Port Noir

Port Noir

Port Noir is a Swedish group from Södertälje, active since 2011. The band forms around Andreas “AW” Wiberg on drums, Love Andersson on vocals and guitar, and Andreas Hollstrand on guitar and backing vocals. It is associated with alternative rock and progressive rock, and is also tagged with alternative and alternative metal.

Formation and early activity

The group begins in November 2011, when the three members meet in a rehearsal room in Södertälje, outside Stockholm, after becoming dissatisfied with playing music with other people who do not share the same level of ambition. They set out to make something new and to work beyond fixed musical boundaries. They record their first song, “Sun dé Man”, only hours after getting together. Before the track is mixed, they make a video for it and put it online.

Anders Fridén, the singer of In Flames and head of Razzia Notes, hears “Sun dé Man” a week later and contacts the band by email, describing it as the best song he has heard in a long time and asking whether they already have a record deal. About six months after forming, Port Noir plays its first concert as the support act for In Flames in Stockholm.

Debut album

Port Noir begins recording its debut album, Puls, at Dugout Studios in Uppsala with Daniel Bergstrand, who has worked with Meshuggah, Dimmu Borgir and Soilwork. The title is the Swedish word for “pulse”, and the record’s lyrical theme concerns not staying in a comfort zone, but finding new ways of doing things and following the force that drives progress. The members come from backgrounds including black metal, jazz, alternative rock, death metal, hardcore and progressive rock.

The band’s label is Inside Out Music.