If ever there was a baritone voice made for this music, Bo Skovhus’s is it…Except for the Lange-Müller and Malling items here making their debut on disc, most of the songs on this CD have been recorded before, but mainly in mixed programs, and not, in my opinion, as consistently well sung and beautifully played as they are on this Chandos release. Bo Skovhus is phenomenal, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Schønwandt is equally magnificent. This is a must-have CD.

60 years have passed since the release of a recording that would change Swedish jazz forever. Bill Evans, with his incredible touch and mastery of harmony has made an undeniable imprint on jazz musicians all over the world - and through his collaboration with Monica Zetterlund on "Waltz for Debby" in 1964, a new era for Scandinavian music was born.Impressions of Evans is an effort to pay tribute to this - a gesture of gratitude for making pine trees and 5th Avenue come together in a remarkably seamless, beautiful way and for being the perfect example of how one plus one sometimes equals three.

Endtime Signals is the 13th studio album from Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity following the release of 2020's Moment. This record is the first to feature bassist Christian Jansson and drummer Joakim Strandberg Nilsson – they joined the band in 2021. Endtime Signals includes the singles "The Last Imagination," "Unforgivable," and "Not Nothing."

Following a successful two-year world tour the award-winning Swede's Hammerfall are back! Forged on the road, the quintet have returned with ten new, solid pieces of classic heavy metal with the album Avenge The Fallen. Encompassing themes of Freedom, represented by faithful warrior Hector choosing his own path on the artwork. Much like Hammerfall have and always will do. Touring North America, EU Summer Festivals and Europe Fall/Winter 2024.

ABBA has established itself as one of the greatest pop groups of all time, dominating the charts throughout the `70s and early `80s. The Swedish four-piece redefined the boundaries of pop, with each new album charting an artistic progression that remains a fabric of our culture. The CD Album Box Set collects each of those releases (including 2021's return album Voyage) for the first time, plus a bonus tracks disc featuring the singles "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" and "Fernando." 10 CDs.

Gothenburg’s DREAM EVIL return to the spotlight with 10 new songs of pure steel. Seven years after their latest album “SIX”, the authors of “The Book Of Heavy Metal” are finally back with their newest, seventh studio album effort, programatically entitled “Metal Gods”. Featuring Swedish metal producer Fredrik Nordström (In Flames, At The Gates, HammerFall, Arch Enemy, Bring Me The Horizon, etc.) on guitars as well as recording/mixing duties via his legendary Studio Fredman.

Uppsala Stadshotell Brinner Igen. is the second album by Rävjunk, Scandinavia's best punk-psych band from Uppsala, Sweden. This second album includes tracks from rare singles and EPs released from 1979-1980, as well as completely unknown tracks picked by Peter Ericson (drums). Shadoks Music and Ericson were working on this album for weeks, and just before the album was done, Peter sadly passed away. This album is in memory of Peter Ericson, the great Swedish drummer and singer from Rävjunk. Uppsala Stadshotell Brinner Igen. is a great selection of songs influenced by the early pre-punk period ala Stooges/MC5, as well as the longer jamming guitar tracks of German kraut and space-rock bands. They also saw the heavy psych movement as a bright star…

Från En Plats Du Ej Kan Se (From a Place You Cannot See) is Swedish band Beardfish debut album. It´s a retro prog rock album with that special Swedish touch that a band like The Flower Kings also posses. Beardfish is a bit more simple in their approach to the genre that the elaborate compositions of The Flower Kings. This doesn´t make them any less exciting though. There are both songs that are sung in Swedish and songs that are sung in English on Från En Plats Du Ej Kan Se.

The first two albums are blessed with a wonderfully damp, wooden power trio sound full of great, effortlessly sweet playing and fine material. This, their final album takes a slight dive into harder driving waters. The guitars are a bit sharper, the tempos and pace a bit more propulsive. But the overall sound remains the same, an open sound with loud, prominent bass tones, snaky melodic lines and thick guitar sounds. It's at least as good as their first two albums, better maybe, if only because of the more purposeful, aggressive performances.

This fascinating collection was put together by archivist Christopher Wagner, who assembled these vintage 78 rpms recorded between 1922 and 1959 by all manner of emigrant musicians – each addressing the hopes, dreams, fears and confusions of starting a new life in a new world – into an amazing statement on diversity. Some 50 million people migrated from Europe to America in the 19th century, with millions more coming from the Far East, the West Indies, and points in between, all putting to the test the melting pot theory of American democracy, a theory that is, in many ways, still being tested. Consisting of selections by Irish string bands, Scandinavian folk ensembles, ragged street corner calypso orchestras, conjunto bands and so much more, Stranded in the USA holds a mirror to a vital period in U.S. history, and also sheds light on a nascent recording industry trying anything and everything to reach pocket audiences, a process that is difficult to imagine in a contemporary setting full of corporate multimedia giants more intent on selling culture than reflecting or serving it. This truly is the sound of America singing. Kudos to Trikont Records, a German label, for recognizing the importance of these tracks.

Distinctly Cream-y Swedish power trio November are simply one of the best bands of their era. Using riffs that Sabbath might have thought of, but performing them with a looser, silky flow ala Free or Humble Pie, the band create music that's about the best one could imagine seventies power trio rock to be. Chase this with Toad, Power Of Zeus, Road and Samuel Prody, and you'll have heard some of the classic obscurities of heavy rock. Lyrics are in their native tongue, but that doesn't detract at all, and should keep no-one from checking this album and it's predecessor out.

A Swedish rock kaleidoscope Arbete Och Fritid, founded in 1969 by the key player/cellist/composer Ove Karlsson, had established themselves by means of versatile rock inquiry, based upon purified Swedish folk music. The members, frequently changed except Ove depending upon music styles, had had the point in common that they had been remarkably influenced by experimental jazz/underground rock, and also avantgarde/minimalism like John Cage, Terry Riley, or La Monte Young.
Mainly in 1970s around Sweden or Northern Europe, they had given thousands of gigs, that liberated lots of people from "typical rock" with eclectic music essence merged with folk, jazz, rock, avantgarde, dadaism, meditation…

November’s debut album is an excellent piece of vintage rock and an essential source of inspiration for the contemporary breed of homologous acts.
If the 21st century vintage rock revival has succeeded in anything, it’s that it proved the genre’s great appeal over a much younger audience. On a later stage, the quality of contemporary bands prompted new fans to dig deep and search for their primary sources of inspiration, while older fans started to dust their old vinyls and take their ‘70s trousers out of the closet to see if they still fit in them. Above all countries, Sweden has warmly embraced vintage and progressive rock, ever since its atypical birth during the late ‘60s/early ‘70s…

Celebrating 30 years of Nils Landgren Funk Unit. The year 1994 marks the birth of the Funk Unit. When I got the offer from Siggi Loch to join his new label ACT, the first thing he did was to change the original band name Unit to Funk Unit. When I asked why, he answered: ”because you play funk” – and right he was. The rest is history. After 30 years of albums, touring and everything connected to it, I thought it would be great to go somewhere special for our 30th anniversary recording session. I happen to have a dear friend, Johan Lundgren, who used to be my trombone student lightyears ago, and he, together with another friend, Fredrik Thomander, built a fantastic Recording Studio in Palma on the island of Mallorca. Wouldn’t it be a great opportunity for us all, after all these years together, to record the album in a relaxed setting, being able to fully concentrate on our task? To make an album celebrating our 30-year history as a funk band from Sweden.

Almost 50 years have passed since Flasket Brinner’s (The Flesh is Burning) double album "Flasket” (The Flesh) was released. It was their second and last album, but they existed as a live band for almost another ten years. During their existence they changed group members several times, but the front figure was always guitar player Bengt Dahlén.
On this album we find different musicians playing on several tracks. Some of the tracks even feature famous Swedish jazz musicians, such as Gunnar Bergsten and Bobo Stensson, whose contribution creates a unique blend of jazz and rock; Bo Hansson, already invited to participate at their debut album…