Gardenian was a Swedish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band from

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 ...

. It formed in 1996 and disbanded in 2004. They reunited in 2012 before disbanding once again in 2016.

Background

Gardenian was formed in April 1996 by drummer Thim Blom and vocalist/guitarist Jim Kjell. Eventually, guitarist Niklas Engelin and bassist Håkan Skoger joined the band. Later in 1996, the band recorded a demo and sent it to

Listenable Records Listenable Records is an independent metal label originally founded in 1990 in France. The label specializes in metal, with a focus on extreme metal music. The company has published albums from many acclaimed extreme metal bands, such as Immo ...

who gave the band a

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

and booked

Studio Fredman Studio Fredman is a well-known recording studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, owned and operated by producer Fredrik Nordström. It is popular among Swedish metal bands, with artists such as At the Gates, Deathstars, Nightrage, Norwegian band Dimmu Borg ...

that same year so that the band could record their debut

studio 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 ...

. In 1997, Gardenian released their debut studio album, ''Two Feet Stand''. After the album's release, the band was pretty dormant due to lack of interest by their label Listenable Records. At this point Niklas Engelin decided to join

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. During t ...

for some tours. However, eventually the band decided they needed to break off their contract with Listenable Records and dedicate themselves fully to the band, something which bassist Håkan Skoger felt he could no longer do due to wanting to focus on his other band

Headplate Headplate is a Swedish nu metal band from the city of Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993, by drummer Niklas Österlund and guitarist Daniel (Schou) Granstedt. Almost all of their songs are free to download at their own website. In 1999 the ...

. After breaking off their contract with Listenable Records the band signed with

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. In 1999, Gardenian recorded and released their second studio album, ''Soulburner'', which was also recorded in Studio Fredman. This album featured guest vocals by Eric Hawk (ex-Artch) and Sabrina Khilstrand (ex-Ice Age). After ''Soulburners release the band toured with bands such as In Flames,

Dark Tranquillity Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates. Dark Tranquillity is regarded a ...

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sep ...

Hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

The Kovenant The Kovenant is a Norwegian industrial metal band from Hamar. The band originally formed as a symphonic black metal act known as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish elec ...

, and Evereve. In 2000, Gardenian recorded and released their third studio album, ''Sindustries''. This album was recorded in Abyss Studio and produced by

Peter Tägtgren Alf Peter Tägtgren (born 3 June 1970) is a Swedish musician, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band Pain i ...

. Shortly after the release of ''Sindustries'', Gardenian felt disappointed with the way Nuclear Blast was treating them, so they broke off their contract. In 2003, Gardenian underwent major line-up changes and in 2004, the band eventually disbanded. In 2012, it was announced that the band will reunite with the original lineup, only once for the 4–5 January 2013 edition of The Gothenburg Sound festival, which took place in Trädgår'n,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

but then in March 2013 it was announced that they were not going to do the one-off reunion as planned and remain active. They split up again in 2016.

Discography

Members

Final Lineup

* Jim Kjell – vocals, guitar (1996-2003, 2012–2016) *

Niclas Engelin Niclas Engelin (born 27 December 1972) is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist for Drömriket, Passenger, Engel and The Halo Effect. He previously was the lead guitarist for and Gardenian and the rhythm guitarist for In Flames and has been in and ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(1996-2004, 2012–2016) * Thim Blom –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1996-2004, 2012–2016) * Håkan Skoger – bass guitar (1996-1999, 2012–2016)

Former Members

* Kriss Albertsson – bass guitar (1999-2003) * Robert Hakemo –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(2003-2004) *

Apollo Papathanasio Apostolos "Apollo" Papathanasiou ( el, Aπόστολος Παπαθανασίου or Απόλλωνας Παπαθανασίου; born 15 March 1969) is a Swedish heavy metal vocalist of Greek descent, who is currently with the band Spiritual B ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(2003-2004) Timeline

References

External links

Interview with Jim Kjell

2001 Interview with Jim Kjell

{{Authority control Swedish melodic death metal musical groups Metal Mind Productions artists Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups from Gothenburg Musical quartets Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2016