Origin Malmö, Sweden Labels Lion Music | Years active 1999 - present Associated acts Origin Blood | |
Genres Progressive metal
Progressive rock Website | ||
Mister Kite is a progressive metal/hard rock band from Malmö, Sweden. Their music is best described as heavy yet melodic, with dark, brooding lyrics, drawing obvious influences from bands like Dream Theater. Their name is taken from the Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
Contents
Early inception
Formed in Malmö in 1999 by Alf Wemmenlind, Anton Johansson and Mats Bergentz, Mister Kite had done a few demo recordings when guitarist Kristensson stepped in with some fresh ideas. He soon became a permanent member of the band. In the summer of 2001 they felt they had enough material for a studio release, and with the old-friend-turned-keyboardist Djurfeldt completing the line-up, the recording of the first album started.
First albums
The band signed to Finnish independent label Lion Music, which released the debut album All in Time in 2002. The release saw a guest appearance by Swedish guitar virtuoso Mattias IA Eklund of Freak Kitchen, on the song Seventeen Years. All in Time received almost exclusively good reviews, yet failed to sell. The band supported the album with a short tour, playing the Midtfyn Festival in Odense, Denmark, and later joined heavy metal band Dio as supporting act for their Killing the Dragon tour of Scandinavia.
In the summer of 2003 the band entered the studio again to record their second album, Box of Fear. This album saw the group move towards a heavier, darker sound. The release was preceded by an EP, The Hunger, showcasing two songs from the new album as well as Bloodsucker, a Deep Purple cover taken from the Lion Music release Blackmore's Castle, a tribute to Ritchie Blackmore. Again, the album was given favorable reviews, and in supporting it Mister Kite joined Canadian prog act Saga for their Network tour.
Personnel change
In 2005, both Thomas Djurfeldt and Anton Johansson revealed that they intended to leave the band due to other commitments. Replacements were found in 2006 in young guitarist Linus Abrahamson, taking up bass, and long-time-friend Robert Ahrling of Origin Blood joined as second guitarist. This line-up performed a few well-received gigs before taking a break to write new material. Since then, the band has released the song Won't Go Away, written specifically for the book STIGMA by Åsa Schwartz. More information about the Stigma project can be found here. Stigma official site
Magnus Kristensson died on June 10th, 2013, of cancer.
The band is currently reviewing material for a forthcoming third album.
Members
Former members
Tomas Djurfeldt left the band since he were starting a family. He already had 2 children called Linnea and Elin Djurfeldt. He now lives in Staffanstorp, Sweden with Marie Djurfeldt and his 3 children; Linnea djurfeldt, Elin djurfeldt and Viggo Djurfeldt. He´s now in a Swedish cover - band called "Jukebåks".
Anton Johansson worked a while with the band Nevertold before realizing a long time idea "The Galahad Suite" found at http://www.galahadsuite.com Album preview at Youtube: