Seventh Wonder
- MEMBERS:
- Andreas Blomqvist - bass (2000–present)
- Johan Liefvendahl - guitar (2000–present)
- Andreas "Kyrt" Söderin - keyboard (2000–present)
- Tommy Karevik - vocals (2005–present)
- Stefan Norgren - drums (2011–present)
BIOGRAPHY
Seventh Wonder is a progressive metal band from Stockholm, Sweden formed in 2000.
Seventh Wonder was formed in 2000 by bass player Andreas Blomqvist, guitarist Johan Liefvendahl and drummer Johnny Sandin after their previous band fell apart. Their music started to develop in the direction of progressive metal and as the band was joined by keyboard player Andreas Kyrt Söderin late 2000, the new sound was cemented further. The band recorded two demos – Seventh Wonder in 2001 and Temple In The Storm in 2013.
Become (2005)
Many singers have come and gone in Seventh Wonder over the years, among others Ola Halén of power metal band Insania Sthlm. The longest lasting member in the past was Andi Kravljaca (ex: Heave, Elsesphere, now Silent Call), and it was with Kravljaca at the microphone that the band recorded their debut album Become (released in 2005), after landing a record deal with Finland’s Lion Music. Prior to the release of Become in 2005, Tommy Karevik joined the band. Become was well received by the press and top scores were given everywhere. However, the band and Andi decided to part ways shortly after the recording process had ended.
Waiting in the Wings (2006)
The next album, entitled Waiting in the Wings, was recorded in 2006 and was mixed and mastered by Tommy Hansen. Waiting in the Wings got even better reviews than Become did, scoring multiple top scores of 10 out of 10.
2007 was a year of writing new material and playing live. During 2007 Seventh Wonder played in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, England and the Netherlands together with acts such as Jorn Lande, Pagan’s Mind, Queensryche, Testament, Sun Caged and Redemption. In August 2007 the band parted ways with Intromental Management, but continued to work with Lion Music.
Mercy Falls (2008)
Seventh Wonder released their next album, Mercy Falls, on September 12, 2008. It is a concept album about a man who drops into a coma after a car crash and dreams of a place called Mercy Falls. The family of the man tries in vain to wake him from his sleep.
The Great Escape (2010)
In December 2009, they began writing material for The Great Escape. They entered the studio in April 2010, and posted regular updates on their official forum and YouTube channel. The album The Great Escape was released in December 2010. Both fans and critics received the album very well.
Before the release of the album, drummer Johnny Sandin quit the band for private reasons. On April 25, 2011, Seventh wonder announced that Stefan Norgren had replaced Sandin as the Band’s drummer.
In June 2012, Tommy Karevik was announced as Kamelot’s new singer, but stated that he has no intention of leaving Seventh Wonder.
On September 7, 2013, the band announced they would be recording a live DVD at 2014 ProgPower USA Festival, performing songs from their album Mercy Falls in its entirety for the first and final time. In 2016, the band signed with Italian record company Frontiers Records to release the live CD/DVD called Welcome To Atlanta Live 2014 on September 23, 2016 and also a new studio album that is expected to be released in 2017.
Tiara (2018)
On 28 October 2017, the band announced through their Facebook that the album will be titled Tiara.
DISCOGRAPHY
Tiara / 2018
The Great Escape / 2010
1. “Wiseman”
2. “Alley Cat”
3. “The Angelmaker”
4. “King of Whitewater”
5. “Long Way Home”
6. “Move on Through”
7. “The Great Escape
8. “In The Blink Of An Eye (2011 Re-recorded Version from Become (album))”
The Great Escape is the fourth album by Swedish progressive metal band Seventh Wonder. It was recorded over the Spring and Summer of 2010, and was released on December 3, 2010. It is the first album by the band to feature a track longer than 10 minutes. It is also the last album recorded with Johnny Sandin on drums, as he left the band due to personal reasons after the recording and subsequent shows. “Alley Cat” is the first Seventh Wonder song to have an accompanying music video from the band.
The title track ‘The Great Escape’ is an epic song based on the poems ‘Aniara’ by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson. It deals with the tragedy of a spaceship which, originally bound for Mars with a cargo of surviving colonists from a ravaged and destroyed Earth, is ejected from the solar system and becomes entangled in an existential struggle. The first track ‘Wiseman’ doubles loosely as a prequel to the events of ‘The Great Escape’.
Mercy Falls / 2008
1. “A New Beginning”
2. “There and Back”
3. “Welcome to Mercy Falls”
4. “Unbreakable”
5. “Tears for a Father”
6. “A Day Away”
7. “Tears for a Son”
8. “Paradise”
9. “Fall in Line”
10. “Break the Silence”
11. “Hide and Seek”
12. “Destiny Calls”
13. “One Last Goodbye”
14. “Back in Time”
15. “The Black Parade”
Mercy Falls is the third studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Seventh Wonder. It is a concept album that tells the story of a victim of a car crash who, upon awakening from a coma, finds himself in the mysterious town of Mercy Falls, a fictional world he has dreamed up in his comatose state.
Plot and story
A man has a mysterious car accident, and falls into a coma. He is taken to a hospital by paramedics. The man, in his comatose state, dreams he is in a place called Mercy Falls. A few years after the accident, his wife comes to visit him (as she apparently has been doing constantly ever since that night). She comments that the doctors are still trying to wake him. She leaves his side, but turns the radio on to comfort her husband.
Within the man’s mind, he dreams of a woman who lives in Mercy Falls, who constantly stays locked inside “the tall house”, an empty mansion that the children fear to approach. He begins to realize that she is a reflection of himself, because he is trapped inside his own empty mind and completely isolated from those he loves. He believes that if he can meet this woman and help her to leave her mansion, he will be able to leave Mercy Falls himself and finally see his family again.
Back in the physical world, the doctor’s speak to the man’s wife and explain that they will harvest bone marrow from his son in desperate attempts to heal the man in the coma. This, apparently, is their last hope to try to awaken him.
Back in Mercy Falls, the townspeople prepare for a terrible storm that could destroy their village. (The storm, of course, is the doctors trying to cure the man using the bone marrow, therefore trying to destroy Mercy Falls.) The townspeople unite and build up defenses against the storm, and their town is saved. Therefore, the medical procedure has failed.
The man’s wife and the doctors give up hope. At the album’s emotional climax, “One Last Goodbye”, they turn off his life-support machines and assure him that his memory will live on. He passes from Mercy Falls into the afterlife, and as he is dying, he has a flashback which reveals a conversation he had with his wife several years ago in the car. She told him that her son was, in truth, not his. Shocked so suddenly, he crashes the car, bringing the timeline back to the beginning of the album. This explains why the bone marrow transplant from his son was unsuccessful.
The son struggles with the absence of his father and his mother. The mother appears to be struggling with the guilt and turns to alcohol. The son refers to it as the “muddy water”. Not only did she cause the accident in the first place by telling the man that the son he thought he had was not his, but the attempts to bring him out of his coma also failed because of her infidelities. She lets her son go through the pain of a bone marrow transplant even though she knew that it wouldn’t work. She continues to keep her infidelity a secret.
The final song, “The Black Parade”, tells of the man’s experience passing into the afterlife.
Waiting in the Wings / 2006
- “Star of David”
- “Taint the Sky”
- “Waiting in the Wings”
- “Banish the Wicked”
- “Not an Angel”
- “Devil’s Inc.”
- “Walking Tall”
- “The Edge of My Blade”
- “Pieces”
Waiting in the Wings is the second studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Seventh Wonder.
Become / 2004
1. “Day By Day”
2. “Like Him”
3. “The Damned”
4. “Temple in the Storm”
5. “Blinding My Eyes”
6. “The Secret”
7. “What I’ve Become”
8. “In the Blink of an Eye”
9. “Day By Day” (Acoustic)
Become is the first studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Seventh Wonder. It consists of nine tracks; however, the ninth track is unlisted and untitled.
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