Dead by April

Dead by April is a Swedish melodic metal band from Gothenburg, formed in February 2007. The band consists of Jimmie Strimell, Zandro Santiago, Marcus Wesslén, Alex Svenningsson and Pontus Hjelm. They released their self-titled debut album in May 2009. In 2010 the two guitarists, Pontus Hjelm and Johan Olsson, left the band. Pontus, remained a songwriter for the band, however rejoined as the session guitarist, then later as a permanent member.

The band was formed in early 2007, when Jimmie Strimell, the lead singer of Nightrage, decided to collaborate with songwriter and former Cipher System member Pontus Hjelm to form Dead by April. During the band's early days in 2007 and 2008, the band did not release any physical media, though most of the songs that they gave to friends were quickly leaked out to several peer-to-peer-sites, with the first songs being Lost and Stronger. During this time, they also played in local venues around Gothenburg.

On March 27, 2010, Dead by April headlined the Norwegian festival Rock mot Rus together with several Norwegian acts such as Turdus Musicus, Moddi, Cyaneed, Jodski, Purified in Blood etc. The band continued touring with Purified in Blood until early May.

On April 23, 2010, it was announced on the band's official MySpace page that Pontus Hjelm (guitarist, songwriter and singer) had officially left Dead by April. The reason for his departure was because he didn't want to continue as a band member, he wanted to focus on being a songwriter. Although Pontus would no longer be an official band member, he wanted to continue writing music for Dead by April, telling the fans that nothing is different in the songwriting department. The replacement for Pontus Hjelm became Zandro Santiago. Although Zandro only provides vocals, the band felt that it did not change much of the sound to continue with only one guitarist.

On May 17, the band released the fourth single of their debut album. Unlike any other Dead by April-single release, this single was a double A-Side entitled Love Like Blood/Promise Me. Besides that Love Like Blood is a Killing Joke cover, it marks the very first track recorded by Dead by April with their new singer, Zandro Santiago. Promise Me, however, already appeared on the album.

On October 22, 2010, it was announced that Johan would be leaving the band, citing personal issues, as well as focusing on his clothing range. The band searched for a new guitarist via FaceBook and YouTube. However, they later revealed on their Facebook page that Pontus would act as a session player on their upcoming album and whilst on tour.

During Dead by April's UK tour with My Passion, Johan was replaced by guitarist Joel Nilsson.

In August 2010, they released a teaser for a new song called Within My Heart, which was released, along with the new album, in early 2011. The album is heavier and more dynamic than their self-titled album. The song More Than Yesterday has been played live on tour in the UK and Sweden and will feature on the new album, as well as the compilation album, Stronger. Jimmie released a demo recording of it on his YouTube channel.

On December 7, it was announced that a new compilation album called Stronger would be released on January 25, 2011. It contains a demo version of More Than Yesterday, three heavier versions of their songs and some tracks that have already been released.

During shows in Russia, DeathDestruction drummer Jonas Ekdahl, was replacing Alexander while he is resting his ears. Jonas will remain as a session drummer for the coming 3 to 5 months.

On January 24, 2011, Dead by April released the compilation album Stronger. On April 19, 2011, Dead by April confirmed the mixing was complete for their newest album via their Facebook page. On May 2, 2011, Dead by April announced that their first single of their second album would be Within My Heart. This was released digitally on May 16, 2011 and included two more songs - a new song called Two Faced and a re-recorded version of Unhateable. Later it was confirmed that the band would perform at the Sonisphere Festival in Sweden on July 9.

Dead By April performed in Melodifestivalen in early 2012 and went into the finals. The band placed 7th, using the song Mystery. They have also announced that they are currently working on a new album, which includes former guitarist Pontus Hjelm. He is believed to be back in the band.