Fourteen years ago, Swedish melodic glam metal band OSUKARU was just an idea in the mind of guitarist Oz Hawe Petersson (formerly Oz Osukaru). It took two more years and a couple of EPs before their debut album Salvation was released in the spring of 2012. Initially, OSUKARU was more of a project centered around Oz as he brought his vision to life. However, after several line-up changes, the band truly began to take shape with their third full-length album, Transition (2015). According to Oz, this was the moment OSUKARU evolved into a fully-fledged band.
With roots in classic stadium rock, the band’s early releases leaned heavily towards AOR (Album-Oriented Rock). However, Transition began to reveal a heavier edge within their music. Over time, OSUKARU crafted a unique blend of harder, yet melodic rock, culminating in their 2018 album House of Mirrors, which solidified their signature sound. Building on that success, their next album, Starbound (2021), was a rock & roll triumph.
Looking ahead, OSUKARU’s yet-to-be-titled new album is set for release in the first half of 2025 under Pride & Joy Music. Before that, on October 18th, 2024, Pride & Joy Music Classix will reissue three of OSUKARU’s most sought-after albums—Transition, House of Mirrors, and Starbound—as part of their Vol. 12, 13, and 14 series. These reissues, limited to just 300 copies each, will feature bonus tracks and will be available via shop.prideandjoy.de.
“Oz says, ‘Transition and House of Mirrors have been out of print for a long time, and after we released Starbound, we received a lot of requests to bring those albums back. It’s amazing! I never expected such demand.’”
Oz goes on, “For our next album, we teamed up with the fantastic label Pride & Joy Music. When I mentioned the interest in reissuing our older albums, they were more than willing to help us make it happen. They even added Starbound to the mix.”
The reissues will come with 20-page booklets that include rare, never-before-seen photos and brand-new liner notes that delve deeper into the band’s creative process for each album.
Laughing, Oz adds, “We’re terrible at keeping track of everything during the recording process. So when they asked for bonus tracks, I struggled to find anything noteworthy since we rarely make demos. Instead, we included both original bonus tracks from Transition (one for each format) and two instrumental demo mixes from the House of Mirrors sessions. These reveal the layers beneath the lead vocals. For Starbound, we worked with Erik Modin (drummer of Wildness and Houston) and his side project Taekwondo to create an instrumental synthwave version of Tainted Heart. We gave Erik some of our recordings and let him go wild, and he delivered something truly amazing.”
