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Type of site | Music webzine |
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Owner | Pär Winberg Johan Wippsson |
Created by | Pär Winberg |
URL | melodic |
Launched | 1999 |
Current status | Active |
Melodic is an international daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on independent music. However, the range of musical genres covered extends to rock, pop, folk, jazz, heavy metal, electronic, and experimental music. [1] [2]
The site, which was established in 1999, concentrates on new music, but Melodic journalists also review reissued albums and box sets. The site also publishes "best-of" lists as annual features detailing the best albums of each year. [3]
The website was created in Skogås, Sweden in 1999 with the name of Midwestern Skies. [4] It was founded by the music industrialist Pär Winberg, which had been an A&R executive and had worked for EMI Music Sweden and Lionheart Music Group. [5] He also worked with several artists, including The Real Group and Robert Wells. [1] Melodic publishes content from contributors located around the globe, based in different continents and countries. [5]
In May 2002, Midwestern Skies moved to the domain Melodic.net. [6] The following year, the site expanded to competitions, features, and columns. In 2006, several features began to be provided by the site's staff writers, including live reviews, interviews, exclusive MP3 streams, and year-end features. In 2011, Melodic presented readers choice awards in ten categories. [7] Swedish rock band The Pusher received three awards for their debut album The Art of Hit Music. Other winners were The Anix, Miss Behaviour, Nickelback, Coury Palermo, Sixx:A.M., Infinita Symphonia, and Brad Byrd. In January 2012, Melodic announced a new chart which is based on readers' vote. Charts are announced on Monday mornings and feature fifteen tracks. [8]
The website had a complete make-over in 2020 and currently features the latest music news, interviews, record reviews, live shows, music videos as well as competitions. [9] [10] [11] [12]
Melodic operates a simple 5-star rating system, starting at 1, that allows .5 intervals. Each of these values is assigned a word, ranging from "Terrible" (1.0) to "Essential" (5.0).
As well as showing the score a reviewer has given to the album, a review page will also show the average rating given by the readers. Should enough users have rated the album, a bar chart will also be shown indicating how many votes each rating has.
Hypocrisy is a Swedish death metal band formed in October 1991 in Ludvika by Peter Tägtgren.
At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Gates released four albums, ending with and including Slaughter of the Soul (1995), which has been seen as a landmark in the mid-1990s Swedish death metal scene as well as being a major inspiration for many metalcore bands. After reuniting for a one-off tour in 2008, the band reformed once again in 2011, and they have since released three more albums: At War with Reality (2014), To Drink from the Night Itself (2018) and The Nightmare of Being (2021).
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Their lineup has changed several times, with vocalist Anders Fridén and guitarist Björn Gelotte being the only consistent members since 1995. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames has pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal, and as of 2008, has sold over two million records worldwide.
Blueprints for the Black Market is the debut studio album by the band Anberlin. It was released on May 6, 2003, barely a year after the band formed, and was the only album that was released with guitarist Joey Bruce in the band line-up. Blueprints had two singles, "Readyfuels", for which a music video was filmed and "Change the World ". Although the album has sold over 60,000 units, its success pales compared to Anberlin's later albums, failing to chart on the Billboard 200.
Trapt is the major label debut and second studio album by American rock band Trapt. With three hit singles, the album ascended to number 42 on the Billboard 200 chart, and went on to spend more than 80 weeks inside the Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the RIAA on May 15, 2003, then platinum on November 24 of that same year, making it Trapt's most successful album to date.
In with the Out Crowd is the sixth studio album by American ska-punk band Less Than Jake, released on May 23, 2006 on Sire Records. Produced by Howard Benson, who had previously worked with the band on their third studio album, Hello Rockview (1998), the album was preceded by the single "Overrated " and an EP of material recorded during the same sessions, entitled Absolution for Idiots and Addicts.
A Matter of Life and Death is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 25 August 2006 in Italy and Finland and 28 August worldwide—excluding the US, Canada and Japan, where it was released on 5 September. It is the first album in Iron Maiden's career to enter the US Billboard charts in the top 10, achieving significant chart success in many other countries as well.
Lies for the Liars is the third studio album by American rock band the Used. It was released on May 22, 2007, and was certified gold by the RIAA on February 28, 2019.
Ripen is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Shawn McDonald. The album was released on March 7, 2006, on Sparrow Records. This album was produced by Will Hunt and Christopher Stevens. The album attained commercial charting successes and critical acclamation.
Melodic metalcore is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of melodic death metal and metalcore; it has a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation, distorted guitar tones, palm muting, double bass drumming, blast beats, metalcore-stylized breakdowns, and vocals that range from aggressive screaming and death growls to clean singing. The genre has seen commercial success for employing a more accessible sound at times compared to other forms of extreme music. Many notable melodic metalcore bands have been influenced by At the Gates and In Flames.
Shogun is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium. The album was released worldwide on various dates between September 23, 2008, and October 1, 2008, through Roadrunner Records. It is their last release to feature original drummer Travis Smith. Work on the album is noted to have begun with producer Nick Raskulinecz in October 2007, with the band stating that they chose not to work with Jason Suecof again as they wanted to explore new ideas.
"Kelsey" is a song by American pop band Metro Station. It was released on August 7, 2007 as the first single from their debut album, Metro Station. It was re-released on March 17, 2009, after the success of "Shake It" and "Seventeen Forever".
Artwork is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Used, released through Reprise in the United States and the United Kingdom on August 31, 2009.
Killswitch Engage is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. It was released on June 30, 2009 through Roadrunner Records. It is the band's second album to be self-titled, the first being their debut album. It was produced by Adam Dutkiewicz and Brendan O'Brien. The album's reception from critics and fans has been mixed, with praise for Howard Jones's vocals and criticism of Dutkiewicz's and O'Brien's production and the album's reliance on formula.
The Veer Union is a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. They have released multiple studio albums, Time to Break the Spell (2006), Against the Grain (2009), Divide the Blackened Sky (2012), and an EP Life Support Part 1 (2013). Their fourth studio album, Decade, was released on January 29, 2016. The fifth and sixth, Decade II:Rock & Acoustic and Decade III:Demos & Rarities were released on August 31, 2018. Their seventh album Quarantine Collaborations was released on December 17, 2021, and on December 16, 2022, their eighth and latest album release Manifestations .
The Outsiders is the third album by American Christian rock band Needtobreathe, released August 25, 2009 through Atlantic Records. It debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 21,000 copies in its first week.
Love Drunk is the second studio album by the American rock band Boys Like Girls, released on September 8, 2009 by Columbia Records. The album was recorded in New York City and Vancouver because there are "two different producers/production teams, two different environments, and two different styles of inspiration" stated by the band's frontman Martin Johnson. The album peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200, making it the biggest hit for the band. Its lead single, the title track was released on July 7, 2009 shortly followed by "She's Got a Boyfriend Now", "Two Is Better Than One" featuring Taylor Swift, and "Heart Heart Heartbreak". This is the last album to feature bassist Bryan Donahue before his departure in 2011.
Slice is the fifth studio album by American singer Five for Fighting, released on October 13, 2009 by Aware Records and Wind-up Records. In May 2009, Ondrasik posted on his Myspace blog that the name of his forthcoming record will be taken from fan suggestions, and will be subsequently voted on to determine the winning album title.
Life Starts Now is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The album was released on September 22, 2009. It was produced by Howard Benson. It was the second time in a row that the band has worked with him, after the commercially successful One-X. Life Starts Now expresses a lighter lyrical mood compared to the previous album. It is the first Three Days Grace album to be released by Sony Music Entertainment and the last to be released by Jive Records, as Sony disbanded the label in 2011.
Fortress is the fourth studio album by American rock band Alter Bridge, released by Roadrunner Records on September 25, 2013. Michael Baskette, who produced Alter Bridge's previous two albums, Blackbird (2007) and AB III (2010), returned as the producer. It was released by Roadrunner Records worldwide except in the United States, where it was self-released on October 8, 2013, through Warner Music, Roadrunner Records passed to be an subsidiary of Warner Music, after EMI disappear a year before. It is their only album since their debut album One Day Remains not to be released in October. The lead single, "Addicted to Pain", was released on August 12, 2013. The album was widely acclaimed, with several critics calling it the band's best album to date and giving praise to each of the band members' musical skills displayed on the record.