Tungsten

TUNGSTEN was formed in 2016 by drummer Anders Johansson (ex Hammerfall, ex Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force) after his sons Karl and Nick Johansson had let him listen to some songs they had composed together.

Anders: “I really liked the songs. My sons are of course younger than me, and the songs were modern metal, like something I could never come up with. At the same time, I could hear melodies that reminded me of Nordic folk music that made me think of the past. The overall impression was catchy heavy metal with both past and future present. I asked Karl and Nick if they wanted to join me in a band and play these songs with me, and I’m happy that they accepted”.

With drums (Anders), guitars (Nick) and bass (Karl), and newly composed songs, TUNGSTEN asked Mike Andersson (Cloudscape, ex Planet Alliance, Fullforce) to do vocals.

Mike has a powerful voice and a varied style of singing and was a perfect fit to TUNGSTEN’s music.

“WE WILL RISE”

The recording of TUNGSTEN’s debut album WE WILL RISE took place in the summer of 2018. Drums were recorded at Heptagon studios and guitars and bass at Harmstudios. Vocals and choirs later added by Mike.

WE WILL RISE is produced and mixed by Nick Johansson.

The music on TUNGSTEN’s debut album has influences from the different backgrounds of the members.

Anders Johansson is one of the most skilled and experienced drummers in the metal world with a background in listening to Deep Purple and Rainbow, but he also has strong influences from jazz and he plays upright bass.

The musical talent was passed on to Karl and Nick who praises bands like Rammstein and Meshuggah. Being from a later generation, they bring modernity and current trends to the music.

Mike enjoys a wide variety of bands, from Bee Gees to Meshuggah, and listens a lot to different singing styles which contributes to the melodic and varied singing on WE WILL RISE. The lyrics on TUNGSTEN’s WE WILL RISE also deals with both past and present. Some of them are about fiction and fantasy and tells stories of ancient wars, knights and heroic heroes, whilst others are more realistic and describes everyday life with drama, passion and sorrow, in today’s world.

ARISING EMPIRE RECORDS

ARISING EMPIRE RECORDS and Markus Staiger, who is responsible for the success of many bands, loved the album WE WILL RISE and a contract between ARISING EMPIRE RECORDS and TUNGSTEN was signed in spring 2019.

The record company decided to launch WE WILL RISE in September 2019.

The artwork for WE WILL RISE, as well as the TUNGSTEN logotype, were made by the legendary Andreas Marshall who is known for being the creator behind album covers for bands such as Blind Guardian, Obituary and Hammerfall. Andreas also created “Volfram”, the man on the album cover who is holding a guiding lantern and a battle axe.

The layout for the WE WILL RISE album was put together by Rainer Kalwitz.

TUNGSTEN recorded three music videos with well-known music video creator Patrick Ullaeus. The first one to be released was the title track “We Will Rise” in June 2019 (check it out here).