Interview: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Festival report: Eurosonic 2009

Darkthrone - Canadian metal

Darkthrone has a new EP called "NWOBHM", as in "New wave of black heavy metal". Of course, being Darkthrone, there's not really anything 'new' about it. The band prides themselves on embodying all that is kvlt, grim and true in Norwegian black-metal, or as Fenriz says himself, "How much primitive can you can?" (fast-forward to 1:20 before the end) So yeah, think Venom, not fellow Nordsmen Emperor. Also consider, again - this being Darkthrone, that there's gonna be some wackiness. If the tounge-in-cheek EP title wasn't enough, consider "Canadian metal". Um, really? When I think Canadian metal, I think of Voivod and Gorguts, two bands that sound nothing like Darkthrone. Actually, it starts to make a bit more sense when you google the lyrics and find threads like this featuring much more learned metal historians. In a way, Darkthrone seems to be reverting to an almost-Manowar level of singlemindedness. Not that that's a bad thing - someone's got to carry the torch. Besides, Manowar's over-obessive singlemindedness is one of the reasons they're so great. I'd say the same is true for Darkthrone. Stay true!

MP3: Darkthrone - Canadian metal

Lis er Stille - The construction of the amp train
(Brutal But Sentimental)

Sometimes you admire an album more than you actually enjoy listening to it. I guess that was the case for me with Denmark's Lis er Stille, a four-piece that favors the "surging rush of sound" approach. There are only four tracks here, all roughly about ten minutes in length, and if you've heard one, you've pretty much heard the album. They really like their pounding drums, their whirling keyboard/guitar blend, and their slightly retro organ riding atop the vigorous waves of sound. The songs generally begin with a quiet intro, with the vocalist sounding not unlike Ola from The White Birch (and at times he reminded me of Grandaddy, as did one of the keyboard sequences on track 2). Then things build in intensity, with simple guitar chords repeated insistently, possibly shifting into a different tempo or mood, then getting intense again. Track 4 holds the most interest, as there are compelling shifts from minor key to major key and a better dynamic balance overall. On a really great stereo, I imagine that this album would sound pretty kickass, especially if you just played it for a few minutes. But as an overall listening experience, it just didn't maintain my interest over several plays, although I would hardly count the band out. With the singer coming more to the fore and some added diversity in the arrangements, a future Lis er Stille album could be very promising indeed.
- Kevin Renick

Serena Maneesh has announced that ex-Mika Bomb guitarist Ann Lee will be replacing keyboard/vocalist Lina Holström.

Chris Magnusson of Hemstad has a new electropop solo project called Das Kometen that you can check out right here: http://www.suchgreatheights.se/daskometen/index.htm
Beware of the auto-playing video, but keep an eye out for the hilarious outdoor keyboard/groove shots.

It's Friday again so that means it's time for another classic choon in ye ol' mp3 playlist. My friend Kelly says I should call this the "I used to be a rebel. This was my soundtrack." feature, but I'm not so sure. I'm still a rebel dammit! Anyhow, I was thinking about posting a classic Cobolt track at some point, but since they band is actually doing something again this week after years of inactivity, I suppose that now is a good time. So yeah - here's a song from their album "Spirit on parole", first released back in 1999. The band's precious slowcore stylings conceal the fact that singer/guitarist Magnus Bjorklund used to play bass with Umeå hardcore legends Refused, so don't be expecting anything hard or heavy. Well, maybe it gets a little heavy when that huge guitar kicks in on the chorus. I don't think the band ever wrote another as amazing as this, but that's hardly a crime. Heights like this are difficult to achieve. Check it out and hope that maybe someday they'll even put out a new record.

Sidenote: if anyone has any clever suggestions for what I should call my Friday feature, I'll be happy to reward you with free CDs should I actually end up using your idea. Go here to weigh in.

I am currently in Umeå and all is well. Spring has sprung in Stockholm, but it most definitely has not reached Norrland. But hey, who am I to complain? Life is good! As I said in my newsletter last week, I'll try to keep in touch via the board if anyone's curious about what I'm up to. Cheers!

Punky's Dilemma - Scandinavia
(self-released)

Straight from the Simon & Garfunkel song comes Punky's Dilemma and their new-folk that is not much different from the originator of the name. Beautiful pop songs made with a couple of acoustic guitars, a voice that is similar to Paul Simon's, some female backing vocals and the occasional keyboard/electronic buried in the mix. Punky's Dilemma certainly won't make history but I am willing to guess that it wasn't their goal to begin with. Not bad, but it certainly gets old after the third or fourth song.
- Simon Thibaudeau