2008 in Scandinavian music

The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in Scandinavian music in 2008.

Events

1 January – Making her début as a concert pianist, German violinist Julia Fischer chooses Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor at the Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany.^[1]
14 March – Norwegian guitarist Mads Berven is awarded the Vossajazzprisen 2008 at the Vossajazz festival.^[2]
20 May – On finally leaving Viking metal band Stratovarius after 20 years, Norwegian lead vocalist and band founder Timo Tolkki agrees to sign over his right to use the band's name, giving other members the option to continue without him.^[3]
11 September – Christian Älvestam leaves the band Scar Symmetry and begins a solo career.^[4]
18 September – Peter Wichers returns to Swedish band Soilwork, replacing Daniel Antonsson.^[5]
7 October – The Spotify on-demand music streaming service is launched in Sweden,^[6] where it was founded two years earlier.^[7]
9 October – Singer Denny Axelsson leaves Swedish band The Blinded.^[8]
November – Norwegian black metal vocalist Gaahl reveals that he is gay, in an interview with the magazine Rock Hard.^[9]
unknown date – Stefan Klaverdal wins first prize at the International Competition for Electroacoustic Music in Bourges, for his score for the film SIDA 33.

Classical works

Kalevi Aho –Minea. Concertante Music for Orchestra^[10]
Bo Holten – The Visit of the Royal Physician (opera), published^[11]

Albums released

January

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
2	In Mourning	Shrouded Divine	Aftermath Music	Debut album	^[12]^[13]
14	The Dø	A Mouthful	Cinq 7	Debut album	^[14]
30	Lykke Li	Youth Novels	LL Recordings	Produced by Björn Yttling	^[15]

February

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
8	Behexen	My Soul for His Glory	Hammer of Hate Records	Limited edition	^[16]
13	Norther	N	Century Media Records	Last Norther album with Petri Lindroos	^[17]

March

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
10	Bloodbath	Unblessing the Purity	Peaceville Records	First album with Mikael Åkerfeldt on vocals since 2002	^[18]
10	Nortt	Galgenfrist	Avantgarde Music	Recorded 2006-7	^[19]
21	Korpiklaani	Korven Kuningas	Nuclear Blast Records	First album with Nuclear Blast	^[20]

April

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
15	Ketil Bjørnstad	Life in Leipzig	ECM Records	Recorded in 2005; featuring Terje Rypdal	^[21]

May

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
20	Broder Daniel	Cruel Town	EMI Distribution	Re-release of last studio album before disbanding	^[22]
21	Bang Gang	Ghosts from the Past	Cool Music		^[23]
30	Communic	Payment of Existence
	Opeth	Watershed			^[24]
	Pyramaze	Immortal	Locomotive Music	Last album with Matt Barlow as vocalist
	Sabaton	The Art of War	Black Lodge Records	Based on The Art of War by Sun Tzu	^[25]

June

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
2	Bloodbath	The Wacken Carnage	Peaceville records	Live album	^[26]
2	Satyricon	My Skin Is Cold	Roadrunner Records	EP	^[27]
10	Unleashed	Hammer Battalion	Steamhammer		^[28]

July

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
14	Basshunter	Now You're Gone – The Album	Hard2Beat, Warner Music Sweden, Ultra Records	First English-language album	^[29]

August

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
13	Machinae Supremacy	Overworld	Spinefarm Records		^[30]

September

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
1	Volbeat	Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood	Mascot Records, Rebel Monster	#1 in Danish and Finnish album charts	^[31]
17	Swallow the Sun	Plague of Butterflies	Spinefarm	EP	^[32]
22	Omnium Gatherum	The Redshift	Candlelight Records	Produced by Dan Swanö	^[33]

October

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Ref.
20	Darkthrone	Dark Thrones and Black Flags	Peaceville Records	^[34]
24	Darkane	Demonic Art	Nuclear Blast, Massacre Records	^[35]
24	Lordi	Deadache	The End Records	^[36]

November

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
3	Satyricon	The Age of Nero	Roadrunner Records		^[37]
3	Turisas	A Finnish Summer with Turisas	Century Media	DVD (documentary film)	^[38]
13	Dag Arnesen Trio	Norwegian Song 2	Resonant Music

Unknown date

Day	Artist	Album	Label	Notes	Ref.
	Anne Linnet	Anne Linnet	Sony BMG		^[39]

Deaths

10 February – Inga Nielsen, Danish operatic soprano (born 1946; cancer)^[40]
15 March – Fredrik Friis, Norwegian composer, singer, and lyricist (born 1923)^[41]
16 March – Ola Brunkert, Swedish drummer, session drummer for ABBA (born 1946; accidental fall)^[42]
19 March – Eivind Solberg, Norwegian jazz trumpeter (born 1933)
30 March – Anders Göthberg, Swedish guitarist (born 1975)^[43]
18 July – Tauno Marttinen, Finnish composer (born 1912)^[44]
25 August – Pehr Henrik Nordgren, Finnish composer (born 1944; cancer)^[45]
6 October – Paavo Haavikko, Finnish poet and librettist (born 1931)^[46]
26 November – Pekka Pohjola, Finnish multi-instrumentalist and composer (born 1952; epileptic seizure)^[47]

References

^ "Julia Fischer: Virtuosissima!". Signandsight.com. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "Vossa Jazz-prisen". Vossajazz. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
^ "Timo Tolkki: 'Stratovarius Is No More'". Blabbermouth.net. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
^ "Former SCAR SYMMETRY Singer Releases New Song From THE FEW AGAINST MANY Project". Blabbermouth. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
^ "Guitarist Peter Wichers Rejoins Soilwork". Blabbermouth. 18 September 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "We've Only Just Begun". Spotify News. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "Spotify UK revenues surge to almost £190m as mobile subscriptions take off". The Guardian. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
^ "Blinded Colony". AAE Music. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
^ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - GORGOROTH Frontman Opens Up About His Sexual Orientation: 'I've Never Made Any Secret About It'". Roadrunnerrecords.com. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
^ Aho, Kalevi (2008). Minea: concertante music for orchestra. Fennica Gehrman.
^ "Livlægens Besøg". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
^ "Infinite Abyss - In Mourning – Shrouded Divine". www.infiniteabyss.de. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
^ "Főoldal - Metal & Hard Rock HammerWorld". heavymetal.hu. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
^ Hoffman, K. Ross. "The Dø: A Mouthful". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
^ Monger, Timothy. "I Never Learn – Lykke Li". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
^ "My Soul for His Glory". The Metal Archives. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "Norther: New album details revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 19 December 2007. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ Alisoglu, Scott. "Unblessing The Purity Bloodbath". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
^ "Galgenfrist - Nortt album". AllMusic. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
^ "iTunes - Music - Korven Kuningas by Korpiklaani". iTunes. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
^ "Life in Leipzig". ECM Records. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "Cruel Town". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ "Ghosts from the Past". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
^ "Opeth, Watershed". opeth.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
^ Donnelly, Dave. 2008 in Scandinavian music at AllMusic
^ "The Wacken Carnage". Burning Shed. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
^ "Sunday Old School: Satyricon". MetalUnderground.com. 1 December 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
^ "Hammer Battalion". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
^ Dave Donnelly. "Basshunter – Now You're Gone: The Album". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
^ "Biography". Metal Storm. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
^ David Fricke (13 October 2009). "Volbeat". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ "Swallow the Sun - Plague of Butterflies". RMetal Archives. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ 2008 in Scandinavian music at AllMusic
^ "Darkthrone - Dark Thrones And Black Flags review". Metal Storm. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ Ogle, Ryan (17 March 2009). "Darkane, Demonic Art". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ Maria Jyrkäs (2022). Lordiary. Tammi. ISBN 9789520430269.
^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "The Age of Nero - Satyricon : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ "A FINNISH SUMMER WITH TURISAS". Prog Archives. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ "Anne Linnet discography". Metal Storm. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
^ Ashman, Mike (February 2008). "Obituaries: Inga Nielsen, Soprano". Gramophone. Archived from the original on 14 November 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
^ "Fredrik Friis" (in Norwegian). Norsk-pop-og-rockleksikon. 19 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ Elkin, Mike (18 March 2008). "Abba drummer bleeds to death in glass accident". The Times. No. 69274. London. p. 47.
^ Av Kai Martin (5 April 2008). "Broder Daniel i sorg efter gitarristens död". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "Tauno Marttinen: Composer of a thousand pieces". Independent. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ Guy Rickards (8 October 2008). "Pehr Henrik Nordgren". Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "Author Paavo Haavikko Dies at 77". YLE. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ "Trumpetisti Verneri Pohjolan suhde alkoholisti-isään jäi etäiseksi: "Suren, ettei poikani ehtinyt tavata ukkiaan"" [The relationship between the trumpeter Verner Pohjola and his alcoholic father remained remote: "I'm sorry my son did not get to meet his grandpa"] (in Finnish). kodinkuvalehti.fi. 5 October 2017.

[1] "Julia Fischer: Virtuosissima!". Signandsight.com. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[2] "Vossa Jazz-prisen". Vossajazz. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

[3] "Timo Tolkki: 'Stratovarius Is No More'". Blabbermouth.net. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

[4] "Former SCAR SYMMETRY Singer Releases New Song From THE FEW AGAINST MANY Project". Blabbermouth. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

[5] "Guitarist Peter Wichers Rejoins Soilwork". Blabbermouth. 18 September 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[6] "We've Only Just Begun". Spotify News. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[7] "Spotify UK revenues surge to almost £190m as mobile subscriptions take off". The Guardian. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2021.

[8] "Blinded Colony". AAE Music. Retrieved 9 February 2025.

[rockhard2-9] "BLABBERMOUTH.NET - GORGOROTH Frontman Opens Up About His Sexual Orientation: 'I've Never Made Any Secret About It'". Roadrunnerrecords.com. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2025.

[10] Aho, Kalevi (2008). Minea: concertante music for orchestra. Fennica Gehrman.

[11] "Livlægens Besøg". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

[12] "Infinite Abyss - In Mourning – Shrouded Divine". www.infiniteabyss.de. Retrieved 16 February 2018.

[13] "Főoldal - Metal & Hard Rock HammerWorld". heavymetal.hu. Retrieved 16 February 2018.

[14] Hoffman, K. Ross. "The Dø: A Mouthful". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 May 2016.

[15] Monger, Timothy. "I Never Learn – Lykke Li". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 May 2016.

[16] "My Soul for His Glory". The Metal Archives. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[17] "Norther: New album details revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 19 December 2007. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[18] Alisoglu, Scott. "Unblessing The Purity Bloodbath". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

[19] "Galgenfrist - Nortt album". AllMusic. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2025.

[20] "iTunes - Music - Korven Kuningas by Korpiklaani". iTunes. Retrieved 8 January 2015.

[21] "Life in Leipzig". ECM Records. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[22] "Cruel Town". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[23] "Ghosts from the Past". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 February 2025.

[24] "Opeth, Watershed". opeth.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2008.

[25] Donnelly, Dave. 2008 in Scandinavian music at AllMusic

[26] "The Wacken Carnage". Burning Shed. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

[27] "Sunday Old School: Satyricon". MetalUnderground.com. 1 December 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

[28] "Hammer Battalion". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

[AllMusic-29] Dave Donnelly. "Basshunter – Now You're Gone: The Album". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 May 2022.

[30] "Biography". Metal Storm. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

[31] David Fricke (13 October 2009). "Volbeat". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[32] "Swallow the Sun - Plague of Butterflies". RMetal Archives. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[33] 2008 in Scandinavian music at AllMusic

[34] "Darkthrone - Dark Thrones And Black Flags review". Metal Storm. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[35] Ogle, Ryan (17 March 2009). "Darkane, Demonic Art". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[36] Maria Jyrkäs (2022). Lordiary. Tammi. ISBN 9789520430269.

[37] Rivadavia, Eduardo. "The Age of Nero - Satyricon : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[38] "A FINNISH SUMMER WITH TURISAS". Prog Archives. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[39] "Anne Linnet discography". Metal Storm. Retrieved 16 February 2025.

[40] Ashman, Mike (February 2008). "Obituaries: Inga Nielsen, Soprano". Gramophone. Archived from the original on 14 November 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2022.

[41] "Fredrik Friis" (in Norwegian). Norsk-pop-og-rockleksikon. 19 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[42] Elkin, Mike (18 March 2008). "Abba drummer bleeds to death in glass accident". The Times. No. 69274. London. p. 47.

[43] Av Kai Martin (5 April 2008). "Broder Daniel i sorg efter gitarristens död". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[44] "Tauno Marttinen: Composer of a thousand pieces". Independent. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[45] Guy Rickards (8 October 2008). "Pehr Henrik Nordgren". Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[46] "Author Paavo Haavikko Dies at 77". YLE. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.

[47] "Trumpetisti Verneri Pohjolan suhde alkoholisti-isään jäi etäiseksi: "Suren, ettei poikani ehtinyt tavata ukkiaan"" [The relationship between the trumpeter Verner Pohjola and his alcoholic father remained remote: "I'm sorry my son did not get to meet his grandpa"] (in Finnish). kodinkuvalehti.fi. 5 October 2017.

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