Mental Hippie Blood

Emerging as an uncommon specimen of grunge from Sweden, the oddly christened Mental Hippie Blood merged alternative metal in the vein of Soundgarden with elements of conventional metal. Its roster included frontman Michael Oran, guitarists Mikael Jansson and Anders Wikstrom, bassist Lake Skoglund, and drummer Jonas Ostman; the group cut its self-titled debut, issued solely on home soil, in 1992. A subsequent deal with Metal Blade Records brought the worldwide release of Pounds in 1994, after which the band receded into anonymity.