The name- Isildurs Bane was taken from J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" and pertains to the `One Ring.' They were formed in 1976, former members came from two disbanded groups, which both played symphonic rock. Kjell Severinsson - Drums, Jan Severinsson - Flute & Violin, Mats Nilsson - Guitar & Vocals, Ingvar Johansson - Bass, Bengt Johnsson - Keyboards and Dan Andersson - Guitar & Oboe- aged between 15 and 19, they began playing together influenced by bands such as: Gentle Giant, Genesis, Yes and ELP. Their earlier style was more symphonic and arrangements were close to half an hour in length.
Mats Johansson joined the group in 1977 and in replacing one of the guitarists, the band had two keyboard players until 1981, when Bengt Johnsson left the group. Mats has contributed a great deal to the group's musical development and over the years emerged as Isildurs Bane's main composer.
The band's first real tour came in 1982, prior to this, the band
had done a lot of concerts, but they were more singles engagements.
`Sagan om den Irländska Älgen,'- their first album was released in 1984. It's a story about nuclear war really happening and the reactions of human beings; the resulting apathy, narrow-mindedness, fear and panic. With the problem of finding an appropriate label in Sweden, the band created their own label- `Svenska Unikum'. And on their second album - `Sea Reflections' the group abandoned their lyrical themes and embraced a symphonic jazz sound.
In 1986, Isildurs Bane started to concentrate more on touring. With the use of lights, pre-recorded sound effects, words, scenes, variable attire and more, the group became known as a stunning live band.
In 1987, `Eight Moments of Eternity' was released, similar to `Sea Reflections,' but with more of a `traditional' Isildurs Bane sound emphasizing keyboards over their jazzy sounds of their second album. Fredrik Janacek, who had background in jazz/funk, R&B and theater music replaced Stigge Ljunglöf.
In 1988 `Sagan om Ringen,' made in 1981 was released. The band had no record deal, but had recorded a lot of the material in the studio. It sold more than 3000 copies. Touring in Sweden, Germany and Hungary, Mats Nilsson, came down with appendicitis, was stuck in a Hungarian hospital, thus they had to cancel the rest of the Hungarian tour.
The band visited a castle "Le Palais Idéal" built by Cheval in 1988. The edifice took him 33 years to build it with his own hands. Inspired by this work, Isildurs Bane toured with "Cheval" and with an orchestral setting before they recorded the album. They worked with "Hallands Ensemblen", a local, professional chamber orchestra expanded with a small brass section. This was also the first tour with our new guitarist Tommy Nilsson and the band built all the visuals (what they call- scenography), themselves- a job which took them several months. The tour was seen by over 17,000 people and the whole project was a huge success.
In the fall of 1989, the band toured with "Cheval" and the new guitarist Bo N Roth, but without the chamber orchestra. They toured in Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary- from small clubs to concert halls. During their Czechoslovakia gigs, people were demonstrating in the streets, soldiers and police everywhere, when the riots began the band was caught in the middle.
In 1991, Fredrik Janacek left Isildurs Bane and was replaced by Fredrik Emilson, a gifted young bassist who also plays keyboard and percussion. Unfortunately, 1991 tours were cancelled because of group illnesses.
The nest recording was the double album- 1The Voyage - A Trip to Elsewhere.' Mats Johansson wrote the music and Jan-Erik Sääf, arranged it. Arranging it collectively within Isildurs Bane, the piece was put everything together and went on tour in Sweden.
In 1992 some of the older albums were released on CD.
In 1993, the band started to do live concerts together with Jan Schaffer and Björn J:son Lindh. They played material from "Cheval", "The Voyage" and from Jan's and Björn's collections. The show was a visual treat- performers sporting white coats and headlamps, dancers, painters and cyclists accompanied by a cacophony of music. 8000 people saw this show. In the spring of 1994 they did a Swedish tour, employing the same concept. During this period, the bane welcomed Jonas Christophs- a gifted guitarist who they already knew.
In early 1995, the group rearranged `The voyage,' once more together with Jan-Erik Sääf and the Umeå Symphony Orchestra. It was a large-scale project with a lot of scenography, b/w film and other props.
In March 2000, Isildurs played at Baja Prog IV, performing selected tracks from their latest three cd-productions: "Cheval", "The Voyage" and "MIND, Vol. 1", and others.
At Nearfest 2002, the band made their first ever appearance in the United States which was a rousing success. They then toured in Canada before embarking on a large European tour. Metamorfosi and Isildurs Bane will be collaborating during a tour of Halland, Sweden with the performance L'evento, a part of the project "Vattenhålet" (The Waterhole) which is an investment in youth culture in Halland. The music will be recorded for transmission on the radio, and will also be recorded to be released on CD.
`We compromise within, not outside the group.' Has been a motto of Isildurs Bane ever since their beginning. All IB albums can now be found on CD.
For the first time since the early 1980s, IB has released a studio album with vocals: `Mind Vol. 4: Pass.' The album is getting solid reviews.
Current line-up
Isildurs Bane 2001
Klas Assarsson - Mallets & Percussion
Fredrik "Gicken" Johansson - Bass
Joachim Gustafsson - Violin
Mats Johansson - Keyboards
Jonas Christophs - Guitar
Jan Severinsson - Sound
Kjell Severinsson - Drums & Percussion
Discography
"Sagan om den Irländska Älgen" (LP - IRLP 001 CD - SUCD 392)
"Sagan om Ringen" (LP - IRLP 088 CD - SUCD 392)
"Sea Reflections" (LP - IRLP 002 CD - SUCD 492)
"Eight Moments of Eternity" (LP - IRLP 003 CD - SUCD 492)
"Cheval" (LP - IRLP 004 CD - IRCD 489)
"The Voyage - A Trip to Elsewhere" (CD - SUCD 192)
"Lost eggs"(CD - SUCD 194)
"MIND Volume 1"(CD - SUCD 197)
"MIND Volume 2 LIVE
"MIND Vol. 3:
"MIND Vol. 4: Pass
Isildurs Bane & Steve Hogarth: Colours Not Found In Nature 2017
Off the Radar 2017
