LOK are a Swedish

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

band formed in 1995, disbanded in 2002 and reunited in 2019.

The band

Members

* Martin Westerstrand (vocals) * Johan Reivén (drums) * Daniel Cordero (bass) * Thomas Brandt (guitar)

History

The band was created in Partille, a suburb 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 ...

in 1995, as a fusion of the two rock bands "PsychoBetaBuckDown" (with Martin as vocalist) and "Hyperbug" (with Johan as bassist). The two bands shared the same rehearsal space and had played together a few times. The bands had also finished second and first respectively in a communal rock band competition in 1994. Martin and Johan decided to play together in the 1995 competition and Johan also changed from bass to his original instrument, drums. They needed a guitarist and a bassist and found Daniel (from the band "In a Pig's Eye") and Thomas (from the Judas Priest cover band "Just as Priest"). Their first rehearsal was held in August 1995, with Martin singing in English for about ten minutes before fooling around and starting to sing in Swedish. It sounded strange, and they decided to continue with Swedish lyrics. The name of the band, which is an abbreviation of

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

in Swedish, was chosen as a reference to their music style; "heavy, relentless and totally over-running"! They won two large music competitions in the next nine months, being awarded with studio time and the production of two singles. Their first album was released in November 1996 and contained six songs. The band signed their first contract with Stockholm Records in the summer of 1997, and recorded their new album during 1998. They also performed at the Hultsfred Festival for the first time the same year. In 2000 they performed at

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

on the green stage in front of 17,500 people. LOK made their last appearance ever in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

, in late 2002. They played in

for the last time just a few days before that; the event was recorded and became a live album, their last release. After problems between the members, the band was declared dead. They said that they had shown Sweden that hardcore music could be in Swedish, and after five albums, their purpose had been reached, and thus there was no reason to continue. Two of the former members, Martin Westerstrand and Daniel Cordero along with two new members, started the band Rallypack in 2004 and recorded the album ''Sod Off, God! We Believe In Our Rockband'' being their first and last English record and the only record under the name Rallypack. Rallypack became Lillasyster in 2006, and released their debut album ''Hjärndöd musik för en hjärndöd generation'' (Braindead Music For A Braindead Generation) in May 2007. In January 2019 the former band members announced that they had begun rehearsals together with the goal to tour Sweden in the summer for the 20th anniversary of their first full-length album.

Discography

Albums

* '' Ord och inga visor'' (1996) (Words and No Songs) * '' Naken, blästrad och skitsur'' (1999) (Naked, Blasted and Pissed Off) * '' Sunk 500'' (2000) * '' Ut ur diskot och in i verkligheten'' (2002) (Out of the Disco and into Reality) * '' Blästrad levande'' (2003) - live album (Blasted Alive)

Singles

* ''Lokpest'' (Lok-plague) * ''LOK står när de andra faller'' (LOK stands when the others fall) * ''Skrubbsår'' (Grazes) * ''Ensam gud'' (Lone god) * ''Stänkskärmar och sprit'' (Mudguards and booze) * ''Bedragaren i Murmansk'' (The deceiver in Murmansk) * ''Sug min'' (Suck my/mine) * ''Staden Göteborg'' (The city Gothenburg) - together with Swedish band Hardcore Superstar.

References

Göteborgs-Posten - Lok lägger av

External links

Lokfest (Was the only remaining LOK site, now a dead link)
* {{Authority control Swedish heavy metal musical groups Swedish nu metal musical groups Musical groups from Gothenburg 1995 establishments in Sweden Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 1990s establishments in Gothenburg and Bohus County