Trettioariga Kriget

Trettioåriga Kriget (‘The Thirty Years War’) came together in 1970 in Saltsjöbaden, which is a seaside resort, Southeast of Stockholm. All the band members were around seventeen and still in high school at the time. To begin with, the school’s main hall doubled up as a rehearsal room. This first line-up of the band was a six piece outfit consisting of two drummers! After several line- up changes the band members finally became Stefan Fredin on bass guitar and vocals, Dag Lundquist on drums, Robert Zima- vocals on guitar and Christer Åkerberg as lead guitarist. The band rehearsed together intensively for a year and a half and during this period developed a unique style of their own.

Early 1974 they got their first record deal. An album was recorded that summer and released in august 1974, called “TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET”. The musical talent and originality of the group was duly acknowledged in subsequent reviews, and the album became an instant classic. What it more, today it is often considered as being the very first Swedish progressive rock album and, to others, even the first Swedish heavy rock album!!

Their second album, ‘KRIGSSÅNG’ (‘War Song’) was recorded in the summer of 1975, though it didn’t get released until the early part of 1976 . It is generally regarded as Trettioåriga Krigets (‘a masterpiece’) and even as the best Scandinavian progressive rock album ever. The B side is wholly devoted to the long suite “Krigssång 2″. These first 2 albums have had a tremendous influence on the later Swedish progressive and metal bands i.e. Anekdoten, Opeth, Änglagård etc.  In October -76 the band embarked on an extensive English tour. It went down very well with audiences and the English music magazine “Melody Maker” chose them as one of the most promising bands of 1977, speaking enthusiastically of their ‘intense and gripping songs’ and quoting that ‘the power of the music is tremendous’!!!

Their third album, called “HEJ PÅ ER” (Hello Everybody), was recorded in the summer of 1978 in ‘Grunden’ - their rehearsal room, with mobile recording facilities. By this time Mats had also joined the band as keyboard player. The album was very well-received and is, to date, their highest-selling album ever.
In 1979 they released their fourth album, entitled ‘MOT ALLA ODDS’ (Against all odds) and in 1981 their fifth album called simply ‘KRIGET’.  After this the band felt their energy was running out after 7 years of constantly being on the road plus bringing out 5 albums, and decided to part, playing their last show in May 1981 at a Swedish Radio station.

However, in 2002 Stefan, Dag, Chris and Olle decided to start rehearsing again and try out new material. These rehearsals proved to be such a success that the band decided to enter the studio once again and put together a brand new album. In the studio, Robert and Mats also joined. The album was named “ELDEN AV ÅR” (Fire of Years) and came out in January of 2004, to receive very good reviews. Many describe the album as the band’s best and, furthermore, one of the best reunion albums ever released. Live shows were also to follow in 2004 with the classic line-up of Stefan Fredin, Dag Lundquist, Christer Åkerberg, Robert Zima and Mats Lindberg. In September 2004 the band even made their US debut, playing the Progday Festival in North Carolina. In addition, for the first time in over 30 years, they played in their home village of Saltsjöbaden. In June of 2005 they played at Sweden’s biggest rock festival, The Sweden Rock Festival, and in March 2006 they played the Baja Prog Festival in Mexico.

In August 2007 their 8th studio album, ‘ BÖRJAN OCH SLUTET’ (‘In the beginning and the end’), came out and received rave reviews. The band members saw it as a natural follow up to ‘Elden av år’, with a more coherent atmosphere. In the autumn of 2008 the band released their first live album, which was called ‘WAR YEARS’. This was a double album which covered their whole career, from their second-ever show in their home village of Saltsjöbaden, up to their performance at the Prog Day Festival in North Carolina, USA in 2004. They also did their first tour of Japan, and in June 2009 played at the prestigious Nearfest Festival in the US.

In April 2011 TK released the last album in the trilogy, beginning with ‘Elden av år’ and ‘I början och slutet’ called ‘EFTER EFTER’ (‘After Efter’).
2013 saw the band return to Japan and also play at the prestigious Roadburn Festival in Holland. In the year 2014 TK started to work on their first English language album, which they titled ‘SEASIDE AIR’. It came out in March of 2016.

trettioarigakriget.com