Sunday 17 June 2012

Hotet Från Skogarna zine and sampler






Well, this is a first for me. About a week ago, I received a small package from Sweden. Normally I know what they contain, as I've had correspondence from the sender, but not this time, so I quite excited. The package contained an awesome printed zine called Hotet Från Skogarna (The Threat Fro The Forests) and accompanying sampler CD.

Intrigued by the package, I set about reading the zine and also looked into it a bit more online, to find out what it was all about. The zine itself has been produced to bring attention to the punk and hardcore scene in Ostersund and it's surrounding area.

The zine itself have been produced as a collaboration between Sensus, Estrad Norr and OSD Mangel. The sampler CD I received with the zine includes 16 tracks, 2 from each band covered in the zine, but there are also vinyl versions of the sampler too.


The Zine
The zine itself contains interviews with eight bands, which I'll talk about later. Cleverly, the zine is in Swedish, but the creators have included all of the interview in English in the second half of the zine. The middle two page spread talks about the Hotet Från Skogarna project and the bands that were featured, along with links to where you can find them.

The interviews themselves follow the same format for each band. They talk about how o
the bands came to be, their sound and gets their thoughts on the local scene. It's a tremendous insight into a scene and it's bands, in a country where metal and hardcore seem to reign supreme.

One line in an interview sums it up for me. During the interview with Thräshers, the interviewer asks them about The Ostersund scene and how many bands that came from it have gone in search of success, and the answers kind of hit home - "I think it's harder to get around, if that's what you want, when you only become a band among hundreds".

This line for me sums up this zine and what it's creators and the bands covered herein are trying to achieve, it's a sense of unity and understanding that you get from being part of a small scene. That sense of community and the DIY ethic that binds the underground together. I think it's brilliant and I hope that more zine's like this are produced, as it gives a more personal insight into scenes and bands.


The Bands
Talking of bands, I wanted to mention them too, as they are the main reason for this zine after all.

Grundskolan play hardcore punk. They contribute two songs to the sampler CD - Lev Som Forr and Valfrihet. Obviously, the lyrics are in Swedish, but that doesn't stop you from enjoying the rip-roaring, original strand of hardcore that these guys play. They intertwine d-beat punk influences, rock n roll riffs and gang vocals, to give the songs their own identity and bite.

Make sure you head to their bandcamp page for a taste of their music - http://grundskolan.bandcamp.com/track/valfrihet.


Brottskod 11 are a band that I'd heard a lot about previously. These guys play a heavy version of hardcore mixed with d-beat crust. Their songs on the sampler are Samma Brott and Overvald. Brottskod 11 actually feature seven members, so you can imagine what they'd be like at a sweaty, house show!

The tracks here are intense, with an old-school sound which is perfect. Crushing, fast and angry to the last!

Brottskod 11 have their own blog at http://brottskod11.wordpress.com, and Bandcamp page at http://brottskod11.bandcamp.com/ and are also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brottskod-11.


Moron Express are a punk band from Frösön. They sing in English and contribute Endless Road and Prick to the sampler. They play punk with that original Swedish tone and add welcome melody to the sampler.

They are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/moronexpressmusic and on Bandcamp at http://moronexpress.bandcamp.com/.

News From The Front are a politically charged hardcore band. Their two tracks here are Valkommen till Helvetet and F.O.I. Their sound is one of d-beat infused hardcore, with a really intense wall of sound from the guitars and heavy vocals in their native tongue. Their music is also off-kilter and has a slightly melodic sound in places. Really good!

News From The Front are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/News-From-The-Front.



Djävulskap describe their music as "High-octane redneck punk rock". Their songs Knivens Kamp and Osd Blodbad include cracking melodic riffs and screamed vocals. Their songs are more mid-paced but have no-less impact. They fill their songs with groove and a great sense of rock n roll. The riffs during Osd Blodbad show this off perfectly, and the solo is classic!


Djävulskap are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Djavulskap.



 The Dead are a humour filled punk band. Their songs Ta Din Plats are Dom Som Tjanar Mammon are melodic Swedish punk, with it's own identity. The songs are short and remind me of bands like Millencolin.


They have their own blog at http://thedeadband.blogspot.com/ and are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-dead.


Heroinmissbruk play a really heavy take on hardcore, influenced by bands like Carcass and Extreme Noise Terror. Their tracks Aprak och Full av Hat and Blandmissbruk are full of crusty riffs and fast, face melting hardcore in quick blasts.


You can Herionmissbruk on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heroinmissbruk-fd-Antistortion.



Thräshers round out the zine and the CD. They play an amalgamation of hardcore and thrash. Their tracks Skrotaldern and At Skit och Do! are great crossover inspired songs, with huge energy and clever musical layers.

They are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/ThrAshers and on Bandcamp at http://thrashers.bandcamp.com/.

So their you have it. Hotet Från Skogarna is a great zine, that clearly care about where it comes from and the bands it features. They want to take their scene to more people and with the help of the sampler, they can do the. The DIY element is also plain to see, so long live Hotet Från Skogarna!

You can find out more about the zine's creators by going to http://www.musikwebben.se/, http://www.estradnorr.se/ and http://osdmangel.wordpress.com/, but bear in mind that the websites are in Swedish!

Hotet Från Skogarna has blog page at http://hotetfranskogarna.blogspot.se/ and are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/hotetfranskogarna.

No comments:

Post a Comment