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Clawfinger

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Clawfinger

Clawfinger is an industrial rap-metal band from Sweden and was one of the earliest bands to adopt this sound. Clawfinger is known for aggressive but melodic music and tackling political and anti-racist themes in their songs.

Band history

The band's origin 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 the Norwegian guitarists Bård Torstensen and Erlend Ottem that were also working at the same hospital. Soon the four realized their similar interests in music. Bård and Erlend previously played in a band called Theo in their hometown Arendal back in Norway. 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; it was also 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 André 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 many awards, including two home Grammies at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 1994 for Best Hard Rock Band and Best Video. After touring, they went straight back in the studio to record their second album, Use Your Brain. After the release of this album they went on yet another touring campaign, most notably participating at 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 self-titled third album after two years, in 1997. They also issued three singles (Biggest & the Best, Don't Wake Me Up and Two Sides). Then, following a four year wait, Clawfinger released their fourth album, A Whole Lot of Nothing. 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 with a harsher tone and more aggressive instrumental tone, with less electronic elements and also showcasing a very controversial lyrical content on some of the tracks. The month of October of the same year saw guitarist Erlend Ottem leave both the band and the music industry in pursuit of a career as a software specialist. The band and Erlend parted ways on friendly terms.

The same year, they surprised their fans by producing for a boyband, taking their old song The Truth, re-writing and re-arranging it into In Da House, a hit single for the Norwegian band L8R.

In 2005 the band released Hate Yourself With Style, their most aggressive album to date. According to keyboard player Jocke Skog it was something we needed to do to get a restart after Erlend left. The album was written, produced, and mixed by Clawfinger in Fear And Loathing Studios, Spånga Sweden - a studio they own together with another Swedish band, Meshuggah.

In more than a decade of activity, Clawfinger have issued already more than 10 singles and 6 albums, five of which has at least 2 bonus tracks in the limited edition. They have currently finished work on their seventh album, Life Will Kill You, due for release on July 27, 2007.

Clawfinger are well known for their personal relationship with their fans. Zak Tell often answers questions from the fans on the official website forums, and each week there is a live IRC chat session where fans can chat with band members.

Members

Current members

Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Singles/music videos

Most of these videos can be downloaded from the Official Clawfinger Pages.

From Deaf Dumb Blind

  • Rosegrove (Scandinavia)
  • Nigger
  • The Truth
  • Warfair
  • Warfair Remixes

From Use Your Brain

From Clawfinger

  • Biggest & the Best
  • Two Sides
  • Two Sides E.P.

From A Whole Lot of Nothing

  • Out To Get Me
  • Nothing Going On
  • Out To Get Me - Limited Edition 1
  • Out To Get Me - Limited Edition 2

From Zeros & Heroes

  • Recipe for Hate

From Hate Yourself With Style

  • Dirty Lies
  • Without a Case

From Life Will Kill You

  • The Price We Pay
  • Prisoners
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