Count Raven

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Count Raven
Count Raven Logo.gif
Count Raven reunited live at W: O: A 2005
Count Raven reunited live at W: O: A 2005
General information
origin Stockholm , Sweden
Genre (s) Doom metal
founding 1989 as Stormwarning, 2004
resolution 1998
Founding members
Dan "Fodde" Fondelius
Tommy "Wilbur" Erikson (until 1997, 2004–2005)
Cristian "Renfield" Petterson (until 1997, 2004-2005)
Christian Linderson (until 1991)
Current occupation
Vocals, guitar
 Dan "Fodde" Fondelius
bass
 Fredrik Jansson (since 2005)
Drums
 Jens Bock (since 2005)

Count Raven is a Swedish doom metal band founded in 1987 under the name Stormwarning .

history

1987–1989 founding period

Count Raven was founded in 1987 in Stockholm by Dan "Fodde" Fondelius ( guitar ), Tommy "Wilbur" Erikson ( electric bass ), Christian "Renfield" Petterson ( drums ) and Christian Linderson ( vocals ) under the name Stormwarning. During this time the band recorded some unreleased demos and contributed two songs for the samplers Förortsrock and Rockhemmet .

1989–1994 name change and further development

At the beginning of 1989 the band changed their name to Count Raven and released a nameless demo. The second demo Indugnus Famulus followed in the same year . Both releases were well received by both the trade press and the fans, and helped the band to gain a certain degree of popularity in the underground scene. The first studio album, Storm Warning , which bears almost the same name as the band in the early days, was recorded from May to July 1990 and was released a few months later. The album was promoted as part of a European tour in the opening act for Saint Vitus . Shortly afterwards, singer Christian Linderson moved to the USA and joined Saint Vitus. Dan Fondelius took over the vocals in the remaining trio. With this line-up, Destruction of the Void was recorded from January to March 1992 and released the following summer. The third studio album, High on Infinity , was recorded in June and July 1993 and was released at the end of the same year. With this album, the band made their breakthrough in the metal scene . So a song appeared u. a. also on the sampler of an issue of the German metal magazine Rock Hard . At this time there were also increasing problems with Hellhound Records , the band's label, which sometimes even had a negative effect on the musician's career. In 1994 there was a tour of Great Britain .

1994–1998 Band crisis and dissolution

In the summer of 1995, Count Raven was to accompany the Texan band Solitude Aeturnus on their European tour. But since Fondelius was fighting a custody battle for his autistic daughter Rebecca in court at the time, the band was unable to accept the offer. Because of the cancellation, Erikson and Petterson got mad at Fondelius, so that there were also public accusations and insults in the press. In the course of the year an increasingly bad mood developed between the musicians, which ultimately led to a several month break in all band activities in the early summer of 1995.

In August of that year, however, the musicians got together again. Erikson and Petterson had reduced their activities within the band to the bare minimum, so that the entire songwriting process for the album Messiah of Confusion was taken over by Fondelius. With the release of the album in 1996, the collaboration with her label ended. In the following two years, Erikson and Petterson remained extremely passive in their activities within the band, so that the entire songwriting process had to be taken over by Fondelius. The break finally occurred during the recording of another demo in 1998, with which one wanted to find a new record label. Since Fondelius' fellow musicians no longer fulfilled their obligations during the creation process and the producer at the time also let the band down, it came under certain circumstances. a. at a high cost for Fondelius, so that he broke off work on the album and left the band. His exit also led to the breakup of the band. In the following years, Fondelius musically concentrated on his band Doomsday Government .

2004–2011 development since reunification

In 2004 Count Raven found themselves again in the usual line-up with Fondelius, Erikson and Petterson, on the occasion of an appearance at the Doom Shall Rise Festival. At the beginning of 2006, Dan Fondelius changed the line-up and recruited Fredrik Jansson (bass) and Jens Bock (drums). The first album since the band split up , Mammon's War , was recorded in November and December 2008 and released on August 31, 2009. For 2010 was u. a. an appearance at the French Hellfest Festival planned for June 19, 2010, but was canceled due to health problems of the singer and guitarist Fondelius. On 1 September 2010, the band released a 7 "- Split - EP together with the Swedish doom metal band Griftegård.

style

Count Raven play classic Doom Metal with influences from bands like Black Sabbath , Saint Vitus and Pentagram . Fondelius' singing is often compared to Ozzy Osbourne 's.

The lyrics of the band are all written in English and deal mainly with religion and social injustice or social inequality . The title of the current album Mammons War is in this context . Mammon comes from Aramaic and originally stands for dishonestly acquired profit or immorally invested wealth. Today the term disparaging is used to describe money in general (disdainful mammon). The album title means something like 'the war of money', with which the band would like to point out the social grievances that exist worldwide.

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1990: Storm Warning (Active / Hellhound )
  • 1992: Destruction of the Void (Hellhound)
  • 1993: High on Infinity (Hellhound)
  • 1996: Messiah of Confusion (Hellhound)
  • 2009: Mammons War ( I Hate Records )

Demos

  • 1989: Demo 89
  • 1989: Indugnus Famulus

Compilations

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k [Gabriel Lilliehook: Archive Link ( Memento on 5 January 2010 at the Internet Archive ) New Interview with Count Raven ], retrieved on April 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Erich Zann: "Count Raven". In: Burn. No. 20, 1992, p. 10
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Count Raven ( Memento from January 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), blackmetal.com, accessed on April 21, 2013 (English).
  4. ↑ a b c Rüdiger Stehle: COUNT RAVEN - Storm Warning (Re-Release) , November 16, 2005, accessed on April 21, 2013.
  5. ↑ Mammon War release date. , August 28, 2009, accessed April 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ Count Raven cancel Hellfest , June 19, 2010, accessed April 21, 2013.
  7. ↑ Split with Griftegård is out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! , September 1, 2010, accessed April 21, 2013.
  8. ↑ a b c d Markus Endres: Count Raven - Storm Warning , August 8, 2006, accessed April 21, 2013.
  9. ↑ a b COUNT RAVEN - MAMMONS WAR CD ( Memento from October 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), ihate.se, accessed on April 21, 2013 (English).
  10. ↑ Wolfgang Kuhn: Count Raven MAMMONS WAR Review , October 25, 2009, accessed April 21, 2013.