Andreas
Rimheden and Marie Hagelqvist had occasionally recorded music together
since the mid 90s. The style ranged from synthpop to minimalistic
industrial songs and were often a crossover between these styles.
Around the beginning of the new millenium they decided to really
form a band together. They started producing songs for a full length
album, which was eventually released in 2002 and was called Private
Void.
During the first
years Andreas and Marie used the old band name of an industrial/EBM
band called Morticians that Andreas was previously involved in.
This gave them a way more gothic appeal than what they were actually
looking for. By 2003 they had come up with a more suiting name:
Eternity Range, which is taken from the name of a most likely quite
vast place on the South Pole.

The year 2003
was also when a third memberjoined the band: Loita Jahnsson, who
plays the violin. She greatly enhanced the romantic yet dark mood
of the music and brought another dimension to the bands live performances.
By then the band had already made most of the songs for a second
album on which their musical style has developed further into something
more ethereal, sensitive and mellow; a darker form of synthpop with
apparent strokes of industrial harshness and electronic cold. The
inspiration for their music and lyrics is taken from life itself,
from nightmares and from the many times that they are the same thing.
Vulnerability, hopelessness, sorrow, fear and existential doubt
are the main lyrical themes.
The music of
Eternity Range has recieved great reviews in popular European fanzines
and has been played in Swedish national radio.
The second album
by Eternity Range called Solitude was released in the summer 2005
by US label Kinetik Media.
These
are excerpts from some reviews of Morticians "Private Void":
"Musically
speaking, the beats are good and varied (not this dull
thump thump thump we've been hearing a lot in clubs) and the melodies
are brilliantly simple and irresistibly catchy. The lyrics are
wonderfully sarcastic, dark and morbid at times. Quite a punch
packed into an innocent sounding lullaby. As if the music alone
wasn't enough, Andreas - whose vocals are smooth and quiet, yet
masculine, brought in Marie Hagelquist to do backing vocals on
this CD. Perfect point and counterpoint -- I don't think you could
have asked for a better combination.
Definitely
a skilled musician with quite a knack for keeping things interesting
yet minimal, I think there's something for every one with the
Morticians whether you're into club hits, or melodies, or lyrics
or even
ballads."
-
American fanzine Starvox
"Andreas
Rimheden has a really great voice that fits this kind of music
very well, and on some of the tracks he is accompanied by a female
voice which belongs to Marie Hagelqvist. The two together are
an excellent duo. The album isn't pure synth-pop all the way through,
though. On, for instance, "Goodbye" the beats are more
like eighties' EBM, much like the early works of The Klinik, but
more laid back. This creates a really nice contrast with the melancholic
vocals. There are also some ethereal vibes present in the production,
especially in "To Heaven", where the beginning sounds
like a faster version of the "Twin Peaks Theme". The
track is very atmospheric and Rimheden sounds like a young Dave
Gahan of Depeche Mode. And, while talking about Depeche Mode,
the really great track "Aware" sounds like a mix between
early DM and Erasure. Of course, this makes it an obvious favorite,
but my two absolute favorites must be the opener "Alive"
and the excellent "Last Dance". I find it pretty amazing
how something that sounds so simple and laid back can turn out
to be so great. That is what I like about Morticians; it is straight
forward without lots of cheap effects and so on. Just synth-pop
the way it sounded in the early eighties."
-
Swedish webzine Moving Hands
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