Christian Älvestam

Gunnar Christian Älvestam (Born 14 April 1976 in Sweden) is a vocalist, lyricist, guitarist, bassist and drummer for several bands from Sweden.^[1] He is, however, best known as the former vocalist for the Swedish metal band Scar Symmetry. He currently performs with several bands, including Solution .45 and Miseration, and has made several guest appearances for other music bands. He is most known in the metal community for possessing both an extreme clean singing range and an ability to make powerful growls.

Current bands

Solution .45

In late 2007 Jani Stefanovic formed Solution .45, with Christian Älvestam (who at this time was still with Scar Symmetry) joining as one of its last members. Jani stresses that despite Christian's presence in the band, it will not be a Scar Symmetry clone and that songs had been ready for some time before his arrival.^[2]

Miseration

Miseration is a Swedish death metal band formed in 2006, and signed to the label Lifeforce.^[3] The band is one out of a collection of collaborations with both Jani Stefanovic and Christian Älvestam, who provides vocals.

Other bands

Bands	Backing vocalist	Bass guitar	Current member	Electric guitar	Former member	Rhythm guitar	Vocals
Angel Blake	Y			Y	Y
Atoma			Y			Y	Y
Carnalized	Y				Y	Y
Incapacity			Y	Y
Quest of Aidance			Y	Y		Y
Red Skies Dawning			Y			Y
Solar Dawn		Y			Y		Y
Syconaut				Y	Y
The Few Against Many[4]			Y	Y		Y	Y
Torchbearer	Y		Y	Y
Unmoored			Y	Y			Y

Solo Work

In addition to his current bands, Christian has also released an EP called Self 2.0, written and produced completely by him. Unlike his traditional work, the album consists entirely of clean vocals. In more detail, Christian explains

"It's not exactly a secret that I have a weak spot for more pop-oriented stuff - especially in the vein of the sound of the '80s," he says. "In fact, I have always been listening to softer music, alongside the heavier stuff, which is probably why my own music so often, unintentionally, tend to end up being a mixture of the two. I simply can't help myself when it comes to merging the aforesaid styles together, it seems. I'd like to call it unavoidable influence, as a direct result of having been indoctrinated with both, from childhood upwards. With that said, fighting against it is not an easy thing, whether you want to or not. At the same time, some would call it a mixed blessing, I guess. Anyhow, I have wanted to do something a bit different from what I usually do for a long time now and that is to make an all-stripped-down and laid-back album, where I use my clean vocals only. You who have followed me since the early days know I've made brief digressions, musically, of that sort before, like the 'Final State' trilogy (UNMOORED) and 'Lethean Tears' (SOLUTION .45), to name a few, so it's not like 'Self 2.0' is me heading out into completely unexplored territory. I've been there before, grubbing in its periphery. Then again, I guess you could see 'Self 2.0' as me going all the way for the first time, if you like!^[5]

The album was released on 19 October 2012.

Self 2.0 track listing

Former bands

Scar Symmetry

Scar Symmetry is a Swedish metal band from Avesta in Dalarna County, formed in 2004. They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast records. Christian sang on the first three albums and although not the lyricist (drummer Henrik Ohlsson instead handled that role), Christian had a major part on writing the vocal melodies on all three albums. He and the band had parted ways due to creative differences and touring conflicts after the release of their third full-length album Holographic Universe, and has since been replaced by Roberth Karlsson and Lars Palmqvist.

Guest appearances

• Angel Blake – Clean vocals on the track "Defenseless" from The Descended.
• Bloodbath – Harsh vocals on the track “Iesous” from The Fathomless Mastery.
• Deadlock – Clean vocals on the track “Dying Breed” from Manifesto.
• Demon Hunter – Harsh and clean vocals on the track “Just Breathe” from The World Is a Thorn.
• Disarmonia Mundi – Harsh and clean vocals on the track "Ringside Seat to Human Tragedy" from the 2011 reissue of "Mind Tricks" and Clean vocals on the track "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" from the 2015 album "Cold Inferno".
• Henrik B – Clean vocals on the track “Now and Forever”.
• Lowbringer – Clean vocals, guitar, drums, and programming on the track "Planting a New Sun"
• Lyriel – Clean and harsh vocals on the track "Black and White" from Skin and Bones.^[6]
• Nuclear Blast All-Stars: Out of the Dark – Harsh and clean vocals on the track “The Overshadowing”.
• Sight of Emptiness – Clean vocals on the tracks "Fearless", "Deception", and "Hostility" from Instincts.
• The Project Hate MCMXCIX – Clean vocals on the tracks “You Come to Me Through Hell” and “The Locust Principles” from The Lustrate Process and "Summoning Majestic War" from Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis).
• Universum – Harsh and clean vocals on the tracks "Fractured Archetype", "Sum of the Universe", and "2.0" from Mortuus Machina.
• Zonaria – Clean vocals on the track “Attending Annihilation” from Infamy and the Breed.

References

External links

• Christian Älvestam on Myspace
• Christian Älvestam on Facebook