The Mushroom River Band

Black Sabbath/Kyuss disciples the Mushroom River Band hail from Värnamo, Sweden – originally formed in June of 1996. Consisting of members Anders Linusson (guitars), Andreas Grafenauer (drums), and Alexander "Saso" Sekulovski (bass), the group spent the first few months of their existence writing songs before beginning a frontman search. Soonafter, Grafenauer told the band he would be leaving – but the group managed to record a demo before his exit, with local singer Spice (of Spiritual Beggars) filling in on vocals. The demo received positive feedback from friends, which resulted in Linusson and Sekulovski searching for replacement members. Then-16 year old drummer Chris Rockström signed on in 1997, as Spice decided to join the group – keeping Spiritual Beggars afloat at the same time as well. 1998 saw the release of their first official release, the four-song EP, Rocketcrash, while another EP was issued a year later, the five-track The No Quarter Recordings, which led to some of the group's first shows outside their local region. In 2000, the quartet signed on with the Meteor City label, who issued their full-length debut, Music for the World Beyond, the same year. Few shows were performed in support of the release however, due to Spice touring heavily with Spiritual Beggars in support of their Ad Astra release – including opening gigs for the like of Iron Maiden and Entombed. The Mushroom River Band returned once more in 2002, with their sophomore effort, Simsalabim.