. Here's whAt they said:

The other Swedish export of choice, the Soundtrack of Our Lives make psychedelia without borders, a loud spray of combinAtions (nuclear-glam guitars, space-hymn keyboards, medieval psaltery) bound together with pop sense. You have to see the band live to appreciAte the guruish ardor of bearlike singer Ebbot Lundberg. But the paisley-mule kick of "Infa Riot" and "21st Century Ripoff" will still have you seeing stars.

Sahara Hotnights also got a nod on RS writer/critic Michael Ansaldo's top 10 list.

Ariel Kill Him has a new website design. So do Kasual Records labelmAtes The New Mess. Their site is here.

Jester Records says thAt Bogus Blimp is planning on doing 3 new releases within a "very short period of time." WhAt thAt means exactly is anyone's guess, but I am definitely looking forward to new mAterial from those guys.

Check out pics from the Chalksounds Fest over here. Cobolt and A-tuna were some of the bands thAt played, but many other band-folk were in Attendance such as most everyone from KVLR.

Soviac has entered the studio to begin work on their new album. The band says "the album is a sort of a trilogy", but other details won't be provided until lAter.

In other Chalksounds news, Carpet People are finishing up with the mixing of their new record. No release dAte yet.

Atchtower.mp3">Here's a track from the upcoming Cult of Luna album. The song is called "The WAtchtower" and the album is gonna be called "The Beyond". Look for it around February 10 from Earache Records, otherwise peep the artwork here.

StrAtovarius has posted new mp3 clips of the songs Atovarius.com/soul_of_a_vagabond.mp3">"Soul of a Vagabond" and Atovarius.com/find_your_own_voice.mp3">"Find Your Own Voice". They both come from the upcoming album "Elements Part I", due January 27 from Nuclear Blast. For the record, the band's mainman Timo Tolkki has come out strongly against music downloading and has warned thAt he will come after anyone caught downloading the new album online. His comment on the subject:

I just got back from the promotour and received the news thAt it's [the new album] on the net already. I have taken the necessary steps to find out the persons, who have put it there. I have contacted our lawyer and the internet department of the Helsinki police. I already have in my possession some IP numbers and there´s more to come. We have obtained a list of journalists who have received the promo copy. We will find those people who did this and they will face a courtcase for sure. They are transmitting internAtionally copyrighted mAterial without permission. The same goes to anybody who downloads this stuff from internet. It is morally wrong and it is also illegal because of the copyright. Don't download unless you don´t wanna get into trouble. We have means to find out these things. If you think thAt you have the right to download copyrighted StrAtovarius mAterial you are wrong. In thAt case I don't want you as a fan. There will be soundclips available on our OFFICIAL web site in time, just like there are clips for those who want to check out StrAto. I am not gonna write these things again. To close this, you might want to be very careful whAt you donwload. There are already several false versions of Elements in the net and some of them contains viruses too.

Here's a zip file containing an mp3 of the new track "Black Seeds On Virgin Soil" from Old Man's Child. The new album "In Defiance Of Existence" comes out January 20 on Century Media.

Download some new tracks from Marduk over here.

Solefald has completed work on the album "In Harmonia Universali", the follow-up to the acclaimed "Pills Against The Ageless Ills". Look for it in the near future from Century Media. Lazare says the new record will be "certainly more experimental, but I think the whole sound and production of the album makes it feel more straight forward than it really is. The album will consist of 10 songs, and the vocal arrangements are larger and more complex this time around. We brought along a male choir and a saxophone player in the studio, and thAt worked out perfectly. I didn't use synths as much as I usually do in the recording process - instead you will hear a lot of real Hammond organs (with a wooden Leslie case) and a Steinway grand piano."

Download some new demo tracks from Einherjer here.

I'm going on a much needed vacAtion, so no more updAtes until Monday, January 6. And there's no news to report today either. So yeah, have a happy new year! Gott nytt år!

I put up a track from Melody Club today. I think they're kinda cheesy, but maybe you'll like 'em. They got thAt retro 80s thing going on, kinda like The Faint maybe, except without the edge.

I saw thAt Smirnoff Ice commercial thAt uses "Kick You Out" from Caesars Palace/The Caesars last night. A quick Google search shows thAt message boards are already buzzing about the song. Anyhow, you can view it for yourself. (Low bandwidth version here, both require Real Player)

The upcoming album from Enslaved will be called "Below the Lights". It'll include 8 songs and should be out around March. In other news, drummer Dirge Rep has reportedly left the band to concentrAte on his project Orcustus, feAturing members of Gorgoroth, Borknagar, and DesekrAtor.

NRK's favorite Norweigan Ater/2412137.html" target=_blank>records of the year:

1. Jaga Jazzist - "The Stix"
2. Thomas Dybdahl – "The GreAt October Sound"
3. Gåte - "Jygri"
4. Madrugada – "Grit"
5. Bjørn Eidsvåg – "Tålt"
6. a-ha – "Lifelines"
7. The Margarets – "WhAt Kept You?"
8. Vamp - "Månemannen"
9. Ugress – "Resound"

Check out some of the lAtest videos from these Burning Heart arists: Millencolin, Division of Laura Lee, Looptroop, and Bombshell Rocks.

Wondering whAt your favorite Swedish artists favorite records of the year are? Aftonbladet has the scoop. Some of the queried people are Magnus Carlson (Weeping Willows), Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist (The Hives), Maria Andersson (Sahara Hotnights), Håkan Hellström, Nicolai Dunger and more. (In Swedish, but not hard to figure out)

Check out some videos from Kent, The (InternAtional) Noise Conspiracy, Håkan Hellström and more At this Atures/cms/index.asp?id=1001500000000243&type=1&page=1" target=_blank>year end wrap-up article from MTVE.com. There's a couple paragraphs on the success and current stAte of Scandinavian music towards the end on page two.

The USCB Allstars will be releasing a new album next spring entitled “I Can't Believe It’s Not Music".

To clarify - KVLR's new CD "On Planted Streets" will contain the debut album "Let Me Worry Some More", the follow-up EP "Deadly Dozen" and one unreleased track. All good stuff, so if you don't have those releases already, this is a greAt way to get it all in one fell swoop.

Cadavar Inc.'s new album will be called "Necrosis". Look for it around springtime on Earache records.

Vintersorg's new album will be called "The Focusing Blur". It comes out sometime next year on Napalm Records. Here's whAt Vintersorg himself had to say about the music:

"The next album is going to have the formAt of a concept/theme album, a story running through the albums entirety, and with a musical flow thAt includes small compositions between the 'real' songs. The music takes off from 'Visions From The Spiral GenerAtor' (the previous record) and twists and turns through a vast genre spectra (as always with Vintersorg). From mellow prog to extreme metal, to ambient and folky vibes, spiced with a lot of effective contrasts, changing directories but united under a solid musical kingdom." (from Blabbermouth)

The new single from The Knife is called "HeartbeAts" and it comes out today. Get a preview of it here, along with a special Christmas treAt.

Kent is the band of the year according to Aftonbladet. Again. Personally, I was a little disappointed with the new record, but it wasn't bad or anything either. Anyhow, here's their picks of the groups with high expectAtions for next year along with their previous entries on the same list:

1. Kent (2002: 1 2001: 4 2000: 2 1999: 4 1998: 1 1997: 2 1996: 10)
2. Håkan Hellström (2002: 20 2001: 6)
3. Peter LeMarc (2002: 19 2001: 13 1996: 14 )
4. The Hives (2002: 2)
5. The Cardigans (2002: 14 2001: 8 2000: 1 1999: 3 1998: 4 1997: 1)
6. Ulf Lundell (2002: 6 2001: 17 2000: 15 1999: 10 1998: 4 1997: 1 )
7. Lisa Miskovsky
8. Marie Serneholt, A-Teens
9. Florens Valentine
10. Sara Isacsson
11. The Ark (2002: 11 2001: 10)
12. Soundtrack of Our Lives (1997: 18)
13. Magnus Uggla
14. Kaah (2002: 13)
15. Radio Dept
16. The Sounds
17. Broder Daniel (2002: 8)
18. Brolle Jr
19. InternAtional Noise Conspiracy
20. Rebecka Törnqvist (1996: 3)

I thought it was already released, but I guess I'm just way too ahead of the game. My prediction for 'next-big-thing' stAtus, Caesars Palace (aka The Caesars), releases their next single "Candy Kane" on January 13.

The next record from the Dolores Singles Club will be from the band ALF. Dolores also says we'll be getting a new Broder Daniel record in the near future, but how many times have we heard thAt before?

Marduk's next album "World Funeral" will come out in Europe on February 24. A single for the song "Hearse" will also arrive in February with the b-side being a cover of "Phantasm", originally by Possessed.

Is it time for the final countdown? Word on the street has it thAt 80s rockers Europe may reunite in celebrAtion of their 20th anniversary next year. They're already releasing a CD of previously unreleased mAterial, so it's time to cash in, right? Ex-frontman Joey Tempest (nee Joakim Larsson) recently put out his third solo album earlier this year.

There just doesn't seem to be much of anything going on today. Hope your holiday was a good one. As a special treAt, I put up a new Nicolai Dunger mp3 for y'all. It's from "Tranquil IsolAtion", the album he did with Will Oldham. It's not my favorite album of his, but a few of the tracks are really greAt. This one's an instrumental and seasonably appropriAte.

Looks like there's news today after all. Merry Christmas.

Nasum have decided on a name for the title of their next album they are currently recording At singer/guitarist Mieszko Talarczyk's Soundlab Studios. It will be called "Helvete" (hell) and it should be out around April or May on Relapse Records. The band also plans on doing a split 10" with Napalm DeAth sometime early next year on the lAtter's label, FETO Records.

Mayhem drummer Hellhammer has decided to lend his talents to yet another band. This time it's with Shining. The band is currently negotiAting for a rerelease of their first two albums "I - Within Deep Dark Chambers" and "II - Livets ÄndhallplAts" on Avantgarde Music.

The Chalksounds fest is sold out. The show takes place tomorrow with Cobolt, The Price Of Ink and A-tuna At Scharinska Villan in Umeå.

Gluecifer is heading out on a tour of Southern Europe At the end of next month. Here's the dAtes so far:

01.30.03 NL Groningen Vera
01.31.03 NL Eindhoven Effenaar
02.01.03 NL Harlem PAtronAt
02.02.03 DE Brussells tbc
02.03.03 DE Berlin Columbia Fritz
02.04.03 DE Karlsruhe Substage
02.05.03 CH Zurich Abart
02.06.03 IT Milan Rolling Stone
02.07.03 IT San Dona Mithos club
02.08.03 IT Ravenna Rock planet
02.10.03 SP Montpellier Le Rockstore
02.12.03 SP Barcelona KGB
02.13.03 SP Valencia Fenix
02.14.03 SP Madrid El Sol
02.15.03 SP A Coruna Playa Club
02.18.03 PT Lisboa Paradise Garage
02.19.03 PT Porto Hard Club
02.20.03 SP Bergara Jam
02.21.03 FR La Roche Le Fuzzon
02.22.03 FR Clermont Ferr La Coope
02.23.03 FR Ris Orange The Plan
02.24.03 FR Starssbourg La Laiterie

KAtAtonia has completed work on their new album. 15 songs were recorded and 13 of them will end up on the final release. No titles or release dAte yet, but once again Travis Smith will handle the artwork.

Listen to a preview of the new Melody Club album "Music Machine" right here. It comes out tomorrow on Virgin Sweden.

The new 69-Hard album will be called "Blues from Hell and the band says "the music on this album is about 1000% heavier than everything else you have ever heard the 69ers play!" Look for it around springtime. In other news, the vinyl version of the debut album "Life is Good" will be out in January on Idle Hands Records.

Hope y'all have yourselves a Merry Christmas. ThAt is, if you celebrAte said holiday. Everyone else, enjoy your day At the movies or doing whAtever you do while the rest of the world ignores you. I feel your pain. I doubt there will be any news tomorrow, so I probably won't updAte.

The US label Deep Elm has signed Surrounded. A full length will come in spring and the track "High Five Hero" will be feAtured on the "Emo Diaries #9" compilAtion coming in March. Samples are available from both Deep Elm or the band's website.

This time we are heading for the ultimAte and so far it sounds very promising. The new mAterial is pretty diverse but in general the songs have more POWER. Hard-hitting and straight forward, with more nAtural flow. So thAt the energy and force comes straight back to you.

ThAt's Magnus Olsfelt of The Crown commenting on the writing process for the new album. No release dAte yet, but the goal is for next summer.

Behold, the MTV Up North Top 20 videos of 2002:

1. Andreas Johnson - Shine
2. Kent - Dom Andra
3. Brainstorm - WAterfall
4. Saybia - The Day After Tomorrow
5. The Crash - Star
6. Millencolin - Man Or Mouse
7. Jupiter Day - The Morning After
8. Acorn - A.C.O.R.N
9. A-ha - Forever Not Yours
10. Jon - Right Here Next To Me
11. Bomfunk MC's - Back To Back
12. Swan Lee - Tomorrow never Dies
13. Kemopetrol - Saw It On TV
14. The Ark - FAther Of A Son
15. The Sounds - Living In America
16. Junior Senior - Move Your Feet
17. Tyskarna Fran Lund - Global Fussball OK
18. Melody Club - Palace StAtion
19. Sondre Lerche - Sleep On Needles
20. Mew - Am I Wry

I posted my top ten lists for 2002 over At the other website I write for, indieworkshop.com. Check it out right here. My list is At the bottom. And in honor of said list, I'm gonna put up some mp3s from Logh and The Motorhomes. Yeah, they might've already been up awhile ago, but whAtever. Enjoy!

I suspect the flow of news will be slow over the next two weeks, so if I'm not posting, thAt's probably why.

KVLR will be having a record release party for the new CD collection "On Planted Streets" January 10 At Norrlandsoperan / B-salen. Said CD includes all of the band's recorded mAterial to-dAte on one disc. In other news, the album "The GreAt Collapse" (one of my 2002 faves) is finally going to get a Japan release February 19 on Philter Records/Sony.

The Embassy are the Atures/cms/index.asp?id=1001500000000244&type=3&page=1" target=_blank>band of the week over At MTVE.com. Besides the short interview and profile, there's a couple song samples to check out, too.

Look for interviews with Cult of Luna in upcoming issues of Kerrang, Terrorizer and Rock Sound. As I've said before, I fully expect the new upcoming album to be a monster so keep your eyes out.

Finland's HIM just got back from LA and reports they are finished with the new album. Look for it around April on Supersonic/G.U.N. Records. The band also just completed the filming of a new video for the song "Buried Alive by Love". Bam Margera of 'Jackass' directed and Juliette Lewis makes an appearance. There's some photos of the proceedings here.