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Frosty felines >> Melodic metal mamas Drain make sweet Swede music
by RUPERT BOTTENBERG Photo by Mikael Eriksson
Not that these frostbitten fraüleins are running around burning lovely old churches to the ground or dining on each others' brains, like their peers in the zany Swedish black metal scene. "I'm not very much into that kind of music," says guitarist Flavia Canel, "because I like melody. I don't like it when people scream and growl. In music like that, I find they often have a good instrumental part, but the vocals I don't like. No melodies, just growling--bluuaaarghh! I can't stand that." For their part, Drain (the oft-spotted suffix "sth," which means Stockholm, is a U.S.-only attachment) are a deal more tuneful and inventive than many of their gruff counterparts, with a good sense of tempo, too--never blisteringly fast, never mired in stoner sludge either. "I write a lot of riffs," says Canel, "and (bassist) Anna K does, too. (Drummer) Martina Axen is the one who writes the melodies. She listens a lot to Madonna and music like that--of course, she also likes Pantera. I listen to a lot of hip hop. When I write a riff, I program my drum machine with a really groovy hip hop beat, and then I put a heavy riff on it, and that's when you get that groove to the riff." Having toured with the Ozzfest twice ('97 and '99), Drain are now backing Black Sabbath up for the third time. A dream come true for any hair-farming hellcat, isn't it? "Hell, yeah!" howls Canel. "I mean, I grew up listening to Sabbath, and as a guitarist I was inspired by Tony Iommi many years back. They're a little bit older than us, but they're very cool people." Pressed for details, Canel spills the beans on the Ozz-meister. "He's funny, he's like a little rascal. He likes to play pranks on people. He has these stink bombs that he puts out everywhere. I was standing on the side of the stage watching a band at the Ozzfest, and suddenly I feel these things that are coming flying at me. I turn and look and there's Ozzy, with his smile, hiding behind the speaker. I'm like, 'What? What are you doing?!'" Like any other serious musicians, the ladies of Drain have had to put other interests on the back burner. "The last four years, we've been touring, writing and recording so much, we haven't had time to do anything else. Before we started doing the band, I was racing motorcycles. Road racing and drag racing--I've been a biker since I was 16 years old. The band started to take all of my time, and they're also worried that I might hurt myself, and I wouldn't be able to play guitar." Dishing out the riffage, Canel notes, is an acceptable placebo. "Standing on stage or racing a bike, both give you a rush like you can't compare. Beautiful, both of them."
With Black fucking Sabbath and Godsmack at the Molson Centre on Sunday, August 22, 7:30pm, $35.50-$59.50+taxes |
There's three things I really like about Sweden. Sensible, attractive pine furniture is one; sensible, attractive Nordic supermodel types is another. The third, of course, is ridiculous musical heaviosity. Drain are a band that combine the last two--or all three, if they do in fact, as I suspect, spend their days in Ikea coffins, rising at night to rock hard and scare the pants off Scandinavian village folk.