Line-up

Headliner
Dead By April Last time in Kuopio: 2 years ago

Venue

SawoHouse

Tarhakuja 1, 70780, Kuopio, Finland

www.sawohouse.fi/fi/index.html

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Dead By April biography

Dead by April (formed in 2007) is a Swedish melodic metalcore band from Gothenburg, Sweden, who released their eponymously-titled debut album in 2009.

In 2007 Jimmie Strimel, the lead singer of Nightrage collaborated with songwriter Pontus Hjelm formerly of Cipher System. The two began to hone their skills through writing and sharing songs with friends and regularly playing local venues around Gothenburg. Shortly after Johan Olsson on guitar and vocals, Marcus Wesslén on bass and Alexander Svenningson on drums were added to the mix.

Dead by April’s recording debut was a 2007 self-titled demo that soon found its way on to peer-to-peer sharing websites. A year later an expanded 19-track version of the demo was released before signing with major label Universal Music in 2009. The band’s major-label recording debut came with the single “Losing You” released in 2009 and which found it’s way to the No. 1 spot in the Swedish singles chart. The single's accompanying album “Dead by April” was similarly a success reaching No. 2 in the Swedish album chart and receiving positive reviews.

After headlining the Norwegian festival ‘Rock mot Rus” in March 2010, guitarist and songwriter Pontus Hjelm announced he was departing as an official member of the band but would continue to write songs. Hjelm was replaced by singer Zandro Santiago who made his recording debut with the track “Love Like Blood”, a Killing Joke cover. Later in 2010 guitarist Johan decided he was leaving to focus on his clothing range and was replaced by Joel Nilsson.

The next released came as compilation CD entitled “Stronger” which featured a heavier and darker tone and the track “Love Like Blood”. Dead by April’s sophomore studio release was named “Incomparable”, was released in 2011 and matched the dark tones of their compilation release with their distinctive melodic metal and boyband pop. Like their debut their follow-up peaked at No. 2 in the Swedish albums chart.

Prior to “Let The World Know”, Dead by April’s third studio album Jimmie Strimell announced he had left the band and was replaced by Christoffer Andersson. The album was released in February 2014 and featured the single “As a Butterfly”.

Live reviews

Swedish pop metalcore outfit Dead By April burst their way onto the scene in 2009, releasing their single ‘Losing You’. Relying heavily on the popularity of social media at the start of their career in 2007, they released their self-titled demo album online. Circulating around the internet, a buzz surrounded this exciting new band. Comprising of a clean and unclean vocalists created a more melodic side to the band which provided them with their uniqueness. Signing to Universal with ‘Losing You’ as their debut commercial single saw the track clinch onto the number one and two spot in the Swedish singles charts. By 2011 they had upped the ante with the release of their second album ‘Incomparable’ which presented a much heavier side to the band. Dead By April would spend the next two years promoting that record, touring relentlessly around the world and playing festivals such as: Rock mot Russ (which they headlined), Sonisphere and Rockweekend Festival building a strong and loyal following along the way. Dead By April really pull out all the stops in their live shows, before they even appear on stage they create this exciting atmosphere intensified by the screams erupting from their passionate crowd. The seamless cohesion between Jimmie Strimell on unclean vocal duties and Zandro Santiago on clean, creates the perfect pop-metalcore balance as they delve into songs like ‘Within My Heart, ‘Calling’ and of course their hit single ‘Losing You’ which evokes a chorus of voices sing-a-long at the top of their lungs. Dead By April have perfected their live sound and know how to put on incredible performances time after time.

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