Club AC30 Wonderland Records Progress Productions[2]
Members
Daniel Änghede
Tomas Almgren
Hearts of Black Science is a Swedish musical duo from Gothenburg,[1] known for creating “dark, brooding synthpop mixed with shoegaze, goth and new wavepop”.[2] The genre of their music has also been referred to as post-rock and electronica.[1][3] The band says their focus is on “melodies” and “dark lyrics”;[4] their name comes from the idea of alchemy creating gold from available materials, or in their case, music from diverse styles.[5]
History
Hearts of Black Science was formed in November 2005 by two childhood friends: Daniel Änghede (also vocalist in UK supergroup Crippled Black Phoenix) and Tomas Almgren (ex-horror movie director).[6] In April 2006, the band released a self-financed EP with a limited run of 200 copies [7] that sold out within just 2 months; a second EP was released the following month.[6]
The band was signed shortly after the A&R scout from Club AC30 saw them performing their second gig ever at the Water Rats Theatre in London.[citation needed] The debut album The Ghost You Left Behind was released by the London-based label in the spring of 2007. It was also released in Japan as a special edition by Quince Records.[8] The full-length album was accompanied by two singles: Empty City Lights and Driverlights.[6] Änghede left the band for a period[9] while Almgren continued writing; he created the demos that together they made into their next album, The Star In The Lake, released on Swedish label Wonderland Records in 2009.[5][10]
Hearts of Black Science have toured in the U.K.; BBC radio invited the duo twice to perform live on air on the Gideon Coe and Tom Robinson shows.[11][12] Their first two albums have been praised by both international press and their fans: Sweden's Zero Music Magazine gave the debut 9 / 10 and the follow-up 8 / 10; U.S.-based Virus Magazine gave it 8 / 10.
In 2013, the band released an EP named We Saw the Moon[13] and also a digital album called B-Sides & Remixes collecting their B-sides and hard to find remixes along with several unreleased tracks.[4]
After several delays,[14] the band released their third full-length album, Signal, on 20 November 2015 through Swedish label Progress Productions.[15][16] The new album includes guest appearances by Chrysta Bell,[2] Justin Greaves (of Crippled Black Phoenix),[2] and Heike Langhans (of Draconian).[3][14]
