clawfinger

Clawfinger is a unique industrial rap metal band from Sweden, frontrunners in this particular field, they offer an aggressive and yet melodic kind of music. The lyrical content is dominated by political and anti-racism themes, backing up the music with a similar aggressive tone. Problems and conflicts of the everyday world are explored and analyzed in all aspects, making Clawfinger a bit controversial and disturbing for some. Criticism and sarcasm are a common vocal tone and the guitar attack mingles with it perfectly. With a few exceptions, Clawfinger's lyrics are all about criticism of the socio-political world that we live in today.

Band History

The band's past dates back to the summer of 1989 when Zak Tell and Jocke Skog met while working together at the Rosegrove Hospital somewhere in the vicinity of Stockholm. In 1990 they were joined by Brd Torstensen and Erlend Ottem and soon the four realized their similar interests in music. Two of the guitarists previously played in a local band known as Theo. Their free time was invested in exploring the musical world, composing and writing songs while evolving into a band. Their original demo comprising of three tracks (Waste Of Time, Nigger and Profit Preacher) quickly secured them local radio airplay and consequently brought them to the attention of the MVG label. Nigger is an elaborate and profound anti-racism statement that caused quite a stir and was a massive success, also being released as a single. By the beginning of the 1990s, Clawfinger self-released their debut Deaf Dumb Blind. This sold in over 600,000 copies worldwide and was critically acclaimed in Swedish press. With the addition of Andr Skaug and drummer Morten Skaug, Clawfinger went on tour and played at countless European festivals including major support slots with Anthrax and Alice In Chains. The band received innumerable awards among which two home Grammies at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 1994 for Best Hard Rock Band and Best Video. After touring the hell out of their debut album, they went straight back in the studio to record their sophomore effort, Use Your Brain. After the release of this album they went in yet another touring campaign, most notably participating in Ozzy Osbourne's Monsters of Rock Festival in South America and rocking alongside American metal counterparts like Megadeth, Faith No More, and Alice Cooper. Back in Europe they continued their touring campaign by participating at festivals and countless gigs. Clawfinger resurfaced with their eponymous third album after two years, in 1997. They also issued three singles (Biggest And The Best, Don't Wake Me Up and Two Sides). After a four year wait, Clawfinger fans were delighted to know that the band's fourth album (A Whole Lot Of Nothing) was released. This was the most complex instrumental offering of the band yet and it featured a more elaborate and noticeable synthesizer sound that created a new dimension in their musical content. In 2003 it was time for Zeros & Heroes to see the light of day, an album on a harsher tone and more aggressive instrumental, with less electronic elements and also showcasing a very controversial lyrical content on some of the melodies. The month of October of the same year saw guitarist Erlend Ottem leave both the band and the musical industry in pursuit of a career as a software specialist. The band and Erlend parted ways in friendly terms. In more than a decade of activity, Clawfinger have issued already more than 10 singles and 5 albums, each of them having at least 2 bonus tracks in the limited edition. They are currently working on their next album and in the meantime touring across the world in their usual style. Clawfinger is one of the greatest bands in terms of interacting with the fans. Their official website www.clawfinger.net allows fans to use the Forum to talk to each other and interact with the band. On the Forum Zak Tell often shows up answering questions from the fans and each week there is a live IRC chat session where fans can chat with band members!