Pandemonium (band)

Pandemonium is a Swedish death metal/black metal band from the southern reaches of Sweden. They formed as a result of the small band End's dissolvement. [The Swedish encyclopedia of hard rock and heavy metal]

Biography

As darkness started to approach in October 1997 AD, guitarists Thomas Ahlgren and Oskar Westesson decided to entomb their old project called "End" because of lack of interest. But they were determined to continiue with their ideas in a new shape. This determination became the embryo of Pandemonium. The first step was to recruit a new drummer. The choice fell on Patrik Magnusson, and after several rehearsals, he became a permanent member. After some time of composing, the trio was ready for the next step, to complete the band. The fourth man to become a member of Pandemonium was the vocalist Kalle Wallin. After a series of tests, it was clear that he should be on the microphone. During the years, he has developed his growling technique to a powerful voice, that for an inexperienced person is almost impossible to master. The bands first gig was set to take place in February of 1998, and the need for a bass player became very urgent. Patriks friend Johan Sånesson was asked to join as a stand-in for the gig. The "stand-in" soon changed into a permanent membership. For this gig, also David Länne contributed with his keyboard playing to complete the band.

In the spring (March) Pandemonium finally was ready to record the first demo, which was entitled "Emotions..." At the moment there was no keyboard player, so the keys were played by Thomas. The need for a permanent man behind the keys became more pressing, since more gigs were booked, and the music began to require it more and more. The choice fell on Erik Odsell, who was soon to become a member. His first appearance with the band was on a gig together with Left Hand Solution. It all turned out so well, that he was included as a permanent member. The band started to play live a lot, and the biggest show was without a doubt the one as support to Arch enemy in July 1998. After the demo was released, reviews started to show up with rather positive ratings. With this, several record labels started to show their interest in Pandemonium. It was now time to show the managers, magazines, etc what Pandemonium were really made of. The band entered the studio again in the autumn 1998 AD. to record their first MCD (...to Apeiron). Release was set to Christmas eve the same year. The "...to Apeiron" MCD got very good reactions in the press. For most of the press people, the famous saxophone part (played by Johannes H Carlsson) in the opening track "Frozen Meadows", really took them by surprise. Some songs from the MCD participated on a couple of compilation CDs. The spring continiued with gigs and in July that year, the band played its first bigger outdoors festival ever: Hagfors Rockfest (Sweden) with LOK, Freak kitchen, Lefay a.o. as headliners. Once again the reactions were very positive. After this top, things started to stagnate, and the biggest problem the band faced was drummer Patrik s decision to leave the band due to studies. Several new drummers were tested, but none were of the same calibre as Patrik. Since Pandemonium had decided to record a new MCD in an early part of the year 2000, Patrik was asked to rejoin for the recording session, and so he did. Somehow he had found new energy, since he continiued also after the recording. The new MCD, entitled "Twilight Symphony", was recorded in the same studio as the previous MCD and demo, in Mojo studios with engineer Lasse behind the mixer. The result was satisfactory, but they all knew that it was time to move on until the next time. Anyway, The "Twilight Symphony" MCD was, as the previous one, well received by the press, with good reviews. Another spring passed by with gigs, among others a local festival with Meshuggah as headliners, and the summer ended up with a shorter festival tour in Sweden.

Then the real problems started. First an autumn without anything happening, then Erik Odsell (keys) left the band due to military service. Since there had been problems with him before, it was for sure that he wouldn t come back. Auditions started up immediately, but without any results. Finally also Patrik lost his faith, and decided to leave Pandemonium, for the second time. This time it was for good. It had been in the air for a while, so on the other hand it was no surprise. It felt like the bottom had been reached, but soon things started to fall in place again, when the drummer Jacob Blecher (ex. Avanti Popolo, Renounce) was tested. It didn't take long before the decision was made that he would become the new drummer of Pandemonium. Things also started to happen behind the scene. The label JCM Records had started to show their interest for the band after the release of their compilation CD "Tortured Souls", where the Pandemonium song "Twilight Symphony" appeared. Lots of reviews said that this was the most promising band on the CD. With a label interessted, the band realized it was time to push it hard. The first problem to solve was the keyboards, which had been hanging like a black cloud over the band. Contacts were then established with an old friend of Thomas: Erik Olsson. He was asked to join, and he accepted. Finally, after the new members were in place, Pandemonium started to rehearse material, both old and new, for their forthcoming release, which was supposed to be recorded in January 2002. The band entered the studio at the set time, now in Berno studios with Berno Paulsson (Prod. The Haunted, Deranged, Withering surface, Spiritual Beggars a.o.) behind the mixer. This recording resulted in the album "Insomnia", which was released on the 31:st of July 2002, after all contracts had been signed with JCM Records. The autumn passed with lot of gigs, and especially the local fans showed their gratitude for the band"s return, on both the culture-night gig and the release party. In December, Pandemonium for the first time went for an international tour with two Belgian bands (Prejudice and Emeth) and one Italian (Cadaveric crematorium) which turned out very well! The album and the tour has given the band a name in the underground scene, and hopefully the future will bring even more success...

Discography

Demos

*Emotions From The Deep (1998)

MCDs

*...To Apeiron (1998)
*Twilight Symphony (2000)

Albums

*Insomnia (2002)
*The Autumn Enigma (2007)

Members

Current

*Kalle Wallin: Vocals
*Thomas Ahlgren: Guitars, Vocals
*William Ekeberg: Guitars
*Johan Sånesson: Bass
*Jacob Blecher: Drums, Vocals
*Erik Olsson: Keyboard, Vocals

Past

*Erik Odsell: Keyboards, Vocals
*Patrik Magnusson: Drums
*David Länne: Keyboards
*Johannes H. Carlsson: Saxophone
*Oscar Westesson: Guitars, Vocals

References