Swedish band in the NWOSDM category, founded in 1996. Can be compared to fellow Swedes In Flames, Dark Tranquility and At The Gates. They have released 3 albums, but are currently without a record deal.
TWO FEET STAND (1997) LISTENABLE
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Line-up: Niclas Engelin: Lead Guitar Håkan Skoger: Bass Thim Blom: Drums Jim Kjell: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar Additional Musicians: Thomas Fredriksson: Keyboards |
The first release from these Swedes, is remarkable! The brutality, combined with the melodies, are awesome! Heavily influenced by In Flames and At The Gates, these guys still manage to create a sound of their own. Even the production, that is not so great, can not put down this feast of an album. I usually don't care for instrumentals, but 'Netherworld' is an exception from that rule. I wish they would increase the use of clean vocals, though. Gardenian help set the standard for this music at a high level. Don't miss out on these guys!
Killer tracks: Flipside Of Reality, Do Me Now, Netherworld
SOULBURNER
(1999) NUCLEAR BLAST
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Line-up: Niclas Engelin: Guitars Håkan Skoger: Bass Thim Blom: Drums Jim Kjell: Vocals, Guitars Additional Musicians: Thomas Fredriksson: Keyboards Eric Hawk: All Clean Vocals Sabrina Khilstrand: Female Vocals |
A truly amazing album. It took me completely by surprise. A friend of mine had the disc spinning in the background, and soon had me curious of what band it was. A fine melodic death metal band is always cool. Then a clean vocal appeared, and I just went WOW, this sounds familiar. And it should be, the man with the borrowed mike was no other than Eric Hawk (or Eirikur Hauksson) from ARTCH!!! What a voice, and what great songs! He apparently went down to the studio the day after they asked him to help out. Then he recorded his contribution within a few hours! This album combines the hard with the melodic in a way no other band is close to. Not even In Flames have come close. This album is a masterpiece, and therefore A MUST!!! My CD is signed by Eric Hawk.
Killer songs: Deserted, If Tomorrow's Gone, Small Electric Space, Black Days
SINDUSTRIES
(2000) NUCLEAR BLAST
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Line-up: Niclas Engelin - Guitars Kriss Albertsson - Bass Thim Blom - Drums Jim Kjell - Vocals, Guitars Additional Musicians: Lars Szöke - Acoustic Guitars Peter Tägtgren - Keys & Programming |
After having loved 'Soulburner', and even 'Two Feet Stand', so much, it just had to be an impossible task to impress me that much again. Therefore it took me about 3 years to even get this album. I just wasn't overly eager to hear it. I also knew that Nuclear Blast had given them the boot, and I think I read that it had something to do with the direction this band was heading or something. Well, Gardenian delivers yet another fine album in my opinion. The goosebumbs that 'Soulburner' gave me doesn't exist here, but the songs are nevertheless good songs! The band does incorporate a tad more industrial sound, but I think that has much to do with the collaborating producer. I still say that Gardenian is one of the most underrated bands in their genre. Other acts, like Soilwork for example, get all the rave, but these guys are almost just a bi-note in the melodic death metal history. And that is a shame.
Killer tracks: Long Snap To Zero, Scissorfight, Sonic Death Monkey
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