Autumn fell over the small coastal town Norrtälje, Sweden, and the year was 1995. Three old friends; Pierre, Jonas and Svenne, got the idea of starting a band together. The idea with this new “project” was to play as fast and primitive metal as possible, and…the lyrics had to be in Swedish.
To get the band started and to get the sound that they wanted, they only had to find a second guitarist and a drummer of course… Quite soon they found the guitarist Mårten Matsson, who played guitar in a local metal band. He thought the idea sounded interesting and joined the band. Mårten also knew a guy who had been playing drums for some months, Erik Grawsiö, and brought him along too which completed the line-up.
The first Månegarm line-up anno’ 1995 was; Svenne Rosendahl - vocals, Jonas Almquist and Mårten Matsson - guitars, Pierre Wilhelmsson - bass and Erik Grawsiö - drums. With the temporary band name, Antikrist, they started to rehearse their very first song "Månljus" in November ..95. A month later the name of the band was changed to Månegarm. In May 1996 the band was ready to record some of their first songs and after three days in Studio Underground a four-track demo was finished. The demo tape was named “Vargaresa” and it was an over average demo with good sound and material but unfortunately quite a few labels and zines received it. In the middle of the summer 1996, a line-up change was done. Two of the members quitted the band due to lack of interest and a new guitarist and vocalist got involved. The Guitarist, Markus Andé, was an old friend of Grawsiö’s, and Jonny Wranning, the new vocalist, had been singing with both Wilhelmsson and Almquist in previous bands. With some fresh blood and with new ideas Månegarm started to rehearse for their next demo tape.
In February 1997, Månegarm entered Sunlight Studios to record their second demo; "Ur Nattvindar". The demo contained three songs plus intro/outro and for the first time the violin and female vocals could be heard in the music. The use of the violin and female vocals gave the whole thing a Nordic “touch” and it was really the perfect ingredients in Månegarms music. Compared to the first demo, "Ur Nattvindar" was sent out to several labels and magazines and the response was very good. In the summer of 1997 Månegarm signed on to Displeased Records and the work with the first album began…
After the release of the second demo Jonny quitted the band and the hunt for a new vocalist began. Some “vocal auditions” later they finally found a guy from Stockholm; Viktor Hemgren, who joined the band. The work with the first album started and in the end of October 1997 Månegarms first full-length album, "Nordstjärnans Tidsålder", was finally finished. The album was recorded in Sunlight Studios and it was released in June 1998. The final result was very satisfying at the time and the response from the listeners and press was quite good. Janne Liljekvist..s violin could once again be heard in the music along with the beautiful voice of Umer Mossige-Norheim.
One year later, during the summer of 1999, Månegarm started to record their second album, "Havets Vargar", in a recording studio that belonged to a friend of the band. It all went quite well at first but later on, due to some disagreements between the owner of the recording studio and the record label, it all suddenly ended up in a five-month break, right in the middle of the recording… In December 1999 they took the “half way” recorded material and went to Studio Underground for two weeks to finish the album. Viktor Hemgren had been fired during the break because of his lack of interest and it was decided that Erik Grawsiö should do the vocals on the album. The band had suddenly become a quartet, but this solution actually turned out to be the best for the band, and the Månegarm line-up is almost the same since that day...the only difference is that Janne Liljekvist is now a “real” member of the band since a couple of years.
The second album "Havets Vargar" was finally released in September 2000. After the release of “Havets Vargar” the band decided to take a short break, just to find some motivation and some new ideas. After several months off, the urge for playing Rock N’ Roll got to strong and the band decided that it was time to start rehearsing for their next full-length album. With 11 great songs and with some new, fresh ideas for how Viking/Folk metal really should be played, Månegarm once again went to Studio Underground to record their third full-length album. The album,”Dödsfärd”, was released in the end of July 2003 and it luckily meant a huge increase of the bands popularity. In 2004 both demos; “Vargaresa” and “Ur Nattvindar”, were released on the album “Vargaresa – The Beginning”. Almost ten years had past since the start and this album; with re-mastered songs and with a new great cover art by Kris Verwimp, was released for all and everyone who were interested in hearing how Månegarm sounded like back in the days. In the same period as the release of “Vargaresa-the beginning”, Månegarm returned to Studio Underground to record their fourth studio album “Vredens Tid”. The Viking/Folk metal that Månegarm had performed the last couple of years was present of course; they had only spiced it with some more heavy metal. The album had the same catchiness as the previous album “Dödsfärd” but yet with its own identity. “Vredens Tid” was released in 28th of September 2005 and the album received really great reviews from press and fans all over the world. “Vredens Tid” has been described as Månegarms best album so far!!
Besides the release of “Vredens Tid”, 2005 also included several live gigs in Europe for Månegarm. After ten years of hard work; composing, arranging and rehearsing songs, they finally got the chance to perform on some great European metal festivals, and metal heads in Germany, Belgium, Scotland and Austria got their share of some pure Swedish Viking metal.
In January 2006 it was time to record the next album; the fifth and last Månegarm album for Displeased Records. The album, an acoustic mini-album called “Urminnes Hävd-the forest session”, was released in 28th of June and it received really good reviews. This “special” acoustic album was something that the band had wanted to do for many, many years and finally this dream was realized. The music that can be heard on “Urminnes Hävd” is nothing like the regular Månegarm stuff. This time the music only contained traditional ingredients like cow drums, djembe, jewsharp, flute, violins, acoustic guitars, choirs and clean male & female vocals. This “folk” album is a tribute to our ancestors, our Swedish & Northern mythology and to the heathen flame that burn inside every man and woman, but also just as much a try to wake up that heathen flame in those who haven’t found it just yet…
2006 can be seen as a very important year in Månegarm’s history with a lot of important and memorable moments. After a great two week European tour together with Skyforger and Goddess of Desire and after the release of “Urminnes Hävd-the forest sessions”, Månegarm ended their collaboration with Displeased Records and entered a new era…
In 2006 Månegarm signed on to the Swedish metal record label “Black Lodge”. In May 2007 Månegarm released the first album on Black Lodge, the bands fifth full-length album, which was named “Vargstenen” (the Wolf stone). This album is a concept album and it’s about the epic quest of a man in search of his lost soul. Once again the album was recorded, mixed and produced in Studio Underground with the help of Pelle Säther and once again Kris Verwimp painted the amazing cover art. Besides from great reviews, “Vargstenen” entered the Swedish national album chart at nr. 59 at its release.
Even 2008 was an interesting year in the history of Månegarm. After playing some gigs in Russia for the first time and after hitting the stage at Summer Breeze Open Air in August, Manegarm toured Europe with Heidenfest 2008 together with well-known acts as Primordial, Eluveitie, Equilibrium, Finntroll and Catamenia. The tour, managed by Rock The Nation, was a huge success and the 17 gigs was visited by approximately 20 000 crazy metal heathens from all over Europe. 2008 also meant another big change for the band. After just one released album (Vargstenen) it was decided, due to different reasons, that Månegarm and Black Lodge should go separate ways. Månegarm now got in contact with the very well-known Swedish metal record label Regain Records and by the end of 2008 an agreement was made between the parties. With a new record deal at hand an album had to be released… The songs for the new album was already written and arranged so Månegarm set off to (by now the very familiar) Studio Underground and Pelle Säther to record the new masterpiece. The album is to be named "Nattväsen" (night creatures) and contains loads of great pagan metal, as always performed with the traditional Månegarm touch. The new album will be out on Regain Records the 22nd of october and hopefully and most likely this new collaboration with Regain Records will contribute in making Månegarm an even better and more popular metal band.
So, all you metal heathens out there...keep your fu**ing eyes open for “Nattväsen”, you really don't want to miss the best Viking/pagan metal release of 2009.
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