Snowy Shaw

Snowy Shaw (born Tommie Mike Christer Helgesson on 25 July 1968) is a Swedish heavy metal musician (primarily a drummer), based in the port city of Gothenburg in the west coast of Sweden. He has played with many heavy metal bands, like King Diamond, Dream Evil,[1] Mercyful Fate,[2] IllWill,[3] Notre Dame and Memento Mori.

Snowy Shaw
Background information
Birth name	Tommie Mike Christer Helgesson
Born	(1968-07-25) 25 July 1968
Origin	Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres	Heavy metal, black metal, doom metal, symphonic metal, gothic metal, power metal, punk rock, shock rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals
Years active	1989–present
Associated acts	Dimmu Borgir, King Diamond, Loud N' Nasty, Mercyful Fate, Dream Evil, Therion, Cans, Notre Dame, Memento Mori, IllWill, Nightrage, Sabaton
Website	www.snowyshaw.net

Snowy is adept at playing guitar as well as drums and additionally featured as a primary songwriter in Dream Evil.

In October 2006 Snowy joined the symphonic metal band Therion, singing on the Gothic Kabbalah album and participating in the 2007 tour together with already established singer Mats Levén. On 24 August 2010, he was announced as the new bassist and clean vocalist of symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, although he was only officially a member for one day then quit and rejoined Therion.[4]

Snowy also works as a photographer and designer for bands and artists, and has arranged promotional shoots for bands such as Falconer, Easy Action, Engel, Loud N´Nasty, Passenger, Therion, The Crown, Hellfueled, Nightrage, Wolf, Dream Evil, Amon Amarth, Aggressive Chill, Medusa, K2, XXX, Hardcore Superstar. In 2012 and 2013 Snowy Shaw was on tour with Sabaton, replacing the (then) current drummer Robban Bäck due to parental leave.

Timeline

• 1989 – Snowy Shaw joined King Diamond, touring North America.
• 1990 – Snowy Shaw tours Europe with King Diamond and worked on solo project called The Shaman a.k.a. Shamens .
• 1992 – Formed the band Memento Mori with Mike Wead and Messiah Marcolin.
• 1993 – Joined Mercyful Fate.
• 1994 – On the side of his mainband IllWill. Snowy are involved, plays shows and records with Whipped Cream, Colossus, Whore.
• 1996 – Snowy Shaw does his first contributions as multi-instrumentalist solo artist on a tribute album for KISS.
• 1997 – Records albums with various project such as Supergroupies and psychedelic popband Bad Karma. Puts all the other projects aside to form his own band Notre Dame, that first appear this year on a Mercyful Fate tribute album.
• 1998 – Snowy now spends all his time working, writing and recording for Notre Dame. The debut CD is released on Halloween.
• 2000 – Was asked by producer and guitarist Fredrik Nordström to join new power/melodic metal band Dream Evil. Declined, but agreed to do some session drumming for the band's first album Dragonslayer.
• 2001 – Snowy is hired as session drummer for the solo album of former Europe and Easy Action guitarist Kee Marcello namely K2.
• 2002 – Decided to join Dream Evil as a full member, and toured Europe and Japan with the band. Worked with Them Sluts!, as well as keeping up with his own band Notre Dame.
• 2004 – Notre Dame was disbanded after one last show on Halloween in hometown Gothenburg. A planned solo career follows as "Snowy Shaw and the star-spangled banned" for which he records a full-length album and the video XXX – Le Masochiste,but then later decides he needs a well-deserved break and consequently the album is never released.
• 2005 – Quit Kee Marcello's K2 after their appearance on Eurovision song contest. Notre Dame's live album 'CREEPSHOW FREAKSHOW PEEPSHOWis released by Shaw's own indie label, White Trash Records. Snowy works for Revolver Film Company as prop/decor designer and assistant.
• 2006 – Write and record new material with Dream Evil but due to internal problems within the camp Snowy decides to leave the band. Produced and generally helping out his friends in the Swedish glam/sleaze band Loud N´Nasty. Snowy was hired as singer in Therion. Apart from his singing duties Snowy is hired to design and manufacture everything visual for the stage act and photo. Kamelot's live show One Cold Winter's Night in Oslo, Norway, features Snowy's guest appearance as Mephisto, Shagrath's character on the band's concept album The Black Halo.
• 2007 – Therion release Gothic Kabbalah and tour worldwide on their 20th anniversary. Getting more deeply involved working with the doom metal version of a rock opera with Opera Diabolicus.
• 2008 – Release the debut album of his band XXX in Japan and North America. Founds his own record company aptly named Snowy Shaw Productions. Snowy records session drums for American band Eyes of Noctum, fronted by Weston Cage, son of Nicolas Cage.
• 2009 – Write and records music for Therion's upcoming album Sitra Ahra. Tours Scandinavia as bassist/singer with heavy rock covers band Nyfiken Gul. Collaborate with French industrial metal band The CNK, and begin recording an album under the moniker The CNK and Snowy Shaw.
• 2010 – Dimmu Borgir confirmed on 24 August that Snowy Shaw joined them on Bass/Clean Vocals replacing ICS Vortex and recorded Abrahadabra. He quit the day after the official announcement, although he did appear with the band in the music video for their single "Gateways". Snowy recorded session drums for the first solo effort of German singer Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex Gammaray). He rejoined Therion again about a month after his departure was made official.
• 2011 – The Snowy Shaw all Star Band performed a showcase concert at Brew House in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 27 May where he performed songs from his earlier bands like Mercyful Fate, Dream Evil, Notre Dame, King Diamond, Therion and Dimmu Borgir. It featured guests like Hal Patino, Andy LaRocque, Mike Wead, Thomas Vikström, Mats Levén and Kristian Niemann. He also performed covers of Cheap Trick's I Want You to Want Me and The Who's My Generation. The concert was recorded for an upcoming live DVD which is currently being mixed by Snowy himself. It was revealed that it will be released as a digital live album titled "Snowy Shaw is Alive!" and will be released before Christmas 2011. The cover was made by graphic artist "All Things Rotten".
• 2012 - 2013 – Played with Sabaton. Solo shows with his namesake act Snowy Shaw of which a second show is filmed and recorded for the planned Live DVD/CD release.
• 2013 – Worked with the Swedish Metal Band Mad Architect, doing the vocals on their new album "Journey To Madness"
• 2014 – The Live DVD/CD box: Snowy Shaw - 25 years of madness in the name of metal is finally released during the fall on Snowy's own new label Wunderwurld Music. The single Dusk reaches number 1 on iTunes rock list. For more info go to: www.snowyshaw.net/webshop
• 2014 – 2015 - For the second album of Mad Architect there are no members besides guitarist/leader Magnus Daun, so other than doing all vocals Snowy steps in as producer, co-writer, art director, bassist and drummer. The album "Hang High" is later released on Snowy's label Wunderwurld Music on Halloween 31 October 2015. Snowy appears on Raubtier's album Pansargryning in a duet with Hulkoff on Opus Magni.
• 2015 – Snowy reunite and record an EP with former Mercyful Fate guitarists in Denner/Shermann who then signs a record deal with Metal Blade. SNOWY SHAW and his solo band tours Sweden including a headline show at Sabaton Open Air.
• 2016 – Apart from various session recordings on vocals, drums and bass and song writing sessions Snowy spend most of his time working on his solo career and release 3 official music videos from his yet unreleased solo album: Alcoholocaust, Nachtgeist and Krampus. He plays a handful of live shows with his namesake live band at Wacken Open Air among others where he also joins his former band Therion on stage for a guest appearance.
• 2017 – Snowy release two albums with his side project Barndoom med Snömannen & hans vänner, consisting of metalized versions of classic Swedish children's music and making plans to play concerts for underage school students around Sweden and Scandinavia. In connection to his Anti Animal Cruelty campaign where he donate all profit to shelters, rescues and animal rights organizations he release a music video by the same name Be Kind To Animals Or I'll Kill You. In September he makes his U.S live debut as a solo artist at Prog Power, Atlanta. At the warm-up show in Gothenburg, Sweden he decides to add a matinée show during the day with lower volume to meet the demands of underage fans and families.

Discography

With King Diamond

1. The Eye (1990)[5]

With Mercyful Fate

1. Time (1994)

With Memento Mori

1. Rhymes of Lunacy (1993)
2. Life, Death, and Other Morbid Tales (1994)

With Notre Dame

1. Coming Soon to a Théatre Near you!!! (1998)
2. Le Théâtre du Vampire (1999)
3. Nightmare Before Christmas (1999)
4. Abattoir, Abattoir du Noir (2000)
5. Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You, The 2nd (2002)
6. Demi Monde Bizarros (2004)
7. Creepshow Freakshow Peepshow (2005)

With Dream Evil

1. Dragonslayer (2002)
2. Evilized (2003)
3. Children of the Night (EP, 2003)
4. The First Chapter (EP, 2004)
5. The Book of Heavy Metal (2004)
6. Gold Medal in Metal (2005)

With Loud 'N' Nasty

1. No One Rocks Like You (2007)

Produced by Snowy Shaw

With Therion

1. Gothic Kabbalah (2007)
2. Live Gothic (2008)
3. Sitra Ahra (2010)
4. Les Fleurs du Mal (2012)
5. Live in Atlanta Adulruna Rediviva and Beyond (2007)

With Dimmu Borgir

• Abrahadabra (2010)

With XXX (pronounced Triple X)

Currently Snowy Shaw works with the band XXX making glitter rock. Their debut album, 'Heaven, Hell or Hollywood' has been recorded, mixed and mastered by Andy La Rocque in the Sonic Train Studios. They have been signed by King Records/Japan. Licensed to Perris Records U.S.A via Snowy Shaw Productions .

With Theatres des Vampires

• Moonlight Waltz (2011)

With Snowy Shaw

• Snowy Shaw is Alive! (2011)
• The Liveshow: 25 Years of Madness in the Name of Metal (2014)
• Live in hell! (2015)
• White Is The New Black (2018)

With Opera Diabolicus

• †1614 (2012)

With Mad Architect

• Journey to Madness (2013)
• Hang High (2015)

With Dark Embrace

• The call of the wolves (2017)

With Barndoom med Snömannen & hans vänner

• self-titled (2017)
• kråksång & rävspel (2017)

With Poison Pill

• self-titled (2017)

With Snowy Shaw

• White Is The New Black (2018)

With Snowy Shaw

• Be Kind to Animals or I'll Kill You (2018)

References

1. Torreano, Bradley. "Biography: Dream Evil". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
2. Huey, Steve. "Biography: Mercyful Fate". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
3. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Biography: IllWill". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
4. "Snowy Shaw 'Quits' Dimmu Borgir, Rejoins Therion". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
5. Diamond, King. "King Diamond interview". YouTube. Retrieved 27 November 2015.

Media related to Snowy Shaw at Wikimedia Commons