Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999.

History

Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone with musical ideals similar to his own. However, while on holiday in the Greek islands during the year of 1999, Nordström met the young guitarist

Gus G Kostas Karamitroudis (born 12 September 1980), better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbour ...

(from

Firewind Firewind is a Greek power metal band formed in Thessaloniki in 1998. The group is currently signed to Century Media Records and was originally a small project created by guitarist Gus G. to showcase his demo, ''Nocturnal Symphony'', in 1998. ...

). The musicians got along quite well, despite an age difference of over a decade. Plans for a band commenced – Gus had already been planning to relocate to

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, and upon his arrival he looked up Fredrik at Studio Fredman to begin writing. The first person asked to join the new band was

Snowy Shaw Snowy Shaw (born Tommie Mike Christer Helgesson on 25 July 1968) is a Swedish heavy metal musician (primarily a drummer) based in the port city of Gothenburg in the west coast of Sweden. He has played with many heavy metal bands, like King Dia ...

(from

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto ...

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with Satan and the occult, Mercyful Fat ...

and Notre Dame), but the drummer initially refused their invitation. He would later change his mind and agreed to play on the band's debut album in a session capacity. Vocalist

Niklas Isfeldt Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999. History Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone ...

had done backing vocals for some of

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremo ...

's songs produced by Nordström, and since he was not involved in any major projects at the time, he agreed to take the position. He also brought along his longtime friend and Pure-X bandmate

Peter Stålfors Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999. History Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone ...

, who assumed bass guitar duties. Up until the moment the first promotional photos were shot, the entire band had never been in the same place at the same time before. Some members did not even know each other. The band soon got a deal with Century Media Records, and intended to name themselves ''Dragonslayer'' due to the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

and fantastical themes of the songs written by Gus and Nordström. The label did not find the name original enough, and thus the band settled for the name Dream Evil, inspired by the Dio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

of the same name. Dream Evil's debut album was released in April 2002, and received positive feedback from the metal press. At one point the album, titled ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classific ...

'', reached number one on the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese import charts. The band proceeded to play a series of festivals, and also supported

Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres.Evilized'', and most songs were recorded as they had been written. It was released on 20 January, and one week later Dream Evil proceeded to tour Europe with HammerFall and the less known Masterplan. For their third album, the band actually took time to write the songs and fine-tune them in the studio. '' The Book of Heavy Metal'' took two months to be recorded, and was released in May 2004. Guitarist Gus G left the band in late 2004 in order to dedicate more time to Firewind, being replaced by

Mark Black Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999. History Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone ...

(then known as Mark U Black). Black had previously filled in for Gus on a few other occasions and replaced him permanently on their tour as

support act A opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, or supporting act, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again a ...

for Saxon. Dream Evil at Tuska 2008 (1)

Niklas Isfeldt and Peter Stålfors briefly left in 2005 to be replaced by Jake E. Berg (aka Jake Steel, of Dreamland) and Tommy Larsson. However, a few months later, Niklas and Pater returned before recordings or live shows were done. At the start of 2006, Snowy Shaw abruptly quit Dream Evil. After a period of silence for several months, Dream Evil announced Pat Power (

Patrik Jerksten Anders Patrik Jerksten (born 19 July 1974), also known as Patrik J., Patrik J. Sten or Pat Power, is a Swedish sound engineer and heavy metal drummer for Passenger, The Fifth Sun, and Dream Evil. He has worked extensively in the famous Studio ...

), a co-worker of Fredrik Nordström from Studio Fredman, as Snowy's replacement. The first album featuring the new line-up, ''

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

'', was released on 13 October 2006. Dream Evil announced on 7 December 2007 on the website that Mark Black would be leaving the band and will be replaced by Daniel Varghamne aka Dannee Demon. On 3 March 2008 the band announced that they had begun work on a new studio album, tentatively titled '' In the Night''. The album was released on 25 January 2010 in Europe and 26 January 2010 in North America. On 23 July 2008 the band announced that their first live DVD/CD set, '' Gold Medal in Metal (Alive & Archive)'', was released on 25 August 2008. On 28 December 2013 Dream Evil announced that Dannee Demon left the band and was replaced by Mark Black. Upon contact in 2015, Dream Evil informed that they were not on hiatus, just very busy with other commitments, and had eighteen tracks prepared for a future album. On 7 March 2017 the album titled ''Six'' was finally announced to be released on 26 May 2017.

Members

Current members * Fredrik Nordström – rhythm guitar (1999–present) *Niklas Isfeldt – vocals (1999–present (small hiatus in 2005)) *Peter Stålfors – bass guitar (1999–present (small hiatus in 2005)) *Markus Fristedt – lead guitar (2004–2007, 2013–present) *Sören Fardvik – drums (2019-present) Former members *

– drums (1999–2006) *

– lead guitar (1999–2004) * Daniel Varghamne – lead guitar (2007–2013) *Jake E. Berg – vocals (2005) *Tommy Larsson – bass guitar (2005, died in 2020) *

Pat Power Patrick Percival "Pat" Power (born 11 February 1942 in Cooma, New South Wales) is a retired Australian bishop of the Catholic Church. Early life Power grew up in Queanbeyan and was educated at St Christopher's School and St Edmund's College ...

– drums (2006–2019)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Live

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Musical groups from Gothenburg Swedish power metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 Century Media Records artists 1999 establishments in Sweden