Tonight I am in Rebellion to watch one of my favourite genres of music – bands from Sweden, Ok ok I know that’s not a genre, but the fact is that although bands from Sweden come in all kinds of musical varieties they all have one thing in common - they know how to entertain an audience. This evening’s bill is no exception, even if it is quite a big step away from my usual favourite Swedes with big hair and guyliner. 

We start the night with Liv Sin. Liv was formerly the vocalist in Sister Sin, and at first glance I’m ready to dismiss them as just another generic female-fronted rock band who want to be Jinjer. I was wrong. Liv has a fantastic vocal range that goes from a guttural growl to an ethereal scream whilst calling at all points in between. The band behind her are tight as my favourite Swede’s trousers, knocking out a bouncy and occasionally discordant brand of happy-go-lucky riffing and vibing. I actually don’t know what genre this is, there’s melody but there’s also extreme, harsh, brutal rock. There’s a lot of hair-shaking and headbanging, the bassist has a good line in guitar face and the whole thing meshes well. There was a song I particularly liked called ‘I Am The Storm’ which was a contrast of light and dark, and very powerful. There was lots of energy and crowd engagement, and although the set was short I really enjoyed it.  

My heart sank a little as the stage was prepared for the next act, where are the instruments? I can see a bank of keyboards side stage. There’s a single electronic drum pad, and what looks like a dj mixing desk on the other side with lots of interesting knobs and buttons. Other than that it’s just space. Gulp. What on earth is going to happen? Rumour has it that some or maybe all of this trio used to be in a little band you may have heard of called Ghost, so to be fair the answer to that question is “could be anything”! The band bounce on, all in black leather and studs, oh and with shiny patent leather gimp masks. Okaaay. The music starts, and I chose the word “bounce” very carefully here, because there was a lot of bouncing happening on that stage. It’s industrial electronica, with echoey goth-style vocals, and it very quickly draws me in and engages me. This is flirting with dance music, it’s like someone has dropped Depeche Mode in a club in Ibiza. I am in turn confused, alarmed, hypnotised and entertained. This is not my music, at all, but I can’t stop moving and when the tall one with the lights on his fingers comes front of stage to do a keytar solo I am cheering with the best of them. It’s weird and wonderful, and fun. Dark fun but still fun. There are hints of Daft Punk, and as they dance off the stage I am wondering what the hell just happened, whilst also kind of longing for it to happen again.  

Headliners Deathstars are yet another face of the many-sided Swedish musical coin. They do heavy, industrial goth with huge riffs, expansive bass lines and a rather odd line in vocals. The words are not so much sung as spoken in monotone, but somehow they suit the music perfectly. I note a few things about them – the drummer has lovely hair and twirls his sticks a lot ( and who doesn’t love a drumstick twirl? ). There are two guitarists but little in the way of solos. The backing tracks are swirling synth and chanting choruses, and kind of pull everything together although for me personally I would have preferred them a little lower in the mix and the guitars brought up a bit. The faces are painted white. The clothing style is eclectic.

And the music? I hear you say. Fast-paced, but sometimes verging on pop rather than rock whilst at the same time thrashing like a fish on a line. They are kind of goth glam death Abba. The bass player has an impressive counterpoint scream, and the overall beat and vibe is insistent. In places they become demonic, in other places they are happy and gay. They even throw in a couple of woah-oh choruses just to keep me happy. They have a fairly extensive back catalogue, and judging by the yells of delight from those around me they played a decent selection from it. The stagecraft is borrowed from the likes of Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, but the sound is all their own. They are another band that draw you in, and despite starting off as an aloof observer at the back I find that before long I am much closer, dancing and bobbing with the rest of the crowd. We scream on demand, and shh when instructed. We punch the air, we clap, and for such a doom-laden lyrical feast the atmosphere is surprisingly bouncy and positive. There was a technical issue that led to one song being abandoned, but we were over an hour into the set by then so neither band nor crowd seemed particularly bothered. Other than that, it was just the perfect blend of off-kilter genre-bending and I enjoyed every moment of it.  

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Deathstars, Priest, Liv Sin