Dan Swano

S.D. wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

You two are retarded. Swano is considered to be one of the best vocalists out there.

We expressed our opinions, you decided to respond by calling us retarded. Very mature of you.

God, you guys are way too sensitive.

Eyesore wrote:

God, you guys are way too sensitive.

I just offered my opinion, then my ol' lady's. What is sensatative about that ? We didn't say dude's singing sucked or anything. It seems you got all butt-hurt first, so who's the sensative one.

Maybe this will help ya out ?

It's a simple discussion. Colloquial language, you know.

I gotta say, I'm glad Shawn & James are as uncomfortable with his cleans as I am. Something just doesn't sound altogether right. I love the guys growl & his music, but his cleans just leave me feeling... unsettled.

I'm comfortable with being a sensitive retard though. Most people hate what I like & vice verse.

Album of the year!

That song wasn't bad but once it was over I didn't even remember listening to it lol...

MetalRob331 wrote:

That song wasn't bad but once it was over I didn't even remember listening to it lol...

You also think Alter Bridge is the modern day Led Zeppelin, so your opinion is meaningless.  

Eyesore wrote:

MetalRob331 wrote:

That song wasn't bad but once it was over I didn't even remember listening to it lol...

You also think Alter Bridge is the modern day Led Zeppelin, so your opinion is meaningless.  

SO does about a million other people  

Man, cannot wait for this!

Sweden's NIGHTINGALE will release its seventh studio album, "Retribution", on January 27, 2015 in North America via InsideOut Music. The follow-up to 2007's "White Darkness" features artwork by Travis Smith (OPETH, NEVERMORE, KATATONIA) and the music should appeal to fans of bands like RUSH, MARILLION, STYX, KANSAS, THRESHOLD, and even OPETH and KATATONIA.

NIGHTINGALE was established by musical multi-talent and producer Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY, WITHERSCAPE) almost 20 years ago and in the good tradition of the band — which is completed by Dan's brother Dag Swanö (guitars, keyboards), Erik Oskarsson (bass) and Tom Björn (drums) — the new album once again showcases a fabulous and timeless hybrid of different musical styles. From atmospheric metal to catchy AOR and melodic prog, "Retribution" offers an amazingly broad variety of moods and always tuneful songwriting skills.

Dan Swanö, who hands vocals, guitars and keyboards for NIGHTINGALE, commented on "Retribution": "We started putting material together for this album around 2008, but out of all those songs, only two made it to the album.

"I felt that, unless it is the best possible NIGHTINGALE album, where every song on the album easily could replace any song from our previous albums, there was no point in making a new album at all.

"During the writing of the WITHERSCAPE debut album, I wrote a lot of stuff that would work better on a NIGHTINGALE album, and before I knew it, I had the skeleton for a lot of potentially awesome NIGHTINGALE songs!

"It was important that the new material had the vibe of the older albums, yet with a better production and performance.

"I am very confident that all the NIGHTINGALE fans will love 'Retribution' since I made sure I felt the same rush inside me when I listened to the tracks that I did upon listening to the finished version of our most famous tracks from the past!"

"Retribution" track listing:

01. On Stolen Wings
02. Lucifer's Lament
03. Chasing The Storm Away
04. Warriors Of The Dawn
05. Forevermore
06. Divided I Fall
07. The Voyage Of Endurance
08. 27 (Curse Or Coincidence?)
09. The Maze
10. Echoes Of A Dream

Mikael Åkerfeldt of OPETH stated about NIGHTINGALE: "As far as I'm concerned, Dan Swanö is one of my earliest mentors. He's one of the most musical persons I know and has taught me a lot, especially when we were working together.

"Been following NIGHTINGALE with interest. His evolution as a vocalist and songwriter has really come to life in this band more than in any of his other projects. My favorite traveling music together with THE WHO... And he doesn't even know this!

"Very excited about this new NIGHTINGALE opus!"

NIGHTINGALE is:

Dan Swanö - vocals, guitars, keyboards
Dag Swanö - bass, guitars, keyboards
Erik Oskarsson - bass
Tom Björn - drums

Some additional info from the Inside Out site:

“Retribution” is the new album from Sweden’s Nightingale, the intended one-off project that refuses to die. Established by musical multi-talent Dan Swanö almost 20 years ago, the band is proof that good music can take on a life of its own, often when the artist least expects it.

Known for his work both as a producer/engineer and with metal acts Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath, Pan-Thy-Monium and most recently Witherscape, Swanö began his unplanned Nightingale journey in 1995 with “The Breathing Shadow”. It was a one-off goth-flavoured solo album heavily reminiscent of The Sisters Of Mercy, meant to satisfy his interest in the genre and then be put quietly to bed as Swanö moved on to other projects. The album was successful enough to warrant a follow-up according to his label at the time (Black Mark), but Swanö was, as he puts it "so over the goth thing."

"I thought that if I was going to make a second record it had to reflect what I was listening to at the moment. I was going through a big revival of Gamma, Foreigner, Journey and all that super melodic AOR pomp rock stuff. It was a weird turn from the first record, so I decided to make Nightingale a home for music that I write in the moment, no matter what it is."

Nightingale released five more albums between '96 and '07, slowly establishing a band line-up that began with Swanö's guitarist/keyboardist brother Dag in 1996 acting as a co-producer and session player on “The Closing Chronicles”. He officially came aboard in 1998 under his Tom Nouga moniker. The band was fleshed out by bassist Erik Oskarsson and drummer Tom Björn, who had their first rehearsal with the Swanö brothers on Christmas Day 2000. “White Darkness” from 2007 could well have been the last Nightingale album, as it featured very little songwriting input from Swanö due to severe writer's block. He decided to focus on his career as an engineer and chose to make music as a hobby. His creative side won eventually, however, as the urge to write and play again became irresistible.

"I bought a few instruments that would inspire me, and eventually the riffs started piling up," Swanö recalls. "I was collecting them for some kind of death metal release, and the other stuff that came out ended up being what could be used for a future Nightingale record."

Originally titled “Bravado” in the working stages, “Retribution” offers up 10 songs steeped in uncomplicated '70s and early '80s-flavoured rock. Tracks such as 'Chasing The Storm Away', 'Forevermore' and 'The Maze' could have easily found a home on commercial rock radio 30 years ago, yet the album is completely relevant in 2014. Fans of Swanö's heavier works that are unfamiliar with Nightingale may be surprised the simplicity of the music and the band's non-aggressive approach.

"It's not easy to write simple stuff that's good," Swanö points out, suggesting people take a good long listen to “Retribution” rather than dismissing it.

In Swanö's estimation “Retribution” succeeds because the songs "just kind of happened." He never set out to write any specific parts; the music is in fact a result of spontaneous moments, whether it was an accidental combination of notes on a keyboard that became an opening riff ('On Stolen Wings') or an odd guitar tuning ('Warriors Of The Dawn'). On top of that, the songs were hashed out in the rehearsal room before the band went into the studio, resulting in major changes to some of the music as it developed.

"When I listen to the record I don't want to have any regrets," explains Swanö. "There's no point in releasing a new Nightingale record if I don't think it's the best we ever did. That a pretty high standard to have, but if I don't feel that way when I listen to it the moment it's ready, it's got nothing to do with our back catalogue. That's the way I've felt with every record."

Asked to sum up what “Retribution” means to him with regards to Nightingale's legacy, Swanö offers the following: "Classic rock with that pomp attitude really inspired me. I just wanted a good production that could hold up well against a band like Alter Bridge but still have a bit of the sonic charisma of the records from '79, which was a great year for music. The target was to make a timeless record with good, classy songs that the four of us can agree are really cool."

Nightingale’s “Retribution” comes packaged in beautiful artwork courtesy of Travis Smith (Opeth, Nevermore, Katatonia, etc.) and should equally appeal to open-minded atmospheric metal and also to melodic prog rock supporters into bands like Rush, Marillion, Styx, Kansas, The Mission, Queensryche, Enchant, Threshold, Arena oreven Opeth and Katatonia.

New track, "Forevermore," can be heard here:

https://soundcloud.com/officialinsideoutmusic/nightingale-forevermore/s-Jh3yz

And it's quite excellent!

New Witherscape EP is out. I just ordered it, but going by the samples I'm pretty sure I'll love it.





Few would cover a song from The Elder. The only other band I know to have done so is Arch Enemy, with their kick-ass cover of "The Oath." Of course, that album is way underrated!

Eyesore wrote:

Few would cover a song from The Elder. The only other band I know to have done so is Arch Enemy, with their kick-ass cover of "The Oath."

Hair of the Dog did a bitchin' cover of 'I'. Having never heard The Elder, I didn't know it was a cover till I saw the writing credits in the liner notes.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Few would cover a song from The Elder. The only other band I know to have done so is Arch Enemy, with their kick-ass cover of "The Oath."

Hair of the Dog did a bitchin' cover of 'I'. Having never heard The Elder, I didn't know it was a cover till I saw the writing credits in the liner notes.

That was a great cover.

Witchfinder wrote:

That was a great cover.

Don't want to hijack a thread here, but are you familiar with the band? Worth checking out. Good meat & potatoes hard rock from the early 2000's. You can get their 3 albums dirt cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Hair-Of-The-Dog-%28Rock%29/e/B000APGVDK/ref=dp_byline_cont_music_1

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

That was a great cover.

Don't want to hijack a thread here, but are you familiar with the band? Worth checking out. Good meat & potatoes hard rock from the early 2000's. You can get their 3 albums dirt cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Hair-Of-The-Dog-%28Rock%29/e/B000APGVDK/ref=dp_byline_cont_music_1

Yeah, I've got all their albums. Whatever happened to those guys?

I seem to recall someone in the band (the guitarist maybe?) coming down with some affliction that was preventing him from playing in the band. A nerve disorder or something. I guess the band called it a day after that. Not sure.

EDIT: Kinda hard to find info on these guys. Best I could find was this podcast with the former lead singer Ryan Cook from 2013...
http://dbgeekshow.blogspot.com/2013/09/episode-103-big-rock-show.html

Go to around the 9:00 minute mark. Basically they just broke up after the 3rd album after going nowhere for so long. Too bad.

I am a huge Edge of Sanity fan but don't really care for much of hos other stuff EXCEPT his side project Infestdead. Not into prog shit much at all.

Lurideath wrote:

I am a huge Edge of Sanity fan but don't really care for much of hos other stuff EXCEPT his side project Infestdead. Not into prog shit much at all.

I have never heard Infestdead except here and there online. I really want to pick up their albums at some point.

If you're into Swano early prog-rock band, Unicorn, they just digitally re-released their 1990 demo. Restored from the original tapes, remastered, and with newly recorded vocals by Swano.

This stuff is not heavy. Unicorn were like Kaipa, not like Swano's more metal projects he's best known for. Good, though.



https://unicornsweden.bandcamp.com/album/a-collection-of-worlds-resurrection