Machinae Supremacy

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Machinae Supremacy
Background information
Origin	Luleå, Sweden
Genre(s)	"SID metal", alternative rock, alternative metal
Years active	2000–present
Label(s)	Spinefarm Records
Website	machinaesupremacy.com
Members
Robert Stjärnström Jonas Rörling Andreas Gerdin Tomas Nilsén Johan Hedlund
Former members
Kahl Hellmer Johan Palovaara Tobbe

Machinae Supremacy (pronounced "muh-sheen suh-prem-uh-see", IPA: /məˈʃiːnsəˈprɛməsiː/^[1]) is a band from Luleå, Sweden that combines modern heavy metal and alternative rock with chiptunes. Self-defined as SID metal, many of their songs use a SidStation that features the SID chip of the Commodore 64. They have released a considerable number of songs for free download on their site, 32 original recordings, with approximately 100,000 downloads a month.^[2][3]

Deus Ex Machinae, the band's first commercial album was released in 2004 through MbD Records UK. The band is currently signed to Spinefarm Records, through which they released their second studio album, Redeemer in 2006. Their third album Overworld was released on February 13th, 2008.

Contents 1 Band history 1.1 Origin: 2000–2001 1.2 Promo: 2001–2003 1.3 Deus Ex Machinae: 2004–2005 1.4 Redeemer: 2006–2007 1.5 Overworld: 2007–present 2 Members 2.1 Former Members 3 Discography 3.1 Webography 3.2 Albums 3.3 Other releases 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Band history

[edit] Origin: 2000–2001

Machinae Supremacy was formed in summer 2000 by Robert Stjärnström, Kahl Hellmer and Jonas Rörling. The name of the band had existed before this, but it was only a few months later the band decided a specific style they wanted to pursue. Andreas Gerdin, a long time friend of Rörling, joined on keyboards and Tobbe joined on drums. Together they recorded their first song, Cryosleep.^[4]

Defining an original style and being fans of the Commodore 64, they settled on using the SID chip from the machine in their music, later becoming known by the term "SID metal". In their music they attempted to carry a vibe of self-confidence, enlightenment and encouragement for people to take control of their own lives.^[5][6]

[edit] Promo: 2001–2003

The band saw the internet as the best way to reach a wider audience, forgoing the traditional method of sending demos to record labels. In 2001 their official website was launched, boasting around nine freely available songs. The band used the free audio codec Ogg Vorbis, as well as MP3, to distribute them.

The band attempted to reach out to the Commodore 64 community in an attempt to gain a larger fan base. It was during this time "The Great Gianna Sisters" was released, a cover of the theme to Great Giana Sisters composed by Chris Hülsbeck. Releasing this song onto various Commodore 64 remix sites proved to be instrumental in granting the band's early success,^[7] which was later increased by the follow up, the Sidology series. Machinae Supremacy would also go on to perform their first show abroad, at a nightclub in Soho during the Back in Time Live event.

During 2001 Stjärnström and Hellmer, together with friend Tomi Tauriainen formed the short-lived punk rock side-project, FLAK.^[8] Intending to express a political side,^[9] only three songs were released; parts of which would later go onto influence Machinae Supremacy songs.^[10] From an interview with Stjärnström "FLAK is... aggression and pain! :] It's a band, but it's nothing serious, just a means of expression."^[9]

In 2002, Tobbe left the band and was replaced by Tomas Nilsén, who is a long time friend (and previous band mate in Garden Of Concrete^[6]) of Stjärnström's. Over the next few years, they would go onto freely release 25 songs, around two albums worth of material, before they began work on their first studio album.

[edit] Deus Ex Machinae: 2004–2005

In May 2004, the band announced the release of their first commercial album Deus Ex Machinae through Music By Design Records Ltd. (MbD).^[11] The album's first print of 1000 copies sold out within a year, leading to a second print being released in 2005.^[12] Shortly after the release of reprint of Deus Ex Machinae, MbD ceased trading and the band were without a record label for the then-in-development second album. This album would not see the light of day until 2006.

The band would also contribute to other projects that year; they worked on the soundtrack for the video game Jets'n'Guns by RakeInGrass software. The Jets'n'Guns Soundtrack was released freely on December 4 2004. In that year three of their songs were included in the In the Groove series of dancing games; "Hybrid", "Bouff" and "Cryosleep".

2005 was a relatively quiet year, owing to the band's focus being directed towards finishing and finding a way to release their second album. "Ghost (Beneath The Surface)" was released, as an outtake from the album, and was very well received. They would later work with the German gaming magazine GameStar to produce and release 2 songs, "Loot Burn Rape Kill Repeat" on June 25 for a World of Warcraft special, and "Multiball" (a medley of themes from the Pinball Dreams series) on November 20 for a Battlefield 2 special.

Later that year, Hellmer moved away from Luleå and could no longer take part in the band. He was replaced by Johan Palovaara.

[edit] Redeemer: 2006–2007

Early in 2006, on January 9 the band were able to release "Sidology Episode II - Trinity", finally completing their Sidology series, as well as announce a sister production company Hubnester Industries, which would handle future soundtrack and commissioned work.^[13]

2006 marked a turning point for the band, they were able to independently release their second commercial album, Redeemer on March 18 through their own merchandise web site and store using Hubnester Industries as their own record label.^[14] Then on September 27 of that year it was announced they had signed to Spinefarm Records^[15] in a 4 album record deal and would remaster and re-release Redeemer to retail on November 8.

In late 2006 the band, with Hubnester Industries, worked on the soundtrack to the now postponed PC game War Angels,^[16] developed by Moonpod, and their third studio album.^[17][18] On November 27, 2006, the line-up was changed, with the hope of improving the quality of live performances, with Robert Stjärnström passing his guitar duties to Andreas Gerdin and replacing the keyboard with pre-recorded samples.^[19]

In 2007, it was confirmed that the band would produce their first music video for the song "Through The Looking Glass".^[20] It was directed by Tomi Tauriainen and was released after several delays later that year.^[21][22]

It was during this year that the band were asked to perform with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra during the Play! A Video Game Symphony concert in Stockholm, part of the world-tour event featuring music from video games. They played during the song "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy VI.^[23][24] Following the success of this concert, they were asked to return to the event in Oslo, Norway with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Choir where they played, among other songs, Metallica's "One" during a Guitar Hero segment.^[25]

[edit] Overworld: 2007–present

On October 9, shortly after the band released their first music video for the song "Through the Looking Glass", it was announced that Johan Palovaara was leaving the band, "Due to different priorities, Johan Palovaara is now leaving the band to pursue other ambitions."^[26] It was later revealed it was over the bands decision to perform at events such as Play!^[6] Johan Hedlund was hired as the band's new bassist.^[26]

Production began on the third album, Overworld during 2007. Periodic updates on its status were released via their official forum.^[27] The first radio single from the new album, a cover of Britney Spears' "Gimme More", was premiered on the Finnish station YleX in late November.^[28] The album was released on February 13, 2008. Later in the year after a web site redesign the Ogg Vorbis audio files were replaced with lossless FLAC files.

[edit] Members

• Robert Stjärnström vocals (2000–present), guitar (2000–2006)

Born May 6, 1978, also known as "Gaz", is vocalist and frontman for the band. He previously doubled as guitarist. He is an accomplished comic and graphic artist, having done most of the band's art work, including all album art.^[29][30] He was previously in the bands Garden Of Concrete, Masugn and FLAK. Stjärnström was one of the senior producers at Hubnester Industries, alongside Jonas Rörling.^[31]

• Jonas Rörling - lead guitar (2000–present)

Born July 27, 1976, also known as "Gibli", is the lead guitarist for the band. Jonas was one of the senior producers of Hubnester Industries.^[31]

• Andreas Gerdin - keyboards (2000–2006), rhythm guitar (2006–present)

Born January 11, 1976, also known as "Gordon", and is the band's rhythm guitarist. Gerdin provided the Commodore 64-style sounds for the tracks using a SIDStation, alongside using traditional musical keyboards until 2006 when he took over guitar duties from Stjärnström. He was the manager and CEO of Hubnester Industries.^[31]

• Tomas Nilsén - drums (2002–present)

Born May 26, 1979, also known as "Tom", he is the band's drummer.

• Johan Hedlund - bass (2007–present)

Also known as "Dezo", and plays bass for the band. Before joining the band he was a "pop" composer for Hubnester Industries.^[31]

[edit] Former Members

• Kahl Hellmer - bass (2000–2005)
• Johan Palovaara - bass (2005–2007)
• Tobbe - drums (2000–2002)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Webography

Also known as the "Promo" tracks. Listed by year originally released.

2001 "Anthem Apocalyptica" – 3:25 "Arcade" – 5:50 "Fighters from Ninne" – 3:05 "Follower" – 3:18 "The Great Gianna Sisters" – 4:34 "Hero" – 4:26 "I Turn to You" – 5:19 "March of the Undead Part II" – 4:30 "Missing Link" – 4:34 "Origin" – 4:39 "Sidstyler" – 3:15 "The Wired" – 4:42 "Timeline" – 4:37 2002 "Attack Music" – 3:45 "Earthbound" – 4:50 "Hubnester Inferno" – 4:15 "Hybrid" – 3:56 "Kings of the Scene" – 3:29 "Masquerade" – 4:54 "Nemesis" – 4:57 "Sidology 1 - Sid Evolution" – 5:48 "Sidology 3 - Apex Ultima" – 7:00 "Winterstorm" – 3:59

2003 "Bouff" – 3:16 2004 "Cryosleep" – 5:49 "Legion of Stoopid" – 4:52 "Soundtrack to the Rebellion" – 5:56 2005 "Ghost (Beneath the Surface)" – 5:15 "Loot Burn Rape Kill Repeat" – 2:41 "Multiball" – 6:45 "Steve's Quest" – 3:21 2006 "Sidology 2 - Trinity" – 12:50 2007 "Fury 2007" – 5:10

[edit] Albums

Title	Release date	Notes	Label
Deus Ex Machinae	2004-05-01	First studio album	MbD Records UK/Hubnester Industries (reprint)
Jets'n'Guns Soundtrack	2004-12-04	Jets'n'Guns soundtrack	Independent/internet release
Redeemer	2006-03-18	Second studio album	Hubnester Industries/Spinefarm Records
Overworld	2008-02-13	Third studio album	Spinefarm Records

[edit] Other releases

CrapPack™ (2004, collection of unreleased tracks)
#	Title	Length
1.	"Bouff" (Original .xm of Bouff)	1:07
2.	"Chuck Rock" (Theme tune of video game Chuck Rock)	2:39
3.	"Derelict Intro"	2:00
4.	"Metallica Ain't That Leet"	0:07
5.	"Origin (v2)"	4:45
6.	"Sidstyler Tricky"	3:11
7.	"Smooth" (Original .xm of Hero)	4:24
18:13

Live in Lappfejden (2004, live recordings)
#	Title	Length
1.	"Blind Dog Pride"	5:57
2.	"Fury"	5:11
3.	"Hero"	4:23
4.	"Insidious"	5:02
5.	"Origin"	4:07
6.	"Winterstorm"	3:39
28:19

Origin (2008, compilation of webography tracks released via website)
#	Title	Length
1.	"Hero (Remaster)"	4:26
2.	"Nemesis"	4:57
3.	"I Turn to You"	5:19
4.	"Winterstorm"	4:06
5.	"The Wired"	4:41
6.	"Origin v2"	4:38
7.	"Fighters from Ninne v2"	3:13
8.	"Earthbound"	4:50
9.	"Anthem Apocalyptica"	3:25
10.	"Masquerade"	4:53
11.	"Hybrid"	3:56
48:42

Arcade (2008, compilation of webography tracks released via website)
#	Title	Length
1.	"The Great Gianna Sisters"	4:34
2.	"Kings of the Scene" (With SounDemoN)	3:29
3.	"Timeline"	4:37
4.	"Follower"	3:17
5.	"Missing Link"	4:34
6.	"Arcade"	5:50
7.	"Sidstyler"	3:15
8.	"March of the Undead 2"	4:30
9.	"Attack Music"	3:45
10.	"Cryosleep"	5:49
43:40

Fury (2008, compilation of webography tracks released via website)
#	Title	Length
1.	"Bouff"	3:16
2.	"Soundtrack to the Rebellion"	6:00
3.	"Legion of Stoopid (Remaster)"	4:53
4.	"Multiball"	6:45
5.	"Hubnester Inferno"	4:15
6.	"Loot Burn Rape Kill Repeat"	2:41
7.	"Fury 2007"	5:10
8.	"Steve's Quest"	3:21
9.	"Sidology 1 - SID Evolution"	5:48
10.	"Sidology 2 - Trinity"	12:50
11.	"Sidology 3 - Apex Ultima"	7:00
61:59

[edit] References

• Machinae Supremacy About. Official biography (archived). Retrieved on 2007-07-09.

[edit] External links

• Machinae Supremacy official website
• Official forums
• Profile page at Spinefarm Records
• Machinae Supremacy at MySpace

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