Dead Skeletons are a

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

trio from

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, formed in 2008 by Jón Sæmundur Auðarson (aka Nonni Dead), Henrik Björnsson and Ryan Carlson Van Kriedt.

History

Dead Skeletons formed in 2008 when frontman Auðarson held a show at the

Reykjavik Art Museum Reykjavik Art Museum ( ; founded in 1973) is the largest visual art institution in Iceland. It occupies three locations in Reykjavík; Hafnarhús by the old harbour Kjarvalsstaðir by Klambratún and Ásmundarsafn in Laugardalur The Museu ...

. He needed music to accompany the installation, so Auðarson, Björnsson (also of Singapore Sling), Ryan Carlson Van Kriedt (Sunsplit, Asteroid #4) and Aislinn Van Kriedt (Sunsplit, Asteroid #4) recorded the song "Dead Mantra", which became an underground hit and landed them a record deal with A Records, who released it as a single on 26 November 2010. Their debut album, ''Dead Magick'', was released on 11 November 2011, followed by three 2012 releases: the "Om Mani Peme Hung" single in January (by Too Pure), the ''(Orð)'' EP on 23 September (by Sound of Cobra) and a two-track single titled ''Buddha-Christ'' on 12 December (by Fuzz Club Records). Another two-track single, "Dead Comet", was released in November 2013 by Dead Monk Records. Dead Skeletons were invited to perform at the

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...

Iceland festival in June 2013 at

Ásbrú Ásbrú () is a part of the former U.S. Naval Air Station Keflavik not supervised by the Icelandic defence authorities. After U.S. forces evacuated in 2006, a part of the base not needed for current military defence needs, was re-invented as a co ...

Naval Air Station Keflavik Naval Air Station Keflavik (NASKEF) was a United States Navy air station at Keflavík International Airport, Iceland, located on the Reykjanes peninsula on the south-west portion of the island. NASKEF was closed on 8 September 2006 and its faci ...

, Auðarson's longtime HIV-positive status and resulting fear of death are a major influence on the band's ethos. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' commented, "Dead Skeletons' philosophy is based around a psychedelic battle cry and series of mantras to inspire people to accept life and death in equal measure".

Reception

Discussing the video for "Dead Mantra", ''The Guardian'' said, "Dead Mantra is pure rock'n'roll magic at play...a visual tour-de-force including imagery of Tibet, skulls and vintage record players". In a 2011 review of ''Dead Magick'', Julian Marszalek of

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

called Dead Skeletons "masters of creating pace and drama", noting the band's penchant for confronting death, saying, "Dead Skeletons' main man Jón Sæmundur Audarson has been living with HIV for almost 20 years and his determination to seize life by the lapels rather than cowering in the shadow of death informs this album throughout". Andrew Flanagan of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

praised "Dead Mantra" in 2012, saying, "The sounds and the sentiment line up perpendicularly to each other, carving a space of

cognitive dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as a mental phenomenon in which people unknowingly hold fundamentally conflicting cognitions. Being confronted by situations that challenge this dissonance may ultimately result in some ...

that's at once confusing, comforting and hair-raising".

Discography

;Studio albums *''Dead Magick'' (2011, A Records) ;Singles & EPs *"Dead Mantra" 10" single (2010, A Records) *"Om Mani Peme Hung" 7" single (2012, Too Pure) *''(Orð)'' 12" EP (2012, Sound of Cobra/Dead Monk Records) *''Buddha-Christ'' 12" single (2012, Fuzz Club Records) *"Dead Comet" 12" single (2012, Dead Monk Records) ;Live albums *"Live in Berlin" (2016, Fuzz Club Records)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Icelandic rock music groups Musical groups from Reykjavík