Swedish Guitarists

[Spudman]

Sweden is blessed with some of the finest guitarists alive. There are a few other threads here promoting some of them, but I thought it would be a good idea to centralize them so that folks can have a one stop place to go to find out about them.

The fist one I would like to mention is Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings who was ranked in Guitar Player Magazine (Dec. 2007) as one of the top 40 underrated guitarists. The Flower Kings are considered the pinnacle of current progressive bands. Their music is positive, heavily textured and wonderfully deep.

Roine has played on hundreds of records over the last 35 plus years. He started with Kiapa when he was 14 and did hundreds of sessions with northern European artists. His other bands included The Tangent, Transatlantic as well a being a contributor to albums by Karmakanic, Tomas Bodin, Fying Food Circus, Neal Morse and Circus Brimstone. The amazingly successful Trasatlantic released 7 albums and 4 DVD's that featured Neal Morse of (Spock's Beard), Mike Portnoy of (Dream Theater) and Pete Trewavas of (Marillion).

A great starting place to hear his brilliant guitar playing is on his last solo release called Wall Street Voodoo. It has everything a guitarist would love to listen to on it. A tasty feast for your guitar playing soul along with a wry look at capitalism.

 

[Robert]

Clas Yngström is another cool player. See http://www.skyhighblues.com/

He is great at playing Hendrix stuff.

At Fasching in Stockholm:

 

[Spudman]

Mattias "IA" Eklundh

Mattias "IA" Eklundh is another great rock guitarist. He currently fronts a band called Freak Kitchen.

Wiki can tell you about him better than I can.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattias_Eklundh

Suffice it to say that he is very dexterous and has a very unique (unconventional) approach to playing. He has a great skill at composing and hooks. His songs have several hooks in each and he sings really well too.

He's been featured in many guitar and music magazines and quite respected among his peers. Great sense of humor as well.

 

[SuperSwede]

Staffan Astner! One of my favorite guitarists ever! Here with Louise Hoffsten (sorry no video, but just listen to that sweet strat-work )

 

[SuperSwede]

Lasse Englund, here with Louise Hoffsten (again! I love her)
He uses his looper pedal a lot on this gig, its pretty amazing stuff. All videos from that gig are available on youtube if you like to see more....

 

[SuperSwede]

Yngwie J Malmsteen ! (Hehe.. we just HAVE to include him right :spank: )

Listen to the entire video, some parts are actually really cool ancake

 

[sunvalleylaw]

That is sweet! SS! Robert, that as well! Fun to find new musicians. Spud, you are slowly drawing me back to prog rock, which I pretty much left in the late 70s when my tastes changed to 2min songs like the early Beatles and the late 70s, early 80s punk/wave stuff I went to. It takes effort to listen to, I can't just have it on in the background and really enjoy it at this point. An interesting study. I like that Mattias Eklundh a lot. I like those grungey licks!

 

[Spudman]

Clas Yngström is another cool player. See http://www.skyhighblues.com/

I like this guy. I really love funky players. He be doin it.

SS.

Louise Hoffsten is some real cool stuff too.

 

[250Keith]

Wow I have only heard of one of those guys you mentioned.
I've got some surfing to do!

 

[SuperSwede]

Niklas Frisk from Atomic Swing. This video is from 1992. The album "A Car Crash In the Blue" is definately worth getting..... I really dig that sweet Gibson Firebird sound!

 

[Spudman]

Niklas Frisk is a nice find. I hadn't heard of him. Although I think he might benefit from hiring a singer his tone and songwriting is first class. I see he also has done some things with Nina Persson from The Cardigans. She's AWESOME! :drool:

The title to the song below is
Atomic Swing / Stone Me Into The Groove (1992). It's kind of addictive.

 

[BluesHowler]

Clas Yngström is another cool player. See http://www.skyhighblues.com/

He is great at playing Hendrix stuff.

At Fasching in Stockholm:

Awesome playing! I'd love to see these guys play live.

 

[thearabianmage]

John Norum from Europe is a pretty good guitarist. Sure, 'The Final Countdown' is as cheesy as it is classic, but the solo is top-notch rock guitar!

Lori Linstruth is also very good! :drool:



I want to marry her.

+10 on Eklundh and +a million on Malmsteen!!

 

[Rocket]

Not necessarily guitarist but certainly eye-candy Frida Öhrn:

 

[Spudman]

John Norum from Europe is a pretty good guitarist. Sure, 'The Final Countdown' is as cheesy as it is classic, but the solo is top-notch rock guitar!

Lori Linstruth is also very good! :drool:



I want to marry her.

+10 on Eklundh and +a million on Malmsteen!!

I'm a big Lori fan. She's on the new soon to be released Ayreon project Guilt Machine.


GUILT MACHINE
Arjen Lucassen: instruments, backing vocals
Jasper Steverlinck (Arid): vocals
Chris Maitland (ex Porcupine Tree): drums
Lori Linstruth (ex Stream of Passion): lead guitar

As Ayreon fans have come to expect from Arjen, the music of Guilt Machine ranges from dark and heavy to atmospheric and melancholic. But Guilt Machine introduces some new twists as well, particularly when it comes to the vocals. Rather than putting together an ensemble cast of vocalists from the prog, rock and metal scene, Arjen has enlisted the talents of a single alternative rock vocalist, Jasper Steverlinck.

How did Arjen get an alternative rock vocalist to switch genres and sing on a prog rock project? "In the beginning it was hard to convince Jasper to sing on this album, because he comes from a completely different musical background. He didn't even know what prog was, but we've made a believer out of him! What I admire about Jasper's voice, besides its beautiful clear timbre, is the emotion and credibility he puts into his performance and his enormous range. Because this project features just one singer I needed someone versatile enough to portray all of the different moods, and Jasper didn't disappoint. And he's a really nice and dedicated guy as well!"

For Guilt Machine Arjen also chose to record with a different drummer, Chris Maitland (ex Porcupine Tree). "Chris was the ideal choice this time, having both the power for the heavy sections and the subtle touch needed in the more atmospheric parts."

Rather than the explicit storyline you would expect in an Ayreon release, the songs of Guilt Machine revolve around a central theme. Instead of looking outward into a world of fantasy or science fiction, the songs look inward, exploring the destructive psychology of guilt, regret and the darkest form of secret -- the secrets we hide from ourselves. "At first I asked my partner and personal manager Lori to quickly write scratch lyrics for one of the songs so I could record some guide vocals. I was so impressed by what she produced that I asked her to write the lyrics for all the songs. I was unable myself to create the type of darkly enigmatic, open-ended lyrics I wanted for these songs, my specialty being sci-fi lyrics about sinister aliens ;-) She definitely gave the songs an extra dimension with her lyrics, exorcising the demons we both had faced in the past few years. It's also no secret that I've always been a big fan of her melodic guitar style, so she also plays all the guitar solos on this album."

Despite these differences, Guilt Machine still has much in common with Ayreon. The songs are mainly long, "epic" tracks that feature dynamic contrasts between softer, dreamy sections and powerful, heavy passages. There are intricate harmonies, complex rhythms, soaring melodies, and an eclectic selection of instruments -- all what you'd expect from an Ayreon release.

"In my view this is my best side project so far. It comes completely from the heart, for it was written and recorded during a new inspiring phase in my life after my heavy depression. This being an entirely new project there were no expectations whatsoever, which enabled me to just let my inspiration guide me without any (outside) pressure."

 

[thearabianmage]

I don't know much about Lori or Ayreon (although I read that she now manages Arjen and his band) but I do know that the first time I heard about her, she had a bit on her website reading: '. . .I'm selling all of my old Malmsteen books on E-Bay as I've learned them all now. . .' and I just remember thinking 'I love you dream-woman.'

 

[Suhnton]

For a metal band, these guys play with a lot of feel. Their songs go through a lot of changes, but it never seems overdone.

Opeth - Bleak

 

[SuperSwede]

Not necessarily guitarist but certainly eye-candy Frida Öhrn:

Shes mine!!!!

And she sure know to how handle the harmonica!
http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=7246

 

[Robert]

Don't forget my old friend Fredrik Thordendal:

 

[SuperSwede]

Robert!!! We forgot Janne Schaffer!!

Here with flute player extraordinaire Björn J:son Lind

 

[Robert]

And Johan Norberg, here with Jonas Knutsson, and they do play some fantastic Swedish folk music inspired stuff.

 

[SuperSwede]

Yes, Johan plays excellent guitar and he is quite funny as columnist for Fuzz.

 

[Blaze]

Robert!!! We forgot Janne Schaffer!!

Here with flute player extraordinaire Björn J:son Lind

Nice clip ...Sweden here reminds me of my Quebec homeland in winter time , these country side images are beautiful ...Nice music too