Adrian Erlandsson

Adrian Erlandsson (born 27 October 1970 in Malmö, Sweden) is a prolific Swedish / British, heavy metal drummer, who currently plays in At the Gates (1990–1996, 2007–2008, 2010–), The Haunted (1996–1999, 2013–), Netherbird, and with his wife in Nemhain. He has also been a member of H.E.A.L. (1994–1996), Hyperhug (1994–1996), Decameron (1997), Cradle of Filth (1999–2006) and Needleye (2006–?), Brujeria (September 2006 – 2013) and Yorkshire doom metal band Paradise Lost (2009-2016).

Erlandsson currently resides in London where he owns a photo studio ^[1] (see Swedes in the United Kingdom).

Biography/Early life

Erlandsson was born in Malmö, Sweden to a Swedish father with Romanian roots. He's the older brother of Daniel Erlandsson, the drummer of Arch Enemy, and ex-Carcass. They both grew up together in Sweden and started playing drums at a very young age but with Adrian's career beginning in 1981 at the age of 11 after getting his first drum kit, and started to play with friends began playing covers of classic rock songs. He got his brother into drumming as Daniel admits "If it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't be playing today." They also started playing with their music teacher at school, and eventually began to write their own songs and formed a band.

Inspired by Judas Priest, he formed the Black Nuns which evolved into Berits Polisonger playing until 1986. There then followed a series of other bands including thrash metal band Penance in 1987. Erlandsson went on to form Penance, a thrash metal band, which never recorded a demo, although they did record some rehearsal tracks.

As soon as he could hold down his first beat, Adrian Erlandsson and a friend formed a band and covered classic rock songs. The first song they learned was Joan Jett’s "I Love Rock and Roll" They soon gathered more members and began playing covers by bands like Def Leppard, Dokken, The Exploited, GBH, Thin Lizzy, and Twisted Sister.

Bands

At the Gates

Erlandsson then went to University in Gothenburg, where in 1990, he joined the Swedish death metal band At the Gates. He was the band's drummer until they broke up, and received critical and fan praise for his speed and precision. When asked what each at the Gates member contributes to the group's overall sound, bandmember Anders Björler said that Erlandsson "hit the drums hard".^[2]

In 2007, At the Gates reunited for some festival shows in the summer of 2008 and a headlining US tour which was dubbed Suicidal Final Tour and at the time, mentioned that they would disband after the 2008 tour.^[3] In December 2010, the band reunited again, and released their fifth studio album At War with Reality in October 2014.

Terror

He was a founding member of the supergroup Terror in the Spring of 1994 with Jon Nödtveidt and his At the Gates bandmates, Anders Björler & Jonas Björler. The band existed for a few weeks but released "Demo '94 in April 1994.

The Haunted

The day after the first demise of At the Gates, being 27 July 1996, Erlandsson formed The Haunted with Patrik Jensen. Erlandsson remained in the band before departing in June 1999 due to eventually not liking the deal the band had Earache Records.

Later on in 2012, when Per Möller Jensen (the drummer who replaced Erlandsson back in '99) quit The Haunted, the remainder of the band who had also lost 2 other members other than Möller, had difficulty for a year to search for a new drummer, until Patrik Jensen phoned Erlandsson in April 2013 to rejoin. When Erlandsson asked Jensen as to who else was in the band, he responded with new members Marco Aro & Ola Englund. Having knowing those members and respecting them at their musically abilities, Erlandsson immediately jumped at the chance to join and put his musical input with them.^[4] On 26 June 2013, The Haunted released a YouTube video titled "The Haunted returns with a revamped line-up!" which officially announced the returns of both Erlandsson and vocalist Marco Aro.

Cradle of Filth

Erlandsson mentioned how he was hired by Cradle of Filth stating:

I got approached by Cradle of filth at the Dynamo gig '99 where we played with The Haunted. 2 weeks into June I was asked to join Cradle of filth in England, mainly to help them out with some session recording and a few gigs… Since it worked so well… I ended up joining the band on a permanent basis…

— Adrian Erlandsson

In 2006, according to an official Roadrunner press release, Erlandsson left with the intention of devoting his energies to his two side projects, Nemhain and the since-defunct Needleye. "I have enjoyed my time with Cradle but it is now time to move on. I feel I am going out on a high as Thornography is definitely our best album to date".^[5]

Nemhain

Erlandsson formed Nemhain with his wife Amber Erlandsson, known as a fetish model under the name Morrigan Hel,^[6] in March 2006. The band returns Erlandsson to his roots as a rock drummer. Nemhain recorded its debut album From the Ashes in Studio Fredman during the late spring 2008 due for a release in April 2009.

Paradise Lost

On 16 March 2009, he joined the British gothic metal band Paradise Lost under Jeff Walker's recommendation.^[7] Although he was hired after the recording Faith Divides Us Death Unites Us, he was in the music video The Rise of Denial.

Throughout random times from 2009–2014, Erlandsson has been unable to play with the band due to commitments with his other bands most notably At The Gates. At the 14th of June 2016 Adrian announced on his Facebook page that he no longer will play drums for Paradise Lost due to other band commitments.

Vallenfyre

In 2010 he was hired again to be in another band of Gregory Mackintosh from Paradise Lost called Vallenfyre. In 2014, just like in Paradise Lost, Erlandsson has been unable to play with the band due to commitments with his other bands.

Other Projects

Erlandsson has also played in and Nifelheim. While Adrian was in Cradle of Filth, due to band's poor reputation in the black metal scene, he was fired from Nifelheim, who said it was "like a very bad, bad dream" to have had "a drummer who plays in CRADLE OF WIMPS now", and that he was "a schooled drummer" but "had problems to understand the most twisted and sickest riffs".^[8]

In late 2007, Erlandsson recorded the drums for a three track EP for London band Green River Project.

The year 2008 saw Erlandsson fill in for Deathstars on their tour in Europe supporting Korn.

In 2012 Erlandsson took part in a still unreleased and secretive project with the band HIYF. (needs more details)

Equipment

Discography

References

External links

• Adrian's last interview as the drummer for Cradle of Filth