Dragonslayer (Dream Evil Album)
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Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer
Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish record producer and musician, and the guitarist of the heavy metal band Dream Evil. He is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden and has worke ...
in 1999. They have released seven studio albums.


History

Producer
Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish record producer and musician, and the guitarist of the heavy metal band Dream Evil. He is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden and has worke ...
had the ambition of creating a
power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...
band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone with musical ideals similar to his own. However, while on holiday in the Greek islands during the year of 1999, Nordström met the young guitarist
Gus G Konstantinos Karamitroudis (born 12 September 1980), better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy ...
(from
Firewind Firewind is a Greek power metal band formed in Thessaloniki in 1998. The group is currently signed to AFM records and was originally a small project created by guitarist Gus G. to showcase his demo, '' Nocturnal Symphony'', in 1998. Firewind ...
). The musicians got along quite well, despite an age difference of over a decade. Plans for a band commenced – Gus had already been planning to relocate to
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, and upon his arrival he looked up Fredrik at
Studio Fredman Studio Fredman is a well-known recording studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, owned and operated by producer Fredrik Nordström. It is popular among Swedish metal bands, with artists such as At the Gates, Deathstars, Nightrage, Norwegian band Dimmu ...
to begin writing. The first person asked to join the new band was
Snowy Shaw Snowy Shaw (born Tommie Mike Christer Helgesson; 25 July 1968) is a Swedish musician based in the port city of Gothenburg in the west coast of Sweden. He has played with many heavy metal bands, like King Diamond, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate, Il ...
(from
King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...
,
Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with LaVeyan Satanism (often with ironic ...
and Notre Dame), but the drummer initially refused their invitation. He would later change his mind and agreed to play on the band's debut album in a session capacity. Vocalist
Niklas Isfeldt Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999. They have released seven studio albums. History Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long t ...
had done backing vocals for some of
HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. They have released thirteen studio albums. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when g ...
's songs produced by Nordström, and since he was not involved in any major projects at the time, he agreed to take the position. He also brought along his longtime friend and Pure-X bandmate
Peter Stålfors Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999. They have released seven studio albums. History Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long t ...
, who assumed bass guitar duties. Up until the moment the first promotional photos were shot, the entire band had never been in the same place at the same time before. Some members did not even know each other. The band soon got a deal with
Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...
, and intended to name themselves ''Dragonslayer'' due to the
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and fantastical themes of the songs written by Gus and Nordström. The label did not find the name original enough, and thus the band settled for the name Dream Evil, inspired by the Dio
album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
of the same name. Dream Evil's debut album was released in April 2002, and received positive feedback from the metal press. At one point the album, titled ''
Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...
'', reached number one on the
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese import charts. The band proceeded to play a series of festivals, and also supported
Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Nine musicians have been part of the band ...
during a part of their world tour. The band members found that they got along well as a unit despite the somewhat random manner by which they had been brought together and Snowy Shaw decided to join the band permanently. Dream Evil went on their first Japanese tour. During their stay in Japan, the band was invited by HammerFall to support their 2003 European tour. Their label manager hinted that it would be a good idea to have a new album out by then. With little time on their hands, the band wrote the basis of several songs on the flight back to Europe, and on the day of their arrival entered the studio in order to record a new album. They took two weeks in total to record '' Evilized'', and most songs were recorded as they had been written. It was released on 20 January, and one week later Dream Evil proceeded to tour Europe with HammerFall and the less known Masterplan. For their third album, the band actually took time to write the songs and fine-tune them in the studio. '' The Book of Heavy Metal'' took two months to be recorded, and was released in May 2004. Guitarist Gus G left the band in late 2004 in order to dedicate more time to Firewind, being replaced by
Mark Black Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999. They have released seven studio albums. History Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long t ...
(then known as Mark U Black). Black had previously filled in for Gus on a few other occasions and replaced him permanently on their tour as
support act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...
for
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
. Niklas Isfeldt and Peter Stålfors briefly left in 2005 to be replaced by Jake E. Berg (aka Jake Steel, of Dreamland) and Tommy Larsson. However, a few months later, Niklas and Pater returned before recordings or live shows were done. At the start of 2006, Snowy Shaw abruptly quit Dream Evil. After a period of silence for several months, Dream Evil announced Pat Power (
Patrik Jerksten Anders Patrik Jerksten (born 19 July 1974), also known as Patrik J., Patrik J. Sten or Pat Power, is a Swedish sound engineer and drummer, he has played for Passenger, The Fifth Sun, and Dream Evil. He has worked extensively in the famous Studi ...
), a co-worker of Fredrik Nordström from
Studio Fredman Studio Fredman is a well-known recording studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, owned and operated by producer Fredrik Nordström. It is popular among Swedish metal bands, with artists such as At the Gates, Deathstars, Nightrage, Norwegian band Dimmu ...
, as Snowy's replacement. The first album featuring the new line-up, '' United'', was released on 13 October 2006. Dream Evil announced on 7 December 2007 on the website that Mark Black would be leaving the band and will be replaced by Daniel Varghamne aka Dannee Demon. On 3 March 2008 the band announced that they had begun work on a new studio album, tentatively titled '' In the Night''. The album was released on 25 January 2010 in Europe and 26 January 2010 in North America. On 23 July 2008 the band announced that their first live DVD/CD set, '' Gold Medal in Metal (Alive & Archive)'', was released on 25 August 2008. Upon the release of Skate 3 in 2010. Immortals was cemented along with other bands in EA's third round of songs that picked up the punk and heavy metal genres on a bigger stage. On 28 December 2013 Dream Evil announced that Dannee Demon left the band and was replaced by Mark Black. Upon contact in 2015, Dream Evil informed that they were not on hiatus, just very busy with other commitments, and had eighteen tracks prepared for a future album. On 7 March 2017 the album titled ''Six'' was finally announced to be released on 26 May 2017. On 31 May 2024, the band announced their seventh studio album, ''Metal Gods'', would be released on 26 July.


Band members

Current *Niklas Isfeldt – lead vocals (1999–present) *
Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish record producer and musician, and the guitarist of the heavy metal band Dream Evil. He is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden and has worke ...
– rhythm guitar (1999–present) *Peter Stålfors – bass (1999–present) *Markus Fristedt – lead guitar (2004–2007, 2013–present) *Sören Fardvik – drums (2019–present) Former *
Snowy Shaw Snowy Shaw (born Tommie Mike Christer Helgesson; 25 July 1968) is a Swedish musician based in the port city of Gothenburg in the west coast of Sweden. He has played with many heavy metal bands, like King Diamond, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate, Il ...
– drums (1999–2006) *
Gus G Konstantinos Karamitroudis (born 12 September 1980), better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy ...
– lead guitar (1999–2004) * Daniel Varghamne – lead guitar (2007–2013) *
Patrik Jerksten Anders Patrik Jerksten (born 19 July 1974), also known as Patrik J., Patrik J. Sten or Pat Power, is a Swedish sound engineer and drummer, he has played for Passenger, The Fifth Sun, and Dream Evil. He has worked extensively in the famous Studi ...
– drums (2006–2019) Live *Jake E. Berg – vocals (2005) *Tommy Larsson – bass (2005; died 2020)


Timeline


Discography


Studio albums


EPs


Live


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Musical groups from Gothenburg Swedish power metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 Century Media Records artists 1999 establishments in Sweden