Björn Ove Ingemar "Speed" Strid (born 10 September 1978) is a Swedish singer best known as the frontman of the

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

Soilwork Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They have released twelve studio albums. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, the band was originally known as ''Inferior Breed''. In late 1996, they changed t ...

and the

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

band The Night Flight Orchestra. He has also performed with Disarmonia Mundi, Terror 2000, Coldseed, and

Act of Denial Act of Denial is an international melodic death metal supergroup, formed in 2020. Its members are vocalist Björn Strid ( Soilwork), guitarist, songwriter and producer Voi Cox (Koziak, Victim), lyricist and guitarist Luger (Benighted, Koziak) ...

, among others.

Early life

Strid was born in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

. He gained the nickname "Speed" from fellow students as a result of the "extreme music" he was known to enjoy.

Career

Strid co-founded the

band Soilwork in 1995 under the name Inferior Breed which was later changed to Soilwork once the fledgling band's sound began to take shape. He is the only original member still in the band. Most of Soilwork's lyrics are written by Strid himself. Strid has also provided vocals for

Darkane Darkane is a Swedish metal band that originated in Helsingborg in 1998. Their music contains ample thrash elements interspersed with acoustic interludes and symphonic features, such as the in-studio use of synthesizers and occasionally full or ...

on their demo recording prior to Lawrence Mackrory joining the band before their debut album. He made a guest appearance on the

Destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...

track "The Alliance of Hellhoundz" alongside numerous other prominent metal singers, as well as appearing on Zero Tolerance's "Prime Time Mind Surgery", Phoenix-based metal band Howitzer's "245", and Danish band

Mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

's "Redefine Me" from their album '' The Hours That Remain''. He has also recently provided guest vocals for the Seattle-based band Demon Hunter on the track "Collapsing" from their album '' The World Is a Thorn'' which was released in March 2010, and also performed on

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

band Kamelot's '' Poetry for the Poisoned'' on the track "The Great Pandemonium". He also performed guest vocals on the track "Puppets 2: The Rain" by American

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

band Motionless in White. In February 2013, Strid began a collaboration with the Russian metal band The Polygon that released the debut EP ''Stained Anger'' in 2014. He also performed the choruses on The Moor's single "The Castaway" which was released in July 2014. He also provided vocals on Earthside's song "Crater" from their debut album ''A Dream in Static''. Strid is also featured on Silent Descent's track "Vortex" from their 2017 album ''Turn to Grey''.

Vocal style and influences

Strid utilizes a varied vocal style, being able to quickly alternate between more guttural growls and higher screams and clean, harmonious vocals, and has gone on record as saying that '' Killing Machine'' (known as ''Hell Bent for Leather'' in the US) by

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. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

is his favorite album, but more recently has cited

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

's '' The Number of the Beast'' as his favourite.

Discography

The Night Flight Orchestra Rockharz 2019 09

Soilwork

;Studio albums * '' Steelbath Suicide'' (1998) * '' The Chainheart Machine'' (2000) * '' A Predator's Portrait'' (2001) * '' Natural Born Chaos'' (2002) * '' Figure Number Five'' (2003) * '' Stabbing the Drama'' (2005) * '' Sworn to a Great Divide'' (2007) * '' The Panic Broadcast'' (2010) * '' The Living Infinite'' (2013) * '' The Ride Majestic'' (2015) * '' Death Resonance'' (2016) * '' Verkligheten'' (2019) * '' Övergivenheten'' (2022)

Terror 2000

;Studio albums * ''Slaughterhouse Supremacy'' (2000) * ''Faster Disaster'' (2002) * ''Terror for Sale'' (2005)

Disarmonia Mundi

;Studio albums *'' Fragments of D-Generation'' (2004) (guest musician) *'' Mind Tricks'' (2006) (guest musician) *'' The Isolation Game'' (2009) (guest musician) *'' Cold Inferno'' (2015) (guest musician)

Coldseed

;Studio albums *''Completion Makes the Tragedy'' (2006)

The Night Flight Orchestra

;Studio albums * '' Internal Affairs'' (2012) * '' Skyline Whispers'' (2015) * '' Amber Galactic'' (2017) * ''Sometimes the World Ain't Enough'' (2018) * ''Aeromantic'' (2020) * ''Aeromantic II'' (2021) * ''Give Us the Moon'' (2025)

Nemesis Alpha

;Studio albums * ''Eternal Machines'' (2019)

Act of Denial

;Studio albums * ''Negative'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Biography
on soilwork.org (archive)
Biography
on disarmoniamundi.com (archive)
2005 interview
on metal-temple.com (archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Strid, Bjorn 1978 births Living people Swedish heavy metal singers Swedish baritones Musicians from Helsingborg Darkane members 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish male singers Soilwork members