Nirvana 2002 was a Swedish death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 band active between 1988 and 1992. The band was originally called Prophet 2002, but decided to change its name to Nirvana. However, it had to add the "2002" after seeing an advertisement for Nirvana

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

's debut single, "Love Buzz/Big Cheese", released in October 1988. Nirvana 2002 was notable for being part of the first-wave of the Swedish death metal movement, and according to Swedish Death Metal author Daniel Ekeroth, "one of the purest examples of that typical fat Swedish death metal, with crushing guitars and straightforward song structures." Throughout its life the band only released demos and rehearsals, the majority of which were recorded at Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

's infamous Sunlight Studio

Sunlight Studio

Sunlight Studios is a recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden.It has been a popular choice for Swedish death metal bands such as Treblinka, Tiamat, Katatonia, Entombed, and Dismember.A chronological "discography" of the studio can be found here:...

s.

The band performed its first gig ever to celebrate the publication of the Swedish Death Metal book at Kafé 44

Kafé 44

Kafé 44 is a café and concert place on Tjärhovsgatan 46 in Stockholm, Sweden. The café is operated by three non-profit groups that together run the café, Bokhandeln INFO, Dagfiket and Scen 44. INFO is an anarchist bookstore, Dagfiket is the café open during the days and finally Scen 44 is the part...

, on 26 January 2007. This show featured Nirvana 2002's original members Orvar Säfström

Orvar Säfström

Orvar Säfström is one of Sweden's most popular film reviewers and video game journalists. Together with Emma Gray, he hosted Filmkrönikan on the Swedish television network SVT from 2003 to 2006...

 and Lars Henriksson along with Robert Eriksson

Matz Robert Eriksson

Matz Robert Eriksson or simple Robban as he is often called, is best known as the drummer of Swedish rock band The Hellacopters, whiche were active between 1994 and 2008. Eriksson is currently playing With his new band called Tramp and recently reunited Swedish punk band Strindbergs.-Early life and...

 of The Hellacopters

The Hellacopters

The Hellacopters were a Swedish garage rock band that was formed in 1994 by Nicke Andersson , Dregen , Kenny Håkansson and Robert Eriksson . Andersson had been the drummer for death metal band Entombed and Dregen was taking a break from his full-time band Backyard Babies...

, who filled in on drums. In addition to Nirvana 2002, the concert also included reunion performances by Grotesque

Grotesque (band)

Grotesque was a Swedish death metal band formed in Gothenburg, Sweden in September 1988 from the remains of Conquest by Wåhlin and Nordgren with the addition of Lindberg . The band was however short-lived and recorded a few demos and an EP...

 and Interment. Although Nirvana 2002 never released a studio album, interest in the band's recordings continued to grow over the years, "Thanks to Internet where even the most obscure Swedish death metal demos are available to hear."

Relapse Records

Relapse Records

Relapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...

 collected all the salvageable demo and rehearsal recordings of Nirvana 2002, releasing them through the compilation album Recordings 89–91, on 10 November 2010. Nirvana 2002 performed their first-ever appearance outside of Sweden at Maryland Deathfest

Maryland Deathfest

Maryland Deathfest is an annual extreme music festival held in or near Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The festival mostly features death metal and grindcore bands. It has always occurred during Memorial Day weekend each year....

, on 30 May 2010. Säfström stated in an interview for Examiner.com

Examiner.com

Examiner.com is a media company based in Denver, Colorado, that operates a network of local news websites, allowing "pro–am contributors" to share their city-based knowledge on a blog-like platform, in 238 markets throughout the United States and parts of Canada with two national editions, one for...

, that "this is the last show [for Nirvana 2002 and they are] not going to write any new material or do anything else."