Covenant

Few Swedish electronic acts have traced a path as deliberate as Covenant's. Formed by three Helsingborg teenagers who shared an appetite for science, philosophy and the emotional textures of Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and Front 242, the group built a sound that sits where synthpop meets electronic body music. Their early inspirations stretched to D.A.F., Skinny Puppy and OMD, and the trio's name came from a spiritual bond they professed to share.

Their first released track, "The Replicant", was placed by Memento Materia on a 1992 compilation, and the label's enthusiasm led to the full-length Dreams of a Cryotank in 1994. A 1995 festival appearance in Germany impressed Off-Beat Records, which signed them the next day, and Sequencer followed in 1996, along with the Stalker single. Europa in 1998 moved the band from aggressive, distorted material towards synth pop, and United States of Mind in 2000 pushed further still. Northern Light in 2002 was, by their own account, more sombre and cold.