Ebon Tale is playing a trio of shows in Madrid at the end of April:

04/27 - Sala El Jugular, Madrid
04/28 - FNAC Forum Callao, Madrid
04/29 - Gruta 77, Madrid

Madrid will host the "Swedish Rockdays" on November 30 at Sala Arena. The festival will feature a number of Swedish bands from a multitude of genres and besides the main showcase gig, there will also be in-stores and radio shows. Acts slated to perform include Ebon Tale, A Sudden Burst of Optimism, The Skiller, Les Issambres and The Gain. More info: http://www.swedishrockdays.tk/

Check out the video for "Vaudeville" from female-fronted indierock trio Ebon Tale: http://hem.bredband.net/albmat5/vaudevillevideo.mpeg

Splendid reviews Ebon Tale: http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1095416792205922

High Bias has posted a bunch of reviews of singles from recent Swedish artists such as The Ackermans, Enemies SWE, Tobias Fröberg and Ebon Tale as well as their take on José González's "Veneer": http://www.highbias.com/
It doesn't hurt that they give me props as well.

Speaking of Ebon Tale, here's the video for their latest single "Sit Down": http://hem.bredband.net/albmat2/sitdownvideo.mpg

The latest Scandinavian music reviews from German webzine Sellfish:

Chastisement - Alleviation of pain
Ebon Tale - Sit down
Fall of the Leaf - Volvere
Totalt Jävla Mörker - Människans ringa värde

Ebon Tale - Sit Down CDS (Dusklight Records)
I am happy to report that this young band has improved greatly since the last release that I reviewed (see 12/13/03). The strong elements from before are still there, such as frontwoman Frida Franzén's strong vocals. Pretty much every complaint I had from before has been remedied as well. The guitars are definitely the focal point now and the songwriting is far more developed. It's especially evident on the 10-minute instrumental b-side "This 6 year old feeling". They just sound much more confident together as a band. Good job - I look forward to hearing more.

Ebon Tale
Sit down CDS
self-released

I am happy to report that this young band has improved greatly since the last release that I reviewed (see 12/13/03). The strong elements from before are still there, such as frontwoman Frida Franzén's strong vocals. Pretty much every complaint I had from before has been remedied as well. The guitars are definitely the focal point now and the songwriting is far more developed. It's especially evident on the 10-minute instrumental b-side "This 6 year old feeling". They just sound much more confident together as a band. Good job - I look forward to hearing more.
- Avi Roig

Ebon Tale will release their very first single and video "Sit Down" on May 24 via Dusklight Records. The track was recored at the same studio as the group's "Blanket Skies" EP and is said to have the 'same organic and vivid feeling.'

Splendid reviews Ebon Tale: http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1079157654409695

German webzine Sellfish reviews Ebon Tale: http://sellfish.inserteffekt.com/_start.php?link=review/03-04.htm%23ebon

Ebon Tale - Blanket Skies (Dusklight Records)
Decent indie rock from this female-fronted trio. I'm reminded a lot of PJ Harvey thanks to the strong vocals from frontwoman Frida Franzén, but they also seem to take cues from mid-90s alt-rock bands like The Pixies and The Breeders. The recording sounds live and natural, but I can't help but think they'd benefit from a more studio sound and some overdubs. I definitely felt like the guitar could take a stronger lead role on a number of songs. The drummer also overplays quite a bit and could stand to back off on his fills and tighten up his patterns. That would probably help them improve their dynamic range, too. Still, not so bad for what I think is still a young band. They just need to listen to eachother a bit more and then they can take it to the next level.

Melody Club has annouced their full list of summer tour dates. Here's the schedule as of now:

05/14 - Hamburg (D) Molotow
05/15 - Düsseldorf (D) Unique
05/16 - Weinheim (D) Cafe Central
05/17 - Berlin (D) Bastard
05/18 - Kassel (D) K19
05/19 - Frankfurt (D) Cookys
05/20 - Dresden (D) Downtown
05/21 - München (D) Atomic Cafe
05/23 - Göteborg Liseberg / Okej Dagen
05/30 - Eskilstuna Blå
05/31 - Härnösand Högslättens Isstadion
06/06 - Drammen (NO) Working Class Hero
06/06 - Hultsfred Hultsfred Festival
06/06 - Visby Gutekällaren
07/01 - Östhammar Musikveckan
07/04 - Sundsvall Sundsvalls Gatufest
07/05 - Kristianstad Tivolirock
07/11 - Arvika Arvikafestivalen
07/19 - Mariehamn, Åland Rock Off Festival
07/23 - Hedemora Hedmora Parken
07/26 - Karlskoga Stranddagar
07/30 - Visby Gutekällaren
08/01 - Östersund Storsjöyran
08/02 - Stockholm Pridefestivalen
08/06 - Gävle Gävle Cityfest
08/08 - Emmaboda Emmabodafestivalen

Johan Bergqvist has posted all three songs from his new single in RealMedia format over at his (newly refurbished) website. Check em out in the upper right-hand corner.

Billboard reviews the US release of "Living in America" from The Sounds.

Stylus Magazine has named Norway's Rune Grammofon their label of the week.

Massproduktion has announced that they will be reissuing a remastered version of the very first Left Hand Solution seven-song EP "Shadowdance" on CD with five extra bonus tracks, three of which are previously unrereleased. It's been ten years since the recording first came out and serves as an almost-complete document of the era when Kicki Höijertz fronted the band.

The Flicker will be playing Club Clampers in Stockholm on May 17 and the first 25 attendees will receive a copy of their new CDr "Phases". Download an mp3 of the track "Consulation" right here.

DigitalMetal.com interviews the avant-metal band Solefald and black/dark metallers Aeternus.

Samson & Rourke recently published an interview with Anders Wendins of Moneybrother. (in Swedish)

The new Lost Patrol single "All Right" featuring Lisa Miskovsky comes out June 2. For those that don't know, LP is the solo project of International Noise Conspiracy frontman Dennis Lyxzen.

Even more bands added to Popaganda fest in Stockholm: Doktor Kosmos, Isolation Years, Superheroes, Miss Universum, José González, Tiger Lou, Carpet People, Mano & the tears, The Search, Blanka, Callahan, Ebon Tale and Anna Vnuk.

Starting on June 3 Swedish Radio P3 will have a week-long feature on Swedish music. Be sure to check it out and remember you can listen online at their website.

The Caesars recently had the single "Sort it Out" featured during an episode of the UK's most watched soap opera Eastenders. Listen to the track here. Like I've said before, expect big things from these guys. The band has also been confirmed for the 'new bands' stage at Glastonbury fest which takes place June 27-29.

The Ark, Hammerfall, Looptroop, Paola, Her Majesty, Evergrey, Moneybrother and Mando Diao have all be confirmed for Göteborgskalaset on August 8-16.

Mike Wead (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate), Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Dream Evil, Notre Dame), Sharlee D'Angelo (Mercyful Fate, Witchery) and Simon Johansson (Memory Garden, Abstrakt Algenra) have all teamed up to form a new band called Firegod. Mike's statement on the current state of the group:

I'm more than thrilled to be joined by some of the guys I consider to be the most creative and talented in Scandinavia. Me and Simon [have] been working really hard for almost two years writing and demoing something like 40-45 tracks... These tracks will be the perfect frame for what I'm sure will become a concept album that will stand out among the rest! People into our older bands as well as our current ones WILL NOT be disappointed!

They expect to have an album out around early 2004.

The new Finnish death-metal "supergroup" Chaosbreed has posted a couple sample mp3s from their demo for downloading:

01. Wretched Life
02. Rotting Alive
03. FC/DC (Freedom Corps Death Crush)

As mentioned before, Chaosbreed features vocalist Taneli Jarva (ex-Sentenced, The Black League), guitarist Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow), guitarist Esa Holopainen (Amorphis), among others. The band is currently entertaining any serious offers for booking or label support and anyone wanting to get in touch should email them at chaosbreeders@hotmail.com.

David & the Citizens and The Knife are both receiving gold disc awards from Border Music in Sweden for sales of over 5000. It's part of a new initiative enacted by the company to encourage and reward independent labels. The ceremony will be held at Pustervik in Göteborg on May 23.

In other D&tC news, the band's album "For All Happy Endings" was just reviewed in English over at firesideometer.com.

Lovitt Records has announced they will start taking preorders of the new Division of Laura Lee collection "97-99" with songs from before they signed with BHR/Epitaph. Email mailorder@lovitt.com for more info or visit the label's website. You can also download a preview mp3 of the track "Stereotype" if you're curious about their old sound, which they describe as "reminiscent of the DC post-punk sound with a dash of Drive Like Jehu." The record hits stores June 16.