(Enclave)
Picture a Swedish band and what comes to mind? Roxette? Ace of Base?
These pop music bands are popular in Sweden and with MTV and its crowd of music watchers. Drain S.T.H. is a woman's quartet from Stockholm, but you won't see them singing pseudo-dramas on the box. Drain is a heavy metal band influenced more by Black Sabbath than Abba. Along with most hard rockers, their music and videos aren't getting airplay. In this alternative and rap-controlled state, those that rock hard depend on the clubs and music sales for their audiences.
Horror Wrestling - the title refers to wrestling with problems and horrors of life. Twelve tracks of dark lyrics underscored by throbbing bass and crashing riffs make up this first full length Drain album. Lead vocalist Maria Sjoholm and drummer Martina Axen come up with these raw lyrics out of who knows what experiences. Guitarist Falvia Canel blasts the occasional speed metal riff and bassist Anna Kjellberg makes the bass pound. Horror Wrestling is for metal and hard rock lovers only with its harmonies that remind one of Alice in Chains and the distant sounds of Sabbath. Current band favorites are Sepultura and Pantera, and their current Type O Negative tour cements their position as pounding rockers - not Swedish cotton candy pop.
The band came together in 1993, but Axen and Canal have been working together for twelve years. They were quickly signed by MVG in 1994 and put out an EP and Horror Wrestling in Europe. Horror Wrestling is now available in the States, and if you live for the sharp edge of metal, get a copy.
