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MANEGARM
It all started in Norrtälje, Sweden, in 1995 when three
old friends; Pierre, Jonas and Svenne, got the idea of starting a metal band.
They all thought that the most important thing with this new “project” was to
play metal as fast and primitive as possible, and……the lyrics had to be in
Swedish.
To get the band started and to get the sound that they wanted, they only had
to find a second guitarist and a drummer of course……
Quite soon they found the guitarist Mårten Matsson, who played guitar in a
local metal band. He thought the idea sounded interesting and joined the
band. Mårten also knew a guy who had been playing drums for some months, Erik
Grawsiö, and brought him along too which completed the line-up.……..
The first Månegarm line-up was; Svenne Rosendal - vocals, Jonas Almquist and
Mårten Matsson - guitars, Pierre Wilhelmsson - bass and Erik Grawsiö - drums.
With the temporary band name, Antikrist, they started to rehearse their very
first song "Månljus" in November ´95. A month later the name of the
band was changed to Månegarm. In May 1996 the band was ready to record some
of their first songs and after three days in Studio Underground a four-track
demo was finished. The demo tape was named “Vargaresa” and it was an over
average demo with good sound and material but unfortunately quite a few
labels and zines received it.
In the middle of the summer 1996, a line-up change was done. Two of the
members quitted the band due to lack of interest and a new guitarist and
vocalist got involved. The Guitarist, Markus Andé, was an old friend of
Grawsiö’s, and Jonny Wranning, the new vocalist, had been singing with both
Wilhelmsson and Almquist in previous bands. With some fresh blood and with
new ideas Månegarm started to rehearse for their next demo tape.
In February 1997, Månegarm entered Sunlight Studios to record their second
demo; "Ur Nattvindar". The demo contained three songs plus
intro/outro and for the first time violins and female vocals could be heard
in the music. The use of the violin and female vocals gave the whole thing a
Nordic “touch” and it was really the perfect ingredients in Månegarms music.
Compared to the first demo, "Ur Nattvindar" was sent out to several
labels and magazines and the response was very good. In the summer of 1997
Månegarm signed on to Displeased Records and the work with the first album
began……...
After the release of the second demo Jonny quitted the band and the hunt for
a new vocalist began. Some “vocal auditions” later they finally found a guy
from Stockholm; Viktor Hemgren, who joined the band. The work with the first
album started and in the end of October 1997 Månegarms first full-length
album, "Nordstjärnans Tidsålder", was finally finished. The album
was recorded in Sunlight Studios and it was released in June 1998. They were
very satisfied with the result at that time and the response from the
listeners and press was quite good. Janne Liljekvist´s violin could once
again be heard in the music along with the beautiful voice of Umer
Mossige-Norheim.
One year later, during the summer of 1999, Månegarm started to record their
second album, "Havets Vargar", in a recording studio that belonged
to a friend of the band. It all went quite well at first but later on, due to
some disagreements between the owner of the recording studio and the record
label, it all suddenly ended up in a five-month break, right in the middle of
the recording………..
In December 1999 they took the “half way” recorded material and went to
Studio Underground for two weeks to finish the album. Viktor Hemgren had been
fired during the break because of his lack of
interest and it was decided that Erik Grawsiö should do the vocals on the
album. The band had suddenly become a quartet but this solution actually
turned out to be a good one and as everyone can see, the Månegarm line-up is
the same since that day...............the only thing that has happened is
that Janne Liljekvist now is a “real” member of the band since a couple of
years.
The second album "Havets Vargar" was finally released in the summer
of 2000.
After the release of “Havets Vargar” the band decided to take a short break,
just to find some motivation and some new ideas. After several months off,
the urge for playing Rock N’ Roll got to strong and the band decided that it
was time to start rehearsing for their next full-length album. With 11 great
songs and with some new, fresh ideas for how Viking/Folk metal really should
be played, Månegarm once again went to Studio Underground to record their
third full-length album. The album,”Dödsfärd”, was released in August 2003
and it luckily meant a huge increase of the bands popularity.
In 2004 both demos; “Vargaresa” and “Ur Nattvindar”, were released on the
album “Vargaresa – The Beginning”. Almost ten years had past since the start
and this album; with re-mastered songs and with a new great cover art by Kris
Verwimp, was released for all and everyone who were interested in hearing how
Månegarm sounded like back in the days. In the same period as the release of
“Vargaresa-the beginning”, Månegarm returned to Studio Underground to record
their fourth studio album “Vredens Tid”. The Viking/Folk metal that Månegarm
had performed the last couple of years was present of course; they had only
spiced it with some more heavy metal. The album had the same catchiness as
the previous album “Dödsfärd” but yet with its own identity. “Vredens Tid”
was released in 28th of September 2005 and the album received really great
reviews from press and fans all over the world. “Vredens Tid” has been
described as Månegarms best album………..so far that is!!
Besides the release of “Vredens Tid”, 2005 also included several live gigs in
Europe for Månegarm.
After ten years of hard work; composing, arranging and rehearsing songs, they
finally got the chance to perform on some great European metal festivals, and
metal heads in Germany, Belgium, Scotland and Austria got their share of some
pure Swedish Viking metal.
In January 2006 it was time to record the next album; the fifth and last
Månegarm album for Displeased Records. The album, an acoustic mini-album
called “Urminnes Hävd-the forest session”, was released in 28th of June and
it has received great reviews so far. This “special” acoustic album was
something that the band had wanted to do for many, many years and finally
this dream was realized. The music that can be heard on “Urminnes Hävd” is
nothing like the regular Månegarm stuff. This time the music only contained
traditional ingredients like cow drums, djembe, Jews harp, flute, violins,
acoustic guitars, choirs and clean male & female vocals. This “folk”
album is a tribute to our ancestors, our Swedish mythology and to the heathen
flame that burn inside every man, but just as much a try to wake up that
heathen flame in those who haven’t found it just yet.............
2006 can be seen as the most important year so far in Månegarm’s history with
a lot of important and memorable moments. After a great two week European
tour together with Skyforger and Goddess of Desire and after the release of
“Urminnes Hävd-the forest sessions”, Månegarm ends their collaboration with
Displeased Records and enters a new era………...
From now on Månegarm will be signed on to the Swedish metal label Black Lodge
and we all think that this collaboration will contribute in making Månegarm
an even better and more popular Viking metal band. In October 2006 we will
enter the recording studio again to record our first album for Black Lodge.
This album will be our sixth studio album and we can promise you something
very special….……….
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DOWNLOADS
Band photo (jpg)
Logo
(jpg)
MUSIC (mp3)
Dödsfärd - I evig tid
Havets Vargar - Vargtörne
Nordstjärnans Tidsålder - En
fallen härskare
Vargaresa - The Beginning -
Daughters of Eve
Vargaresa - The Beginning -
Vargaresa
Vredens Tid - Hemfärd
Vredens Tid - Sigrblot
VIDEOS:
Ett Gammalt Troll Live Clip From
the 2000 Decibel Festival 040528
Ravenous Live Clip From the 2000
Decibel Festival 040528
Sigrblot Live Clip From Stockholm
Tantogården 050225
Ursjalens Visdom Live Clip From
the 2000 Decibel Festival 040528
Ägirs Vrede Live Clip From the
2000 Decibel Festival 040528
WEBSITE
http://www.manegarm.com/
MYSPACE
Månegarm
@ Displeased Records
Månegarm
@ Black Lodge Records
-DISCOGRAPHY:
Vargaresa
Demo, 1996
Ur Nattvindar
Demo, 1997
Nordstjärnans
Tidsålder
Full-length, 1998
Havets Vargar
Full-length, 2000
Dödsfärd
Full-length, 2003
Vargaresa - The
Beginning
Best
of/Compilation, 2004
Vredens Tid
Full-length, 2005
Urminnes Hävd - The
Forest Sessions
EP, 2006
Vargstenen
Full-length, 2007
-LINE-UP:
Erik
Grawsiö - Vocals, Drums
Markus Andé - Guitar
Jonas Almquist - Guitar
Pierre Wilhelmsson - Bass
Janne Liljeqvist - Violin
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