LOK are a Swedish

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band formed in 1995, disbanded in 2002 and reunited in 2019.

The band

Members

Martin Westerstrand Martin Skans Westerstrand (born 6 December 1973) is a Swedish musician from Gothenburg. In 1995 he founded hard rock band LOK.

(vocals) * Johan Reivén (drums) * Daniel Cordero (bass) * Thomas Brandt (guitar)

History

The band was created in

Partille Partille () is a former urban area in the county of Västra Götaland in Sweden. It is the seat of Partille Municipality Partille Municipality (''Partille kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is l ...

, a suburb to

Göteborg 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 a p ...

in 1995, as a fusion of the two rock bands "PsychoBetaBuckDown" (with Martin as vocalist) and "Hyperbug" (with Johan as bassist). The two bands shared the same rehearsal space and had played together a few times. The bands had also finished second and first respectively in a communal rock band competition in 1994. Martin and Johan decided to play together in the 1995 competition and Johan also changed from bass to his original instrument, drums. They needed a guitarist and a bassist and found Daniel (from the band "In a Pig's Eye") and Thomas (from the

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. Ne ...

"Just as Priest"). Their first rehearsal was held in August 1995, with Martin singing in English for about ten minutes before fooling around and starting to sing in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

. It sounded strange, and they decided to continue with Swedish lyrics. The name of the band, which is an abbreviation of

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

in Swedish, was chosen as a reference to their music style; "heavy, relentless and totally over-running"! They won two large music competitions in the next nine months, being awarded with studio time and the production of two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. Their first album was released in November 1996 and contained six songs. The band signed their first contract with Stockholm Records in the summer of 1997, and recorded their new album during 1998. They also performed at the

Hultsfred Festival The Hultsfred Festival ( sv, Hultsfredsfestivalen) was an annual music festival held in Hultsfred, Sweden. It took place at the lake Hulingen during three days in the June or July, from Thursday to Saturday. Since the first festival in 1986, it ...

for the first time the same year. In 2000 they performed at

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

on the green stage in front of 17,500 people. LOK made their last appearance ever in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

, in late 2002. They played in

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 ...

for the last time just a few days before that; the event was recorded and became a live album, their last release. After problems between the members, the band was declared dead. They said that they had shown Sweden that

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

music could be in

, and after five albums, their purpose had been reached, and thus there was no reason to continue. Two of the former members, Martin Westerstrand and Daniel Cordero along with two new members, started the band Rallypack in 2004 and recorded the album ''Sod Off, God! We Believe In Our Rockband'' being their first and last English record and the only record under the name Rallypack. Rallypack became

Lillasyster Lillasyster is a Swedish rock band formed in Gothenburg in 2006. They released their debut album, ''Hjärndöd musik för en hjärndöd generation'' (Braindead Music For A Braindead Generation) in May 2007. History Lillasyster (meaning Little ...

in 2006, and released their debut album ''Hjärndöd musik för en hjärndöd generation'' (Braindead Music For A Braindead Generation) in May 2007. In January 2019 the former band members announced that they had begun rehearsals together with the goal to tour Sweden in the summer for the 20th anniversary of their first full-length album.

Discography

Albums

* '' Ord och inga visor'' (1996) (Words and No Songs) * '' Naken, blästrad och skitsur'' (1999) (Naked, Blasted and Pissed Off) * '' Sunk 500'' (2000) * '' Ut ur diskot och in i verkligheten'' (2002) (Out of the Disco and into Reality) * '' Blästrad levande'' (2003) - live album (Blasted Alive)

Singles

* ''Lokpest'' (Lok-plague) * ''LOK står när de andra faller'' (LOK stands when the others fall) * ''Skrubbsår'' (Grazes) * ''Ensam gud'' (Lone god) * ''Stänkskärmar och sprit'' (Mudguards and booze) * ''Bedragaren i Murmansk'' (The deceiver in Murmansk) * ''Sug min'' (Suck my/mine) * ''Staden Göteborg'' (The city Gothenburg) - together with Swedish band

Hardcore Superstar Hardcore Superstar is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was formed in 1997 and have released eleven studio albums. History The first ten years (1997–2007) 1997–2004 Hardcore Superstar was formed in Gothenburg, ...

References

Göteborgs-Posten - Lok lägger av

External links

Lokfest (Was the only remaining LOK site, now a dead link)
* {{Authority control Swedish heavy metal musical groups Swedish nu metal musical groups