In search of shiny Swedish music

So in my last (none film review) blog entry I posted a video by a Swedish goth metal band called "Beseech" and then mentioned that they'd split to form two other bands.

I was bored waiting for code to run today and did a little digging. Seems there's a bit more too it than that. The female singer joined formed another band called The Mary Major, which also has a male singer.

The male singer from Beseech is called Erik. He has a beard and long hair.

The male singer from The Mary Major is also called Erik and also has a beard, but has short hair and wears a hat.

But I am not fooled! Though he dons a disguise, my eyes do not lie! For it is he, the same Penniless Sitar Player! Wait... no... that's not right...

Anyway. In my opinion they aren't very good. They do have one song I like, though. It's called "Split" and you can find it on their myspace page, here:

The Mary Major

Others members of Beseech formed a band called Those We Don't Speak Of (TWDSO, henceforth), and their story is a little more interesting. Also, their music is better. Among the musicians who also joined the band was singer Sara Löfgren, an established singer songwriter. That interests me because it pretty much never happens here. Their home page seems to be down (I'll try and shed some light on that in a moment), but you can find some music here:

TWDSO at MySpace

I quite like it. Not a lot of subtlety to be found, no, but there's a propulsive quality to the music I enjoy very much. Also I'm a complete sucker for a powerful female voice over the top of a driving heavy rhythm.

But wait... there's more. It seems Sara Löfgren left the band due to pregnancy and was replaced by another established solo artist. This time one Emma Varg, and you can listen to her here:

Emma Varg at MySpace

She also has a (mostly) working home page, here:

Emma Varg

...which says she is looking for new members to join her band... and that was circa February 2008. Also, no mention of TWDSO and a lot of media links are broken on the site. Confusing, no? I'll come back to that, because first I want to talk about her music. Again, I like it, for much the same reasons as previously mentioned. There's also a brazen quality to her lyrics I like... and the closest we get to that in the UK is the Sugar Babes singing "..who do you want me to be, to make you sleep with me..."

I find I really want to listen to this new band, but am a little starved of information. Emma Varg's MySpace says that she's taking over on a temporary basis until she gets her new band members, but another interview suggested she was a permanent replacement. I almost suspect this new band will have a different name, that would explain the missing / broken home pages.

I also learned a new Swedish music related word today: Melodeath. I have resolved to find out more about it.