Disarmonia Mundi

Hello World (in particular Australian radio stations). You should listen to Disarmonia Mundi. Especially if you are any kind of fan of Melodic Death Metal.

Disarmonia Mundi, apart from having a relatively terrible name (what does it even mean? Disarmonia? Mundi? sounds like the kind of lake they unearth pre-human remains from. The Mundi Man.) are a melodeath band from Turin in Italy. While Italy is not generally noted for its metal scene, they have surprised me on more than one occasion, Lacuna Coil, Raintime, Dope Stars Incorporated.

While I could go on about the history and stylistic progression of the band, I'm not going to bother. All you need to know is that the vocals on the two albums that matter (Fragments of a D-Generation and Mind Tricks) are done by Bjorn Strid from Soilwork, and they have two awesome albums. Allow me to do my best to put their music into words in a feeble attempt to make you love them as I do.

They play melodeath with a very Gothenburg sound, along the lines of Soilwork and Dark Tranquility. Probably the line directly in between those two bands. Indeed, I was surprised to find they weren't Scandinavian. Awesome riffs, crazy little synth intros and dynamic vocals (as dynamic as Strid gets anyway). What more do you want from melodeath?

Their second most recent album, Fragments of a D-Generation, was the album that caught everyone's attention. While personally the first two songs bore me, from Red Clouds the thing picks up. With killer melodic guitar, some amazing clean choruses and catchy little synth bits melodeath bands love, I am personally surprised the band does not have that large a following. For those who know them, think Sonic Syndicate mixed with Soilwork, but played by people with skills rather than just repetative drums and samey guitar found with Sonic Syndicate. Highlights are Quicksand Symmetry and A Mirror Behind. They won't win any awards for the lyrics, but they have a heap of energy.

Mind Tricks give the impression that the band were going for a much more serious and meaningful album. And it is, at least musically. The lyrics are either such pure and metaphoric poetry that their meaning escapes me, or Strid just pulled some words out his ass that sound good against the killer guitar. It does sound good though. Probably lends more towards a Sonic Syndicate and Dark Tranquility sound than the last one, but I have to say I the sound more. Resurrection Code and Mind Tricks are the highlights, from Nihilistic Overdrive on it gets a bit more forgettable, but picks up with A Taste of Collapse. A solid album, get Fragments though first if you are new to them.

Basically, if you are any kind of fan of melodeath, particularly the Gothenburg sound, check them out. If you are allergic to myspace, I could upload some samples should people wish, although I could just as easily assist them in the acquisition of either album. Hell, if you like them, buy the album. Then request it on the radio and spread the good word. Who am I kidding, melodeath is not radio material. But I love it.

For further convincing (and also to show off that I have worked out how to embed YouTube videos) here is the video for Red Clouds off Fragments. Not my favourite, but a good song anyway.

More stuff, and apologies

Firstly, to the hordes of readers I know I have, sorry about updating so rarely. I have been busy with university and such things, but it 'should' be good from now.

More importantly, Sibling Sense are awesome. I hate to just go over bands I heard through Absolut Noise (which is an awesome music blog for anyone interested in Swedish music), but they are pretty amazing. Very Muse-like, but with a bit more dynamic I feel, although I was never much of a fan of Muse. My most anticipated debut album so far this year.

There should be more things up here later, and remember, just comment a post and I may be able to help you acquire the album in question.

Peter Dolving

Yes, this man deserves a whole post to himself, even though he has actually been on my radio, in an interview. Hell, he even picked the next song to play. But that was as the lead singer of The Haunted, an excellent band that gets most of the recognition it deserves. None of his other projects have ever been played. I think a musical history of Peter Dolving is required at this point. It will be the most complete one in existence, as he is a very hard character to find anything about, other than what is on his wikipedia page.

The first we hear of Dolving is of him working as a singer-songwriter in cafes in Sweden (Thanks to wikipedia). The first actual recorded music we hear from him comes as he joins Mary Beats Jane, a Gothenburg band named after members squabbling girlfriends. Some sources say the band began in 1991, but all agree that in 1994 an epic piece of music was released upon the world. MBJ released their self titled debut with Dolving on vocals. Even at this early stage Dolving's amazing lyric writing began to show, with references to Nietzsche, Psycho, religion and doing 'that dumb cow, Red Riding Hood'. While his singing was fairly samey throughout the album, none of the incredible dynamic he would later develop, it was still incredible and, as always, just what the music needed. This album scored them a 1994 grammi (the Swedish ones), yet not much mainstream recognition. At about this time Dolving also opened the 'highly successful rock club called "Underground"' apparently (again from wikipedia).

3 years later MBJ released Locust, a masterpiece by any standard. Here Dolving demonstrated the full dynamic of his voice, managing to fit more emotion into his words than any other modern vocalist (except perhaps for Anders Friden, but I am slightly biased on this). Where he had yelled on the first album, here he sang, and sang damn well, with more of his incredible lyrics.
One of his best albums to date I personally believe.

After this he was apparently homeless, living literally out of a dumpster (whatever the hell happened to the club he owned I'll never know). At around the same time he is also reported to be selling fetish art and working as a carpenter, which is all around the time he joined The Haunted as one of the founding members. With the two guitarists from At the Gates the band could not help but succeed, although Dolving had to quit the band due to personal reasons after they released their first album (self titled). The album is good, but out of all of Dolving's work it's the one I enjoy the least.

Now I have no idea exactly what else the man gets up to, but the most I can find out is that he got a bunch of guys together to play some songs that he was writing. And what songs. He released a solo album by the name of 'Just 'cause you can talk, don't mean I have to listen' in 2000 (at least I am fairly sure it was a solo album, some sources say it was released by 'The Peter Dolving Band' which I'll explain now). This album is apparently a mix of spoken word material and some of the most incredible music the world has ever seen. After literally days of searching I only ever found two songs from this album, both were gorgeous, only out matched by what would follow.

Now apparently he forms 'The Peter Dolving Band' (guess who was still doing the songwriting), and releases the albums One of Us (2001) and Bad Blood (2003). During these years he played with The Peter Dolving Band at cafes and clubs, presumably he is not homeless anymore and at some point around here he gets a wife and has kids. The little I have heard from these two albums is incredible, I would give my right arm to get them in whole. Hell, I would probably sacrifice around 4 or 5 babies (or 20-30 unformed fetuses) just to get these things. And if you had heard these songs, so would you. You may sit there with your virgin ears and say 'There is no way I would ever kill 4 or 5 babies, let alone touch 20-30 fetuses just for some music". And I would both laugh at your virgin ears and pity you for not appreciating the magic that is this music. So basically, at this point Dolving releases some of his best work, both lyrically and musically.

He then goes on to rejoin The Haunted, releases some kickass albums (The Deadeye is one of my favourite of all time) and basically gets back into the public eye, which is where I found him. I won't talk much about his career with The Haunted, because that is fairly easy to find out about.

There is talk during this time of him rejoining with Mary Beats Jane and working on new material. Then they change their name to Bring the War Home, after a couple of lineup changes (which pretty much go unnoticed as they are not releasing music). Then BAM 2008, they release the masterpiece that is 'Rejoice!'. Which I bought. With real money. And am grateful I did. While personally I feel it is not quite as good as his work as The Peter Dolving Band, it is still some of the best music I have heard in a long time. I will put up more about this album in particular later on, I can because I have actually heard the thing in full, unlike those irritatingly lost albums I mentioned above.

At around this time as well, there is talk of him forming another side project simply called O. Only mentioned in some interviews and once on his blog, it is apparently heavy sounding, but that is all I know. Which makes it quite mysterious, which I like. What I don't like is not having the music. I only hope the guys he does this project with can afford to actually release a CD, rather than just a digital album (as they had to do with Bring the War Home).

I have an epic collection of 16 Peter Dolving Band songs, which I think I could almost say is the most out of anyone in Australia. Seeing as the albums are impossible to buy anywhere I would have no problem sharing this joy, unless Peter Dolving himself tells me not to. So just comment and ask for it, and you shall receive, that is generally how this site will work (mainly because I am too lazy to upload stuff unless I know someone wants it). I also am the proud owner of Rejoice! by Bring the War Home, which I also may be able to assist some others in acquiring.

Bands to Watch For

Going through an album in depth takes a longer time than I am often bothered to give. I know I said in the first post that I would only talk about bands that had a whole album or EP released, but in the name of laziness I am going to have to relax this rule. And also there are some damn awesome sounding bands out there that are unsigned, or I just plain cant find their albums. But mostly because mentioning a good band and linking to their myspace takes up space and makes me seem productive.

So here are some bands, tiny and obscure though they may be, both you and I (who am I kidding, its pretty much just going to be me) need to watch.

Francis. This gorgeous little group took a bit of finding, I noticed I had written the words Francis (Swedish Band) on a scrap of paper. Realising this must be some band I thought was good but had forgotten about. Long story short, after a LOT of searching I found their myspace again and realised I had heard about them from the marvelous SwedesPlease.net. Almost cabaret swinging rocky bluesy kind of thing, with a growly lady singing. Growly in a good kind of way, not the nightmare inducing Angela Gossow growl (Seriously, did it freak anyone else out when they heard ArchEnemy's lead singer had a vagina?) . On the same label as The Tallest Man on Earth. Very recommended and hopefully I can find their EP when it is released this year.

Tommigun. A pretty little Belgian band I can't be bothered writing much more about. Soft Rock ballady kind of thing. Lead singer also plays in Rumplestitchkin (see below). Good though, if only I could find more of their stuff).

Rumplestitchkin. Another little Belgian band. Similar to Tommigun, no surprises there, but I like Rumplestitchkin better. 'Oh Lord' from their myspace is a highly recommended listen, I actually have one of their albums too that I might write about later on. Forgot about that. Ahh well. They are 'An inventive, refined, retro-futuristic four-piece that can't and won't choose between moving tunes and stomping anthems'. Which is directly from their myspace and pretty much describes them.

Well that's it for what I can think of at the moment, will do another installment when I remember more bands/find more/can be bothered to make the massive effort required to look up the myspace, listen to a song or two then link it back here. I don't think you realise just how far away my mouse is from my keyboard. Indeed, suicide begins to seem a mighty attractive alternative to the cradle of Satan's torment my life becomes as a result of this mouse reaching. Okay, slight exaggeration, but I am one lazy kid.

The Stompin' Souls!

Who loves garage rock? I do, if only because I love The Stompin' Souls. When I first got their first and only album, '...And It's Looking A Lot Like Nothing At All', I listened to only two songs, Into the Firing Line and Waiting for the Van. I loved the songs, but barely touched the others on the album. After listening to it properly, I love the thing. The band is now one of my all time favourites, and I can't even find the lyrics anywhere. But I guess I should start at the beginning. Stompin’ Souls are a five-piece band from Stockholm, Sweden. Today’s band members are Emil Nilsson (organ), Henrik Reinert (drums), Kalle Peterz (bass), Markus Bergkivst (guitar), Thomas Carlsson (vocals). The band was originally formed in 2003 and soon they released the “Put Me On” Demo EP on CD and 7”. Thank you last.fm. And that is all that I know about them, the only sites that mention them are their myspace, last.fm and Trig, as well as some store sites. Shamefully unknown. Their sound is the kind you could imagine on a radio, or at least having a sizeable fan base. But they don't.

The songs themselves are gorgeous little things, full of life (Into the firing line, Put me on, Bring me out among others) and emotion (The Dead Song, Like A Scar). And an organ. To be honest, I have a soft spot for organs, but nevertheless, this one genuinely works perfectly in the songs. The album has the typical fuzzy guitars of garage rock I guess, but I am no expert on garage rock. To name similar sounds, which I am terrible at, I guess you could say it is reminiscent of The Hives or The Caesars. But better than both. In my opinion.

The lyrics themselves are beautiful. Some lines make hardly any sense, while others seem to perfectly nail down an emotion. This gives songs that despite seeming to be about nothing on first listen, actually end up being touching and sincere. Maybe it's just where I am in my life, but I loved the lyrics.

So if you are a fan of some light fun rock, check these guys out. Their album can be found on Itunes or bought off their official site. For the money deprived, I could offer some assistance to those wishing to aquire the album. Either way, get their music, listen to it, love it. Then show your friends, request them on the radio and help them get some much deserved recognition.

Tiger Lou

I suppose I can understand how Tiger Lou (or TGR LOU) have avoided mainstream radio, and even to some extent the non mainstream radio (which pretty much is Triple J and random community stations in Australia). They (when live) play indie rock, which is one of those genres that is saturated to the point that people rarely waste their time going through it for the gems. They have plenty of good ones to play on the radio anyway. (Indie is a not a genre in my eyes, for a variety of reasons that I am not going to put down here, but it honestly irritates me when someone tries to define a band's sound with the simple fact that the band is not associated with major commercial labels). Anyway, on to Tiger Lou. Swedish band Tiger Lou was formed in Nyköping 2001 by Rasmus Kellerman. After several EPs, the first full-length album 'Is My Head Still On?' was released in 2004 and was followed in 2005 with 'The Loyal'. On the albums Tiger Lou is a solo project with Kellerman writing lyrics and playing nearly every instrumental part himself. Live, however, he is backed up by Erik Welén, Mathias Johansson and Pontus Levahn. That is what wikipedia says, which covers what Tiger Lou is... Not how they sound.

I keep on saying 'they', when I should be saying 'he'. Rasmus Kellerman does all the music making, the band just helps him to play it live. While a Swede (big surprise there), he now lives in Berlin where he recorded his latest album. An interesting character, he apparently 'is trying to quit smoking, is disturbed by the thought of touching butter or margarine, prefers dancing to “Frequency” by Rex The Dog and ranks “Rushmore” as the best film ever.' Somehow I like a band more when I respect something about the band members.

Often solo projects sound as though they are missing something. Peter Tägtgren's band Pain is an example, despite still making pretty good music. Tiger Lou is not one of them. That the music was composed by one man came as a surprise to me. Tiger Lou is an example of how allowing one person complete creative control, letting them achieve the vision they want without worrying about other's wishes, can pay off. The sound is, to put it one way, focused. It knows what it is doing. And it does that. Well.

Mostly I am talking about his latest album, which I have to say is a masterpiece. 'A Partial Print' begins with my personal favourites from the album, 'The More You Give' and 'The Less You Have to Carry'. Which are technically one song. The sound is sparse yet somehow filled out, dark I suppose you could call it, or at least melancholic. No killer riffs, or catchy tunes on this one. It just sounds good. Check it out some of the songs on the myspace. The lyrics are also pretty damn good. They fall into place exceptionally, painting images with the music filtering through.

'A Partial Print' takes a while to sink in. While I first heard 'The Less You Have to Carry' and loved it enough to get the album, the rest of the songs seemed to be pretty unmemorable. The next listen I started to get into 'Crushed by a Crowd'. Then 'So Demure'. And it goes on, each listen revealing a new spark of genius in the album.

The earlier albums were a lot more 'pop', a fuller sound, but less 'there' to me. Despite a few listens, I can't seem to get into 'Is My Head Still On?' and 'The Loyal'. But those are the albums that I could see being played on the radio. If Last.fm is anything to go by, 'Oh Horatio' is his most popular song, and is a pretty good representation of the sound on the previous albums.

This band won't make it big, nor does it want to. But I like them, they sound awesome, and for that they should be better known. Hell, they had a song played on the OC. How can they not be on my radio? How can no one have heard of them? Check out their myspace for a taste. If you are like me, after one song you'll instantly decide to acquire the whole album. Which never really pays off for me usually, but this time I am so glad I did.

The Black Box Revelation

For my first post, a band that I am genuinely surprised is not more known, given the praise it receives by those who have heard of them.

Belgium, for a country usually known for its chocolate, actually pumps out a considerable amount of good music. This is a group that actually received a moderate level of success in Belgium(by the standards of this site, meaning that their songs were played on the radio and they toured outside the country), although none of this tiny amount of fame has reached anywhere near me.

They play a gorgeous style of garage rock, bringing back memories of the early days of rock. The songs themselves are a heap of fun, very catchy guitar riffs and a voice that falls into place like a jigsaw piece. A perfect summer band, the lyrics are shallow and child-like (I almost question their mastery of the English language, either they are as meaningless as they first appear or there is some kind of incredible profound meaning hidden between the lines), but this is not a band you listen to for meaning. This is a band you listen to to enjoy yourself, to dance around the room to.

Nothing more than an 18 year old and a 16 year old with a guitar, drums and a voice, the sound that they create is incredible. A sound they describe as 'a runaway train, combining the best ingredients of idols like Led Zeppelin, The Datsuns, The Rolling Stones, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Stooges'. Which actually does a nice job at it.

I highly recommend the songs 'Set Your Head On Fire' and 'I Think I Like You' from their debut album 'Set Your Head On Fire', both can be heard on their myspace.

On a more personal level, I have made a fan out of some of my friends, and I can also play the start to 'Dollars Are Sweet They Say' on the guitar.

Well worth checking out for any fan of light rock with pop elements, catchy lyrics and good old fashioned guitar.

After further examination it seems they have gotten half a paragraph in Playboy magazine. These guys have practically gone mainstream.