Doom Metal

[supseudonymous]

CANDLEMASS guitarist Mats "Mappe" Björkman has been sentenced to two years in a Swedish prison for grand theft, reports Realtid.se.

He was convicted of stealing CDs with a retail value of SEK 3 million (approximately $490,000).

According to prosecutor Mats Jansson, Björkman and and his accomplice Stefan Håkansson skimmed CDs from Entertainment Network Scandinavia AB (ENS), where they both worked at the warehouse. ENS handles product distribution to retail outlets and wholesalers throughout Sweden for the four major labels.

Over a period of several years, Björkman and Håkansson shipped the stolen merchandise to two Stockholm retail outlets who were also allegedly involved in the scheme.

In November 2005, a music company contacted ENS regarding a discrepancy in Björkman's reported sales. ENS investigated the matter and discovered that someone had manipulated the company computer on 301 occasions.

By checking Mats' employee/entry card, ENS determined that the musician's log-in information had been used to access the company's computer system in 279 of these instances.

Mats Björkman denies the allegations and claims that someone else must have used his entry card. But his accomplice Stefan Håkansson has admitted his role in the theft and has implicated his colleague.

The scheme was uncovered after a tip was received that the record stores in Stockholm were selling CDs that were shipped from the Borås-based warehouse for a much lower price than those sold by their competitors.

The information about the weight on orders had been manipulated to conceal how much merchandise had been delivered. A package that according to the computer system contained 8 CDs in reality turned out to include more than 100 CDs plus a few box sets and DVDs.

According to the prosecutor, Björkman was the one that was in contact with the retailers and that received the money for the transactions.

The agreement between Mats and his accomplice was that they were to split the profits — which were estimated to be SEK 1.3 million (approximately $213,000) — equally.

Mats stated in court that he doesn't undertand why Stefan would lie about him being involved in the theft scheme but he thinks it might be because Håkansson was trying to protect other people who might have been responsible for stealing the merchandise.

Before he went to court, Mats told the local paper Borås Tidning, "I'm innocent, no question about it."

During the court proceedings, he continued to deny his involvement in the theft while the other man confessed.

Based on the evidence, the court concluded that Håkansson had no reason to lie about Björkman's role in the scheme and determined that prison was the appropriate punishment for both men.

Björkman's accomplice received a sentence of one year and nine months.

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[V.V.V.V.V.]

wha!

Weird.

 

[Rumpole]

Yeah that's pretty nuts. See what you downloaders are doing? Forcing honest doom musicians into a life of crime, for shame.

 

[Contra dk]

Doom is one of my favorite genre in metal.
Been listening to alot of Reverend Bizarre, and I love it.
In terms of Death/Doom, Swallow The Sun is also pretty good

 

[rms]

Im just getting into void of silence

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Yeah that's pretty nuts. See what you downloaders are doing? Forcing honest doom musicians into a life of crime, for shame.

 

[Mort Divine]

So the new Jex Thoth is absolutely amazing. It is a shame about the CD label misprint though because I really want to buy this now!

 

[Vilden]

How is it compared to the Totem mcd and track on the 7" split? I thought those were good but not mindblowing.

 

[Mort Divine]

Well the track on the split is one the album, so keep that in mind but I'd say this is better than the Totem mcd.

 

[Vilden]

Heh, I will probably buy it anyway, supporting ol' Peter and Ola is a must.

 

[Rumpole]

I quite liked the EP, so I'll get the album, but I don't think her vocals are all that amazing.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Pagan Altar's Mythical and Magical has been fucking owning the shit out of me lately.

 

[Vilden]

Yeah it rules very much. But I think it is their worst effort. I like the more doomy sound of the previous releases.

In other news, I just got The Lamp of Thoth - Cauldron of Witchery mcd in the mail, haven't listened to it yet but the shirt that came with the die hard edition was fucking cool.

 

[Mort Divine]

I'm on my first listen of Hour of 13's album and man this is so good.

 

[Vilden]

In'fucking'deed. That albums goes on several times a day for me lately. Thank you UM for finding it. :>

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Yeah it rules very much. But I think it is their worst effort. I like the more doomy sound of the previous releases.

I like the sound on Mythical & Magical best tbh!

 

[Hypnos]

Im just getting into void of silence

'The Human Antithesis'is the most dark piece of music i've heard in a long time. fits perfectly with Nemtheanga's vocals. the keys and samples are done very tastefully and the guitar sound is perfect

 

[J.]

What are the general opinions of:

The Wizar'd
While Heaven Wept
Isole
Scald - Will of the Gods is Great Power

 

[Vilden]

The Wizard: haven't checked out yet.

While Heaven Wept: Super mega awsome

Isole: not bad at all, I like their first album the best. Haven't heard their newest release yet though.

Scald - Will of the Gods is Great Power: Best epic doom album after Epicus Doomicus Metallicus.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Scald is fucking great Pagan doom metal. Quite traditional, with sorrowful and wailing clean vocals and far-off, distant sounding production which actually fits quite well as it's extremely organic...I just can't imagine them sitting in a studio to make that, which is a plus for what they went for. The instrumentation is just gorgeous. Definitely worthy.