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Dead Man, Euphoria


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Listen to some of their new songs here

http://www.crusherrecords.com/

METAL HAMMER (GR)

(June 2008, Issue #282)

The big time for Dead Man’s new output “Euphoria” has come. This record houses deep inspiration and dynamics of artistic genius. This quartet from Orebro, Sweden doesn’t play metal, be forewarned, not even hard rock, still “Euphoria” reveals some truly heavy moments! Two are the main pillars of DM’s sonic empire: psychedelia and folk. Whoever can imagine a hedonic mixture of Grateful Dead in their acid country era, of H.P Lovecraft, Byrds, Jethro Tull when heavy, of Quciksilver Messenger Service and Traffic…well he/she is then capable of a closer anticipation of this group’s magic. A group so unique! Comparing their debut with this offering, a tedious mission, we would focus on Euphoria’s progressive structures, even on the tracks that seem simpler. The apotheosis of their progressive aesthetics is the epic “Rest in Peace”, where melodies of Sabbath’s “Vol.4” echo distantly, as well as contemporary bands like Witchcraft or Troubled Horse.

Dead Man dare to not repeat their splendid first record and to invest in more experimental, freak tunes, i.e. “Light Vast Corridors” and “A Pinch of Salt”… at the same time not avoiding their dreamy folk melodies. It seems to me that this album is deeper, more personal and rich in expression and feelings. The bans regales on its obsessions and preferences, thus sounding more immediate and closer to the listener’s psyche. Their polyphonic is an unmistakable trademark which the band follows with brilliant results. All members sing, making it really hard to distinguish who sings what, and they gently caress the lucky listeners’ soul. On their debut I wrote that Roger Chapman of Family fame is the catalyst of their influences when singing. Nowadays I tend to believe that this role is taken by Demis Roussos! Not many bands of our times compose songs that flirt with the evergreen…Dead Man surely belongs to that elite. I am personally amused to watch them being neglected by the majority of the mainstream rock press, while Wooden Shjips are being highly acclaimed. I just hope that by this review, justice has been paid to their phenomenal essence. I urge you all, with every cell of my body and soul, to listen to this absolutely brilliant underground group.

Reviewed by: © Vasilis Zaharopoulos (progster75@hotmail), for METAL HAMMER GREECE.

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More reviews... Most of them seem to be very good!

METAL REVOLUTION (US) - Rate: 71/100

http://www.metal-revolution.com/plugins/co...hp?content.1418

(June, 2008)

Another release from Meteorcity that has landed on my doorstep this month is the upcoming new release by Dead Man, a retro-rock band from Sweden. The music Dead Man is playing on this 11-songs long CD is psychedelic and atmospheric, much in the vein of Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead. It is actually a very nostalgic trip for an old(er) hard rocker like me, so I enjoyed listening to this album most of the time. When I say most of the time, then I must say that towards the end it kind of tends to get a bit boring and repetitive, if you know what I mean?!

Each of these 11 tracks could more or less stand on its own, being a good story alone. You really get in a good old mood while listening to this material. It is almost always upbeat and much varied tempo, but never gets too high/loud, so it is enjoyable listening where you can understand every lyric. Songs like “Footsteps” and “A Pinch of Salt” bring this melancholic feeling into my black soul.

When it comes to the musical ability of these guys I must say that vocals are just average, I mean they are not bad but nothing that really differ it from the rest. On the other hand guitar and drum work is just amazing, esp. when played this hippie and groovy atmospheric parts. Cover artwork and production wise I think they’ve got a decent job, even though I prefer to have more pages in the booklet with more additional info about the band and even printed lyrics. But these are the minor things lacking here, in general I must say that it is yet another interesting release from American based Meteorcity and I’m looking very much forward to hear the new opus from Dead Man

Reviewed by: Bato

THE METAL OBSERVER (CA)

http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php...=1&id=14447

(June, 2008)

DEAD MAN sounds like the name of a Punk or a Hardcore band, or perhaps a Death Metal outfit that has run out of ideas for a band name. But a Psychadelic Rock outfit that worships the entire 70s Prog Rock scene? Whodathunkit?

This band openly worships JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, GENESIS, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, LED ZEPPELIN, PINK FLOYD and JETHRO TULL. These guys wear their influences on their sleeves proudly, and as each song goes on, you can play the “match the main influence” game. The irony of this album is how fresh it is, considering this sounds like it was some forgotten classic from the 70s.

The opening track evokes feeling of psychedelia, with the low key vocals, warm guitar sound, the dreamy bass lines and the subtle synthesizers. It also sounds like the musicians are coming up with some of their ideas on the spot, like they are working with a set framework and building ideas on it, so it has the feeling like the band is jamming together on the song.

The rest of the album has this looseness to the music, which works wonderfully. Some other influences pop up on the record, like the inclusion of a Folk-y fiddle on “Footsteps”, the BLACK SABBATH influenced interlude on “I Must Be Blind” (well, REALLY stoned SABBATH) and “A Pinch of Salt” is essentially a Country song, full of chicken picking and a lap steel.

It’s not without its faults, though. Whenever DEAD MAN takes the foray into Country it just comes off a tad clichéd, like they discovered “Writing Country 101”, and there is a vocal effect on “I Must Be Blind” and “Euphoria” which sounds like…….well, it sounds like the tape on which the vocals were recorded on was put into a tape deck that chewed it up, tried to spit it back out and wound up choking on itself in the process. It puts the focus and the attention on the vocal part, but not in that good way.

Back to the good bits about the record. The biggest indicator of how this is a “jam band” is how the songs build in intensity and volume as they go on. Most of the songs start off subdued, yet they pick up near the end, just to give you that sense of a journey into the mind of a THC-laced hippie which, for a tiny moment, starts panicking.

The two best songs on the album are the longest two, being “The Wheel” and “Rest In Peace”. Both are very Progressive in their song structure, featuring many changes, parts, moods, and melodies, yet the way it is put together makes the length hardly noticeable.

Those vocals effects bug me, but the album is great enough that I can ignore them. This is an album to be played on a hot summer day on a beach, drinking my seventh bottle of beer while passing out in the sun.

Great record

P.S. There isn’t a shred of anything Metal to be found here, unless you count the brief interludes that sound like BLACK SABBATH.

Reviewed by: Armen Janjanian

MUSIC EMISSION ( )

http://www.musicemissions.com/artists/albu...p?album_id=8688

(May, 2008)

Pop quiz (you get to answer at the end of the review): are Dead Man another in a long line of European retro-rockers to jump on that bubbling bandwagon, or are they taking that road in their own way? It's almost as easy as the easy feeling permiating Euphoria; it's almost as easy as the first flickering notes of "Today" to see the answer.

Hailing from the musical hotbed of Sweden, Dead Man have a very nostalgic and psychedelic sound going on, one that pays tribute to the jamming groove and soul of Grateful Dead, the proto-doom blueprints of Black Sabbath, the wide-open and atmospheric aura of Pink Floyd, and the modern indie folk of a Band of Horses. While it's hard to pin their sound down track to track, that makes for more varied listening and each of these 11 songs could stand on their own as good. While the mood is almost always upbeat, they do draw on some melancholy feelings on songs like "Footsteps" and the twisting Jethro Tull-esque "The Wheel". The vocals are nothing special, but at least there's no accent in their English. What strikes you about Euphoria is it's able-bodied musicianship, it's groovy hippie-branded atmospheres and it's retro flair.

For all of the good, it's still not as easy as it seems to say they're ahead of the pack. Fact is, I've heard a lot of music similar to this recently and most of it seems to come from the way of Sweden and neighboring areas. There's definitely a wave of nostalgia riding the indie scene nowadays, and Dead Man are both a worthy contributor to and ambassador to all of that.

Reviewed by: Kevin Sellers

MUSIC STREET JOURNAL

http://musicstreetjournal.com/index_cdrevi...y.cfm?id=101133

(June 2008, Issue #70)

Fans of psychedelia should be all about this CD. Dead Man have captured a sound that is so rooted in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s that it’s scary. They have delivered a tasty slab of sound that has bits of the blues, some progressive rock and other sounds in it. The main ingredient in this sonic soup, though, is psychedelic rock and the other music of the 1960’s.

Track by Track Review

Today

Acoustic guitar leads things off and then the group move into a progression that’s sort of one part Pink Floyd, one part Crosby Stills and Nash and one part Grateful Dead. This is a great spacey jam that also has something in common with Porcupine Tree. I definitely hear Jefferson Airplane on some of the later segments, too. Around the three minute mark this moves out to an expansive powerhouse jam that’s about half psychedelic jam band sounds and half progressive rock. When they come back out into the song proper I make out some Hawkwind, mostly in the vocals. This is a killer tune and a great way to start things off in style.

High Or Low

This comes in feeling like what the Allman Brothers might sound like doing “Willy and the Hand Jive.” It takes on a different, more typical psychedelic tone as they move forward, but there is also a dark texture to this. They take it into more prog like textures as they move through some great instrumental motifs. The track drops back to quite mellow, and very proggy, ballad-like progressions and as they jump back up the psychedelically tinged prog rock textures are all over this. They turn it to a more hard-edged, blues rock styled sound for the next vocal segment. We get some cool jazz-like structures with Peter Banks styled guitar sounds to take us to the end.

Footsteps

Here they play it more mellow. This has a rather playful, old world sound to it in a lot of ways. It reminds me a bit of the band H. P. Lovecraft or perhaps Love. This is definitely 1960’s styled music. The vocal arrangement definitely calls to mind H.P.L. This is powered up later and turned into a killer jam, but the general musical motif remains intact. A false ending gives way to a new section that has a bit of a plodding feel to it, but also some great guitar soloing.

I Must Be Blind

This is some the most pure 1960’s pop rock music on the disc. The vocals have a bit of a warble at times, like Tyrannosaurus Rex – and I’ve never liked that sound – so it turns me off a bit. The music here is powerful, though. And this song is reasonably strong.

From A Window

This is a short little bouncy acoustic guitar solo.

Light Vast Corridors

When this comes in it reminds me a lot of Steve Howe’s old band Tomorrow. This is a powerhouse jam that’s quite psychedelic, but also has elements of proto-metal. They work through harder rock sections but intersperse them with mellow music. Hawkwind-like keyboards skirt across the arrangement here and there. This one is quite prog-like. They end it with a weird backwards tracked section.

The Wheel

The first half of this track is a psychedelic, prog-like instrumental section. The second half is more psychedelically tinged retro rock like the majority of the CD.

Rest In Peace

The comparisons to H. P. Lovecraft are very well-deserved on this powerhouse jam. It’s quite a dynamic piece, but never loses sight of its retro-inspirations. The flute on the number brings in some comparisons to Jethro Tull, but without that instrument, Ian Anderson’s group would never be thought of.

A Pinch of Salt

This countrified number has some more of that warbly singing. Beyond that it’s got healthy doses of The Grateful Dead. This gets more energized as it moves along, but never really steers clear of these musical references. There’s a lyrical quote from Led Zeppelin’s “Lemon Song,” and I suppose at times this could be said to have some sounds similar to that bands more roots music material.

Euphoria

This one doesn’t differ a lot from the rest of the CD. Rather, it’s another slab of 1960’s music delivered in the modern day. It’s not that the album is getting boring, because it isn’t, but there’s also not a lot you can say in terms of differentiating this track from the ones that preceded.

July

They close things out with a number that’s still very much in keeping with the group’s sound. This instrumental is bouncy, catchy and fun. It will sit in your head for a long time and leave you with the urge to start the album all over again.

Reviewed by: Gary Hill

AL BORDE (SP)

http://www.alborde.com/content/view/3521/30/

(May, 2008)

Despite the death metal sounding name, Dead Man’s Euphoria is actually an album of spaced-out, psychedelic prog rock courtesy of a bunch of hairy, bearded guys from Sweden. Rocking on as if punk rock never happened, Euphoria alternates between mid-tempo, 1970's space jams and down-home, bluegrass-style guitar picking, The boys aren’t wanting for influences, and they throw everything into their mix, including Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead. Euphoria is an oddly enthralling listen, which like a fine wine somehow gets better with time.

Many of the songs wander on long past their expiration date as if the boys were flooded with musical ideas and had no idea how to set up an effective filter to stave the songs down. Still, there’s no denying that these guys have talent. Fans of psychadelic prog shouldn't let this one slip by.

Reviewed by: Rafael Acero

ALL MUSIC GUIDE

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:fnfpxzrjld0e

Enough rereleases of obscure demi-psych/blues heavy riffage/proto-metal wailing have surfaced in recent years that one could be forgiven for thinking Sweden's Dead Man were one such act. But they're recent, and pretty good -- if Euphoria worships the past to a complete and total degree, there are worse things to excavate (and it helps that drummer Marcus Allard, if hardly Clyde Stubblefield, conjures up a good bit of shuffling funk in his performances throughout). Moments like the country guitar-twang on "I Must Be Blind" -- not quite a Band number but pretty close to the territory -- and the lengthy multipart "The Wheel" add variety to the album, even if of a similarly familiar and well-explored sort. But while Dead Man will win no awards for sounding like they're in a new millennium different from the one they especially love, Euphoria's a pleasant listen at worst and a fun one at best -- no bad thing to be.

Reviewed by: Ned Raggett

GL PRODUCTIONS (SE)

http://hem.passagen.se/lillie/

Second outburst of this brilliant combo from Orebro, another spinoff like Graveyard and Witchcraft from those icons Norrsken, basher Kristoffer Sjödahl switched to guitar and vocals and formed Dead Man along with guitarist Johan Rydholm, Dead Man came to shape with backing section Joakim Dimberg and Marcus Allard, the fourpiece have expired since then into a tight and established unit. Here on Euphoria is it very clear that these guys have refined their ideas and turned the album into a memorable experience. This is classic vintage early folk psychedelic stuff to more demonic haunting intensions. Since I got it, I have been tracking it back to back, finding out all delights and figures on the cd, there is a wide selection introduced here take the demonic Rest In Peace with its mad Arabic music mid section, A Pinch Of Salt is another, I haven’t heard such a intension this side of Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young, fantastic, a summer anthem, the momentary The Wheel, Euphoria the title track, another hippie anthem, some of the excitement on this brilliant piece of work. Dead Man have produced Euphoria with assistance of Daniel Ruud, guests Anders Haglund on Lapsteel and violinist/fluteplayer Mats Gavell backs up and puts a another dimension in the climax of this cd. A inspiring, challenging and grandiouse piece of art, thanks Dead Man for a great adventure. Info/Order www.crusherrecords.com Dead Man www.myspace.com/deadmansweden

Reviewed by: Gabriel Lilliehook

LOWCUT (DK) – Rate: 5/5 Masterpiece

http://www.lowcut.dk/joomla/index.php?view...t&Itemid=54

(May, 2008)

The Örebro based Swedish retro rockers are back with a follow up to their debut CD. The band continue the late 60’s west coast vibe but also throw in a few more heavy (early Sabbath) riffs and get a bit more psychedelic at times. 11 tracks in 50 minutes… The CD starts with the track Today. This takes you back to the late 60’s and features some lap steel guitar and a very laid back vibe and more psychedelic than the bands previous material and a bit more jammy as well. High or Low has a bass beat a bit like the classic “Mona” to start off the track but it then changes but still bluesy. The singer reminds me a bit of QSM (Quicksilver Messenger Service) in the way he sings. The band beautifully combine acoustic and electric guitar on all the tracks with some occasional organ or synthesizer. Footsteps might remind some people a bit of Witchcraft. A very moody piece with some violin as well. I must be Blind has a bit of a country feel to it with the pedal steel guitar but a really happy spirit and again takes you straight back to New Riders of the Purple Sage…. From a Window is a short 1 min acoustic guitar track that leads into Light Vast Corridors. This is a short piece that starts off quite psychedelic with synths and a strange vibe but then they come back to reality and then takes off again. A totally different track with some strange panning and very tripped out at the end. The Wheel is a great 9 min piece that shows a lot of different sides of the band and gives the band plenty of space to do their thing. After a little over a minute of just spaced out winds the Withccraft-early Sabbath-Pentagram guitar riff floats in and the track slowly gets going. Some beautiful acoustic guitar is going on in the background. A fantastic song! Rest in Peace is another long track, nearly 9 minutes and really takes me back to 1968 or so with that psychedelic 60’s vibe. In the middle of this track a guitar riff splits open the earth and you go back to the very first Black Sabbath record. Cool stuff.. A Pinch of Salt is one of those happy summer music songs with everyone dancing and some mandolin as well. The title track, Euphoria, will make the Grateful Dead fans smile. The CD ends with July, a short track that just seems it is getting going when it ends after a little over a minute…. What’s the idea?? Anyway, this band keep getting better and better.. Cool stuff…

Reviewed by: Scott

THE CUTTING EDGE (US)

http://www.cuttingedgerocks.com/sister_r.html

(May, 2008. Issue #65)

Euphoria is the second installment of Dead Man’s gnarled reach into the decaying abyss of late sixties-early seventies stoned out hippydom. Much like their self-titled debut, they bask in the warm glow of ambient doom-guitar, creative interplay and laid-back percussion. Curved Air comes to mind with the gentle build of the nine-minute “The Wheel” while a heavy Tull influence collides with Amboy Dukes in “Rest In Peace” including the lyric lift, “journey to the center of your mind.” A generous dose of folk/country rock allows the disc’s eleven tracks to be steadied by a throbbing bass and stitched together with crisp solos runs and flute melodies. Singer Rotifer Sjödahl’s warbling falsetto is gingerly poetic, almost on the verge of lunacy. His country take on “I Must Be Blind” and “A Pinch of Salt,” is pure Bronco with traces of Greenslade. Guitarist Johan Rydholm is a master of guitar tones hailing down a volley of riffs then shifting to quiet interludes. Amid the cosmic “Today” and jovial “July” there are some catchy ditties including the toe-tapping “High or Low” and the title cut “Euphoria.” It must be noted while on holiday in Africa, bassist Joakim Dimberg claims to have found the spirit of pop music during a drinking frenzy with some voodoo witchdoctors.

Reviewed by: Cutting Edge

YTSEJAM.COM (US)

http://www.ytsejam.com/modules.php?name=Re...ent&id=1392

(May, 2008)

When it comes to dark rock, you think of droning guitars, thick distortion, keyboard soundscapes, slow tempos…the spectrum goes on and on whether it be Sabbath clones or ‘atmospheric’ prog bands, but here is band that truly is innovative when it comes to dark hard rock. Treading the line between indie rock and modern hard rock, Dead Man offers up slow-to-mid-tempo rockers that have elements of Hendrix, Santana, Sabbath, & the Incredible String Band, morphing Nuggets style garage rock & psychedelic blues into their own breed of ear candy.

The band uses acoustic/nylon string guitars, thick brooding riffs, occasional world rhythms, and the atmosphere of groove laden rock to create the melodic backbone of their sound. The high groove of “I Must be Blind,” the sub-Latin elements of “High or Low,” the schizophrenic jam session of “Light Vast Corridors,” and the alt.country of “A Pinch of Salt” are examples of the vast musical sonics that Dead Man executes. And it’s musical sonics, not experimentation that encompasses Euphoria; sure you have spacey moments and so on, but the music stays within the accessible realm rather than going into some wild tangent or lingering within the sleepy scheme of things, and again, thankfully there is diversity here within each song - for Dead Man offers up an exquisite musical journey that is just upon what the title of the record says it is, but without any dreary connotations.

Reviewed by: Tommy Hash

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

http://www.ripplemusic.blogspot.com/

(May, 2008)

Despite the death metal sounding name, DEAD MAN’s Euphoria is actually an album of spaced-out, psychedelic prog rock courtesy of a bunch of hairy, bearded guys from Sweden. Rocking on as if punk rock never happened, Euphoria alternates between mid-tempo, 1970's space jams and down-home, bluegrass-style guitar picking, The boys aren’t wanting for influences, and they throw everything into their mix, including Damnation-era Opeth, Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead, along with a heaping helping of Swedish mushrooms which clearly have never been cultivated on American soil.

The first two tracks, “Today,” and “High or Low,” are the high-marks, with some gorgeous guitar playing, synthesizer undertones and delicate vocal interplay. These compositions are so loosely constructed, you get the feeling the guys just set up in a barn some place, turned on the recorder and started playing, allowing the songs to wander off wherever the marijuana smoke billowed. The tunes don’t end so much as drift away as each individual member leaves the jam to go to the bathroom or get some munchies.

"Footsteps," is a haunting, ethereal number that brings in a whole 'nother batch of Dead Man influences, most notably Nursery Crime and Foxtrot era Genesis. Again, gentle guitars lilt around and about the vocals, leading to the slightly off-key chorus. "I Must Be Blind," may be one of the best Grateful Dead songs never recorded by that band. With breathy, falsetto vocals floating high in the mix, country-picking guitar and slide dance around the gentle groove. Midway through the guys bust out with a raucous (for them) bridge riff, leading into the most searing guitar lead on the album, giving a hint as to what they could do if they ever decided to let loose and metalize their sound. But, with the weed smoke hanging this thickly in the air, it's kinda hard to maintain that much aggression, and quickly the boys jump back into the bluegrass vibe of the opening moments.

Strains of early-Genesis come rushing back for the moderately bizarre "Light Vast Corridors," again even hinting at times at more aggressive moments for the band. Must've been the lingering effects of a bad bunch of mushrooms as the song swirls in and out of space rock passages, feedback, three-chord riffs and finally an outro where the guys simply forgot that they were supposed to keep on playing.

Other than the first two tracks, "The Wheel," is the most mesmerizing. Playing over a macabre ascending bass-line, the tracks drifts through moods of despair and hopelessness, before being reborn in a simple groove that seems to harken the birth of a new day. The vocal falsetto is particularly effective here, tripping across the melody as the stabs of guitar leads snake through. I gotta say, I have no idea what the song is about, but the lyric, "A brighter day/will come your way" hints at the hope left lingering at the end.

In the end, Euphoria is an oddly enthralling listen, that like a fine wine somehow gets better with time. For weeks, I've had the damnedest time trying to get this disc out of my CD player, even when I didn't really care for it at first. But with repeated listens, I'm entranced, and without a doubt, it's a keeper. That's not to say it's perfect. Many of the songs meander on long past their expiration date as if the boys were flooded with musical ideas and had no idea how to set up an effective filter to stave the songs down. Still, there’s no denying that these guys have talent. Fans of psychadelic prog shouldn't let this one slip by, and I for one, will be watching closely to see where the boys take their sound from here.

Euphoria isn't the right album for all moods and times, or mental states for that matter, but once it gets it's THC-laced fingers into your soul, it never lets go.

Reviewed by: Racer

KERRANG! (UK)

(April 12, Issue 1205, 2008)

There’s something to be said for a combination of wistful folk and blues-based psychedelia. Unfortunately, that thing is generally: ‘Get away from me hippie nonsense, or I’ll kill you with fire’. Where, say, The Mars Volta’s musical headfuck sounds like it couldn’t have come from any other band at any other time, Dead Man is very precisely dated; specifically to the early ‘70s and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. These are second-hand trips and sedate at that – listen carefully and you’ll swear you can hear the scrape of stools in among the infrequent Sabs-heavy riffs, making this one for deadheads only.

FOR FANS OF: Black Sabbath, The Grateful Dead.

Reviewed by: Paul Travers

METAL REVIEW (US) - Rate: 6/6/6

http://www.metalreview.com/4415/Dead-Man-Euphoria.aspx

(April, 2008)

Pssst! C'mere, I have a little secret...

Not all hippie music is bad.

No, I don't own any Grateful Dead albums, and I'd rather eat a box full of rotted tacks than subject my ears to Phish (or many of the other popular "jam bands"), but, as is often the case with any particular genre, there are some true gems to be discovered once you dive well-below the mainstream.

Now, take a look at the album cover for Euphoria over there. That's right, you're seeing a silhouette of dandelion fuzz being gently blown away by a breeze. As you can likely gather, that doesn't exactly equate to HEAVY. Nope, no amount of umlauts could make Dead Man metal, but their brand of folky/hippie retro-rock is put together so smartly, I'd go so far as to call this record fucking brilliant; certainly my current non-metal favorite of 2008, hands down.

And what the hell's in Sweden's water that's causing all these retro-rock outfits to crop up so healthily? Witchcraft, Burning Saviours and Graveyard: all Swedish bands that have made a nice little name for themselves amongst open-minded metal fans and those with a strong interest in the roots of heavy rock and proto-doom material. But to simply call Dead Man a retro-rock band is honestly not that accurate. Yes, there are plenty of moments where you'll hear that warm, familiar proto-doom guitar tone in the riffing and soloing (hell, 4:15 into "Rest In Peace" is mapped directly from olden Black Sabbath blueprints), but Dead Man pull a wealth of intriguing cards from their sleeve to really help stamp a unique footprint in this now well-traveled path; and that footprint is swirled and surrounded by a mood that's chiefly breezy and blithe, thanks to Dead Man's copious use of feel-good folk. Honestly, what's made a band like the Grateful Dead so unappealing to me over the years (apart from the aggravating freeloader fans tripping balls and freeloving their way to the unemployment line) has a lot to do with the fact that much of their feel-good folk seems to be draped over tunes that could just as easily find themselves on a friggin' children's record. Dead Man, on the other hand, take that jaunty, sunny folk and build it around a structure that's more focused towards psych/prog/doom-rock, which makes the formula work much better for me, and gives Dead Man a pretty unique sound when compared to their Swedish peers.

Euphoria isn't quite all throwback airy good times, however. Some of these tunes take a more modern approach to the breezy core. Album opener, "Today", and the upbeat "I Must Be Blind" have an interesting Beck-like flavor to their approach, and "Light Vast Corridors" also sports a fresh indie-ish feel to further mix things up. In addition, Dead Man infuse healthy measures of darkness into the heart of a few songs, which is nicely amplified by their generous use of traditional fiddle and flute: the excellent "Footsteps", the wicked 9-minute opus, "The Wheel", and the ever-bending and winding "Rest In Piece", for example. But again, the true core of this record -- the selling point, if you will -- is its insistence on turning listeners' frowns upside-down; a welcome change for those of us who spend a wealth of our time listening to extreme music of a more negative vibe.

So, yeah, a perfect score, huh? I know our regular readers have seen a few trip-6's in these parts recently, but truth is, I haven't dropped one since early last year, so ease back on firing those torches. Plus, I honestly feel it's warranted with this release; Euphoria will be an essential part of my rotation as the carefree days of summer approach. Every tune presented is strong enough to stand on its own, and the production is clear enough to pick out a wealth of enjoyable nuances as this fine work slowly begins to set root in your marrow. Be careful, though, your girlfriend/wife/significant other might begin to realize there's a softer side to you if you crank this album as much as I have the last couple weeks. I admit I'm pretty addicted. BUT, I can assure you, I will still never -- even after 10,000 years and 10,000 beers -- be caught sporting sandals of any sort and kicking a hacky sack around with my "bro's" in a park. That shit's strictly for the hippies. Euphoria, on the other hand, is something we can definitely agree on. It ain't metal, but I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by: Michael Wuensch

STONERROCK.COM

http://www.stonerrock.com/forums2/allposts...an+%2D+Euphoria

(April, 2008)

I had never heard of these guys until discovering this album at ATH and checking out the sampled MP3, “Today.” I thought the track was good enough and took a chance on the album. I’ve now been listening to this album for over a week and getting a handle on it and the band. They are a little different than much of what I find at ATH, so that has definitely made this an interesting discovery. Nothing really heavy about them and they even have a folky vibe to some of their songs, an aspect which I don't care for all that much personally. Overall, though, I have found plenty to like in this album and having figured out what on this album works for me and what doesn't, Euphoria has definitely been hitting the right spots with me.

Dead Man seems like they share some surface similarities to bands like Witchcraft, only instead of being influenced by Black Sabbath and Pentagram, they're influenced more from the '70's rock side of things. (Not familiar enough with those '70's type bands to make any direct comparisons, sorry.) They write a lot more textured songs than Witchcraft (at least in regards to The Alchemist). There is a lot going on within each song, though much is quite subtle. It's been one of those albums for me where on each listen I catch something I hadn't noticed before. The various layers to the songs really pushes this album up a notch, as it really fills the songs out.

Like I mentioned, I definitely prefer the rock oriented tracks on this album. “Today” is definitely my favorite track on this album and it's quickly become one of my favorite songs of '08. “The Wheel” and “Rest In Peace" are two extended type tracks from them that both last over eight minutes and have also really grown on me. I guess you could say they are proggy in structure, as there are number of parts/sections within each song. There are about three or four more rock oriented songs on this cd that support the album well enough, but probably don't stand out with me on their own.

The more folky types songs aren't really my bag. “I Must Be Blind" is the best of the bunch though, and I do enjoy this one. It helps that it's set in between two of the rock type songs (not including a brief instrumental interlude). The final couple tracks are strong on the folk side of things and don’t really do anything for me, I tend to skip over these.

Overall, I have been enjoying this one and I am really glad I took the gamble on it. Even with those few tracks that I do skip over, I feel like it is a fulfilling listen and it does not come off as being light in content. It won’t be a Best of ’08 candidate but that certainly shouldn’t take away from what it is, which is a good album with some very good material on it. And for those that do enjoy folkier types of music, you might be able to bump it up a level in the rankings.

Reviewed by: Adam Hillman

GASPECT (US) – Rate: A = Outstanding

http://www.gaspetc.com/Trax_Spring08.html

(April, 2008)

Sweden's Dead Man is one of those bands that transports you to a timeless age in music, when Led Zeppelin could play folk music one moment and rock you're fucking nuts off the next and the Incredible String Band could connect you to mother nature by their lyrics and world music instruments and Deep Purple could make you feel like a "Child In Time". Dead Man has definitely held meetings in the Court of the Crimson King and eaten from a Saucerful of Secrets and listened to the Minstrel in the Gallery once or twice. "I Must Be Blind" with it's pedal steel guitar sounds like a lost track from Led Zeppelin 3 and "Light Vast Corridors" with it's analog synth sounds sounds like a lost Hawkwind, or Soft Machine/Kevin Ayers song.

For the first minute and a half of "The Wheel" you can barely hear the slowly swelling sound that climaxes into mellow acoustic guitar and leads us on a 9 plus minute sonic journey only early 70's Floyd could have attempted to take us on. "Rest In Peace" is by far the heaviest (by guitar sound standards) on the album and clocking in at almost 9 minutes is also the second epic on the album. It starts off in a Van Morrison-esque way complete with tasteful flutes that eventually lead to a Black Sabbath-type guitar riff for the second half of the song that blends in a Santana-esque jam. "A Pinch Of Salt" is one of those songs that you just want to play in your car when your heading out on a long road trip with it's pedal steel/mandolin sound and would get a crowd full of deadheads dancing in the aisles or grass. "Euphoria" starts off with a nice little jam of flutes and guitar that sounds like a summer morning when you don't have to get up for work and you can just take the day as it comes. "July" ends the album on a nice little instrumental number that will have you feeling good for the rest of the day.

The vocals on the album are a sort of vibrato folk sound and only can be described as Robert Plant meets Nick Drake and the guitars sound like Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi had a love child together. The drums and bass are very tasteful and really fill out the overall sound.

I could easily see Dead Man playing a concert with Devendra Banhart, Jethro Tull, or KIng Crimson. This album is definitely one of my favorite releases of 2008!

Reviewed by: Matt Smith

TEETH OF THE DIVINE (US)

http://teethofthedivine.com/site/reviews/dead-man-euphoria/

(April, 2008)

Hailing from Sweden, Dead Man also sounds like it hails from about 3 decades ago. Taking its cues from Psychedelic bands like Jefferson Airplane and, to a certain extent, Pink Floyd while also flirting with a darker ambience (think Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan”), Dead Man have crafted an album that is as much of a head trip as it is a solid dose of Rock.

“The Wheel” finds the band at its most Floyd-like with a spooky, swirling intro diving into a subtle, subdued groove. Opening track “Today” kicks off the album by easing the listener into the atmosphere of the album as a whole, as opposed to hitting them over the head with noise. I hear hints of Santana in this one. “High Or Low” finds the band jumping into a sort of tribal groove as the vocalist does his best Jim Morrison impressions. I think you get the idea.

Overall, I think fans of bands like the ones I mentioned already, as well as fans of Psychedelic/Stoner Rock in general will get a kick out of this record. It’s a record that’s all about vibe, and that’s never really a bad thing. Turn on, tune in, drop out.

Reviewed by: Shawn Pelata

SHINDIG! (UK)

(March, 2008)

I’ve said it once before and, I no doubt, will say it again. When the Swedes fall in love with a certain era they grasp all the nuances and affectations that made the original bands so special. Dead Man’s second album has all of the ’69-’74 trappings you could wish for – the hair, the denim, and the riffs, all permeated with that smoky back to the country vibe. It has the kind of straggled and weathered tone that fashionable pretenders could not hope to achieve: there are no inappropriate guitar solos or post-rock basslines showing up here. The occasional wavering falsetto Plant impressions may be reminiscent of recent rock stars The White Stripes and Wolfmother, but then neither of those acts were trying to reinvent the wheel either and unashamedly wear their influences on their denim shirts! Dead Man are valid and furthermore heartfelt! To behold these longhaired players now and 10 years ago in their garage and beat days when members played in such hip young wildmen as The Roadrunners gives a clue as to how they’ve developed. And that 10 year progression is certainly mirrored in their appearance, playing and music… but don’t let me get started on that ’65 to ’75 evolutionary spiel. I don’t think they’d really like to be considered a nostalgia fest. The Darkness they ain’t! Dead Man sit alongside fellow countrymen The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and Dungen. What they do may be viewed as old, but it is most certainly not tired or uninspired!

Although Dead Man get pushed into the stoner rock corner their varied moods go way beyond the one Black Sabbath riff cliché. In fact, Dead Man are not a stoner rock band at all, full stop. Their template may often be based around searing duelling guitars and stoned and lost vocals but they also go in for a fine line in Swedish prog folk vibes blending and bending the pastoral with the American hippy country rock style of Workingman’s Dead (with that markedly non-stoner addition of fine fiddle work and on the woodland folk numbers nicely positioned flute). The influences jump around the album like a small bouncy ball rebounding off a wall, and I particularly like the strong cop of Spirit’s ‘Water Woman’ on ‘I Must Be Blind’. It must be said though that the all out dementia, strategic out of key wailing, oscillation and heavy riffing on ‘Light Vast Corridors’ is pretty much their own monster. Like Dungen Dead Man make sweaty and demanding 40 year old rock sound as fresh as a daisy! ‘The Wheel’ maintains a shambling blues swagger before it hits a Focus-like flute-led middle-eight then rides out on the Grand Funk Railroad. Infectious, cool and for real!

Reviewed by: Jon 'Mojo' Mills

EDIT: Took away all non-english reviews.

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Dead Man is heading for the USA!

I've seen these guys live and they're a very good live band. If you're near any of these places (more is to be announced), I highly recomed you to check 'em out:

DEAD MAN & RADIO MOSCOW tour the U.S.

FEB 05 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool/Matchless/Glasslands

FEB 06 - Philadelphia PA - Johnny Brendas

FEB 07 - Baltimore, MD - Talking Head Club

FEB 08 - VA

FEB 09 - Chapel Hill - Nightlight

FEB 10 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl

FEB 11 - Chatanooga, TN - JJ Bohemias

FEB 12 - Louisville, KY - Skull Alley

FEB 13 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge

FEB 14 - Three Rivers, MI - Riveria Theatre

FEB 15 - Columbus, OH - Bourbon Street Cafe

FEB 16 - Youngstown, OH - Cedars

FEB 17 - Rochester, NY - Bug Jar

FEB 18 - Vermont

FEB 19 - Boston, MA - The Middle East Club Upstairs

FEB 20 - New Haven, CT/OFF

FEB 21 - New York, NY - The Cake Shop

http://www.myspace.com/deadmansweden

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Dead Man in SPIN Magazine!

http://spin.com/articles/great-new-band-swedens-dead-man

Hey, This Is Awesome!

Great New Band: Sweden's Dead Man

Exclusive MP3: Another Scandinavian band with a penchant for opulent '70s rock might sound cliché -- except when it's this good.

By Peter Gaston 12.10.08 11:27 AM

081209-dead-man_0.jpg

Are Swedish mothers mixing magic mushrooms with their meatballs? Is Volvo lacquering shift knobs with LSD? It's not easy to decipher exactly why Sweden produces so many psychedelic-leaning rock bands, or why such a large number of them -- Dungen, the Soundtrack of Our Lives, and Mando Diao -- are really quite good. When the advance copy of Dead Man's Euphoria arrived in our mailbox this week, we decided to stop trying to answer these "why" questions and instead followed the wisdom of one Steve Miller: "Turn it up."

Hailing from Orebro, a city of 100,000 that lies about two hours west of Stockholm, Dead Man favor Led Zeppelin's mystical/acoustic era, but there's also a tinge of sun-drenched hippie folk that will surely set Deadheads a-noodlin'. And when we discovered a track called "The Wheel" that clocks in at over nine minutes, we just knew it was going to be good. Download it here, and experience a superior stoner jam that's only briefly interrupted by the vibrato vocals of Kristoffer Sjödahl (imagine if Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick actually was a dude, instead of just sounding like one) before drifting off into some epic drum fills, a few tasty solos, and a bit of flute. Yes, flute! At least we think we heard it!

Euphoria arrives Jan. 27, and Dead Man will tour the U.S. in February

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I recently purchased this album and this band is really great, quickly becoming a favorite band of mine. I still need to get a hold of their debut album and on one of their blogs it says they might tour the west coast later in 09' hopefully they will and if they do I'll definitely go. Discovered them a while ago through this thread, thanks.

cool performances

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^^ That's great! Hope you get to see them as they are a great live band. You can probably purchase their debut through Crusher Records, though I know overseas shipping costs can be quite expensive.

I found a link through their myspace for online US retailers so I decided to buy that album and the cost was of a normal album which is great should arrive in a couple of days. Good music I must say.

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An Interview with Kristoffer, Johan, and Joakim of Dead Man

Conducted by: Arzgarth on 7/5/2009 12:28:25 PM

Norrsken. If there`s a ground zero for Swedish retro rock, that band would be at the epicenter. Along with Witchcraft and Graveyard, the four-piece Dead Man sprung from that group`s remains. I had the chance to talk to Kristoffer Sjödahl (guitar, vocals), Johan Rydholm (acoustic guitar, vocals), and Joakim Dimberg (bass, vocals) right before they played the Middle East in Cambridge, MA this past winter.

John Pegoraro

John: First tour of America?

Joakim: Yes.

John: How many days have you been on it for.

Joakim: Seventeen now? We`re going to stay 20 days and then go back to Sweden. I think it`s been 17 days now.

John: You`re hitting the tail end of it now. Had enough?

Joakim: No [laughs].

John: Where`d the tour start?

Joakim: Brooklyn.

John: And you`ve been with Radio Moscow the entire tour?

Joakim: Yes.

John: Now let`s go back to Norrsken. You were the singer in the band?

Joakim: No. That was Kristoffer.

John: Ah, I was having trouble keeping track of everyone who was in that band.

Joakim: We can get him if you want.

John: Sure.

[Joakim heads out, we get asked to move to a smaller table.]

Kristoffer: Hey.

John: So you were in Norrsken (which I mispronounced)?

Kristoffer: I played drums in Norrsken (which he pronounced correctly).

John: Ah, that`s how you say it. I`m your average dumb American. Eventually, I`m just going to point and shout at you. Did the band ever release anything?

Kristoffer: Yeah, sure. We were on two compilations, two tribute albums – one for Trouble and one for Blue Cheer. And we released a 7” single which has risen to quite an amount on ebay. It goes for $100. People really seem to want to have it, which is always a nice feeling.

John: Who`s the better singer – you or Magnus.

Kristoffer: I`m not going to go there. What do you think?

John: I`m not going there either. What`s been the best show so far?

Kristoffer: We`ve had several. Then again, that depends on who you ask in the band as well.

Joakim: The last gig was good. Rochester.

John: How many years apart was your first album and Euphoria? Three years?

Joakim: Two years?

Kristoffer: The first album was released in the spring of 2006. It was recorded in 2005. Euphoria was recorded in 2007 and released in spring 2008.

John: Did you produce the first one yourselves?

Kristoffer: With the help of two guys.

John: Same guys as on the new one?

Kristoffer: Totally different studio and totally different guys. It was in Gothenburg, the first one, and the Euphoria album was recorded in our home town of Örebro.

John: Who does the writing?

Kristoffer: We all do.

John: So it`s a big collaborative effort?

Joakim: Yes.

John: Now going back to the Witchcraft connection and the Graveyard connection, you guys all are playing on vintage equipment and trying to get that vintage sound.

Joakim: There`s not that much vintage equipment.

Kristoffer: I guess we`re the only one of those three bands. We can`t afford it and we don`t have that much interest in it. On this tour, we`ve played with Radio Moscow`s gear and they have really good sound in that stuff. We`ve been really more keen on that.

John: Okay. I thought I had read on the Euphoria liner notes that it was all vintage and all that.

Kristoffer: Some stuff was.

Joakim: We used digital recording and we used analog effects. We did that also on the first album. I used a Gibson Grabber, which is a vintage bass nowadays.

John: I was going to say, the new album sounds really earthy.

Kristoffer: Thank you. We spent a lot of time to get it right. The guy who had the studio, he didn`t want to give up either. He wanted to get a job well done. We had so many difficulties with the technology and stuff. He was learning the whole recording process. We were the first band to record in the studio.

John: How long did it take you to record the album?

Kristoffer: I`m not going to tell you. That`s a secret, man. I`m going to say in 40 years.

Joakim: It took a few days.

Kristoffer: It took longer than one week and less than one year.

John: Fair enough. We`ll do an average from there. Now the first song on the album, “Today,” is actually kind of mellow.

Joakim: I wrote it with Marcus, our drummer.

John: Did you feel that wanted to start off mellow or did it just sort of happen?

Joakim: We never decide the order of the songs before we go into the studio. We have a hard time, because one song`s very long and one`s shorter, so it`s always hard to get A and B sides. That`s the biggest problem with the song order.

Kristoffer: I had the order in my head after awhile. Not because of how the song sounds.

John: The length?

Kristoffer: I actually thought somewhat of the lyrics, of the subjects. It`s kind of a chronology, but you can still pick the songs out and put them in a different order.

John: So the album`s sort of thematic?

Kristoffer: I wouldn`t go that far. It wasn`t written that way. They just follow each other nicely.

Joakim: I used to sing that song much higher, but we changed it lower in the studio, but I often sing it higher when we play live.

John: That was another thing I was going to ask you. There`s more of a range between the folksy material and songs like on the first album “Goin` Over the Hell.” Is it tough bringing the folksier songs into the set?

Joakim: No. The original idea of the band in the beginning was to play whatever we felt like.

Kristoffer: We`re hugely into dynamics.

John: Now what led you to MeteorCity. I ask because it`s my boss` label, of course.

Joakim: It was my idea to release something in America. But I didn`t have any suggestions from different labels. MeteorCity is a good label.

Kristoffer: We love MeteorCity.

John: Oh, he`s the greatest boss ever.

Kristoffer: Of course!

John: Now what about the vinyl. You have it with you?

Joakim: Nope. It`s sold out.

Kristoffer: We only have a few t-shirts left, so we`ll have to bring more merchandise next time around.

Joakim: The vinyl went out first. You Americans love vinyl.

John: Well, you have an mp3 and you throw it up on the internet and it`s out there for everybody to grab and take.

Kristoffer: I hate the whole digital sound.

John: It`s great for the convenience factor, but for me personally, when I put on a record, I`ll really listen to it.

Kristoffer: Computer files sound like crap. But like you said, the good thing is you can discover groups.

Joakim: Do you feel any competition from MySpace [in regards to this site]?

John: Not really. The only thing I`d say about that? You can go to MySpace and check out a band, but it seems like it caters to a shorter and shorter attention span. I could tell you to go check out a band and you`d listen to a song and then move on to the next thing. You sort of leapfrog from band to band. The thing I really don`t like about MySpace is that most bands set up the ugliest fucking pages.

Joakim: We used to have moving backgrounds all the time. Psychedelic moving backgrounds. I tried to do them as annoying as I could.

Kristoffer: People would go, “You have to change your page. I can`t fucking watch that.”

John: On the first album, why was the vinyl at two speeds?

Kristoffer: It was a mistake. Let`s just say that there were none of us in the band that made the mistake; it was someone else.

Joakim: I don`t know where it went wrong.

Kristoffer: I know where. Maybe we shouldn`t speak about it. Maybe it`s a little embarrassing.

John: If you flip the sides and you don`t change the speed, the band taps into doom metal.

Kristoffer: Many people have told us, “What the fuck happened on side two?”

Joakim: It`s not usual.

John: Did you get it repressed?

Kristoffer: Yes. I don`t know if it`s still 33 and 45.

Joakim: I think it`s still 33 and 45.

John: Now you both do the singing?

Joakim: Three of us sing. It used to be all four, but now it`s the three of us.

John: How do you split it up?

Joakim: Often if you write your own song or the lyrics, you sing it yourself.

Kristoffer: In the beginning, we wrote more songs together and we wound up doing more harmony vocals on those.

[Johan shows up.]

Kristoffer: You want to take my place? I have to get some rolling papers and get my act together.

Joakim: On the first single, there`s me doing the verses and Kristoffer sings the bridge. That song we wrote together. [To Johan] We`re talking about who sings what.

John: Let`s go back to some stock questions. What are your influences?

Joakim: I think we all have our different ideas as to what we like. For myself, I started listening to Kiss, that`s how I got into music. I like all kinds of music – we all do – from Delta Blues to new records from today. We mostly like 60`s music and 70`s music, though.

John: Who`s responsible for the more folk side of the band?

Johan: I play the acoustic guitar because I`m into the old Swedish folk. I`ve always been playing acoustic guitar in the band, with a kind of simpler chords.

Joakim: I don`t think we say, “Let`s do some folk, let`s do some hard rock.” It just comes out naturally. As I told you before, the songs have different vibes to them.

John: Right on. I`m looking forward the seeing you guys tonight.

Dead Man`s albums are available in our All That Is Heavy Store.

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A Sunday Conversation with Dead Man

When we first published our review of Dead Man's latest offering, Euphoria, I don't think either the Pope or I were halfway prepared for the furor that caused. The Ripple switchboard lit up like a christmas tree in Central Park. Immediately, Dead Man shot to the top of our most requested review chart and have pretty much taken permanent residence there ever since.

With that history, how could we not invite the Dead Man crew for an interview. So joining us today on the Ripple couch are Krille and Jocke, kicking back to share their thoughts on music and the amazing psychedelic world of Euphoira.

When I was a kid, growing up in a house with Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkle, the first time I ever heard Kiss's "Detroit Rock City," it was a moment of musical epiphany. It was just so vicious, aggressive and mean. It changed the way I looked at music, what it could sound like, how it could make me feel? What have been your musical epiphany moments?

Jocke: I was also a big Kiss fan when I was a kid and I still like them a lot. I started to listen to Beatles and Stones when I was around 12-13 years old. I listened to them because I wanted to listen to the same music as Kiss did. Later I began to listen to garage music like the “back from the grave” stuff and also a lot to obscure Swedish pop and R&B. In those days I played in several garage bands like The Roadrunners, The Strollers and Springtones. We had a lot of fun. In those days I was getting in to psychedelic bands like The Seeds and 13th floor. Seems like always been listening to old music. In the beginning I always liked the three first records with Kiss.

Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?

Jocke: I guess it’s different every time, but I mostly come up with a melody on the guitar and then I put the lyrics and later the bridge comes and so on. I usually start writing the first verse. I often don’t know beforehand what the song will express and I often get exited to see that the lyrics mean.

In songwriting, how do you bring the song together? What do you look for in terms of complexity? Simplicity? Time changes?

Jocke: Some times we change a lot and other times we leave it as the writer wanted it. We are always trying to get the song interesting and fun to play. I would say that we’re looking for the right sound.

Krille: I mostly write songs on my own, both music and lyrics, and then I present it to the rest of the group. I often have a clear view in my head of how I want a particular song to sound. On other occasions someone might have a riff or a melody, and someone else may have a different riff that go well together, and before you know it, you have the blueprints for a song. The song “The Wheel” is such an example. Marcus wrote the intro-riff and I wrote the rest of the song based on the feel of that riff.

Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?

Jocke: I look at my life, I get inspired by music, art and nature. I also get a lot of inspiration from traveling. But usually the songs tend come when you least expect them to come. I like to ride my mountainbike & I also like to cruise around in my Plymouth Valiant 64. Sometimes we write songs together when we drink beer or just hang out in the nature.

Genre's are so misleading and such a way to pigeonhole bands. Without resorting to labels, how would you describe your music?

Jocke: I describe it as R.O.C.K. Rebels Offending Cocky Kids

What is you musical intention? What are you trying to express or get your audience to feel?

Jocke: I don’t know. We just want the audience to have a good time. And hopefully they like what they see. I usually don’t care that much about what other people think. I guess we’re just trying to play good and have fun on stage. But the music always comes first. We want to play as well as possible.

Krille: I think it depends on the song

The business of music is a brutal place. Changes in technology have made it easier than ever for bands to get their music out, but harder than ever to make a living? What are your plans to move the band forward? How do you stay motivated in this brutal business?

Jocke: I guess we don’t really care about it. We’re releasing our records on Crusher Records and they help us a lot with the business side of it. We have no intentions of earning a lot of money on doing this. We just want to play good music that we like. I get motivated by making music and releasing albums. And it’s always nice to see that people all over the world buys our records.

Describe to us the ideal (realistic) record label and how you'd work with them, and they with you.

Jocke: I would say that Crusher are the best. I wish that they/we had a bit more money to do different things like videos and experimenting more music wise in the studio. And I would also like to do a Tour in Africa.

Krille: I’d like to see us signed to a record label with a huge budget that allows us full artistic freedom and that promotes us as if we were The Beatles.

Do you have a particular sound in your head that you try to bring out? Or is the creation process random and spontaneous? Or both, or neither?

Jocke: Yes we have, but often the sound changes in the studio and the song becomes something else. I always walk around thinking this song should sound like this but in the end it never turns out the way I planned it to be. Sometimes I get what I want, but not always.

Krille: Both and neither.

Where do you see you and your music going in ten years?

Jocke: I cant tell, if I could predict the future I think I would predict something else than how Dead Man would sound he he he. No but seriously, its to hard to tell. Maybe we will get more acoustic???

Krille: Straight into the hearts of millions, hopefully!

What makes a great song? Who living right now writes great songs?

Jocke: The sound and feeling and also the lyrics means a lot to me. I listen to a lot of different genres and styles of music and I like different things in different kinds of music. I think Witchcrafts songs are good, I also like Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, The Accidents etc. There are a lot of good songwriters out there!

Krille: It’s kinda hard to pinpoint exactly makes a good song, but I guess there are a lot of things that are important. In the end I look for the groove or vibe of a song, the amount of heart and soul that the people playing put in it, rather then their musical skill or the production of the song. I like the song writing of Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, Dan Auberach of the Black Keys, The absolutely gorgeous works of Mariee Sioux and Sweden’s own folk wizards Jose Gonzales is another example of a songwriter I like. We also have close fiends that writes great songs; Magnus Pelander of Witchcraft fame, Rikard Edlund and Joakim Nilsson in the band Graveyard to name a few.

Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?

Jocke: The first band I had included me and Anders, an old friend from The Roadrunners. He and I use to write crazy songs together. We didn’t have a clue how to do it but we did it anyway. I don’t remember which song was the first but an early song that we wrote was called "Fågelar." It was about this guy walking in the street seeing a bird in a store and he gets stuck there and tries to run away. Another song was about this guy sitting on his balcony reading a paper and dreaming about a girl driving a Mercedes Benz. Then he takes on his glasses and she’s there?!? We just wrote funny stories and Anders had an electric guitar so that’s more or less why we did it. My first song that I played live was with The Strollers, We had a horror theme on the concerts were we use to dress out as monsters and spit blood and so on. And I wrote a song for it called "Werewolf." I don’t remember much of it but it was a funny song.

Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?

Jocke: I don’t care which. I use all formats for different things, when I drive my car I usually listen to cd, when I ride my bike I listen to my iphone and when I'm at home In my basement I listen to LP´s. I guess the last one sounds best but I really don’t care that much about it.

Krille: Vinyl!!!! Miles from MP3 when it comes to good organic sound and dynamics. LP RULES!

What's the best record store in your town?

Jocke: BANANA MOON Records!!!!!

Krille: I couldn’t agree more with Joakim

Awesome guys. Thanks for everything and best of luck with your plans to take over the world!

For this interview

Krille= Kristoffer Sjödahl

Jocke= Joakim Dimberg

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