1982/1983: CRIER was formed in 1982 by
Thomas Axelsson - Guitars,
Magnus Olsson - Drums,
Mats Svensson - Bass and
Thomas Lundgren - Guitars. Vocalist
Jeffre Branscher joined the band in late -82 and the band adapted the new name
METAL MUTHAZ. Drummer
Magnus Olsson shortly after left the band and was replaced by
Mikael Gustavsson. METAL MUTHAZ rehearsed, wrote new songs and went out on a local tour in Hässleholm.
1984:Vocalist
Jeffrey Branscher leaves the band and are replaced with
Mikael Söder, Mikael didn't last long and leaves shortly after he joined.
Zenny Grahm now jumps in as MUTHAL MUTHAZ vocalist. The band records a couple of demos who they send out to various labels. Roffe Persson at EMI Music contacted METAL MUTHAZ and said they where the best band he had heard that year and that they had one of Swedens best singers (Zenny). METAL MUTHAZ was signed to EMI but sadly
Zenny Grahm left the band and the contract ended.
Anders Strengerg joins on vocals and a 2-track demo is recorded.
1985:METAL MUTHAZ changes their name to
SACRIFICE and records their debut single '
Street Fighter / Innocent Victim' at Hellrec Studio. It's released in 1985 by Platina Records.
Anders Strenberg leaves SACRIFICE shortly after and the new vocalist
Rickard Larsson joins. The band becomes CRIER again and a demo is recorded.
1986: CRIER records the song "Fantasy World" for the UK Ebony Records compilation '
The Metal Collection Vol.2'. Other bands contributing are Swedish
PHOENIX from Malmö and UK bands such as STORMCHILD, CENTURION, DRAGONSLAYER, FAST KUTZ and DEALER the vinyl is released in 1987.
1987:Rickard Larsson and former guitarist
Thomas Lundgren leaves the band.
Anders Strengberg joins as singer again and
Stanley Hawk as their new guitarist. CRIER attend ROCK-SM 1987 with
Diana Gustavsson doing the choirs.
1988:Anders Strenberg leaves the band "again" to join MERCY and are replaced with
Björn Svensson. Guitarist
Stanley Hawk are replaced with
Benny Lundgren and a keyboardist are added;
Fredrik Persson. The band attend ROCK-SM 1988 with this new line-up.
1989:Fredrik Persson are replaced with
Anders Olinder on keyboards and guitarist
Benny Lundgren are replaced with
Jonas Hellström. The band goes into HellRec studio and records their second single entitled "Bad Booze / Running in the Night", released later that year. The band does a few live gigs.
1990:CRIER rehears and jam a bit but the band have lost the spark and folds.
2011:The band is reformed with a couple of new members and starts to work on
new material and also attends Helgeåfestivalen. More info about CRIER can be found at their
Website,
Facebook and
Myspace.
Official History (
from Homepage)
1982
The foundation for Crier was born this year when guitarist Thomas “Tott” Axelsson, drummer Magnus Olsson and bassist Mats “Masken” Svensson met one autumn evening to start a hard rock band. Mats had a friend whose little brother played guitar and soon lead guitarist Thomas Lundgren was in the band. Now all that was missing was a singer, a frontman. Through a tip, the band found Jeffrey Branscher. Jeff tried out and joined the band. The band now took the name Metal Muthaz. The band rehearsed often and soon the band had written several songs.
1983
This year, drummer Magnus Olsson wanted to focus on something else that he could make a living from. Mats and Thomas had a mutual friend who played drums. Mikael Gustavsson was asked if he wanted to join the band and soon the rehearsing was in full swing again. The band continued to write songs, toured their home municipality and appeared on the local radio program Rockburken.
1984
Jeff the singer in the band dropped out and now the band was without a singer again. The band had more singers this year, Zenny Grahm and Mikael Söder. The band played several gigs and went into the studio to make new demos that were sent around to different record labels. Roffe Persson EMI Music publishing (Sweden AB) got in touch and thought that Metal Muthaz was the best band in the genre he had heard that year. He was hooked on the hard rock ballad Bad booze and also thought that the band had one of Sweden's best singers (Zenny Grahm). The band had the record contract in their hands but unfortunately Zenny dropped out.
1985
The band changes its name to SACRIFICE and continues to do live shows. The band goes back into the studio and through a record label the band releases its first single, where singer Anders Strengberg participates after Mikael Söder dropped out. The single was made in a limited edition and many copies have disappeared into the world. The record has now become a collector's item and has a very high value on the collector's market.
1986
The band Sacrifice once again gets a permanent singer, Rikard Larsson, and during the latter part of the year the band changes its name to CRIER. New energy in the band and songwriting starts again. The company Ebony Records, from England, picks up one of the songs and the band goes there to participate in a compilation album, with hard rock bands from Europe. Several gigs are made and the band is now starting to become really popular.
1987
This year CRIER participates in Rock SM.
Anders Strengberg, vocals. (not a band member, substitute for Rock SM)
Thomas Axelsson, guitar.
Stanley Hawk, guitar.
Mats Svensson, bass.
Mikael Gustavsson, drums.
Diana Gustavsson, backing vocals.
1988
Participates in Rock SM again this year with the members.
Björn Svensson, vocals.
Thomas Axelsson, guitar.
Benny Lundgren, guitar.
Mats Svensson, bass.
Mikael Gustavsson, drums.
Fredrik Persson, keyboard.
The band plays in different setups and continues to write new material.
1989
Now the band is making its second single and guitarist Jonas Hellström and keyboardist Anders Olinder are new members of the band. This year only a few live shows are done.
1990
In the 90s, the band was kept going by Mats Svensson, there was a little scratching / jamming with varied members. No public engagements were made during this time.
2009-2010
Mats has always kept the fire alive and played with a group that includes, among others, the old drummer Mikael Gustavsson. Mats contacted Thomas Axelson and asked if he wanted to dust off the guitar and of course he did. Now we were three original members rehearsing at Micke's house in his studio. Other members were Jim Persson on guitar, Mats Linderoth on keyboards and Tina Mankel on vocals. The songs Open grave and Bad booze from the early 80s were re-recorded. The band rehearsed once a week but the chemistry wasn't there, it felt contrived and forced and no magic!
2011
Mats and Thomas decided to start Crier with new hungry members. Björn was the obvious choice of singer. Mats' work buddy Jimmy Ek became Crier's new drummer and Jimmy's friend Andreas Klügel became the band's new guitarist. Both Jimmy and Andreas have experience from previous bands. The band starts rehearsing their old songs from the 80s and makes their premiere gig at the Helgeå Festival.
2012
The band continued rehearsing for upcoming gigs. Guitarist Thomas “Tott” Axelsson announced that he would be moving north and thus leaving the band. The songwriting together with Mats “Masken” Svensson did not stop, however. CRIER was now without a guitarist again. Mats contacted Jonas Hellström, an old CRIER member between the years 89-92. Jonas accepted the offer and thus the band had a full line-up again. The band is also doing a successful gig at the Helgeå Festival this year. Tott is coming down to be part of the gig. Elina Douglasdotter is joining in as a guest artist on the songs Bad Booze and Mental fighter, a much appreciated feature. Webradio nol from Gothenburg, visits the Helgeå Festival to do a report about CRIER. This was broadcast during the month of October on the webradio.
2013
Singer Björn is ill and the rehearsals have therefore been put on hold. Mats “Masken” Svensson has spent a lot of time in the studio with the project CRIER 30 years. This project consists of re-recording 13 old songs from the 80s, as well as a newly written bonus song.
2014-2015
The band is dormant due to other projects.
2016
The band starts up again, with both new and old members. In September, the band got a singer. Now they are rehearsing in full swing and in November/December CRIER is ready to go on a gig.
Vocals: Marcus Martinsson
Guitar: Benny Lundgren
Guitar: Jonas Eriksson
Keyboards: Fredrik Persson
Bass: Mats “Masken” Svensson
Drums: Ralph Rydén
2017
The band is rehearsing hard for upcoming gigs. Playing for the third time at Helgeåfestivalen, where Tina Mankel joins as a guest artist. A successful gig where some new songs are presented. Also participating at Metal in the night, where CRIER and three other bands offer the audience an unforgettable evening in the sign of hard rock.
In October, the band enters the Black Gold Recording Studio and records six new songs. Four will be released in December and two in early 2018.
2018
CRIER plays for charity. Together with the band Wysdom Given, the band plays to raise money for the Children's Cancer Foundation. The event is called "Metalzon" and is held at FAROZON in Hässleholm. Despite the competition with Melodifestivalen that evening, it was a well-filled venue.
The band enters the recording studio and releases a bunch of new songs.
2019
CRIER records and releases the songs “Waiting Your Back” and a newly recorded version of “Running In The Night” from 1989. Guitarist Benny Lundgren puts the guitar on the shelf and leaves the band.
2020
Due to the circumstances with corona, the band is working hard on writing new songs for the upcoming CD. 12-15 old and new songs will be recorded in 2021 to be released in 2022 when CRIER has its 40th anniversary. Due to prevailing circumstances, drummer Ralph Rydén announces that he is leaving the band at the turn of the year.
2021
Drummer Magnus Beijer, who helped lay the foundation for CRIER in 1982, is back in the band. Now the band is working on the upcoming album “40th Anniversary” which will be released in 2022.
2022
The band is not rehearsing much this year, concentrating on recording new songs. The band is also looking for new members.
2023
Continuation of recording new songs. The band is training hard for a gig at the festival “KEEP IT TRUE” in Germany which takes place in October. The setlist consists of songs from both Sacrifice and CRIER. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, the gig did not take place. Now the band is looking forward to the next festival.