Dream Evil

Biography

Dream Evil is a Swedish heavy metal band, assembled by producer Fredrik Nordström in 1999. They have released seven studio albums.

History

Producer Fredrik Nordström had the ambition of creating a power metal band of his own for a long time, but had difficulty finding anyone with musical ideals similar to his own. However, while on holiday in the Greek islands during the year of 1999, Nordström met the young guitarist Gus G (from Firewind). The musicians got along quite well, despite an age difference of over a decade. Plans for a band commenced – Gus had already been planning to relocate to Gothenburg, and upon his arrival he looked up Fredrik at Studio Fredman to begin writing.
The first person asked to join the new band was Snowy Shaw (from King Diamond, Mercyful Fate and Notre Dame), but the drummer initially refused their invitation. He would later change his mind and agreed to play on the band's debut album in a session capacity.
Vocalist Niklas Isfeldt had done backing vocals for some of HammerFall's songs produced by Nordström, and since he was not involved in any major projects at the time, he agreed to take the position. He also brought along his longtime friend and Pure-X bandmate Peter Stålfors, who assumed bass guitar duties.
Up until the moment the first promotional photos were shot, the entire band had never been in the same place at the same time before. Some members did not even know each other.
The band soon got a deal with Century Media Records, and intended to name themselves Dragonslayer due to the medieval and fantastical themes of the songs written by Gus and Nordström. The label did not find the name original enough, and thus the band settled for the name Dream Evil, inspired by the Dio album of the same name.
Dream Evil's debut album was released in April 2002, and received positive feedback from the metal press. At one point the album, titled Dragonslayer×DragonSlayer10 April 2002 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Chasing the Dragon4:012In Flames You Burn4:343Save Us3:404Kingdom of the Damned3:545The Prophecy4:156The Chosen Ones5:037Losing You5:578The 7th Day3:349Heavy Metal in the Night4:5410H.M.J.2:4611Hail to the King3:3112Outro0:15, reached number one on the Japanese import charts. The band proceeded to play a series of festivals, and also supported Blind Guardian during a part of their world tour.
The band members found that they got along well as a unit despite the somewhat random manner by which they had been brought together and Snowy Shaw decided to join the band permanently. Dream Evil went on their first Japanese tour. During their stay in Japan, the band was invited by HammerFall to support their 2003 European tour. Their label manager hinted that it would be a good idea to have a new album out by then.
With little time on their hands, the band wrote the basis of several songs on the flight back to Europe, and on the day of their arrival entered the studio in order to record a new album. They took two weeks in total to record Evilized, and most songs were recorded as they had been written. It was released on 20 January, and one week later Dream Evil proceeded to tour Europe with HammerFall and the less known Masterplan.
For their third album, the band actually took time to write the songs and fine-tune them in the studio. The Book of Heavy Metal took two months to be recorded, and was released in May 2004.
Guitarist Gus G left the band in late 2004 in order to dedicate more time to Firewind, being replaced by Mark Black (then known as Mark U Black). Black had previously filled in for Gus on a few other occasions and replaced him permanently on their tour as support act for Saxon.

Niklas Isfeldt and Peter Stålfors briefly left in 2005 to be replaced by Jake E. Berg (aka Jake Steel, of Dreamland) and Tommy Larsson. However, a few months later, Niklas and Pater returned before recordings or live shows were done. At the start of 2006, Snowy Shaw abruptly quit Dream Evil. After a period of silence for several months, Dream Evil announced Pat Power (Patrik Jerksten), a co-worker of Fredrik Nordström from Studio Fredman, as Snowy's replacement.
The first album featuring the new line-up, United×United13 July 2006 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Fire! Battle! In Metal!3:112United3:333Blind Evil4:234Evilution4:285Let Me Out4:286Higher on Fire4:297Kingdom at War3:128Love Is Blind4:479Falling4:0110Back From the Dead4:2911Doomlord4:4312My Number One3:10, was released on 13 October 2006.
Dream Evil announced on 7 December 2007 on the website that Mark Black would be leaving the band and will be replaced by Daniel Varghamne aka Dannee Demon.
On 3 March 2008 the band announced that they had begun work on a new studio album, tentatively titled In the Night×In the Night22 January 2010 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Immortal4:382In the Night3:153Bang Your Head3:524See the Light3:405Electric3:506Frostbite3:317On the Wind3:458The Ballad4:529In the Fires of the Sun4:4110Mean Machine4:0511Kill, Burn, Be Evil2:5112The Unchosen One3:36. The album was released on 25 January 2010 in Europe and 26 January 2010 in North America.
On 23 July 2008 the band announced that their first live DVD/CD set, Gold Medal in Metal (Alive & Archive), was released on 25 August 2008.
Upon the release of Skate 3 in 2010. Immortals was cemented along with other bands in EA's third round of songs that picked up the punk and heavy metal genres on a bigger stage.
On 28 December 2013 Dream Evil announced that Dannee Demon left the band and was replaced by Mark Black. Upon contact in 2015, Dream Evil informed that they were not on hiatus, just very busy with other commitments, and had eighteen tracks prepared for a future album. On 7 March 2017 the album titled Six was finally announced to be released on 26 May 2017.
On 31 May 2024, the band announced their seventh studio album, Metal Gods×Metal Gods26 July 2024 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Metal Gods3:312Chosen Force5:093The Tyrant Dies at Dawn3:544Lightning Strikes4:235Fight in the Night3:486Masters of Arms3:347Born in Hell3:518Insane4:309Night Stalker4:3710Y.A.N.A.4:07, would be released on 26 July.