The SHREDBOX RETURNS… Bout frickin time!
Yes I am back with another episode of the SHREDBOX! Sorry for the delay, but I am back and I promise that this one was worth the wait! So without further rambles…
This week you get to learn about Swedish metal band Dream Evil. And yes I know this is the second Swedish metal band that I have featured. Though you have to realize that Sweden is the land of metal. The US has been slacking in putting out any new metal bands in the last 10 years. And what we do call metal here in the states usually is made up of a bunch of breakdowns and really awful screaming and growling. So to counteract that garbage we call metal, I look to Sweden. And thankfully they take on the task of bringing true metal to the world.
Dream Evil started as the brainchild of producer Fredrik Nordström, who had the vision of creating a metal band of his own for years. The problem was, he has a lot of trouble finding musicians who had the same vision of metal as he did. Though on one fateful day while in the Greek islands, he happened to bump into guitarist Gus G (Yes the same Gus G from firewind) and the two hit it off pretty well. Gus relocated to Gothenburg, where he and Fredrik starting collaborating right away on materials for the band. The only problem was, they now had to find other musicians who shared their vision of metal, and what better way to do so then to go and recruit from other bands?
Snowey Shaw (drummer) from King Diamond and Mercyful Fate was the first person they asked to become part of their new band. At first he was hesitant and declined the offer. But later decided to join them and play on the bands debut album Dragonslayer. Vocalist Niklas Isfeldt was contacted since he had done backing vocals for some of HammerFalls songs produced by Nordström, and since he was not involved in any major projects at the time, he agreed to take the position. Niklas also brought along his longtime friend Peter Stålfors who assumed bass duties. Funny thing is, up until their first promo shoot, the entire band had never been in the same place before. So this is the first time many of them had ever met!
The band was soon picked up by Century Media Records and had intended to call themselves DragonSlayer because of the medieval and fantasy themes of their songs. But Century Media cut that down quickly citing that it was uninspired and not original enough. So the band looked elsewhere for inspiration and came upon the Dio album entitled Dream Evil. Their first album was released in 2002 and the metal press was very accepting of them. Dragonslayer also reached #1 on the Japanese import charts which kicked off the start of the Japanese tour. While on tour they were invited by Hammerfall to support them on their European tour in 2003. And with such a large tour on the horizon, their manager decided that it would be best if they could have a new album out by then to promote. So while on the flight home they wrote the basis for many of the songs and entered the studio the next day. Within 2 weeks Evilized was recorded and ready to be promoted. One week later their European tour began.
After a very promising tour of Europe, the band took the needed time off to write their third album The Book Of Heavy Metal (in my opinion this is their best), which took them two months to write and record. But this would also be the last album Gus G would do with Dream Evil as he decided to leave the band in late 2004 to spend more time on his band Firewind. Gus was replaced by Mark Black who had filled in for Gus on some recordings and studio sessions previously. Also Snowy Shaw abruptly left the band at the start of 2006 and was replaced by Patrik Jerksten, a co-worker of Fredrik Nordstrom. In late 2006, their 4th album and their first featuring the new lineup was released on October 13th. The band stayed quiet for a little over a year and announced on march 3rd 2008 they had started work on a new studio album titled In the Night. The album still has no release date.
Yeah I know I usually have a writeup about each album. But really to enjoy and understand them, you do have to listen to them for yourselves. Blah Blah, I know what you’re saying “James that’s a bullshit cop-out”. Well in a way yes, but honestly you do need to listen to the albums yourself. And that’s why I have taken a clip from each album and placed it below. Sue me!
First off we have Kingdom of the Damned from their debut album Dragonslayer.
Next up is Made of Metal off their second album entitled Evilized.
Here we have Into the Moonlight off their third album Book of Heavy Metal.
And lastly, Kingdom of the Damned off their latest album United.
But sample clips alone cannot show how utterly metal this band is. To truly appreciate them, you must be able to see some of their videos!
First we have Book of Heavy Metal!
And if that wasn’t metal enough for you…
Fire, Battle, Metal!
For even more info about the band. Check out the website at http://www.dreamevil.se/. It has more pics, videos, tour dates, and so much more.
For all those readers who are curious of who was in the band and who is currently in the lineup…
Current Line-up
Niklas Isfeldt – Vocals
Daniel Varghamne – Lead Guitar
Fredrik Nordström – Rhythm Guitar
Peter Stålfors – Bass
Pat Power – Drums
Former members
Gus G. – Lead Guitar
Mark Black – Lead Guitar
Snowy Shaw – Drums
Jake E. Berg – Vocals
Tommy Larsson – Bass
Session musicians:
Magnus Olsfelt – Bass
Daniel Svensson – Drums
Klas Bas – Bass
Discography
Dragonslayer – (2002)
Evilized – (2003)
Children of the Night – (EP, 2003)
The First Chapter – (EP, 2004)
The Book of Heavy Metal – (2004)
United – (2006)
Gold Medal in Metal (Alive & Archive) – (2008)
In The Night – (TBA)
So there you have it, another edition of the ShredBox! Any comments/questions, please feel free to email me from the staff page or leave a comment below. Got any bands I should check out? Send me a message telling me what I’m missing! Thanks for checking out the article and until next time, Crank it up to 11 and LET THERE BE METAL!!!
Wanna be a writer for the site? Shoot me an email and I will answer any questions you may have! Also check out manapotions.com as they are an official sponsor of the site! Tell em James at the Sparkboxshow sent ya!
