The Night Flight Orchestra is a Swedish
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band from
Helsingborg
Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...
. They have signed to
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 ...
records. Formed in 2007 by
Björn Strid
Björn Ove Ingemar "Speed" Strid (born 10 September 1978) is a Swedish vocalist who has worked with bands such as Allegaeon, Disarmonia Mundi, Terror 2000, Coldseed, The Night Flight Orchestra, Act of Denial, Gizmachi, and most notably Soilw ...
and David Andersson while they were touring in the US with their band
Soilwork
Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name ''Inferior Breed'', the band changed their name in late 1996 to S ...
, they were later joined by bassist
Sharlee D'Angelo
Sharlee D'Angelo (born Charles Petter Andreason, 27 April 1973) is the Swedish bassist for the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, as well as the classic rock/AOR band the Night Flight Orchestra and the stoner metal band Spiritual Beggars.
D'A ...
(
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...
,
Spiritual Beggars
Spiritual Beggars is a stoner metal band from Halmstad, Sweden, formed by Michael Amott, who is known from Arch Enemy, Carcass and Carnage. The band is heavily influenced by 1970s hard rock and incorporates elements of psychedelia into its ...
, ex-
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 Fate w ...
), Richard Larsson (Von Benzo), Jonas Källsbäck (Mean Streak) and, more recently, Sebastian Forslund (Kadwatha). They have released six studio albums.
Biography
''Internal Affairs'' (2012)
The Night Flight Orchestra started when
Björn Strid
Björn Ove Ingemar "Speed" Strid (born 10 September 1978) is a Swedish vocalist who has worked with bands such as Allegaeon, Disarmonia Mundi, Terror 2000, Coldseed, The Night Flight Orchestra, Act of Denial, Gizmachi, and most notably Soilw ...
(
Soilwork
Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name ''Inferior Breed'', the band changed their name in late 1996 to S ...
) and David Andersson (
Soilwork
Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name ''Inferior Breed'', the band changed their name in late 1996 to S ...
, Mean Streak) were on the road together in North America in 2007. Björn and David were bonding over what they considered "classic" or not, from rock n roll conspiracies to being arrested in a lobby with nothing but leather pants on. All those scenarios, fictional or real, needed a soundtrack. It didn't take long before bass player
Sharlee D'Angelo
Sharlee D'Angelo (born Charles Petter Andreason, 27 April 1973) is the Swedish bassist for the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, as well as the classic rock/AOR band the Night Flight Orchestra and the stoner metal band Spiritual Beggars.
D'A ...
(
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...
,
Spiritual Beggars
Spiritual Beggars is a stoner metal band from Halmstad, Sweden, formed by Michael Amott, who is known from Arch Enemy, Carcass and Carnage. The band is heavily influenced by 1970s hard rock and incorporates elements of psychedelia into its ...
) joined forces as well as keyboard player Richard Larsson (Von Benzo) and drummer Jonas Källsbäck (Mean Streak). Their goal was to reclaim the 70's/early 80's sense for classic melody.
They released their first album ''
Internal Affairs'' on 18 June 2012 through the Italian label Coroner Records and made their live debut on 1 August 2013 at Dina-scenen in Lidköping, Sweden. Due to their busy schedules with both
Soilwork
Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name ''Inferior Breed'', the band changed their name in late 1996 to S ...
and
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...
, they could only manage to play live for the first time one year after the release of ''Internal Affairs'' and only did a handful of concerts between 2013 and 2014 including a show at
Sweden Rock Festival
The Sweden Rock Festival is an annual rock/metal festival held in Sweden since 6 June 1992. While having a clear rock/metal focus, the festival is noted for its diversity across these genres, from southern rock bands such as Molly Hatchet to de ...
in 2014.
''Skyline Whispers'' (2015)
In January 2015, the Night Flight Orchestra announced a new album release on 9 June 2015 via Coroner Records, and the addition of Sebastian Forslund (Kadawatha) on congas, percussion and guitar. ''
Skyline Whispers
''Skyline Whispers'' is the second studio album by Swedish classic rock/ AOR band The Night Flight Orchestra, released on 9 June 2015 via Coroner Records.
Track listing
Credits
Personnel
;The Night Flight Orchestra
* Björn "Speed" ...
'' was recorded at Nordic Sound Lab Studios, Skara (Sweden), engineered by The Night Flight Orchestra and Bengan Andersson, mixed by Sebastian Forslund and mastered by Thomas Plec Johansson at Panic Room Studios, Skara (Sweden).
''Amber Galactic'' (2017)
The band signed to
Nuclear Blast Records
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 2016. Their third album, ''
Amber Galactic
''Amber Galactic'' is the third studio album by Swedish rock band The Night Flight Orchestra, released on 19 May 2017 via Nuclear Blast. It was recorded at Handsome Hard Studios, Kävlinge, Sweden and Nordic Sound Lab, Skara, Sweden in 2016. Addi ...
'' was released on 19 May 2017. The Night Flight Orchestra did their first European tour as a headline show in late 2017. On 15 December 2017, the Night Flight Orchestra were nominated for a
Swedish Grammy Award in the category Best Rock/Metal for ''Amber Galactic''.
''Sometimes the World Ain't Enough'' (2018)
Less than one week after the release of ''Amber Galactic'', singer
Björn Strid
Björn Ove Ingemar "Speed" Strid (born 10 September 1978) is a Swedish vocalist who has worked with bands such as Allegaeon, Disarmonia Mundi, Terror 2000, Coldseed, The Night Flight Orchestra, Act of Denial, Gizmachi, and most notably Soilw ...
stated in an interview that the Night Flight Orchestra were likely to start recording their fourth album a couple months later, during Summer 2017, to be released in Spring 2018.
On 5 April 2018, the Night Flight Orchestra announced that their new album ''Sometimes the World Ain't Enough'' was due to release on 29 June 2018. The same day, the band announced a European tour supporting the album in November and December 2018.
Like its predecessor ''Amber Galactic'', Sometimes The World Ain't Enough has been nominated to the Swedish Grammy Awards for best rock/metal release.
''Aeromantic'' (2020) and ''Aeromantic II'' (2021)
Intended as a saga, the band released the first part titled ''Aeromantic'' in 2020 (which was keyboardist Richard Larsson's last work with the band before departing), while the sequel was released on September 3, 2021.
On September 14th, 2022 it was announced that guitarist David Andersson had passed away at the age of 47.
Style
The music of The Night Flight Orchestra is mostly referred to as
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
or
AOR, or more rarely as
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
which seeks to emulate music from the
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...
and
1980s
File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...
. With the album ''Sometimes the World Ain't Enough'', the band added elements of
disco music
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano ...
and
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
. According to Matthias Weckmann from the German
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
magazine "the band delivers everything that one loves and loved about bands like
Journey
Journey or journeying may refer to:
* Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations
** Day's journey, a measurement of distance
** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road
Animals
* Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...
,
Foreigner and
Survivor
Survivor(s) may refer to:
Actual survivors
*
*Last survivors of historical events
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series
* ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Found ...
". Björn Backes from the online magazine Powermetal.de compared the second studio album ''Skyline Whispers'' with British
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
of the 1970s and named
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
,
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
,
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
,
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
and
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
as musical references.
Boris Kaiser from the German magazine
Rock Hard
"Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdraw ...
compared the Night Flight Orchestra in his review for ''Sometimes the World Ain't Enough'' with bands like
Toto,
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
,
Ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
,
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The ...
,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and
Supertramp
Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...
.
Band members
Current members
*
Björn "Speed" Strid
Bjorn (English, Dutch), Björn (Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch, and German), Bjørn (Danish, Faroese and Norwegian), Beorn (Old English) or, rarely, Bjôrn, Biorn, or Latinized Biornus, Brum (Portuguese), is a Scandinavian male given name, or less oft ...
– vocals (2007–present)
*
Sharlee D'Angelo
Sharlee D'Angelo (born Charles Petter Andreason, 27 April 1973) is the Swedish bassist for the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, as well as the classic rock/AOR band the Night Flight Orchestra and the stoner metal band Spiritual Beggars.
D'A ...
– bass guitar (2007–present)
* Jonas Källsbäck – drums (2007–present)
* Sebastian Forslund – congas, percussion, guitar (2014–present)
* Åsa Lundman - backup vocals (2022-present)
* Anna Brygård – backup vocals (2017–present)
* John Lönnmyr – keyboards (2020–present)
Past members
* David Andersson – guitar (2007–2022; died 2022)
* Richard Larsson – keyboards (2007–2020)
* Anna-Mia Bonde – backup vocals (2017–2022)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Internal Affairs'' (2012)
* ''
Skyline Whispers
''Skyline Whispers'' is the second studio album by Swedish classic rock/ AOR band The Night Flight Orchestra, released on 9 June 2015 via Coroner Records.
Track listing
Credits
Personnel
;The Night Flight Orchestra
* Björn "Speed" ...
'' (2015)
* ''
Amber Galactic
''Amber Galactic'' is the third studio album by Swedish rock band The Night Flight Orchestra, released on 19 May 2017 via Nuclear Blast. It was recorded at Handsome Hard Studios, Kävlinge, Sweden and Nordic Sound Lab, Skara, Sweden in 2016. Addi ...
'' (2017)
* ''Sometimes the World Ain't Enough'' (2018)
* ''Aeromantic'' (2020)
* ''Aeromantic II'' (2021)
References
External links
The Night Flight Orchestra on Nuclear BlastThe Night Flight Orchestra's Myspace profileCoroner Records - official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Night Flight Orchestra
Swedish hard rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 2007