The band was formed in 2002 when John Steen (The King), Ulrik Bostedt ( Speedo) and Tony Samuelsson (The Vicar) spent a high school exchange year in Colorado, USA.
Ditching classes, drinking beer and playing rock n roll in the garage worked out pretty fine for the three young fellas. The first vinyl ep "Marvellous" was released
through the small NY based label "New York Powerhitters" and the band got airtime on several college radio stations before they left USA and returned to Sweden with
lousy grades, but high spirits. Two other vinyl eps (Heroine Tracks, Bedlam at the embassy)were released the following years through Swedish indie labels.
The first album, titled "Five Smell City" after their hometown
Linköping (known locally as the city of five smells ) was followed by a ep with cover tracks (Unleashed)
ranging from Bon Jovi, Parliament, KISS and Robyn.
Constant touring and airplay has helped the band building a very loyal fanbase in Europe. And the second album "Thunderblood Heart" took the band to a new level in 2007.
The earlier records show a band in superhero costumes, and the members called themselves "Vocalo, The Ambassador
and Animalizer". These alter egos were abandoned in 2007 in favor of "The King, The Vicar and Speedo" as new times sometimes require new personas.
Since the bassist Ulrik Bostedt (Speedo) wasn't allowed to cross the Swedish borders another character, The Aviator, took his place on tours abroad and in 2011 Märvel reached 3rd bass with yet another bassists, the Burgher. And from 2016, the Charlatan sometimes handles the live drumming when The Vicar is unavailable. Märvel don´t believe in replacing members, they add members. So for those who are counting, Märvel is a power trio with six members.
In 2009 Märvel released a single sided one track vinyl 7" titled "A Pyrrhic Victory".
The singel was followed by a tour that was filmed and later released as a 20 minute road movie.
In 2011, the swedish barons of high energy rock and roll came back with Warhawks of War. Twelve new tracks from the King, the Vicar and Speedo. Warhawks of War was all about gigantic guitars, bombastic bass, dynamite drums and vaporizing vocals and featured guests stars Strings (Dundertåget, Hellacopters) and Dregen (Backyard Babies, Hellacopters, Michael Monroe). In january, the Aviator (Ulrik Bostedt) hang up his goggles and in through the back door came the Burgher (Ulrik Bostedt). In the autumn of 2011, the band toured Germany, France and Spain to support the album. The band celebrated the
end of a great year by supporting Michael Monroe for two nights in a row in Helsinki.
In 2012, Märvel recorded and released the single Metalhead which was the first recording to feature the Burgher on bass. The 7" also included the song Ambassador of Fantastic. Both songs were released as videos, produced by Papa Bear.
In 2013, the band began working on their fourth album. It was a busy year with the band launching a pledge campaign to get help from the fans to finance the new album. Also, Märvel was hand picked by Dregen to join his scandinavian tour in support of his first solo album. The tour began in November and lasted for 10 gigs in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Märvel travelled in style, with their 1976 Neoplan bus.
The band returned to White Light Studios in Five Smell City with Joakim Kärling at the helm to record what would became Hadal Zone Express. The album was released 28th of March to a neverending stream of praise. The cover features a marvellous drawing by Daniel Ljunggren of an underwater train crushing towards the bottom of the ocean.
In May, the single Danish Rush was released as a video. It was filmed by Peder Carlsson (Backyard Babies), directed by Johan Bååth (the Doits) and produced by Papa Bear. The video features Olle Hedenström (Kongh, Dead Lord, Sordid Flesh) as the hero, hunted by angry danes. Throughout the video, several celebrities from the swedish rock elite can be spotted. The song was released as a digital single with a commodore 64 SID-remix as a bonus.
In the fall of 2014, the band once again had itching clits and began writing and rehearsing new songs. In february 2015 the band teamed up with Fred Estby in his
Stockholm studio to record a minialbum that was released in september 2015. The Hills Have Eyes was released as a first single the 29th of May and people haven't stopped whistling (or playing flute) ever since. Papa Bear and Alfred Lindahl produced a video for the band's cover of the W.A.S.P. classic "L.O.V.E. Machine" which won the Honolulu International Film Award for best music video.
2016 saw the band doing their first trip to the UK to play the Hard Rock Hell festival in Pwllheli. Due to various reasons, the lineup for this mini tour featured The King, Aviator (Bass) and new family member The Charlatan (drums). Märvel also returned to Åland to play the Fishbait Festival, this time doing an acoustic set featuring The King, The Burgher, Aviator and The Charlatan.
This year, Märvel's long time manager and label president "Papa Bear" decided to quit music and put his Killer Cobra Records to rest.
This meant that Märvel needed a new home which was found one in The Sign Records. Under the name of Gaphals, the guys behind the label has put out over 100 releases and are know for their dedication and commitment which resulted in them reciving Lars Winnerbäck's cultural award "Nyponet".
The deal between Sign Records and Märvel was signed early 2017 as the band started working on their seventh album in the studio Solskensfabriken. The band produced and recorded the album on their own this time using their own studio. The new album is called "Märvel at the Sunshine Factory" and will be released the 6th of October 2017. Meanwhile, The Sign Records started off the co-operation by releasing "The Hills Have Eyes" on CD as well as giving it a US release.
In june 2017, Märvel returned to the Fishbait Festival for the third time to play and host an exclusive set featuring rock celebrities Nicke Borg (Backyard Babies), Robert Pehrsson (Robert Pehrsson’s Humbucker, Dundertåget, Death Breath), Kent Norberg (Sator, The Boys), Chips Kiesby (Sator, The Boys) and the festival founder Nicke Söderström.
From november 2018 to april 2019, Märvel released six singles from the upcoming covers album "Guilty Pleasures". Each single release was preceded by a quiz where the online community had the chance to win a copy of the new album. The album featured songs from a wide spectrum of artists such as Dire Straits, Agnetha Fältskog, REO Speedwagon and Monster Magnet to name a few. Guilty Pleasures was released in april 2019 to much critical praise and got a great response from the fans!
In january 2020, Märvel released a total re-recording of their first ever EP called Märvellous. The EP had been impossible by fans to find, and also by the band, since the record company releasing the EP in 2002 quickly went bankrupt after the release and their vinyl stock was rumoured to have been burnt up in flames at a fire in their office. So instead of doing a re-release of the EP, the band decided to do a re-recording of the tracks. The 4-track EP saw the band returning to the very beginning, with riff-laden tracks covered in glam rock posing. A fun release to please their hardcore fans!
As the world continues to be mad and crazy in 2021, and with a year and a half of pandemic, the band still has had the opportunity to spend time together in their rehearsal and recording studio Solskensfabriken. The songs have been piling up since their last album with original material back in 2017, and so it was natural for recordings to take place. The first single from the new album, “Slasher with a Broken Heart”, was released the 3rd of September. As always, the song is in focus, and the release sees Märvel back at the height of their creativity, blending all their eclectic influences into a melodic piercing piece of high energy rock 'n' roll!
A string of singles followed - Lizard's Tongue, One Common Enemy, Sound of Life Slipping Away, Great Man - all accompanied by official videos filmed and edited by Johan Jonasson, Pama Studios. On April 22nd, Graces Came with Malice was released and enjoyed wide critical accalaim and public praise. To top things off, the Moon Martin cover "Hot Nite in Dallas" was given an official video. The video was directed and produced by Max Ljunggren and saw the King driving a taxi around Gothenburg at night, picking up wierdos and rock 'n' roll celebrities.
The release party was held at Skylten, Linköping and featured special guests "Sweet Teeth" and "Freedom" on stage. To promote the release and talk about the 20 year celebration, the King, guested Sweden's most popular rock pod "Rockpodden" hosted by Henrik Brannerydh.
Märvel returned to Skylten in august to host the two day festival MÄRVELFEST which featured The Pusjkins, Freedom, Omni of Halos, Knifven, Reptile Tongue, Hedda Hatar, Dictator Ship, Lykantropi and two appearances by Märvel with songs from their first 10 years on friday and songs from their latest 10 years on the saturday gig. The performances also had Speedo, The Charlatan, the Aviator and the Pusjkins guesting making this a very special occasion.
In November 2022 Märvel teamed up with Bomber Bookings to tour Spain. The band consisting of The King, Speedo and The Charlatan, played Barcelona, Lledia, Zaragoza, Madrid and Toledo and it was obvious the spanish audience had waited eagerly to see the Barons of Rock back on spanish soil.
In December 2022, Märvel released a new single, "Turn the Page", which is a first taste of the compilation DOUBLE DECADE which will be the crown on top of the 20 year celebration. It is due for release early 2023 and features Märvel's greatest hits, two brand new songs and a whole bunch of rare gems, previously hard to get a hold of. The album will be a luxurious double vinyl release with a booklet celebrating the band's recording history.
MÄRVEL DISCOGRAPHY
2022 - Graces Came With Malice (LP, CD) (The Sign Records)
2020 - Märvellous (7" vinyl) (The Sign Records)
2019 - Guilty Pleasures (LP, CD) (The Sign Records)
2019 - A tribute to the Hellacopters - Payin' our Dues - (LP) (Kraken Recordings, Noizeland Records, El Behringer Records)
2017 - At the Sunshine Factory (LP, CD) (The Sign Records)
2017 - Warhawks of War (LP) (The Sign Records)
2017 - The Hills Have Eyes (CD, minialbum) (The Sign Records)
2015 – The Hills Have Eyes (LP, minialbum) (Killer Cobra Records)
2015 – Everything Belongs to You / Motherfucker (7" The Chuck Norris Experiment / Märvel) (Ghost Highway)
2014 – Hadal Zone Express (LP, CD) (Killer Cobra Records)
2012 – Metalhead / Ambassador of Fantastic (7" vinyl) (Killer Cobra Records)
2011 – Warhawks Of War (CD) (Killer Cobra Records)
2009 – A Pyrrhic Victory (7" vinyl) (Killer Cobra Records)
2007 – Thunderblood Heart (LP, CD, digipak) (Killer Cobra Records)
2006 – Unleashed (CD, minialbum) (Black JuJu)
2005 – Five Smell City (CD) (Black JuJu)
2004 – Bedlam At The Embassy (7" vinyl) (Black JuJu)
2003 – Heroine Tracks (7" vinyl) (Black JuJu)
2002 – Marvellous (7" vinyl) (New York Powerhitters)