Dan Swanö
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Dan Swanö, (born on the March 10, 1973, in Finspång, Östergötland, Sweden), is a Swedish music producer, vocalist, guitarist, bassist, drummer and keyboardist, regarded as influential in the underground death metal, progressive metal, and progressive rock communities, with a small but devoted cult following for his numerous works.
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[edit] Music
Swanö has fronted a huge number of bands, most notably Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Pan.Thy.Monium, Brejn Dedd, Unicorn, Infestdead and Route Nine. He has also been a member of Katatonia (for whom he played the drums), Ribspreader, lead guitars and drums and most recently a member of Bloodbath, playing drums on their first EP Breeding Death and debut album Resurrection Through Carnage. He moved to guitar for the release of Nightmares Made Flesh, which occurred when vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt left and was replaced by Hypocrisy's Peter Tägtgren. Upon the completion of Nightmares Made Flesh, Tägtgren left and the vocalist position was once again vacant. Dan is no longer in Bloodbath because his "services are no longer needed" because he cannot tour with the group.
He has also contributed his vocal talents to Arjen Lucassen's project. The two musicians are good friends, with Lucassen contributing guitar parts to Swanö's Nightingale project. He can also be heard on the albums Theli and A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming by the symphonic opera metal band, Therion. He was also producer and contributing writer of the band Diabolical Masquerade, the now defunct solo avantgarde black metal band of Anders Nyström aka Blakkheim (Katatonia,Bloodbath, ex-bewitched). He also contributed some guitar solos, backing vocals on various Diabolical Masquerade albums, and played the drums on the album Nightwork. He also produced and played the keyboards on the Memories from Nothing album by Swedish progressive rockers Another Life, released on Vic Records
Besides all these bands, Swanö has also released a solo progressive death metal album entitled Moontower, on which he showcases his multi-instrumental talent, playing all instruments (guitar, bass, drums and keyboard) and providing all the vocal work.
Swanö has a diverse vocal register, encompassing many styles, which include death grunts, clean, melodic singing with a warm rich tone, deep, dark, gothic vocals, and thrash shouting.
[edit] Family and work
Despite the huge amounts of releases to his name, Dan still works as chief sales assistant in a music store near his home in Sweden, rarely doing live performances with any of his bands (it has been said that one of the main reasons for this is that he is unable to sustain the heavy growling death metal vocals used in many of his bands for any prolonged period of time). He has his own studio in his home, variously called first Gorysound then Unisound, where he records his own projects as well as the music of other notable underground bands such as Marduk, Dark Funeral, Merciless, Dawn, Dissection, Opeth and Katatonia. He is currently divorced, but maintains close ties to his family. His elder brother Dag Swanö was in Pan.Thy.Monium under the pseudonym Äag and is a member of Nightingale under the name of Tom Nouga.
[edit] Complete list of musical projects Swanö has been involved with and/or is still involved with
- Altar - Keyboards, backing vocals
- Another Life - Drums, keyboard, guitar solo
- Bloodbath - Drums (1998-2004), Guitar (2004-2006)
- Brejn Dedd - Drums, vocals
- Canopy - Guest vocals, guitar
- Cronian - Mastering on the album Terra
- Dan Swanö - Vocals, all instruments
- Diabolical Masquerade - Writing, drums (on Nightwork), guitar solos, producer
- Edge of Sanity - Vocals, guitar, keyboard (old), all instruments (current)
- Evoke - Producer (Dreaming The Reality)
- Godsend - Vocals, keyboard
- Incision
- Infestdead - Guitars, bass, drum programming
- Karaboudjan - Vocals, all instruments
- Katatonia - Drums
- Maceration - Vocals, keyboard, piano (under the alias "Day Disyraah")
- Mahlstrøm - Guest vocals
- Masticate - Guitar, bass, vocals
- Nightingale - Vocals, guitars, keyboard
- November's Doom - Mixed The Pale Haunt Departure and The Novella Reservoir, and contributed a guitar solo on the song "Dark World Burden" on the album The Pale Haunt Departure
- Odyssey - Vocals, drums, keyboard
- Opeth - Producer
- Overflash - Drums
- Pan.Thy.Monium - Bass, keyboard, effects (under the alias "Day Disyraah")
- Ribspreader - Guitar
- Route Nine - Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard
- Second Sky - Everything
- Sörskogen - Drums, bass, keyboard
- Star One - Guest vocals
- Steel - vocals
- Subway Mirror
- The Lucky Seven
- The Project Hate MCMXCIX - Producer
- Theatre of Tragedy - Producer
- Therion - Vocals
- Total Terror - Guitar, vocals
- Ulaan Bator (band)
- Under Black Clouds
- Unicorn - Vocals, drums
- Vinterland - Producer, Keyboards
- Wounded Knee - Producer
