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Band Info
Members
Kristina Karlsson - Vocals (Rio Grande, The Worthy, The Objects (guest)) Johan Berg - Guitar (Rio Grande) Niclas Svensson - Bass Peter Henriksson - Drums ( Zircus, Gemini Five, Jekyll 'N Hyde)
Former / Past Members
Linnéa Olsson - Guitar (Sonic Ritual, The Oath, Grave Pleasures, Beastmilk) Tobias "Tobbe" Ander - Guitar (Witchgrave, Leukemia, Jigsore Terror, Entrails, Scams, Smooth & Greedy)
Info from Janne Stark's EncyclopediaStockholm based NWOBHM style band Slingblade recorded their debut in 2010. It was soon picked up by German retro label High Roller who gave it a proper push and presentation. Henriksson is ex-Gemini Five, Jekyll 'N Hyde and was also in eighties demo band Zircus (also featuring Leif Sundin). After the single, guitarist Linnéa Olsson was replaced by Tobias Ander. The debut is a concept album about a girl in the early eighties. Being abused and bullied in the school she finally flips and murder her class mates. Bio/Interview #1 (from HRR ) Slingblade from the lovely city of Stockholm have just released their debut 7" single for High Roller Records (with "Can't get enough" on the A-side and "Until Death do us part" on the B-side). As the band does feature two female members (namely Linnea of Sonic Ritual on guitar and Kristina on vocals), it is no wonder Slingblade sometimes get lumped in with all-female or at least partly female acts. Band founder Johan Berg takes this with a lot of humor: “They are not females, they are transsexuals. If we are gonna be mixed with anyone, it's gonna be all-transsexual acts.” The Girlschool comparisms are not valid for him either: “Girlschool is a great band but I don't think we sound a bit like them. We have been writing approximately ten new songs and if you listen to those songs, you would problaby hear early German Metal influences.” Johan continues: “There are no such things as female bands, just bands. Our biggest influence is all the great stuff from the early ‘80’s. Like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Saxon, Accept, Scorpions and so on.” This is how Slingblade was actually formed: “Me and the singer Kristina played in a band called Rio Grande. After Rio broke up we had the yearning to play heavier music. I was at the time listening to a lot of ‘80's Heavy Metal/Hardrock stuff and had a few riffs that were going around in my head. After a wet night with a lot of beer, we decided to form the band Slingblade. Slingblade is quite a new band and we have only done one gig so far. After we did that gig and recorded two songs, we got the offer to play at the Muskelrock festival. We decided not to do anymore gigs before that and concentrate on doing more songs. Now we are ready to play anywhere, it would be great to play in Germany.” Sweden has been a good breeding ground for Heavy Metal bands over the last 30 years. Is there something in the water in Sweden, or in the beer, I wanted to know from Johan? He says: “I think it's something in the water that you brew beer on. Sweden has a long history of good music I think, not just Metal/Stoner/Hardrock. There are a lot of good musicians in Sweden and it's a quite small country. So when something is getting popular the word spreads fast.” The Metal scene in downtown Stockholm is a different matter though, as Johan explains: “There is no distinct Metal scene in Stockholm I would say. There are of course several great Metal acts that have been around for a while but they are mostly in the DeathMetal/Progressive Metal genres. Then you have the thousands of young Sleaze/Hair Metal bands that are all over the place in Stockholm. The old school Heavy Metal scene is more a countryside phenomena. All the great Heavy Metal bands that are popping up at the moment seem to be more from small cities around Sweden – or if they pop up in Stockholm, they consist of countryside people, like us. I would say Slingblade is filling a void in the Metal scene in Stockholm.” One of the all-time greatest Heavy Metal bands from Sweden, at least in my humble opinion, are Heavy Load (from Solna, a district of Stockholm). They have not made an attempt at a comeback and they have not played a single re-union show. It seems as if they would like to keep their name as the kings of Swedish Metal untarnished. But how are people in Sweden judging Heavy Load nowadays? Johan closes: “For many hardcore Metal heads here in Sweden Heavy Load are still gods. They were the Metal pioneers, before them there was no Swedish Metal worth mentioning. I saw their first record here in my local record store, they charged 1,500 kr (150 Euros) for that one. I have no idea what happend with them. I quickly met their bass player in the same record store, a very mysterious man.” - Matthias Mader Bio/Interview #2 (from HRR) Slingblade from Stockholm released their debut 7" single on High Roller Records in 2010. Now it's time for their first lonplayer with the interesting title of "The unexpected Deeds of Molly Black". Kristina Karlsson is quite satisfied with how the 7" single was judged by the public: "As it was the first release from the band, it received some attention that was all good actually. We had some great reviews and I think that in combination with playing the Muskelrock festival the same year gave us a lot of new fans. Somebody told us we had sold a lot of copies of the single in Åland in the Finnish archipelago. We don’t know why but it is a nice mystery! I think the songs on the single are really good, especially the A-side. It was also great that High Roller Records released it in two designs, a standard, black vinyl and a black/white splatter vinyl." According to the band's female vocalist, Slingblade's musical approach has not changed that much on the album: "No it hasn't, but the songwriting process has been focusing on creating an album with a wide range of songs. With ten songs instead of two you can show a greater variety in the music. There’s much more room to show the fans what the band really is like when recording a full-length album than a two-song single." Kristina gives us some more details about "The unexpected Deeds of Molly Black": "It is a ten song conceptual album, meaning all songs are part of a story. We wanted to grab the feeling of old King Diamond albums, where you have these epic stories as a framework for the songs. I thought having a concept would make the lyric writing process easier but it was a challenge to keep the storyline together." Guitarist Johan Berg adds: "Nevertheless the music should not be compared with King Diamond, but the feeling is absolutely there." Of course Molly Black makes an appearance on the album cover but is she really a fictional character Slingblade invented? Or is there some kind of historic background? Kristina answers: "Molly Black was a priest's daughter that after being abused and bullied in school totally flips and starts murdering her classmates. We have been in contact with her doomed soul and she has let us write about her horrifying fate…" Johan adds: "In the early 1980's there was a girl living in the dark forests of northern Sweden, a daughter of a priest. After being abused and bullied in school she flipped and killed all her classmates, then she suffered a tragic death. After a few years her father found her diary, the writing was terrifying and he soon burned it. But he told a close friend and church member bits and pieces of what his daughter had written. He told him that his daughter wrote about all the abuse she had to put up with. But after a while she stopped and only wrote down the day and date. Eventually she didn’t even write that, but only one sentence, page up and down 'I walk with the demon'. Her father was in despair and soon after that he ended his life." An interesting story indeed … With Kristina Karlsson being the leading voice in Slingblade and the band playing traditional Heavy Metal, it is probably almost inevitable that they get compared to N.W.O.B.H.M. legends like Girlschool, Rock Goddess or (to a lesser extent) Canis Major. Kristina is not quite sure what to make of those comparisms: "Well, this is a complex question that we could … First of all – I don’t think everybody is making that comparison, but I think it is more common in places where a gender mixed line-up is very rare. Secondly, I think this comparison is done by people who are unable or too lazy to actually hear the musical difference between bands. I mean – compare the music and the sound of Girlschool, Rock Goddess, Warlock and ourselves etc ... In my ears they do not sound the same at all. And if they do have any musical similarities, it is not because the singer is female. Blessing or curse – neither I would say, if the comparison is relevant it doesn’t matter if you are compared to a male or female-fronted band. And that should go for the other way round too!" Unmistakeable words! As already mentioned, Slingblade are from Stockholm, a city currently buzzing with good new bands. Kristina gives her view from the inside: "The current scene for Hardrock/Metal has expanded a bit over the last few years I think. From almost only showing Sleaze-style Hardrock bands with Mötley Crüe-wannabees, there are now bands playing more traditional Heavy Metal. And of course we have all the Death/Black/Thrash Metal bands as well. I think for Heavy Metal bands looking to release their music on High Roller Records, it is considered a 'true' Metal label with high quality releases." - Matthias Mader
Info from Janne Stark's EncyclopediaStockholm based NWOBHM style band Slingblade recorded their debut in 2010. It was soon picked up by German retro label High Roller who gave it a proper push and presentation. Henriksson is ex-Gemini Five, Jekyll 'N Hyde and was also in eighties demo band Zircus (also featuring Leif Sundin). After the single, guitarist Linnéa Olsson was replaced by Tobias Ander. The debut is a concept album about a girl in the early eighties. Being abused and bullied in the school she finally flips and murder her class mates. Bio/Interview #1 (from HRR ) Slingblade from the lovely city of Stockholm have just released their debut 7" single for High Roller Records (with "Can't get enough" on the A-side and "Until Death do us part" on the B-side). As the band does feature two female members (namely Linnea of Sonic Ritual on guitar and Kristina on vocals), it is no wonder Slingblade sometimes get lumped in with all-female or at least partly female acts. Band founder Johan Berg takes this with a lot of humor: “They are not females, they are transsexuals. If we are gonna be mixed with anyone, it's gonna be all-transsexual acts.” The Girlschool comparisms are not valid for him either: “Girlschool is a great band but I don't think we sound a bit like them. We have been writing approximately ten new songs and if you listen to those songs, you would problaby hear early German Metal influences.” Johan continues: “There are no such things as female bands, just bands. Our biggest influence is all the great stuff from the early ‘80’s. Like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Saxon, Accept, Scorpions and so on.” This is how Slingblade was actually formed: “Me and the singer Kristina played in a band called Rio Grande. After Rio broke up we had the yearning to play heavier music. I was at the time listening to a lot of ‘80's Heavy Metal/Hardrock stuff and had a few riffs that were going around in my head. After a wet night with a lot of beer, we decided to form the band Slingblade. Slingblade is quite a new band and we have only done one gig so far. After we did that gig and recorded two songs, we got the offer to play at the Muskelrock festival. We decided not to do anymore gigs before that and concentrate on doing more songs. Now we are ready to play anywhere, it would be great to play in Germany.” Sweden has been a good breeding ground for Heavy Metal bands over the last 30 years. Is there something in the water in Sweden, or in the beer, I wanted to know from Johan? He says: “I think it's something in the water that you brew beer on. Sweden has a long history of good music I think, not just Metal/Stoner/Hardrock. There are a lot of good musicians in Sweden and it's a quite small country. So when something is getting popular the word spreads fast.” The Metal scene in downtown Stockholm is a different matter though, as Johan explains: “There is no distinct Metal scene in Stockholm I would say. There are of course several great Metal acts that have been around for a while but they are mostly in the DeathMetal/Progressive Metal genres. Then you have the thousands of young Sleaze/Hair Metal bands that are all over the place in Stockholm. The old school Heavy Metal scene is more a countryside phenomena. All the great Heavy Metal bands that are popping up at the moment seem to be more from small cities around Sweden – or if they pop up in Stockholm, they consist of countryside people, like us. I would say Slingblade is filling a void in the Metal scene in Stockholm.” One of the all-time greatest Heavy Metal bands from Sweden, at least in my humble opinion, are Heavy Load (from Solna, a district of Stockholm). They have not made an attempt at a comeback and they have not played a single re-union show. It seems as if they would like to keep their name as the kings of Swedish Metal untarnished. But how are people in Sweden judging Heavy Load nowadays? Johan closes: “For many hardcore Metal heads here in Sweden Heavy Load are still gods. They were the Metal pioneers, before them there was no Swedish Metal worth mentioning. I saw their first record here in my local record store, they charged 1,500 kr (150 Euros) for that one. I have no idea what happend with them. I quickly met their bass player in the same record store, a very mysterious man.” - Matthias Mader Bio/Interview #2 (from HRR) Slingblade from Stockholm released their debut 7" single on High Roller Records in 2010. Now it's time for their first lonplayer with the interesting title of "The unexpected Deeds of Molly Black". Kristina Karlsson is quite satisfied with how the 7" single was judged by the public: "As it was the first release from the band, it received some attention that was all good actually. We had some great reviews and I think that in combination with playing the Muskelrock festival the same year gave us a lot of new fans. Somebody told us we had sold a lot of copies of the single in Åland in the Finnish archipelago. We don’t know why but it is a nice mystery! I think the songs on the single are really good, especially the A-side. It was also great that High Roller Records released it in two designs, a standard, black vinyl and a black/white splatter vinyl." According to the band's female vocalist, Slingblade's musical approach has not changed that much on the album: "No it hasn't, but the songwriting process has been focusing on creating an album with a wide range of songs. With ten songs instead of two you can show a greater variety in the music. There’s much more room to show the fans what the band really is like when recording a full-length album than a two-song single." Kristina gives us some more details about "The unexpected Deeds of Molly Black": "It is a ten song conceptual album, meaning all songs are part of a story. We wanted to grab the feeling of old King Diamond albums, where you have these epic stories as a framework for the songs. I thought having a concept would make the lyric writing process easier but it was a challenge to keep the storyline together." Guitarist Johan Berg adds: "Nevertheless the music should not be compared with King Diamond, but the feeling is absolutely there." Of course Molly Black makes an appearance on the album cover but is she really a fictional character Slingblade invented? Or is there some kind of historic background? Kristina answers: "Molly Black was a priest's daughter that after being abused and bullied in school totally flips and starts murdering her classmates. We have been in contact with her doomed soul and she has let us write about her horrifying fate…" Johan adds: "In the early 1980's there was a girl living in the dark forests of northern Sweden, a daughter of a priest. After being abused and bullied in school she flipped and killed all her classmates, then she suffered a tragic death. After a few years her father found her diary, the writing was terrifying and he soon burned it. But he told a close friend and church member bits and pieces of what his daughter had written. He told him that his daughter wrote about all the abuse she had to put up with. But after a while she stopped and only wrote down the day and date. Eventually she didn’t even write that, but only one sentence, page up and down 'I walk with the demon'. Her father was in despair and soon after that he ended his life." An interesting story indeed … With Kristina Karlsson being the leading voice in Slingblade and the band playing traditional Heavy Metal, it is probably almost inevitable that they get compared to N.W.O.B.H.M. legends like Girlschool, Rock Goddess or (to a lesser extent) Canis Major. Kristina is not quite sure what to make of those comparisms: "Well, this is a complex question that we could … First of all – I don’t think everybody is making that comparison, but I think it is more common in places where a gender mixed line-up is very rare. Secondly, I think this comparison is done by people who are unable or too lazy to actually hear the musical difference between bands. I mean – compare the music and the sound of Girlschool, Rock Goddess, Warlock and ourselves etc ... In my ears they do not sound the same at all. And if they do have any musical similarities, it is not because the singer is female. Blessing or curse – neither I would say, if the comparison is relevant it doesn’t matter if you are compared to a male or female-fronted band. And that should go for the other way round too!" Unmistakeable words! As already mentioned, Slingblade are from Stockholm, a city currently buzzing with good new bands. Kristina gives her view from the inside: "The current scene for Hardrock/Metal has expanded a bit over the last few years I think. From almost only showing Sleaze-style Hardrock bands with Mötley Crüe-wannabees, there are now bands playing more traditional Heavy Metal. And of course we have all the Death/Black/Thrash Metal bands as well. I think for Heavy Metal bands looking to release their music on High Roller Records, it is considered a 'true' Metal label with high quality releases." - Matthias Mader
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