Swedish Sunday-Dead Man

As originally seen on The Soda Shop.

Today marks the 10th week of Swedish Sunday. Time flies by when you have all of this great music surrounding you. As always, we must thank the Swedes for putting out such great music that deserves special recognition. This week’s artist is somewhat of a supergroup like last week’s artist, Greenleaf. Without further ado, I introduce this week’s band out of Örebro, Dead Man.


From Crusher Records‘ band page:

It all started as an experiment in 2003. Four musicians from Örebro, Sweden decided to pool their talents and it didn’t take long before a new band was formed. Soon after, the moniker DEAD MAN was chosen and the band sprung to life. With each member possessing a wealth of musical experience derived from time spent in various Swedish acts (including the hard rock band NORRSKEN, which featured in its ranks current WITCHCRAFT front man Magnus Pelander, GRAVEYARD members Joakim Nilsson and bassist Rikard Edlund and DEAD MAN’s Kristoffer Sjödahl), the band put their psychedelic, folk and hard rock influences into a pot and began to stir. Within a few weeks of forming, the quartet’s intense songwriting chemistry generated a solid set of hard-hitting, memorable songs.

The first result of the brew was a mysterious 7” that started to appear in the record collections of stoner and hippie fanatics worldwide titled Ship Ahoy! / Thousand Mile Stare. The reaction was immediate and music fans (especially those who had already seen the band’s dynamic live performances) began craving more than just the two teasers songs on the already hard-to-find record. With a number of live gigs now under their belts, the next natural step was to start recording a full-length album. So DEAD MAN snuck into the famous Svenska Grammofon Studion (Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Hives) and began to work.

In early 2006, with a fresh set of songs in hand, DEAD MAN was set to release their debut album. Released via Sweden’s Crusher Records, Dead Man was praised by magazines like Rock Hard, Rumore and Metal Hammer, among others. Blending exciting, colorful musicianship with an unforgettable vocal delivery very much like vintage Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane, the band was described as “a top notch group, one of the very few out there”. The album’s release and the great reviews were followed up by gigs at the best venues in the capitals of Scandinavia.

In mid 2007, DEAD MAN once again entered the studio to record their second album. If their self-titled debut just the eye-opening introduction, DEAD MAN has certainly awakened the slumbering Scandinavian rock scene with Euphoria…While DEAD MAN’s debut album made a huge impact on stoner and progressive rock fanatics, Euphoria will take the band far away from being labeled as an underground band and will establish them as a genuinely great rock band, plain and simple. Euphoria is a psychedelic folk-rock trip brewed together with the essence of darker and heavier sounds.

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Dead Man to Tour the U.S.

Fast-rising Swedish psych-rock band Dead Man has announced 2009 U.S. tour dates in support of its critically acclaimed new album, Euphoria. The quartet, quickly becoming known for its colorful songwriting and dynamic live performances will make its U.S. live debut on February 5 at the Union Pool in Brooklyn, NY.

Dead Man Tour Dates - UPDATED JANUARY 31, 2009
================================

FEB 05 2009 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool.
FEB 06 2009 - Philadelphia PA - Johnny Brenda`s.
FEB 07 2009 - Baltimore, MD - Talking Head Club.
FEB 08 2009 - Richmond, VA - Nara Sushi.
FEB 09 2009 - Chapel Hill - Nightlight.
FEB 10 2009 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl.
FEB 11 2009 - Chatanooga, TN - JJ Bohemias.
FEB 12 2009 - Louisville, KY - Skull Alley.
FEB 13 2009 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge.
FEB 14 2009 - Three Rivers, MI - Riveria Theatre.
FEB 15 2009 - Columbus, OH - Bourbon Street Cafe.
FEB 17 2009 - Rochester, NY - Bug Jar.
FEB 19 2009 - Boston, MA - The Middle East Club (Upstairs).
FEB 20 2009 - Bethlehem, PA - Funhouse.
FEB 21 2009 - New York, NY - The Cake Shop.



Dead Man, whose members possess a wealth of musical experience derived from time spent in various Swedish acts (including the hard rock band Norrsken, which also featured in its ranks current Witchcraft front man Magnus Pelander and Graveyard members Joakim Nilsson and Rikard Edlund), play magnetic, spirited rock with melancholic undertones and “a slight touch of darkness” (calling for comparisons to Jefferson Airplane, Blue Cheer, Dungen, and Dead Meadow). Each member of the quartet is a multi-instrumentalist, which allows the band to build unique, lush atmospheres replete with both acoustic tinge and electric crunch.


Recorded at the famous Svenska Grammofon Studion (The Hives) and released via MeteorCity, Euphoria is an album that bridges both the soulful and the psychedelic as dynamic yet incisive songwriting effortlessly fuses with shivering vocals and an expansive, emotive tenor. The record is thick with analog warmth and a laid back, confident overall feel, connecting the dots where the adventurous folk-rock of the late 60’s overlapped with metal’s prehistoric commingling with blues-rock and prog in the early 70’s.


The track listing for Euphoria is as follows:


1.) Today
2.) High or Low
3.) Footsteps
4.) I Must Be Blind
5.) From A Window
6.) Light Vast Corridors
7.) The Wheel
8.) Rest in Peace
9.) A Pinch of Salt
10.) Euphoria
11.) July


Joining the band on the major market U.S. tour will be blues rock act Radio Moscow. The hallucinatory Dead Man track “Rest in Peace” has been posted online and can be heard now at this location.


Dead Man features Kristoffer Sjödahl (electric, acoustic and slide guitar, mandolin, percussion and vocals), Marcus Allard (drums, percussion and vocals), Joakim Dimberg (bass, synthesizer, organ, guitar and vocals) and Johan Rydholm (acoustic guitar, percussion and vocals).

Dead Man to Tour the U.S. In Support of New Album

Fast-rising Swedish psych-rock band Dead Man has announced 2009 U.S. tour dates in support of its critically acclaimed new album, Euphoria. The quartet, quickly becoming known for its colorful songwriting and dynamic live performances will make its U.S. live debut on February 5 at the Union Pool in Brooklyn, NY.

Dead Man 2009 U.S. Tour Dates
(All dates also include Radio Moscow)
February 5: Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
February 6: Philadelphia PA - Johnny Brenda’s
February 7: Baltimore, MD - Talking Head Club
February 9: Chapel Hill - Nightlight
February 10: Atlanta, GA - The Earl
February 11: Chattanooga, TN - JJ Bohemia`s
February 12: Louisville, KY - Skull Alley
February 13: Chicago, IL - Venue TBC
February 14: Three Rivers, MI - Riveria Theatre
February 15: Columbus, OH - Bourbon Street Cafe
February 17: Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
February 19: Boston, MA - The Middle East Club (Upstairs)
February 21: New York, NY - The Cake Shop



Dead Man, whose members possess a wealth of musical experience derived from time spent in various Swedish acts (including the hard rock band Norrsken, which also featured in its ranks current Witchcraft front man Magnus Pelander and Graveyard members Joakim Nilsson and Rikard Edlund), play magnetic, spirited rock with melancholic undertones and “a slight touch of darkness” (calling for comparisons to Jefferson Airplane, Blue Cheer, Dungen, and Dead Meadow). Each member of the quartet is a multi-instrumentalist, which allows the band to build unique, lush atmospheres replete with both acoustic tinge and electric crunch.


Recorded at the famous Svenska Grammofon Studion (The Hives) and released via MeteorCity, Euphoria is an album that bridges both the soulful and the psychedelic as dynamic yet incisive songwriting effortlessly fuses with shivering vocals and an expansive, emotive tenor. The record is thick with analog warmth and a laid back, confident overall feel, connecting the dots where the adventurous folk-rock of the late 60’s overlapped with metal’s prehistoric commingling with blues-rock and prog in the early 70’s.


The track listing for Euphoria is as follows:


1.) Today
2.) High or Low
3.) Footsteps
4.) I Must Be Blind
5.) From A Window
6.) Light Vast Corridors
7.) The Wheel
8.) Rest in Peace
9.) A Pinch of Salt
10.) Euphoria
11.) July


Joining the band on the major market U.S. tour will be blues rock act Radio Moscow. The hallucinatory Dead Man track “Rest in Peace” has been posted online and can be heard now at this location.


Dead Man features Kristoffer Sjödahl (electric, acoustic and slide guitar, mandolin, percussion and vocals), Marcus Allard (drums, percussion and vocals), Joakim Dimberg (bass, synthesizer, organ, guitar and vocals) and Johan Rydholm (acoustic guitar, percussion and vocals).

Album Of The Day-Dead Man-"Euphoria (2008)

The Album Of The Day is "Euphoria" by Dead Man.



Reviews:

Though there’s nary a crunchy riff or occult reference to be found on Dead Man’s second album, Euphoria, it’s bound to be embraced by retro-minded metal fans. Not the white-hightopped neo-thrash kids or Maiden-worshipping 40-somethings, mind you -- we’re talking the dudes that dig deep into metal’s prehistoric commingling with blues-rock and prog and think Black Sabbath peaked with their debut.

Like Swedish brethren Witchcraft (also from Örebro) and Graveyard, Dead Man look to the hard rockin’ proto-doom of the late '60s and early '70s for inspiration. They stop short of calling bullshit on the hippie dream, though, which was a necessary step in the development of metal -- flower-child idealism still courses through “I Must Be Blind” and “Pinch of Salt,” both shambling Grateful Dead jams replete with lap steel, acoustic guitars, ragged harmonies and flutes. In the fiddle-aided folk and sweet refrain (“The softness in a smile/ Casts the sunlight on my bitter frown”) of “Footsteps,” the Örebro Ren Fair has found its anthem.

Dead Man hit their stride when they turn their backs on the light, especially on the creepy “Electric Funeral” motif that opens “The Wheel,” or the tritone-based riff in “Rest in Peace” that casts a dark pall on the surrounding pagan jazz. While not metal-grade heavy, it’s during these moments that Euphoria’s folk-prog-rock patchwork threatens to burst apart and lurch away from pastiche toward something darker and more vital. Dead Man’s shivering lead vocalists stay just this side of evil, though, and their textures always return to pastoral psychedelia.

If the fruitiness of Euphoria’s plentiful Rusted Root moments is a little disarming, Dead Man’s earnestness in re-creating the range of untrendy genres that they do saves the album. From the analog warmth of the recording to the totally bitchin’, vintage tom sound, Euphoria doesn’t just sound inspired by the more adventurous folk-rock of the late 60s -- it sounds like it could have been released back then, too, and unearthed four decades later to remind us of a time when flutes and riffs could coexist and there was no such thing as irony. (Etan Rosenbloom, Prefix Magazine)

Read more reviews...

Track Listing:

01. Today
02. High Or Low
03. Footsteps
04. I Must Be Blind
05. From A Window
06. Light Vast Corridors
07. The Wheel
08. Rest In Peace
09. A Pinch Of Salt
10. Euphoria
11. July (appears on CD only)


Listen

MySpace
Crusher Records

Purchase "Euphoria" here.