The Forsaken
November 14, 2003
"Traces of the Past" CD Release Party - Malmö, Sweden
Review and pictures by Anders Sandvall
The youngsters in the death/thrash act The Forsaken held a release party for their third
album at the Fat club in Malmö, Sweden. Before they went on stage and did a short show, I
got the chance to chat a bit with the drummer Nicke. As the interview preceded, the
guitarist Patrik came and joined us too (watch for my interview with Nicke and Patrik on
the interview page).
The band had invited their friends, fans and the press to let them take part in the
celebration of their new album. At the same time the band had the opportunity to play
the new songs live and to test them on the audience. The Forsaken have never played in
Sweden before, especially not in the southern part of Sweden, so this was also a brilliant
moment for fans of the band to see them play. The band should have had their label mates
Grave as support but Grave cancelled (as usual!!) To replace Grave they brought in another
local band by the name of Morannon. What I don’t understand is why put a supporting
act on a release party?
The Forsaken are:
Anders Sjöholm - lead vocals
Stefan Holm - lead/rhythm guitar
Patrik Persson - lead/rhythm guitar
Stefan “Junior” Berg - bass
Nicke Grabowski - drums
The guys seemed to have a lot of fans and friends there to see them perform their short
show of about 40 minutes. Since it was a release party, they mainly did songs from the new
album. The Forsaken delivered pure southern Swedish hate this late evening. Personally, I
think their new album sounds really good but one minor drawback is Anders' voice. His
voice worked excellent on the last album, but along the way the other guys have developed
on their instruments and also Anders' voice, but not enough. I think that he has to
develop a broader vocal range to do the music justice.
This was the first time I saw The Forsaken live and I was pleasantly surprised that Anders'
voice sounded much better live. Anders has a very frightening appearance (just check out
the pictures!). Not only does he sound very angry when he sings or uses his growling
vocals, but he’s also very tall and looks like a real Viking. He is
real stage
personality - something that benefits the group. Stefan and Patrik are impressive with
their twin guitar playing, and that Nicke managed to keep up the beat is something I
don’t understand. The new member “Junior” seemed to really enjoy himself
and head banged all throughout the show. Six of the eight songs they played came from the
new album, and two came from their previous one. They also did some extra songs that they
didn’t have on the set list also from the previous album.
Although the show was a bit short, it was brilliant, despite the fact that they played
at Fat Club with their lack of stage and lighting. The sound was not that great either.
Anders voice sounds better live than on record, and he is a great frontman. The other guys
are really competent musicians. Let's hope
that they are going to do more live shows in Scandinavia now that they have released a new
album.
Set list
A Time To Die
The Empire
One More Kill
Acid With Acid
God of Demise
First Weapon of Choice
Cold Flesh Colony
Human Chapter X
Thanks to Cindy at Century Media Sweden for the
assistance at the show.