KEROZENE: The Birth Of A New Swedish Metal Monster

KEROZENE, the new Swedish band featuring guitarist Niclas Engelin (PASSENGER, ex-GARDENIAN, IN FLAMES),drummer Patrik J. Sten (PASSENGER, ex-TRANSPORT LEAGUE),bassist Robert Hakemo (ex-GARDENIAN, GOOSEFLESH) and newcomer vocalist Mikael Skager, have completed work on their debut album at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden for a tentative late 2004 release through an as-yet-undetermined label.

Decribing KEROZENE as "a continuation of where GARDENIAN left off and has evolved thereafter," Engelin gave BLABBERMOUTH.NET the following account of how KEROZONE came to be:

"Two years ago we were working on material for the fourth GARDENIAN album both in rehearsals and at home, [and] then things started to take an unsuspected turn when our drummer and companion Thim [Blom] didn't show up at the rehearsals, so we realized something was wrong," he said. "At that very period we were also booked at Studio Fredman and had no alternatives, so we took the easy way out and recruited our longtime friend Patrik J. Sten to put down the drum tracks for the songs who we have written the album with. We couldn't wait, and most of all, we were kind of forced cause we had a schedule to follow.

"A couple of weeks later we talked to Thim about the future of the band and he told us that he had to let go and that he had no choice but to leave, due to illness and personal problems. Shortly following Thim's departure, we had meetings concerning the name of the band and decided that we had to change [it] to something else, because, after all, it wasn't fair to keep the name GARDENIAN when there was only one member left from the original line-up.

"We began with pre-production for the vocals with Apollo [Papathanasio, TIME REQUIEM] (the singer of that time),but eventually there was too much pressure for him, taking care of his family and newborn as well as studying (to become a schoolteacher). So we were devastated when we came to the conclusion that Apollo wasn’t able to put 100% into the band as the rest of us desired. We all respect and love him as a dear friend but we couldn't compromise on that matter, so he had to leave the ship.

"We started right away to search for a new vocalist and tried out a couple of talents but couldn't find the perfect match until 9 months or so when we found out about a certain Mikael Skager who had worked with some local bands in Gothenburg. We gave him a call and he showed up in the studio and we immediately felt that he was the man we’ve been searching for, the connection was there from the very beginning. Finally we were ready to proceed with the vocal lines. It all went really smooth and we completed 11 songs totally, which all, I think will end up on the final album.

"The mixing progress was done by Fredrik Nordström and Patrik J. Sten at Studio Fredman, and it sounds remarkable, I think. It's very dynamic and powerful.

"I can't wait for the masses to hear what we have produced with KEROZENE cause everyone involved is extremely proud with the result, it's new and refreshing."