Dan Swanö

Music

Swanö has fronted a number of bands, including Edge of Sanity, Brejn Dedd, Unicorn, Infestdead and Route Nine. He has also been a member of Katatonia, Ribspreader, as well as playing drums and lead guitar in death metal band Bloodbath.

He has also contributed his vocal talents to Arjen Lucassen's Star One 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 avant-garde 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.

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, keyboard) as well as providing all the vocal work.

During 2009 Swanö re-activated Odyssey, this time performing all instruments by himself. Swanö recorded 7 of his all-time favourite songs which was released in November 2010 on the album 'Reinventing The Past', together with the three 1999 tracks as a bonus on Dutch based Vic Records. His brother Dag played guest lead guitar on the song 'Gypsy' (Uriah Heep cover).

In 2013, Swanö released with his new project Witherscape the full studio album The Inheritance, with Ragnar Widerberg as co-member, and the collaboration of, amongst other guest musicians, Novembers Doom's founder Paul Kuhr. It was followed a year after by the EP The New Tomorrow. In 2016, the full studio album The Northern Sanctuary was released, via Century Media Records like its predecessors, featuring once again Paul Kuhr.

Dan Swanö has a diverse vocal register, encompassing many styles, which include death growls; clean, melodic singing with a warm rich tone; deep, dark, gothic vocals and thrash shouting. As a peculiarity, he is a left-handed guitarist (right hand on the neck) but plays on right-handed guitars without reversing the strings (highest strings up), which is quite unusual.

Family and work

Despite the large amount of releases to his name, Swanö up until recently worked full-time in a music store (Musikbörsen) in Örebro, near his home in Sweden, rarely doing live performances with any of his bands. He had played bass in his elder brother Dag Swanö's band Pan.Thy.Monium with Dan using Day DiSyraah, and Dag using Äag as pseudonyms. Dag also plays guitar in Nightingale, formerly under the name of Tom Nouga.

Solo

(All Instruments/Vocals)

with Edge of Sanity

(Vocals/Keyboards/Add. Guitar 1989-1997), (All Instruments/Vocals 2003)

with Nightingale

Drums (1994-2000), Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards (1994-present)

with Pan.Thy.Monium

(Bass/Keyboards/FX)

with Unicorn

(Drums/Lead Vocals)

with Infestdead

(Guitar/Bass/Drum-programming)

with Steel

(Vocals)

with Katatonia

(Session drums)

with Odyssey

(All Instruments/Vocals)

with Bloodbath

(Guitar/Vocals/Keyboards) (Drums 00-02)

with Karaboudjan

(All Instruments/Vocals)

with Total Terror

(Guitar/Vocals)

with Witherscape

(Drums/Vocals/Keyboards)

with Incision

(Drums/Vocals)

with Darkcide

(All instruments/Vocals)

with Masticate

(Guitar/Bass/Vocals)

with Stygg Död

(Bass/Vocals)

with Brejn Dedd

(Drums/Backing Vocals)

with Wounded Knee

(Drums/Backing Vocals)

with Route Nine

(Drums/Bass/Vocals/Keyboards)

with Ulan Bator

(Drums/Backing Vocals)

with Ghost

(Drums/Vocals)

with Subway Mirror/O(:the circle)

(Guitars/Vocals)

with Deppdöden

(Drums)

with Star One

(Vocals)

with Maceration

(Vocals)

Miscellaneous