With brutal honesty, Joacim Cans unveils the behind-the-scenes of the creation of Hammerfall's new album, "Avenge The Fallen". The vocalist explores the pandemic's influence on the creative process, highlighting the importance of resilience and the search for meaning in uncertain times. Additionally, Cans shares insights into the messages behind the lyrics, which range from the importance of individual freedom to the need for strong and inspiring leaders. The musician also reflects on the band's career, its challenges, and its achievements over the years.

 Marcelo Vieira

It was impossible for me not to view "Avenge The Fallen" as a direct result of the pandemic. Could you tell us how this context influenced the writing of the album?

I mean, this album was, I would say, the pandemic album—that was "Hammer Of Dawn". That album was written during the pandemic, recorded during the pandemic, and we also wanted to tour right after the pandemic. But that messed everything up because we were supposed to do this tour with Helloween for six weeks, and no one was ready for a tour like that. So it just got canceled, rebooked, and spread out over, I think, 60 months. And so this album, "Avenge The Fallen", was mainly written during the tour for "Hammer Of Dawn".

Of course, some of the songs—writing music now for Hammerfall is kind of a constant process. We are not sitting down for six months to write songs for a new album. No, whenever creativity hits, we are ready to start recording all these ideas. And that is how Oscar works nowadays. I know he can come off stage when we played in Los Angeles, for instance, with Helloween. He came off stage, took a shower, went directly to the tour bus, and set up his little recording system and his travel guitar because he had some ideas. So, meanwhile, we were partying our asses off backstage, and he was working on the tour bus because he had some ideas he needed to record.

So, I think, with this album, a lot of songs have the energy and joy of being on tour inside the compositions. There are also songs on this album that kind of came into being—the idea of a song like "Hope Springs Eternal" was born already 15 years ago, but it was not ready, you know, to be recorded. It was not ready to be a song until now. Because Oscar said, "You know what? I think I have something here. Can you listen to it and see if you can do something with it?" He sent it over, I listened to it like two times, and then I pressed record and had an idea. What I sang the very first time—most of that is on the album. It's on that song already.

So, it's kind of funny how things work. Some songs you work on for months, even years. Other songs, you work on for six hours and you're done because the song talks to you. You understand the song. You understand what's best for the song, and what you have to add there. I think the whole process of this album, of the songwriting, was really tough this time because this is album number 13. We have already written over 120 songs together, me and Oscar, so where do you go from there? It's really hard to... I would say it's very easy to write 10 songs that are good, but good is not good enough.

For all intents and purposes, is "Avenge The Fallen" a concept album?

It's not a concept album per se, but it's a concept within my thought pattern about the lyrics—that everything concerns the word "freedom". So, this album has a freedom aspect, focusing on the right to live the life that you want to live and be the person that you want to be. This album might require some contemplation, and it might raise some existential questions for the listener if they're open to it. So, I really advise everyone, when you listen to the album, to try and find the lyrics so you can follow along and really understand because I think this can be something positive for the listener. There's also a second word, and that word is "hope". So, this album is all about freedom and hope.

The album starts with 'Avenge The Fallen' and ends with 'Time Immemorial', two tracks that reference the past. What kind of message do you want to convey by placing these songs at the album's extremities?

I think the music is more important than the lyrical themes when you place the songs on an album because you really want to start with a bang and end with something that leaves the listener wanting more. "Time Immemorial", in my opinion, is a different song, but it's still Hammerfall. This intriguing melody for the chorus is just like a fantastic ending, but it leaves you wanting more, and maybe then you go back and listen from the top.

"Avenge The Fallen" starts with a line that says, "What is the worst? Be the one who died, or be the one who survived?" And if people think about that for a little while, that's some heavy stuff because—is it better to be the very last person alive, or is it better actually to go with your friends? So this is kind of a very... Like I said, it has this aspect of... What should I call it? I can't find the word here—the existential thing. And that song is very... If you think about it, as long as you have a voice, if you're the last person alive of your breed, you have two options: either you live your life, do the best you can, and make a difference, or you just give up. You surrender. And at the end of the day, you probably go kill yourself because being alone, with no one to call, with no friends left, that's tough. That's really, really tough.

Regarding the verse "What is the worst? Be the one who died, or be the one who survived?" did you experience this survivor's guilt during the pandemic?

No, but I have seen people around me go through some really, really hard stuff. This happened over 10 years ago now. It was a car accident—there were four girls in the car, and everyone in the car died in the crash, except for the driver. She was the one who survived, but she couldn't take it because she thought she was the reason all her friends died. So, she decided to commit suicide.

Surviving isn't always a blessing; sometimes, it can also be a curse. That's why this line is so important—it really needs to be thought about. I have another friend; he's 75 years old now, and he said, "I really want to call my friends sometimes and ask for advice, but no one is alive anymore. I have no one to call." That's also some tough stuff.

"My kind won't go down without a fight." Here, you seem to acknowledge that the pandemic highlighted the importance of community. What would you say you learned from the pandemic?

As long as you're alive, as long as you have a voice, you should make yourself heard. If you're the last person left, make a difference. Do good things for people. Life is too short for drama—I learned that in the past couple of years. Why go around being miserable? Help people. Be kind to people. A smile doesn't cost anything. If you smile at a person, say hello, and smile, that can mean so much to them. I would say that is what I have learned in the past couple of years. 

Do you think humanity as a whole learned anything?

Unfortunately, no. Absolutely not. Because it's all about greed, and it's all about making everything good for yourself first. It's always "me, me, me" first, and that is not okay. That is not okay at all.

In a world marked by uncertainties, what is the role of perseverance and determination in achieving goals, as suggested by the title of 'The End Justifies'?

I mean, if a goal is morally important enough—"moral", we have to keep that in mind—if it's morally important enough, any method of achieving it is acceptable, I would say. But, if you have to step on people, if you have to hurt people on your way to achieve your goals, then it's morally incorrect. You shouldn't do it.

For Hammerfall, this song is about the band's journey and the strong bonds we have with our fans—that they will have our backs, and we will have theirs. Always. That's just the way it is.

I think Hammerfall has had a clear vision, and a clear goal from day one of where we want to take the band, and we have kept our eye on the prize the whole time. Not bending for anyone telling us, "Why do you play this form of music? You should play this. Why don't you play grunge?" Because we play the music that we want to play—it's as simple as that. And sometimes you have to—not fight this fight, but you have to take some verbal fights about it because you play "uncool" music. But, hey, we're still here, so someone likes it.

In a world that has experienced restrictions on freedom and increased tensions, what reflections do 'Freedom' and 'Rise Of Evil' bring about the concepts of freedom and evil?

First, for freedom—true freedom is being yourself without anyone's permission. It's kind of like, have we not learned anything from the past? Because, as the song says, "Now, what is this? The future or repeated past? Faith instead of reason—it will never last." In the year 2024, shouldn't we rely on science before faith? I mean, faith is just faith; it's nothing. There's no proof because religion messes up so many things.

I have no problem with people being religious and having something they believe in, but faith cannot be the guiding star in your life. We have to follow reason; we have to go with science at all times. And that is what freedom means to me.

"The Rise Of Evil", that song—actually, if you look at the album artwork, I would say that "Rise of Evil" represents the artwork more than the title track. The song is about taking inspiration from both heaven and hell. You need to have dualities in life because if there's a heaven, there has to be a hell. If there's light, you need to have dark. It's all about dualities.

You should take inspiration from wherever you want but always follow your heart when making the final decision. So, Hector smashes the chains holding him down from both sides—from heaven and hell—because he wants to. It symbolizes Hector's ability to go his own way and to make his own decisions in life. And I think that's something we should all do. Listen to people, and take inspiration from what they say and what they do, but at the end of the day, listen to your heart and make your own decisions.

Speaking of listening to the heart and making your own decisions... the pandemic generated a lot of anger and frustration. Is 'Burn It Down' a channel to express these feelings cathartically?

No, I mean, "Burning Down" is a very powerful song. We always try to write songs that are diverse from each other. A full album needs to have a certain type of songs to be complete. If you were to take away one song from this album, the album would not be complete. It's like a puzzle—if you remove one piece, it will not be steady.

Of course, this is really hard to describe because sometimes the album speaks for itself. If you break things down and ask, "What is this song about?" you'll find that everything links into each other. If you understand what I mean.

The aggression in "Burning Down"—I would say that the word "freedom" is there as well. True freedom is always worth defending, and maybe the end justifies the means in this song. Sometimes, you really need to go in with a blast. You need to be aggressive in order to defend something you truly believe in, and that is freedom. If someone wants to take that away from you, you need to defend it.

'Hail To The King' and 'Hero To All' pay tribute to heroes and figures of leadership. Who are these heroes for you?

To me, it would be anyone who stands up and fights for his own beliefs and fights for others. A hero.

Let's see, I need to pull that up here. "Hail To The King" is a song of hope, where hope is reborn when all else is forlorn. It's kind of like no matter how dark the night may be, the sun will always rise and wipe the darkness away. So, "Hail to the King" represents that. There's always Hector in this matter—our mascot, our guy on the artwork. You know, he is that person, I would say. Everything circles around him, more or less.

What is the importance of having them in challenging times like the ones we've lived through?

True. You need to have strong leaders who are fighting for democracy. Nowadays, we see the total opposite. I think that to unite people, you need to be strong, but you also need to be passionate. You need to have a big heart in order to bring people together. You can't divide people; you can't really force them. What we see nowadays is a lot of weird stuff going on, with internal fights within different countries. That's pretty bad.

I think you should be a good leader, a role model to your people, and practice what you preach.

"Honor" and "valor" are repeated throughout the song 'Hail To The King'. Do you think these concepts became more important during the pandemic? Why?

This is something that we have always been talking about in the music and lyrics of Hammerfall. You should live a noble life; you should be valiant and a role model—a positive person. We always try to deliver that, even if it's a song about a very tough subject. There's always something positive in there; it always has to be.

A song by Hammerfall is like an onion. If you peel it and take one layer off, there's something else underneath. Then you take another layer off. Depending on how deep you want to get into the music and the songs, there's always a second layer, a third layer. But it's also up to you to be open-minded when you listen and when you read the lyrics.

Even in difficult times, hope and the pursuit of dreams are essential. How do 'Hope Springs Eternal' and 'Capture The Dream' translate this message?

We have to separate the songs; we can't really bundle any song together with the others because they're so different. "Hope Springs Eternal" raises a very important question about existence and our time on Earth. If it were not for hope, the human heart would break. We are the only species that needs something to look forward to. If you take away hope from a human being, they will just break down. If there's nothing to hope for, there's nothing in that person's life.

The existential part of the song—and also the mantra we should never forget—is: Learn from hope for tomorrow, but life is right here, right fucking now. Period. People keep forgetting about it. If you mention it, yeah, you know, these are simple words, but still, you keep forgetting. So this mantra is something we should never, ever forget, in my opinion.

"Capture The Dream"—we talked about this a little before—is about always looking inside yourself for the answers. You know best what is good for you. If you want to do something, do it. Go out there, capture your dream, follow the beat of your own heart, and live your life like a champion. But pick your battles wisely because sometimes you run into problems, and you can't battle for everything. Sometimes you need to compromise. So, pick your battles wisely.

What ideas or lessons do you hope fans take away from listening to the album?

I think that they don't need to learn anything specific. As I said, this is kind of a reminder that they should be open-minded and pursue their dreams. If people ask me sometimes, "How long will you do this? How long will you be the singer of Hammerfall?" I would say, "As long as it's fun. If it's not fun, I would actually do something else."

I think that if people listen to this album and understand the freedom aspect and the hope aspect, and they find themselves in a very bad position in life, maybe they should do something else. If you hate your job, find a new one. If you're in a bad relationship, end it and move on. There is something out there for you. Just don't be satisfied with a little; always go for something bigger. Maybe you won't reach the stars, but if you end up on the moon, hey, you're halfway there. At least it's something. 

What is Hammerfall's secret to staying creative and relevant after 13 studio albums?

The joy of playing the music that we want to play and playing the music that we always play—that is heavy metal music to us. It's as close to the truth as we can come. And having fun together, like I said, if you're in a bad place, if you don't like this form of music, you can't fake it. You cannot fake heavy metal. Either you have it, or you don't.

Would you say you've achieved everything you dreamed of in your music career?

Absolutely not. In that case, it could only go down. There are always new territories you want to play in, and there are always venues you want to play. So, no, absolutely not. I have achieved a lot. Let's say if my career were to end tomorrow, I would be happy because I have experienced so many good things in my career. Hey, I couldn't ask for more, but I still have bigger dreams.

What is still missing?

The dream is still to do a world tour where, wherever you go, you play in venues that allow you to come in with your full production. That way, every fan, no matter where they live in the world, will get the same show. That is my dream.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not playing or writing music?

I'm running a lot, and exercising to stay in shape and to be able to perform better and be a better singer and performer. I drink a lot of wine, not as an alcoholic, but I'm actually a trained sommelier, so I'm a wine expert—at least on paper. That is my interest. I also watch TV and hang out with friends, like everyone else, I think.

Can you draw a parallel between this and singing in a metal band?

No, not at all. But I need the running to be able to sing and perform at the level where I am right now.

----------

Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUknZAyS9jg

Quite recently I've had a pleasure to listen to Omophagia's upcoming album, "646965". You can read my thoughts in the review. That again brought my attention to one of my favourite labels - Unique Leader Records. Maybe this album is not a typical slam stuff that I like the most, but oh boy, it was good fun listening to it and watching their recent video for the title track. I strongly recommend watching that video, reading my review and then finding out how nice these guys are, answering all of my questions below. Enjoy!

Maciek

Could you please provide some short story on how did your band come to life?

Beni and Henrique started the band in 2006 when their former thrash metal band split up. They really wanted to play death metal as their heroes were bands like ‪Cannibal Corpse, Monstrosity, ‪Morbid Angel and so on. So, they went to that direction and started to compose songs. 

Your description says that you are Brazilian/Swiss band - which of you is of Brazilian descent?

Henrique originally is from Brazil and soon after they got to know another Brazilian guy called Rafael that took his duties on bass. Soon after other members were found and Omophagia got a complete band in 2007.

How did you come up with the band's name?

The name Omophagia derives from Greek mythology and means devouring of raw flesh (also the name of the first demo). We came about that name by chance and there wasn't any other band with that name, so we took that one.

Since releasing your demo in 2007 you started playing with big bands like Keep of Kalessin, Morbid Angel and Kataklysm. These shows had very good reception from the very start. What was your idea for the live show to have so much energy? What is your recipe for a perfect show?

Yes, we were lucky to have a good response quite form the beginning although it wasn't easy for us to step out of Switzerland for a long time. We are very happy to be where we are now but still trying to improve every day and work on our skills. We don't have any certain "recipe" for a perfect show but if we are happy with our performance and the people like our show then we are happy too :-)!

First two albums mastered and mixed at Hertz Studio in Poland - why this studio? The new album shows quite a shift in the band's sound, I've also read that you decided to change where it was recorded, mixed and mastered - Kohlekeller Studio (Recording & Mix) and Tom Porcell (Mastering). Could you also say something about the reason and how different was it from previous two? Are you happy with the result?

There is something important to know to answer this question properly: all the recordings in the past were recorded by us (the demo was even mixed by Beni). We always liked the productions of Hertz Studio and from the second release (the first album, Guilt By Nescience) we reached out to Hertz and asked them to mix and master it. And they did a great job on that.

We did the same for our second album (In The Name Of Chaos) but for the recent album we wanted to change our workflow and to record everything in the studio. The reason why we changed the studio is quite simple: we love the productions of Kohlekeller as well and it was much easier to head to Frankfurt since it is much nearer for us.

We think that was a good decision to record and mix it in the same environment (at Kohlekeller). The work on it was much more professional and relaxed than recording it by ourselves. And we think the result speaks for this change: we are extremely happy with the production of Kohlerkeller! We also want to mention the awesome mastering of Tom Porcell. Everybody did an amazing job on this album. We hope you guys like it as much as we do!

New album "646965" - how and when was it composed? Are you following the same creative process? Is anyone in the band the main composer or are you sharing these duties?

Vocalist Beni has a small home studio and we went always there to compose our songs. Actually, we started to compose the songs for this album already in January 2016. During this process we always tried to put new things in every song, things that we haven't played before, new technics and rhythms. But the most important thing is to keep it sophisticated, brutal and catchy in a death metal way. So as already said we are always trying to introduce new things and not to follow the same creative process as in the last album. Henrique is the main composer in the band and the answer above was written by him.

What are your inspirations? Are you trying to become perfect in the current style you're playing or are you still in search for your artistic "comfort zone"?

My inspiration is to learn more new things and technics in every album. So, if you like our music you will find in every album something new. I think that keeps a band interesting for listeners. We don't change our style we just improve and put some special adjustments as a fine tuning. 

I've seen quite a lot of strings on your videos, 6-string bass, your guitars are also at least 7-string guitars if I get it right. Could you share some details about your equipment? Which brands are you playing on in the studio and what are you taking on tour? Do you customize your instruments in any way?

Mischa: I used to play a 6-string Ibanez JS100 on the previous records. On the new album I play a 7-string guitar, the Agile Interceptor Pro 727. On stage, I use the EVH 5150 III 15W which is very small but sounds like a beast. Especially on tour this size is incredibly practical. For my effects I use the Line6 Pod HD500X.

Henrique: I play Dean guitars and the same EVH amp like Mischa. That's all!

Rafahell: In this album I used my Spector Euro5 LX AW bass with Snakeskins Strings by Conklin. I also used a Kemper Amp. I am endorsed by Spector and Snakeskins Strings.

I understand that currently you're promoting new album on tour, playing with Nile and Hate Eternal. Are you playing the album in its entirety?

Yes, we'll release the new album on September 6th and immediately afterwards go on European Tour with Nile, Hate Eternal and Vitriol. We will play a lot of new songs but not the entire new album

How do you prepare for your shows? Are you wearing suits?

Yes, we wear the suits on stage. We have brand new suits which differ slightly from the previous ones.

Using any special effects?

No reveal yet about any special effects or show details ;-) So you should come and check this out.

Are you composing any new material in the meantime? It's been 3 years since the previous album - does that mean that most likely the next one will also be released 3 years from now on? Is there any pattern of frequency at which new ideas start popping up in your heads so that you can begin crafting a new release?

Henrique: Well, I cannot control when I have good ideas, but to get good ideas for a song, I need to be already in writing modus. Mostly it happens when the band is not happy with a song, then we put it aside and resume it later. That means that after composed a couple of songs I get better and more creative.

Thanks a lot, and hope to see you soon!

After going through a fair amount of trouble, a talk between myself and Isis’ vocalist and guitarist Aaron Turner finally took place. Isis, who started around 1997, have recently released their second album “Oceanic”. Isis has been growing in leaps and bounds ever since their inception, and “Oceanic” shows Isis at the best that they have ever been. As Aaron Turner (vocals/guitars) and I talked, I learned a lot about the band, both inside and out.

Allan ‘Enigma’


How has the touring been going?

It went really, really well, man. It’s definitely one of the best tours we’ve done by far. Those guys in Dälek were great, not only as a band but as people. I don’t know, but it’s just really hard to find people that you get along with on the road, and also finding bands that you can enjoy watching over and over again. They definitely were both. Oxes were on part of the tour also, and we got along with all those guys really well.

The whole point of the tour was to put together something really diverse and interesting, but also something made sense. I mean, we wanted bands that we felt like we had something in common with but that weren’t exactly doing the same thing as us.

Isis has managed to stay fairly underground, but from what I can tell it seems like since the release of “Oceanic” the fan base has been growing constantly. Have you noticed a difference in the amount of people showing up at shows and such, and do you think “Oceanic” has had a lot to do with that?

Definitely. I feel weird, like you said, repeating all this stuff because I know I told you all before. But, I think it was a combination of a lot of things. I think having a new album out period just helps. Regardless of how well an album does every time a band puts something out it just kind of raises people’s awareness in them. But the fact that we had a new label supporting us, and it was our first full length in a couple of years, I think that really helped. And, we had a new booking agent, which helped as well. Plus, like I said the package itself was pretty interesting. You know there were fans for all three bands that came to the shows and even for the bands they hadn’t heard before they seemed pretty receptive. Overall I feel like “Oceanic”, already has started to gather more attention than any of our past releases and I definitely think that helped with the turnout of the shows.

Can fans expect a follow up EP for “Oceanic” like we got for “Celestial”? Isis seems to be pretty big on releasing EP’s.

Not a follow-up EP but there will be some sort of follow-up item that’s going to be like more of a collaborative slash remix album where we’re using source material from “Oceanic” as sort of the basis for the creation of a bunch of new tracks. We’re trying to work with a bunch of different people. That’s going to be the next project we tackle, so it will be related to “Oceanic” but I don’t know if it will really be a continuation of it. But yeah, there will be something else coming from that area so to speak.

What changes have been made since “Celestial”, in terms of how the band gets things done?

Nothing really, I mean we’ve just tried since the beginning to take everything step by step. Every time we go out a tour we play a little bit better, we play a little bit harder, we play longer. We concentrated more on our song writing. I think we’ve just taken more time in general to do things. I’d say that would be the biggest change, just that we’ve been more patient, with every aspect of what we’re doing, from finding the right home to put out the label, to writing the songs, to recording. I think overall we just took a little bit more time and put a little bit more effort into what we were doing and just tried to take everything up one or two notches from where it had been in the past. There was no significant change of mind on our behalf. Like we didn’t say, “Ok this is how we’ve done things, we’re going to try and change it up and do it differently now.” It was more of just trying to improve upon everything we had done up until this point.

Do mainly one or two members handle the song writing process, or does the entire band make their contributions?

Well it depends. I mean, mainly it’s me who writes the basis of the riffs but as far as the overall compositions are concerned the band works on everything together. We all decide the ultimate outcome of each song so I’d say it’s definitely a democratic process.

How do you think “Oceanic” differs from “Celestial”?

It’s just more involved. It sounds more simplistic in some ways, but in all actuality the songs themselves are probably a little more complex. The overall song structures are a little more flowing, which I think gives it a more simplistic feel, but really there is a lot more detail on this record. There is a lot more atmosphere. I think that was a big focus for us. Atmosphere and texture and, and melody. All those things were present with the past Isis releases but this time around we definitely gave them a little more thought and a little more attention.

Yeah that’s exactly what I thought when I reviewed both the albums.

That’s awesome. I mean I think we just shifted our focus a little bit from wanting to be totally heavy and bludgeoning to wanting to have something that had a little more of an emotional range rather than just an out and out wall of sound.

I think that having more melody in “Oceanic” takes it out a lot farther.

I think like the melodic aspect really compliments the heavy aspects in a lot of ways, and I think the contrast is really important and I think we worked a lot more on dynamics as well so the album is more interesting overall rather than just sort of becoming monotonous. I mean, I felt like “Celestial” even had a lot of diversity within it for what it was, but I definitely feel like this record is a little more complex and a little more interesting in that side.

You said you don’t want to just focus on such a great part, so you guys still have that element with you?

Yeah definitely, especially when you see the stuff in the live environment you can gain a little more insight into the parts that are heavy. I think a lot of the stuff that sounds lighter on the record comes across a little bit heavier when you see it in the live setting.

What kinds of influences go into Isis?

It’s been so many things. It’s not just music I mean obviously the music is the focus that’s I mean that’s how we choose to express our self so obviously some of the most principle influences are other bands, and those are bands I think are probably fairly obvious in some ways. Obviously The Melvins, our label mates, have been influential on us and maybe bands like Mogwai or Godspeed You Black Emperor! or Slint. Neurosis and Godflesh-like bands that came from a heavy background but then ended up exploring other avenues and really incorporating a lot of other things into their music.

Beyond music I’d say it’s really everything. Everything that we experiences as people - our lives, our relationships, our jobs. All those things are influential in terms of what we do. I think music is obviously a release for a lot of people and that’s one of the most important things for us as a group and as individuals. It’s a place that allows us to vent our frustration and sort of tap into emotions that we were not otherwise allowed to release so to speak. I mean you can’t go around on the street bashing things to pieces and screaming at the top of your lungs, people giving you the hairy eyeball. In the live setting you can act like an animal and throw your shit around and it’s perfectly ok.

I don’t know, it’s everything – it’s daily life, it’s music it’s film it’s literature. I mean all those things come into play as far as what makes Isis what it is, the inspiration, the driving force, and the influence.

So do the influences and the inspiration kind of go hand in hand with each other?

I see those as very similar things. As far as the differences between inspiration and influence, I mean I think when I say our environment influences us I guess I mean those are more like subconscious factors, things that just sort of come out in the music. Whereas something that is an influence is where we’re consciously recognizing an idea and trying to incorporate that into our music.

In my opinion, I think “Oceanic” is a bit farther ahead of “Celestial”. On “Celestial” I would say that you guys had your own sound going on, but at times it didn’t all come together. I think on “Oceanic” you guys have better control of the final product. Do you agree with that?

Yeah I definitely would. I think again it’s just a matter of focus. With “Celestial” it was more like – you know that was our first full length record, it was our first opportunity to really explore ideas in a more in-depth format, and then with “Oceanic” it was like, ok we know what our basic ideas are; now how can we improve upon them. And I think we just took a lot more care in terms of not only the overall songs, but what each individual person was playing. It was more about not so much what they can play, but what can they do to compliment what the other people are doing. More about working together rather than just working on individual parts, and I think that idea of working more as a unified whole definitely helps with the cohesion of the album and the songs. I just think it makes them that more meaningful, the fact that everybody is sort of laying back and letting the other people do their thing when it’s their time, and working together as a group when it’s time to blast out some of the heavier stuff. I think it was just largely because we exercise more focus and more control on this record than we did in the past, and we felt more comfortable with each other as song writers.

I was surprised to hear female vocals in certain songs, but I think they sound fantastic and they really fit the mood of “Oceanic”. What made you guys decide to work with Ayl Naor and Maria Christopher of 27?

They’ve just been good friends of ours for sometime. They’re both in the band 27 who we greatly admire. They’re just an awesome band. We like the idea of exploring our sonic palate so to speak, and the more details we can add to it and the more complex it becomes the more interesting it is for us. Basically we were just looking at them as other tools that we had at our disposal so to speak. We knew that they were like-minded musicians and that they could do something that would contribute to what we were doing without taking away from our own identity. There are very few people that I would trust with something like that, but Ayl and Maria were two obvious choices that we knew we couldn’t go wrong with. We knew that they would dedicate themselves to it as well. They were very excited about participating in the record and they worked really hard on their part, so it ended up being a really great collaboration. I think collaboration is something that will continue to play a larger and larger role in Isis as we go on. It’s just something we really enjoy doing and I think it’s also something where you can learn a lot about your own music as well as learning about others and how to work with others giving you new ideas, which I think is really important as well.

In the live setting and on stage, you guys seem very focused, like you’re not even aware of the crowd almost, yet I think there’s the connection between the band and the audience through just the music. What’s it like for you guys when performing?

For me it’s mostly just about focusing on the music as much as I can and really trying to get into the mood. That’s the most important thing to me is that there is that sort of exciting electricity there. Obviously it’s important to me to play my parts the right way but I can kind of do that without thinking. It’s really more about trying to achieve the right kind of atmosphere and really putting as much into it and sinking myself as much as I can into the music itself. If I can’t get into the mood and I can’t really, really feel the music that I’m playing then I don’t feel like I can give a good performance. So that’s my major concern, just being able to concentrate on the music, having, you know, good enough sound where I can hear everybody, and the rest we just kind of take from there. I feel like when I’m playing music so often I’m not even really conscious of myself or the audience, and that’s the best way for me to be. If I start becoming conscious of the audience and what they’re doing or how they’re reacting then I feel like I’m not focusing on the music enough. Really ultimately for me it’s just about getting in the mood and really feeling the music, and I think that’s probably true of everybody else in the band also.

Yeah, and to me that’s the difference between a virtuoso guitar player and an actual musician. There’s a difference.

Yeah definitely I understand what you’re saying and that’s a point for us as well. We’ve never been concerned so much with writing complicated riffs as writing riffs that mean something to us and carry some weight and have some sort of emotional impact.

Where do you think your vocals stand in the music? What made you choose to go for the style you use now?

I guess it was just what felt natural to me. To me, it seems especially with the heavier aspect of our music, singing just isn’t appropriate. I want something that’s more visceral and has more punch too it so to speak.

And I’m not totally comfortable with my voice. I mean I think that’s one of the few things that I lack confidence about as far as Isis is concerned, so I’m always trying to improve my voice and make it the best that I can but I often feel like I’m still not doing it as well as I should be. But my main focus as a voice is just to have... again its another element to the music and it’s treated more like an instrument than like a typical voice would be in a regular rock band or whatever.

It’s used pretty sparingly. Part of that’s because I don’t feel like them music really needs it all the time and part of it’s just because I don’t really feel like my voice is really as versatile as it needs to be. Like if I was going to sing more often than I do I’d need to learn some other approaches. I think as time goes on I’ll probably start to become a little more dynamic with my voice but I feel like what I do now is pretty adequate and I also feel like the main point of Isis is the music and not the vocals. Not that they don’t count but just that its not the focus as it would be with a lot of other groups.

And from reading the passage in the booklet to the album and the other lyrics that go along with it, it seems like the lyrics are important, but are they second hand?

Yeah, I mean I think the written content in the record is almost more important than what I’m actually singing. I almost meant that as more of a guide and more of sort of a supplement to the music rather than to be the literal translation of the lyrics. I mean, there are bits and pieces of the lyrics in there, but most of it’s just writing that I did to have some sort of theme to the record so that I could have some sort of emotional attachment to the subject matter beyond being, you know, just attached on a musical level. I don’t feel that those things are unimportant and it may be secondary in terms of the fact that the music is the ultimate endpoint and that it’s the ultimate focus but I certainly feel like that stuff only enriches the experience and it gives people deeper insight into where we’re coming from and also helps flesh out the record more. It lends more weight to the record and it gives people something else to think about other than just the music. I think the subject matter is fairly important and I definitely hope that a lot of people investigate it when they’re checking out the record.

What’s the idea behind “Oceanic”? Obviously the ocean is a theme, but why?

I don’t like to give away the specific story. I mean, all the writing I did is based on a particular scenario that I sort of thought up and flushed out over a period of about a year and a half. This goes back a little bit, when we were talking about influence and inspiration. One artist I really admire is the filmmaker David Lynch and one of his favorite tools, or his favorite tricks, that he employs with his movie is that he likes to leave mysteries, he likes to leave them open-ended, he likes to keep the viewer guessing about what really happened or what could have happened or what might happen, and I feel the same way about the lyrical content. I feel like there is enough there for people to go on and sort of get the basic themes but I don’t feel like there is enough there it has to be totally spelled out for them. I mean I like the idea of leaving a mystery there, leaving something for the listener to go back to and dig into each time they go back so its not something that’s just immediately obvious right off the bat and doesn’t require much though. But as far as the things that I write about I think its fairly universal subject matter. Again it goes back to our environment and our daily lives. There are things that I think about, things that come from the subconscious, emotional struggles that every human on the planet faces, and maybe the themes are more specific than that, or the story is more specific than that, but I feel like the themes are very universal.

Yeah and I agree. If I were you I wouldn’t want to explain the whole thing. It takes away from the experience.

Yeah, I look at it in this way – if you go to a museum and you look at a painting or in a gallery. The artist isn’t standing there telling you what it means, and there’s no story next to it to guide you, and I feel that music should be the same way. Obviously some people want to have deeper insight into the creators, know what was the mindset of the people that were making whatever it is, but I like the idea of the unexplored mystery of leaving the viewer not necessarily not up to their own conclusions but at least to travel the path themselves rather than having someone else spell it out for them.

How have things changed since signing to Ipecac?

As far as the band itself is concerned, other than the musical progression that we’ve made, not much is difference. But as far as, I guess this gets more into the business terrain which maybe isn’t necessarily the most important or interesting aspect of the band, Ipecac has been able to provide us with more solid funding in terms of things like recording and promotion and all that kind of stuff, which in turn makes it easier for us to write music and easier for us to go on the road and I think that’s probably one of the greatest gifts is just that we don’t have to fuckin’ worry about being able to pay rent when we go on the road and we don’t have to worry about whether the people who are booking our shows are actually going to promote them and we don’t have to worry about the fact that our records are going to go out to press. We know that someone is behind it. So I guess if anything it has just made being in a band and trying to do what we’re doing a lot easier, and its also helped us move to the next level in terms of gaining a wider audience.

The progression between the EP’s and “Celestial” was there, but it wasn’t a huge change in my opinion. However, there is a huge progression going on from “Celestial” to “Oceanic”. Do you plan on relying on this sound for the next album or two, or do you guys plan on actually progressing with each album and reinventing yourselves?

We’ll never do the same record twice. And it’s not because we feel like we have an audience that expects us to do something different every time, it’s because we as musicians need to be interested in what we’re doing and to be interested in what we’re doing we have to continually have to grow and push ourselves and move beyond each place we get to once we become comfortable with it. And I think once you get to a point where you’re comfortable with what you’re doing then its time to challenge yourself again and I think that’s going to be our plan from now until whenever we finish.

That’s all I have for the interview. Thanks for you’re time and again, “Oceanic” is unbelievable. Any last comments?

Thank you, we appreciate the support.

A few years ago, in 1992, in a small southern town called Tumba, a few guys were having a beer and a serious talk about Viking mythology and heavy metal. What was born that night was Amon Amarth, which throughout the years satisfied our sick pleasures with pure death-viking music style and an unlimited amount of consumed alcohol. After releasing an MCD and three full-length albums, one day Fredrik Adersson (drums) decided to put his beer a side and have a few words with me about the band and of course about his well-known drinking habits. Here is what he had to say…

Chris ‘Zgred’


Kick-ass job on “The Crusher”. It’s nice to hear bands that are more heavy and aggressive with each album…

Thank you.

Tell me why Martin Lopez left the band for Opeth and how did you end up behing the drums in Amon Amarth?

I think he wanted to focus more on the technical drum bit. He liked that kind of drumming more and I think he wasn’t that interested in playing with Amon Amarth already from the beginning. Actually I was the first drummer they wanted to have after their first drummer (Nico) left but I played with my previous band and nothing came along and they decided to take Martin at that time. I guess destiny had its plans from the beginning and finally I ended up in Amon Amarth.

I think that 2001 might be your lucky year. First, a great album and then in December we are going to see the first part of “The Lord Of The Rings” which might introduce your name (Amon Amarth - The Mountain Of Doom) to a lot of new people…

I’m not sure about that. Maybe people will recognize the name, I don’t know, but we won't have anything to do with the movie.

So, what’s new at the top of the mountain?

Well, not much. Actually we are rehearsing a lot for live show we are going to do in Europe. We play for two weeks with Vader and Marduk than we play a few festivals and some shows in the summer. We decided to wait quite a while until we start working on the new material. Maybe we’ll start doing something for a new album after the summer, we’ll see. We need a vacation from song writing.

Although you lyrics are mostly rooted in the Viking mythology, the first track is about Judas Priest law suit. I guess you couldn’t time it better cause Slayer has this same problem right now…

Really? I didn’t hear anything about it. I guess it will always be a popular issue as long as censorship and things like that will still exist.

Are you going to turn into more contemporary issues in the future?

No, that will always be our main topic. Maybe I shouldn’t say "always" but it’s Johan’s main interest, our main lyrics’ writer, and he likes to write about things that touch him or are close to him. I think he will keep on writing about Viking mythology. Amon Amarth was always about Vikings and if we change this then we would have to start a new band and call it something else.

It seems like more and more people from Scandinavia are turning away from Christianity. In your opinion how big of an influence had metal bands on it? Your lyrics are also anti-Christian.

I don’t think bands had a lot to do with it. It’s happening everywhere also outside of the metal scene. Scandinavia is not that big of a Christian place to start with although a few years ago when you were born you were automatically included into Christian community but it’s not like this anymore. I guess people started to believe in other stuff than Christ.

Why did you decide to include “Risen From The Sea” from your first demo “Thor Arise”?

Metal Blade wanted to have a bonus track on the CD and since we didn’t rehearse anything and didn’t have any other plans Olavi (guitar) brought our demo tape, and we just listened to it and without rehearsing recorded. But we thought that it actually sounded pretty cool and we decided to include it as a regular track. Since we still had to include a bonus track we decided to put a Possessed cover which we did a long time ago.

I guess even Amon Amarth can’t stop the label from recording covers? Why Possessed “Eyes Of Horror”?

Actually that was an Italian label that wanted to do a tribute to Possessed and since it was never released we decided to use it on our new album.

What’s wrong with the sound of this cover? It sounds more like a demo track…

Well, at the moment when we recorded this track at Das Boot the studio was in its beginning stage and wasn’t really finished. Plus we recorded this song in half a day and mixed in the second half so it took us only one day to do it. On top of it we had such a big hangovers that none of us really put any effort into it. I recorded the drums in half an hour and left the studio cause I wasn’t feeling well and I didn’t want to be in the studio.

Why is the “Risen From The Sea” the only track without lyrics?

Because they really SUCK!!! I think it’s one of the first lyrics that Johan ever wrote and when we were listening to it he was really embarrassed and we decided not to print it.

The last three songs seem to have a little concept going on. What’s the story behind it?

Yeah, in a way it’s a concept. When we started to work on “The Crusher” we already had a vision for the whole CD what it was going to be about. Hopefully you can feel it throughout the whole CD that it’s written in this same mood. But when we wrote the “Annihilation Of Hammerfest” we didn’t want it to end like that and we decided to add a continuation to it. So it worked this way and it just happened to be a trilogy of some sort about this guy.

Congrats on your great website. How much does the Internet help you in promotion of the band?

I’m not sure, but I think that Internet is the best way to spread the underground music right now. There is not much of a tape trading nowadays so it’s the easiest way of trading the music and of course it’s also a great place to talk to the fans. I think Internet has done a lot for metal scene over the last few years.

What’s your opinion on MP3’s? Are they good for music and bands?

Yeah, I think so. I have no problems with it. I mean I would be a liar if I said I would be grateful if I could live only from the music, only by playing it and doing what I want but I still think MP3’s are more helping than hurting bands. When the labels are saying that the sales are going down I don’t think it has anything to do with MP3s but rather CD’s prices are outrageous. I think MP3s are a perfect solution to poor people who can’t afford to buy all CDs they want and there’s anything wrong with that. Everyone should be entitled to listen to the music. I’m also sure that most of the people who like what they hear on MP3 will go to the store and buy the CD anyway.

Any US tour plans? It seems like you popularity increased tremendously over last two years over here.

No plans yet, but Metal Blade told us they will work on it.

What’s spinning in your CD player right now?

I just got Rammstein's “Mutter”. I’m still listening to Nile’s “Black Seeds…” cause it’s so awesome, Perfect Circle, Halford and many more.

Based on your profiles from your website you guy like to party and good booze. Give your fans a good drinking story…

[laughs] Oh shit. There are really a lot of them and it’s hard to come up with one right now. OK, we have our small metal pub when we always hang out and one night Olavi our guitarist succeeded in being thrown out from the club and was forbidden from ever coming in. Unfortunately our release party took place in this club and we had really big problems with getting him in. Everything is sorted out now and he’s allowed to come in but on that night it would be really weird if we couldn’t have a guitarist during our release party.
I guess drinking is a culture in Scandinavia and I don’t think in US this type entertainment is too popular…

What else do you do beside Amon Amarth, any side projects?

Well, yes I have something but it’s not a project. I just help my old friend which have a band called The Dead. They are going to record a mini CD after our European tour and I will do the drumming on it. It’s not a regular band or anything like that I’m just helping them out. Apart from that none of us have any projects at all. We are too involved with Amon Amarth to have time for any other band.

And now I have one of your favorite questions, “Do you play in Marduk?”

[We laugh] No

I know, it’s a joke but do really people ask you this question?

Yeah, all the time. It’s really popular name in Sweden and I know at least two other death metal drummers with this same name as mine.

Well, now you guys go on this same tour with Marduk so maybe two of you can finally sort it out?

I guess there will be one Fredrik Adersson too much on that tour [laughs]

Thanks for the interview and as always at the end “Would like to add anything?”

Yeah, sure! Check out “The Crusher”! I hope everyone who will listen to it will like it and eventually buy our CD. And hopefully we will be able to do a tour with this album in US. We would love to do this. We’ve had 3 or 4 offers before but unfortunately the tours were always canceled and we are really eager to go over and do some shows.