Wolverine

Sweden’s Wolverine was formed in 1995 by Stefan Zell and Marcus Losbjer. They started out playing death-metal with melodic influences but when they released their first EP, Fervent Dream, in November 1999 the music had evolved into progressive metal. Fervent Dream got an overwhelming reception all over the world and was soon sold out.

During the summer of 2001 the band recorded their first full-length album; The Window Purpose. The Window Purpose was released in December that year and the response was once again overwhelming. For example, the album saw the band gain the accolade of Album of the month in January of 2002 from Hollands most important metal-magazine Aardschok.

In 2003 the moody album Cold light of Monday was released through Elitist Records, an imprint of Earache Records. The album explored the really dark side of the band. The album scored really high notes in many of the biggest metal magazines, such as Kerrang and Metal Hammer.

During the summer of 2005 the band went to Germany and the Spacelab studio to record the album Still. During the recording sessions Wolverine and Earache Records parted ways, but the band soon signed on to Candlelight Records for the release of Still in June 2006. Still proved to be a huge success for the band. The album earned some great reviews (amongst them Wolverine's first 5/5 in Kerrang! magazine) and sold better than any of the band's previous albums. The band also did a UK tour during the fall of 2006, supporting Anathema.

Due to some complicated personal developments within the band during 2007/2008 Wolverine almost came to a halt. However, the band performed occasional gigs and continued to write new material, but it all went really slow and the chemistry within the band wasn't very good. Time, as well as the process of writing songs, healed wounds that needed to be healed and it was soon obvious that the new material was far too good to be forgotten on a few demo-tapes.

The band decided to record what would become Communication Lost, the band's fifth studio effort. The recording of the album took place on various locations around Sweden during the first half of 2010, and it was mixed by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios in Denmark. Communication Lost was released through Candlelight Records on May 23, 2011. The album that was supposed to mark the end of the band instead turned out the mark the rebirth of the band.

With renewed focus the band decided to address a couple of matters that held the band back. Candlelight Records and Wolverine needed to part ways. The music of the band and the music of Candlelight wasn't really harmonizing. With that out of the way a much harder decision had to be made. In 2012 Mikael left the band. His focus wasn't on music anymore and it was evident that the band needed a new guitar player. Soon thereafter Jonas Jonsson, a longtime friend of the band, came on board to replace Mikael. Jonas fit perfect with the band and in december 2012 he joined the band as a permanent member.

The new line up immediately started writing material for their next album and also put a lot of effort in getting the band gigs. As a part of this effort the band started working with Armada Agency, a European booking agency. Armada soon got Wolverine a gig in Tel Aviv, Israel. This gig marked the first time the band played outside Europe.

The band is currently writing new material as well as rehearsing for their two gigs at ProgPower USA in September 2013. They will play 60-minute standard set but also a 60-minute acoustic/stripped down set.

To be continued...