Six Swedes

Bloodbound is a Swedish power metal band formed in 2004. They released their first album, Nosferatu, in 2005 and their second, Book of the Dead, in May 2007. The brainchild of former Street Talk members Fredrik Bergh and Tomas Olsson, the band has also included Michael Bormann (Jaded Heart), Urban breed (Tad Morose) and Pelle Åkerlind (Morgana Lefay). Their debut album Nosferatu featured former Tad Morose singer Urban breed on vocals. Released on 16 December 2005 (in Japan; European release date 24 February 2006), Nosferatu features artwork by Mark Wilkinson (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Marillion) and received an early rave review from the Swedish rock magazine Power Play. Based solely on the strength of their debut album, the band opened for Evergrey and headlined day one of the Gothenburg Metal Festival.After Urban breed announced his departure from Bloodbound in fall 2006, former Tad Morose singer Kristian Andrèn briefly joined the band for some live dates. In March 2007, they announced their new singer, German Michael Bormann, who laid down vocals on the band's second album Book of the Dead. Bormann, however, played no live shows with Bloodbound: for their first performance after releasing Book of the Dead (9 June 2007 at Sweden Rock Festival), Urban breed handled the vocal duties. Urban also performed with the band at subsequent shows, including Bollnäs Festivalen, 21 July 2007. Bloodbound played two sets, both backed up by a symphony orchestra. For the second set they backed Paul Di'Anno of Iron Maiden fame.

Two years after their first chart entry in Germany with “War Of Dragons” and an almost completely sold out headliner tour, BLOODBOUND are back with their eagerly anticipated new album “Rise Of The Dragon Empire”. One has to make a compliment towards the six swedes as “Rise Of The Dragon Empire” is full of hits, hits and again hits! The band further refined their formula and now comes up with the best material in their entire career. Even if Bloodbound add their own taste, “Rise Of The Dragon Empire” will not only thrill their numerous fans, but also fans of Sabaton, Powerwolf and even Nightwish.

AT THE GATES are innovators. From debut album, The Red In The Sky Is Ours, through comeback stunner, At War With Reality, the Gothenburg-based death metal act have always traversed the left-hand path on their own terms. The Swedes are keenly aware of who they are, where they come from, and how they got to where they are today. In the ‘90s, AT THE GATES spearheaded The New Wave of Swedish Death Metal. In the aughts, then-swansong album, Slaughter Of The Soul, served as a feature-rich treasure chest for a host of upstarts to plunder. When AT THE GATES returned in 2008—a full 12 years after they disbanded—their return was celebrated and the follow-up to Slaughter Of The Soul—now placing handsomely on Top Metal Album Lists—hotly anticipated. Now, four years after At War with Reality, the Swedes are ready to show their indomitable spirit, ceaseless ingenuity, and raw power on new album, To Drink From The Night Itself.

Music has become more important than ever in recent times. As a result, the triumphant return of AMARANTHE feels particularly timely. The Swedish six-piece have spent the last decade establishing themselves as a formidable, positive and fervently melodic force for metallic good. From their explosive self-titled debut in 2011 to the more sophisticated, streamlined likes of 2014’s Massive Addictive and its immaculate follow-up Maximalism (2016), AMARANTHE have masterfully blurred the lines between melodic metal, crushing brutality, cinematic sweep and futuristic sparkle. Led by the endlessly ingenious songwriting of guitarist Olof Mörck and powerhouse vocalist Elize Ryd, their rise to prominence has been a joy to behold.

The Diablo Swing Orchestra dates back to 1501 in Sweden, where history tells the tale of an orchestra that played like no other. With music so seductive and divine that the ensemble overwhelmed audiences all over the country, and people from all social classes took them to their hearts. Their performances rapidly earned a reputation of being feral and vigorous and gained the orchestra a devoted crowd that followed them around…

If metal was a war, Engel would be the reinforcements coming in for the Swedish melodic death front. This five-piece band has its roots planted firmly in that camp and finds itself picking up in the wake of In Flames. This makes perfect sense if you consider that Engel guitarist Niclas Engelin was just made a full member of In Flames this year and has also played in Gardenian. The band’s second effort is called "Threnody," and is named appropriately for a few reasons…

Beauty and darkness, heavy guitars and fragile ballads, vintage blues rock and modern doom - the sound of Stockholm's AVATARIUM is so unique, that the band already succeeded in drawing the world into their mystical spell with their very first album. The Swedes take you by the hand and lead you down into their mesmerizing and gloomy world full of absurd poetry and bittersweet melancholy with a raw sixties flair. Although the band was only founded in 2012 by SOEN guitarist Marcus Jidell and CANDLEMASS chef Leif Edling, they were already able to top the soundchecks of the most prestigious European magazines and draw all eyes upon them with their two albums and EP's. Now Hurricanes And Halos is the outstanding successor to the critically-acclaimed The Girl With The Raven Mask…