Spinning Words

My curiosity and love of music made me wonder today: what about Swedish music, what do I know about it? Well, ABBA was the first thing that came into my mind and then…

Chronologically speaking I thing the first Swedish acquaintance was Yngwie Malmsteen. I remember having the “Trilogy” album on vinyl and just staring at the cover while listening to it. The three-headed dragon was mesmerizing but I think I liked the guy with the guitar fighting the dragon better. Unfortunately I don’t remember much from that album, musically speaking, probably because our vinyl record player got broken and there was no way of listening to that record (and many others) anymore.

Then there was Europe. Mostly because “The Final Countdown” was and still is such a popular song. And it was used for a TV spot in Romania some years ago, a sports show perhaps? I can’t remember. Then there’s “Rock the Night” which I am pretty sure is stuck in my brain since I was 5 or 6 or so. I am happy for seeing them live two Summers ago, it only took me 20some years to do that.

Fast forward to the thing that came into my mind first: Bathory. I came across Bathory after a stop by Norwegian music and some discussions with some into metal friends. Must say that it’s not the kind of music I listen to on a daily basis, I do need a certain mood and desire to do that. But nevertheless it’s worth a (huge) shot.

Next stop is a band I’ve seen live 4 times: Lake of Tears. I got to one of their concerts by accident because someone told me they’re cool. Well, that someone was right! One of the best things they are good at is playing live. I’ve seen them twice in their own show and twice in festivals. It is useless to say that it is somehow unfair to have them playing as opening act. They show class to many musicians.

One band I came across while rock clubbing in cellars is Amon Amarth. Even if they visited Romania so many times I’ve never managed to get to one of their concerts which is a bit sad. But note to self: Amon Amarth create a wrong perception on Swedish men.

Another band I’ve seen live and would go see them if they played tomorrow: Therion. I came across them because of Nightwish. Big fan of Nightwish some same people that told me about Lake of Tears got me going to a Therion concert that I’ve seen 3 times until now. And they did a prety awesome cover of ABBA’s “Summer Night City”. Here they are below with a live clip because yes, I like their concerts very much.

Must not forget to mention Deathstars which I have seen in France opening for Cradle of Filth. The boys offer a show full of energy and they are extremely loud, a strange combination between Marilyn Manson and Rammstein.

And because I got stuck I asked Google who sent me to a full list of Swedish metal bands and yes, I know many more. I either don’t listen to them regularly or had no idea they were Swedish: Opeth, Hammerfall (shame on me, I’ve seen them live), In Flames (face slap), Katatonia, Dark Funeral, Tiamat etc.

But since I got here the things I came across are not that… loud, nevertheless they are nice and deserve a blog post of their own… soon.

I was on my way to school this morning, in the bus, when I noticed that the fence to the Stadium on Valhallavägen was covered with football-related stuff like t-shirts and scarves. It made sense in a way, the Swedish Championship started this past week-end but I had to reach school and check the news online to see what it was really all about. Yesterday was a sad day for Swedish football, a fan of the Djurgården (D.I.F.) team was beaten and died before the match with Helsingborg. There are articles written about this online, check here if you want more details.

As a sports fan I have a lot of respect for the athletes, the ones who are opponents as well and for their supporters. I don’t agree with violence making its way into sports events. This time things have gone, unfortunately, too far. Sports is to be enjoyed and every second of the competition should be lived to the fullest, it should bring happiness to our lives, not death, sorrow and grief. It should bring us together. Unfortunately not everybody has the same values.

After school I stopped by the Stadium and watched how people came from all directions with flowers and tokens of respect. I took some photos and I am going to publish them here because they are impressive, sad as they are. I wish this kind of events never happened, not in Sweden, not in Romania nor anywhere in the world.

Remember the “in-between-Winter-Spring”weather I was talking about last time? Well, that turned into a full time Winter. Which is not half bad as I haven’t seen much snow this (past?) Winter so I am enjoying this pretty much. To enjoy it even more I took a stroll through the forest this evening with my roomie and the landlord’s dog. And just to ensure you that this is serious: the cat entered the house and he’s sleeping on the sofa.

The sad part of all this was that when returning from school my bus got canceled so I had to wait for the next one. That wasn’t horror because it’s not that cold but when the bus got to the stop it was so crowded, I found and took the last available seat which I am sure frustrated the girl who was comfortably sharing two seats with her purse. I hope she got over it already, if not, well, I am not sorry, I had to make room for the people getting on the bus on the next stop, and yes, there were a lot.

Still that didn’t stop me from running through the snow in the forest after reaching home. Pretty awesome way of ending a beautiful white day and another weather forecast.