Kristoffer Gildenlöw

Biography

The story of…

Born in 1978, in Eskilstuna – Sweden, Kristoffer began his international musical career as the bass player of the progressive hard rock band Pain of Salvation. Recording their debut album ‘Entropia’ in 1997, Pain of Salvation went on to produce some of most praised albums in the genre – ‘The Perfect Element’ (2000), ‘Remedy Lane’ (2002) and ‘BE’ (2004).

In 2003, Kristoffer moved to The Netherlands, where he started working more as a session player, touring and recording with bands and artists such as Neal Morse (US), Lana Lane (US), Damian Wilson (UK), KAYAK (NL), The Shadow Theory (A), Dec Burke (UK), Mr. Fastfinger (FIN), Dark Suns (DE), Dilemma (NL), Semantic Saturation (CA), For All We Know (NL), Kingfisher Sky (NL), Ian Parry (UK) and many more. Click HERE for full discography.

Kristoffer loves the different dynamics of being in a band, being a session player and doing his own music: "Being able to switch between the different roles is a blessing. To play in a band, where you feed off of each other and try to reach common goals is so inspiring, but you also have to be able to compromise and take the back seat from time to time. Doing session work is all about making the customer happy. Giving them what they want and filling a purpose. Bring your own colour to their music and hopefully make it a bit better or come up good with ideas they hadn't thought of. Recording my own music is no compromise. It's my vision, my dream and I can go on until I'm satisfied. But you also must do everything yourself and that costs a lot of time, energy and money. But I love all roles!" 

Kristoffer is composing, recording and producing his own music and in 2012 his first solo album ‘RUST’ was released. First released as a limited edition LP, it was re-released on CD in 2013 with two additional songs and again in 2020 as an extended edition with another 3 bonus songs added.

In 2016, his second solo album 'The Rain' saw the light of day. An emotional concept album, following a man in the late stage of dementia.

2020 Kristoffer’s third solo album ‘Homebound’ was released. The limited CD/DVD-edition was sold out within a week. Kristoffer was planning on releasing two albums in 2020 but due to the pandemic, he was not able to continue the recordings of what was to become his fifth solo album ‘Empty’.

Unable to sit still, Kristoffer continued making music during the pandemic and in 2021 he released a haunting new album that got great reviews and reactions all over the world, having venues and festivals asking for his performances once the pandemic restrictions were lifted. His fourth solo album ‘Let Me Be A Ghost’ deals with the sensitive topic of depression.

In February 2024, Kristoffer released his fifth solo album ‘Empty’, which was partially recorded in 2019, together with ‘Homebound’. The idea was to release both albums in 2020 but the pandemic put a stop to that. And while ‘Empty’ was placed on a shelf, awaiting the moment when recordings could be continued, the album ‘Let Me Be A Ghost’ popped up and was released in 2021. In 2022, the recordings of ‘Empty’ could finally continue and new songs were added as well.

With ‘Empty’, Kristoffer is focusing his music towards symphonic/progressive rock with a rock band line-up in the centre (guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals) and with big arrangements and powerful guitar solos. ‘Empty’ is more up-tempo than earlier albums and although the rock band is the centre of each song, there’s enough space for big string arrangements, choirs, brass and soundscaping. Paying a homage to bands and artists like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and Mike Oldfield, Kristoffer still does so with his own signature sound.

Since the album release Kristoffer has played some quite succesful shows atfestivals in the Nethrlands, Norway, Sweden and Italy. And there is more to come...