What is the deal with Sweden?

[MadTinus]

the main reason swedes makes good music is that swedes generally are much better than non-swedes.

Swedes makes?

At least we have better spelling nazis here in Holland

But seriously, it's amazing how much good music comes out of Scandinavia and Sweden in particular. Sweden has an excessively large share in my album collection. It's not always super original, but in a very high percentage of the cases it's high quality.

 

[Srontgorrth]

It's only because you live there and are tired of the scene. Sweden, Finland,and Norway have pumped out some of the best music in the industry and bands have emerged that I didn't know existed. I'm still amazed at the quality of music from over there.

Here in Chicago there is BARELY a metal scene. The only band I will stick up for is Novembers Doom (cause they rule), but other than that metal is nonexistent.

What?? Theres a few other good bands from Chicago:
Velnias
Clad in Darkness
Lividity
Gorgasm
Macabre

of course it depends what you like, but still, theres some stuff.

 

[Brave.Archangel]

Sweden has Opeth and Katatonia

 

[griev0r]

Sweden has Opeth, Katatonia, and Amon Amarth

Fixed, close thread.

 

[MadTinus]

Hell no, AA = most annoyingly overrated Swedish band ever.

 

[BlueSky]

Katatonia, and Pain of Salvation

Thats all the swedish music I need.

 

[Belligerent]

What?? Theres a few other good bands from Chicago:
Velnias
Clad in Darkness
Lividity
Gorgasm
Macabre

of course it depends what you like, but still, theres some stuff.

Meh. Macabre is the worst band I've ever heard and I don't like "Grind" or "Goregrind".

 

[ShadowCreator]

Hell no, AA = most annoyingly overrated Swedish band ever.

No Sir.

 

[Brave.Archangel]

Amon Amarth have some cool stuff. Pain of Salvation and Meshuggah are two acts worthy of mentioning.

 

[brownden]

Any Swedes out there with a theory as to why their country is leading the way in terms of quality music...?

I'm just constantly amazed at how many great bands keep launching out of there. Dang, my newest fave is In Mourning, and of course I check the label and - yep - they're from some place called Falun, Sweden.

Just doing a quick IPOD search, and look what I find:
- Katatonia
- Anekdoten
- Shining
- In Mourning
- Opeth
- Meshuggah

Contrast that with Vancouver, Canada, where I come from.
Big city.
Lotsa cool music venues.
Yet, virtually no local talent crushing the world.
Yeah, we have Black Mountain. Devin Townsend. And, that's it.

What is the deal with Sweden?

Hey man I hail from just outside Vancouver, BC as well and you completely forgot to mention 3 Inches of Blood!!!
I'm not sure why it is, but Scandinavian metal pwns n00bz end of story

 

[MiniMoose]

I'll give sweden a big "huzzah!" for Katatonia, but other than that it's ...Cornelis Vreeswijk?

I would say Opeth is good, but I never manage to listen to their music over a longer period of time. It just bores the heck out of me after a while...even though it shouldn't..it's rather strange. Guess I'm just sick of growling in general that doesn't have a very special punch to it.

Grind Core music bores me except early The Locust which was fantastic.

Anekdoten is on the same level as Opeth in my book. Good, but all in all not very interesting. Yes, it's a good thing it's just my taste...

I used to like Malaise and The Mist Of Avalon..but both bands have become sad and uninspired. The Mist Of Avalon started out very promising spicing up their Paradise Lost/ Sisters Of Mercy goth metal thingy with some neat folk music instruments (only just a bit). Now they've become some kind of typical goth/rock..of course, Their new album hasn't come yet, so there's still some hope it might not suck. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=73275234 ...hm!

So, all my swedish bands have just vanished over the years...only Katatonia continues to impress me so far from Sweden.

 

[m0rtis]

swedish girls are nice...

 

[stefan86]

It's only because you live there and are tired of the scene. Sweden, Finland,and Norway have pumped out some of the best music in the industry and bands have emerged that I didn't know existed. I'm still amazed at the quality of music from over there.

It's quantity rather than quality. There's a 100 Gothenburg shit bands for every decent band.

 

[Kalabalik]

It's quantity rather than quality. There's a 100 Gothenburg shit bands for every decent band.

Yeah, I was thinking that too. Some of my favourite bands are Swedish, but you have to admit that there are some awful Swedish bands as well. Which is the case for every country, but it's just that there are a LOT of Swedish bands. I remember reading an interview with a Swedish band (can't remember what band...) and this exact same question was asked. The answer was that almost every metal fan in Sweden was in a band* and consequently, there are a lot of bands. So the chances that some really good bands emerge are very big... or something like that.

*Now the reason that so many people started a band (this is about the old skool death metal days ) had something to do that so few bands toured Scandinavia, and the fans decided to start their own band!

Not my theory! Just something I read somewhere...

 

[Kalabalik]

What I also think is happening, is that Swedish metal is getting an almost mythical status among metal fans. So when a new Swedish band emerges, listeners pay these bands much more attention, thinking "They're Swedish, so they must rule!"... It's almost a vicious circle.

 

[MadTinus]

What I also think is happening, is that Swedish metal is getting an almost mythical status among metal fans. So when a new Swedish band emerges, listeners pay these bands much more attention, thinking "They're Swedish, so they must rule!"... It's almost a vicious circle.

That's definitely true, it surely an advantage to be from Sweden as a band, you're automatically in favour.

But that's for a reason, because a very high percentage of the music from Sweden is of a very high standard. Not just Metal, but also pop or progressive music. Swedes seem to have a gene for melody. Swedish music is often characterised by an exeptional sense for melody.

I mean, the Netherlands has almost twice as many inhabitants as Sweden, but can any of you name a bunch of internationally appealing bands from the Netherlands..?

 

[abyssofdreams]

Blackshine
Withered Beauty
A Canorous Quintet
Arch Enemy
Eucharist
Gates of Ishtar
Duskfall
The Haunted
Godgory
Hypocrisy
Eternal Autumn

and I'm sure I forgot a LOT!

 

[BlueSky]

and I'm sure I forgot a LOT!

You sure did!

 

[Lisra]

I mean, the Netherlands has almost twice as many inhabitants as Sweden, but can any of you name a bunch of internationally appealing bands from the Netherlands..?

After Forever, Epica, Within Temptation [..]

Not maybe liked here, but certainly internationally appealing.

 

[abyssofdreams]

After Forever, Epica, Within Temptation [..]

Not maybe liked here, but certainly internationally appealing.

The Gathering