When it comes to one of the finest golds that the "New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal" has produced in the last 10 or so years, I believe that the Swedish band Helvetets Port deserves a lot of recognition, especially because their new album "Warlords" has gained so much praise and support recently. These guys have become loved and respected within the heavy metal community, so is it really any surprise that they still kick ass and deliver? I have recently spoken with the band's vocalist and founding member Tomas Ericson, aka Witchfinder, where we discussed the band's overall journey with the new album Warlords, but we also covered many other subjects along the way such as the importance of having a good sound production, the many forms of inspirations behind the music of Helvetets Port and we also talked about why the traditional heavy metal community is so healthy and welcoming. If you wish to dive deep into the world of these Swedish Wasteland Warriors, then I hope you will stay along for the ride and enjoy.

Vladimir

Hi, Tomas. How is it going?

Hey, I'm doing good. It's really hot in here, so I'll be doing a lot of drinking during this interview.

I believe so. Because, a couple of days ago, I interviewed Christer of Mindless Sinner, and he told me that it's 30 degrees in Sweden.

Yeah. That's true. It's the hottest September in 49 years and a lot hotter than it was during the height of summer.

It's crazy because I was in Stockholm 2 months ago and it was like 24/25 degrees maximum temperature. And hearing that it's now 30 in Sweden, it's like, what is this? You know? What's going on? You know? Is it like a very strange heat wave that caught the entirety of Europe?

Yeah. It's pretty extreme.

Yeah. Are you at least managing to handle it in any way?

Not super well. I mean, I'm very easily affected by heat, like, being from the very north of Sweden originally. So yeah. But, at least in my studio, it's very cold. I'm not there now, but that's a nice place to be when in a big concrete building far away from the sun.

Yeah, I believe you. Recently, I saw that finally there's more media coverage done for Helvetets Port for the new album Warlords, and I was actually quite happy when I saw the interview for the 69 Faces of Rock that was published yesterday. I always thought that Helvetets Port is one of those bands that needs more exposure like Enforcer, Night Demon, and Riot City. So far, are you happy that more people are now noticing the band?

Yeah, it does feel good because the feedback that we've gotten is kind of like, if suddenly modern regular people you see at a dance club or something, if they would like us, then I think that one would notice how come all these strange people are liking us? And it would feel maybe a bit weird. But, from the feedback from fans and listeners, it's been like your real heavy metal fans that have not yet discovered us are maybe starting to do so now, which is great. I mean, of course, I don't discriminate who can listen to us and not. But if it were the case that we would attract people who are not metalheads, then one would start to wonder what it is about our music that makes it so.

First and foremost, we are here to talk about the new album Warlords. Even though it's been a couple of days since I listened to the album and the first impression is still relatively fresh, I can easily say that the 5 years of waiting really paid off because it's an awesome experience all the way through. Tell me, how was the overall journey while working on Warlords? I mean, was there anything that you wanted to do differently this time around during the songwriting process?

First of all, thank you for your kind words about the album. And yes, when we were in the process of writing for this album, we felt that we wanted to be a bit more straightforward in the song. Like, have the songs been more straightforward because I have noticed, and I did notice when From Life to Death came out like in my ears, that it was a pretty normal-sounding heavy metal, but then people were all like that. They thought it was super strange, like the melodies and song structures and stuff. And I was thinking like, since we love our heavy metal in many different ways, and we feel that Helvetets Port is not locked into any certain specific song style, then we thought why not, like go more for that more straightforward heavy metal that we love as well. And the end result is in my ears very straightforward but in many people's ears it is still quite quirky. I guess that can be both positive and negative for people. At least, it's something that makes us unique, I think.

This time, I had a feeling like the band has finally shaped its sound, thanks to the previous success of From Life to Death because everything here feels like a very smooth ride from start to finish. Like you said, with the songwriting, how it was more straightforward and more focused. I mean, it didn't even lose its edge along the way as the album progressed. I mean, have your past experiences helped you become more focused and relaxed with the songwriting for Helvetets Port?

It is definitely a constantly evolving thing, this thing with songwriting, and in some way, I feel like my taste has been the same all along. My inspirations have been the same all along ever since I started this band, and I would have thought that maybe my songwriting would become stale, but since I enjoy the songs, how they turn out, and people enjoy it, there seems to have been more evolving than perhaps I am super consciously aware of.

The thing that's very apparent about Helvetets Port is that time gap between albums, like 10 years between the first and the second, and then 5 years between the second and the third, I think it's very good in a way because it gives such space for the songs to be digested and as time goes on, you can easily rework on them if necessary. I know that Black Knight is one of the oldest songs that's been published since 2021 on YouTube, but how have the other songs been worked on, over the past years?

That's a good point because they have had time to simmer for a while. Most of the songs were written or almost written by the time that Black Knight came out, the latest edition was "Cry of the Night". I think that was written in December of 2022, and yeah, we have had like pre-production demos of the songs for quite a long while, and we've had time to think if something should be changed or not. So yeah, the songs feel pretty mature, maybe more so than the ones on From Life to Death even though that one was 10 years in the making, so to speak.

It's very interesting to follow that band's evolution, like the evolution of the sound and the evolution of its style. Once you get to the point of Warlords, you really feel like this band has been on a very long distant journey. On top of all the great songwriting throughout the entire album, I personally think that the organic sound production of Warlords is very superior to that of its predecessor, and one of the key contributions was the fact that Olof Wikstrand of Enforcer was working on the album as a full-on producer rather than just with the mixing process. What can you tell me about the overall experience while working with Olof on this album?

Yeah, that's true. That's a distinction that I hope people realize that he did not produce the previous album, he was only doing mixing and we had been all over the place with the recording of that album. So, it was a bit more difficult to get this sound to a good place, but for this one, we collaborated with him from the beginning. I mean, we only recorded drums in his studio or under his supervision, and the rest we recorded by ourselves, but like with some pointers from him and stuff, and then he was able to have a bit more control over what was happening, and so we had a clear idea from the beginning. One of the guiding lights for this production was that we wanted to go from an earlier sound, like maybe in 1980/1981, which was kind of the case for the previous album, to a more like 1984 with this one. So, a little, slightly heavier sound and a bit more aggressive guitar sound, but still, of course, never crossing the line into what could be considered speed or thrash metal or anything like that or anything more modern, but to still have it be completely classic heavy metal.

Yeah. Just as the waves of heavy metal bands in the 80s progressed in that sense as well, because there's this big drastic difference between albums that came out in 1981/1982 to something that came out in 1984. I really like the fact that you're taking things with this kind of direction because you always try to keep it on the surface as best as you possibly can, but without sacrificing to make it as appealing as you can. Because there are a lot of bands that have great songs, but what ruins the album is the very sterile sound production that sounds as if it's done by Andy Sneap or someone like that. That's one of the things I talked about with Cloven Hoof's bass player, Lee Payne, and even said "What's the point of wanting to have that sound? I mean, you're just gonna sound like everyone else". In a way, you're kind of losing the touch of what you're trying to be as a band. I don't know if that makes sense to you in any way.

Yes, it's losing touch. It kinda depends on how knowledgeable the band is about production. I mean, one example is old bands that reform who might not have had this super long career in the past and now they reform and they make a new album, then that sound is most often extremely modern and sterile, and maybe then it is the case that they don't really know what you're supposed to do nowadays with production or something. And they have some friends or acquaintances who are in music production, they just kind of, maybe say to them "Yeah, make something good", and they make something modern, and it turns out not very good. But when it's a band who knows what's expected and what's not expected, like what fans want, and how you go about doing things for them to have such sterile productions. I don't know exactly where it goes wrong and I have to say it is a known fact, I guess, among us fans of old stuff that if you hear something from the 80's, it is a bit easier to like it than if it is a new thing. But I have to say that I don't think that it's all the fact of the age, I think a lot of it is the actual production and how it sounds. I think that if you heard new records with that very same old sound that they had in the early 80s, then it would appear so much better for your ears.

Exactly. You actually brought that once in a video where you talked about the use of melodies, you talked about "Land of the Living Dead" by Hell and how their reunion somewhat sacrificed what they were like in the 80s when they were doing demos and the fact that they erased that melody from the chorus in the re-recorded version hurt the song, but what I think hurt the song the most or the entire album was the fact that it was Andy Sneap's production, so you made a really good point there.

Yeah. That's the case that I think is also an example of a band who had a very clear vision of what they wanted to do during their comeback, and they had this elaborate stage show, and they seemed to really have everything set and going for them. I mean, I saw them live and they were great. One of the hallmarks of a good comeback is the feeling that they're actually very interested in what they're doing and making an impact and stuff. But the production, was of course, something that made it a bit less palatable for someone like myself, that it is sounding very sterile and stuff and this is a shame to me and to many other people, it's completely unfathomable how so many choose to go this path.

That brings me to my next question. One of the things that really attracted my attention about Helvetets Port was the fact that there is content that you post on YouTube, and I'm not just necessarily talking about the track-by-track videos that you did for the album countdown, but I'm also talking about the videos regarding the songwriting for classic heavy metal, including very useful tips and ideas that one could consider to incorporate when working on their own material, as well as mentioning some good archetypes for heavy metal. I mean, what inspired you to make these kinds of videos for the band's channel?

I guess it was the fact that there are a lot of thoughts circulating in my head regarding heavy metal and music and a lot of opinions that have formed throughout the years and been listening to heavy metal for so long that I hope I can have something to bring to the table when it comes to form opinions, and maybe educational in some cases. But I do very much enjoy a healthy discussion, and a YouTube channel is a bit of a one-way communication, but there is always the possibility to write comments, and that's something I very much encourage. Also, this thing with making videos is that I feel like I have the aptitude for it, maybe not always the time and energy, but it is something I enjoy doing when I do have time and energy for it, then like with many facets of having a band, I think that you should take the opportunity to maximize those things and to do them, be it like making videos on YouTube for promoting or discussion or whatever, or have making sure you have good graphical content or making good music videos or having a super good PR campaign. I mean, there's so much other than the music itself that you can do if you have the time, the energy, and the aptitude. I mean, don't just sit on your couch as long as you've made good music, there's so much more you can do if you feel like you are up for it.

That's a good point. Actually, that reminded me of something because I remembered that in the "New wave of Metal"a documentary that was done by Ruthless Metal, I recall you mentioned a variety of inspirations from something like classic movies to old-school role-playing and video games like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Dark Souls. As a very big fan of these old-school video games, I'm actually curious to know, to what extent have these media influenced your work for Helvetets Port?

For example, when it comes to Dark Souls, I'm not sure if I can derive any direct inspiration. Maybe it acted more like a muse in some sense that it was the first time I could see that another completely different medium than music could have like this austere melancholic, desolate feeling. Maybe I've seen it in movies, but I had not seen it really in video games before, and it felt kind of like the atmosphere of the game was something that reminded me of my favorite music mindset so to speak. And when it comes to other role-playing games like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights or other D&D stuff, then there are lot of names, creatures, and places that are somehow inspirational and if you feel like you're stuck somewhere writing lyrics or coming up with some theme, then those are good places to look, but I can't off the top of my head say anything that's directly inspired Helvetets Port stuff.

Yeah, but still, even if it didn't directly inspire, someone who can listen to your music and love video games as well, can somehow relate to the same way with both of these medias, sometimes they can get the impression that this song plays with their imagination. One of the songs that particularly connects to some of my classic video game experiences is "Castle Walls, City Gates", because whenever I listen to that song, I instantly think about strategy games like Age of Empires and Stronghold and Heroes of Might and Magic. Do you kind of feel the same way that some songs could relate in that sense?

Yeah, it is. Oh, now I came to think of a song that is directly inspired by such games, and that is "White Diamond", in that the verse is made so that you feel like you're in your hub, like the hometown where everything is jolly and fine and there are no enemies there to attack you, but then, when you venture out, it becomes more dangerous, and that's where the other parts of the song come in.

Yeah. That's actually a very good perspective. I actually didn't even think about it when I listened to it, but thanks for pointing it out.

And maybe that's also the case with Baldur's Gate and a lot of similar games are a bit like a mixture of the jovial and the very serious. I mean, seriousness is the go-to feeling for me when making music, and that is what counts. But there has to be something to counterbalance it and that's when the maybe more upbeat music parts come in.

Yeah. The heroic feeling that you get from songs, especially from the choruses. I always say that a good chorus in a heavy metal song always gives an uplifting vibe, and I think that's one of the strengths of a chorus, exactly the feel that you get when you listen to it. It's not like "Oh this is a chorus in a song". It's more like this is a specific point that's taking place. I like to feel the music. When I say feel the music, I mean, experience it in a way that's not just a musical piece, but also an adventure. And I really like the fact that your music actually manages to create that sort of feeling because even if it's accidental, it actually works out very well. But on the topic of that, I must say that I'm actually curious to see how the band's gonna write their best not yet written song, which is going to be called "Hooded Death Riders of the Apocalypse ".

Hahahah, yeah. Maybe one day we'll get to come full circle and we come to that point, maybe we will get a bit tired of refraining from excesses.

Talking about your songs, you're one of the very few Swedish Heavy Metal bands that I know that include both songs in English and Swedish language in their albums. Is there a specific story behind why you make this sort of decision?

Yeah. I think it's got a very distinct reason, and that was such an interesting challenge when I started making classic heavy metal, I was very influenced by the Swedish bands Onyx and Nattsvart, and that was the first time I had heard heavy metal in Swedish, and it made such an impact on me because as Swedes, at least from my generation, we are very used to the Swedish language, meaning it is punk music. Like if it's distorted guitars and Swedish, it is punk. It was a very interesting challenge to make music that is so spot-on heavy metal that no one could ever mistake it for being punk. And, of course, to add some extra flair to your music career and not be like everyone else, then, of course, it's a good thing to sing in a language other than English. But then, on another note, one of our songs on Warlords, "Hårdför överman", is maybe a bit punkish compared to the other songs, but yeah.

The chorus, especially. Even the other song "Helvete på larvfötter" is also very good. And even on the previous album, there's so much great stuff on it as well, but the first track "Stan Brinner", it's brilliant. I mean, I like the fact that you put that to good use, the fact that you're not just making a song in Swedish, but you're also making a good use of the Swedish language and your songs. Even somebody who doesn't speak Swedish can sing along with the song.

Yeah, it's interesting. The feedback that we have gotten previously, there were some voices raised like "I don't understand what they're singing about. I would prefer them to sing in English", but I've not heard anything like that now. Now this time around, on the contrary, people who don't speak English seem to appreciate the Swedish songs the most and are asking for more, which I think is very interesting and delightful.

Speaking about the Swedish background, Helvetets Port hails from Gothenburg, right?

It is only me who lives in Gothenburg and also K. Lightning, who is currently not in the band anymore. He has lived in Gothenburg, but otherwise, we are kind of spread out, and we have always been very geographically spread out.

As someone who comes from that city or that region, it's famously known for that widespread melodeath, Gothenburg melodic death metal, which comes with the package of bands such as At the Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquillity as well. How did you manage to escape that scene when it was a very popular trend and successful and how did you manage to successfully go down your path?

I'm not sure when that started really because I'm not from Gothenburg originally. I moved here in 2006, and maybe that was already underway, but I've never really felt like I have encountered that scene here and maybe not. I mean, it has been quite the personal thing, having this band and writing music for it. I haven't been networking a whole lot and not meeting many musicians here in Gothenburg, so I have kind of not been in the scene, and so it has been very easy for me to avoid the melodeath scene, so to speak. And I think that would have been the case even if I had been networking a lot. I mean, I still have the exact same dialect that I had when I was living in the north of Sweden, and now I moved from there, like more than 20 years ago. So if I don't want anything to change, then that will not change.

By that time, before you moved to Gothenburg and started Helvetets Port, what were your past musical experiences? What were you working on before that?

Well, before that, I have always been doing some sort of music project, ever since I was 10 years old. And I did have a period, when I was like from 10 to 16 years old, I was into death and black metal. So that was mostly what I was doing at that time, recording home demos just by myself. And then, when I was 18, I think, then I started this two-man band called, Brute Force, and we made a couple of covers of Gotham City "Swords and Chains", "Nightmares", "Waiting for the Twilight, also did "Killer Angels" by Gotham City, and we made a couple of original songs which later became Helvetets Port songs, "Djävulens triangel" was called "Death City", and "Heavy Metal Knight" was also around back then. So that was what later became Helvetets Port, you could say.

It's an interesting journey, I must say. And, you're not even the first one that I've seen that was starting out with extreme metal and then going back to traditional heavy metal. I mean, I believe Olof also started out working with thrash metal and black metal before forming Enforcer by himself. It's really interesting how a very widespread influence fades away and then it turns into this. Now we have you guys, and now we have Enforcer, Tyrann and Lethal Steel, and all of these bands before were exposed to more extreme music. And now it's more out there, and there are more people appreciating that stuff. Do you really think that that was the right way to go?

Do you mean the right way to return to classic heavy metal?

Yeah, exactly.

I can start with what I thought was the alternative thing that you meant was that if it was a good thing to start with something else, excuse me if I put words in your mouth, but that can be good. I mean, if you were a very young musician and don't even know how to play, like it was the case for me, of course, it's better to do something where it's not as high of a skill is required, such as black metal grindcore, where you're just banging one note and like just screaming into the mic. I mean, an expression we have in Sweden is "to dip your feet in the water". And then, I felt after a while that it was not really my favorite music anymore, and it was not the way I wanted to go. I had listened to regular heavy metal earlier from the age of 4, and then I kind of was into more extreme music for some years. But, yeah, then definitely, I think classic heavy metal is the way to go. Not only because it is the music I enjoy the most, but I do feel that it's got a healthy community, and it's kind of more colorful in a way. Maybe I shouldn't purport to say that I know anything about the current death metal scene, but to me, from the outside, it seems like it's kind of modern people who go to the shows and not a lot of community things going on. Classic heavy metal fans seem to have a good sense of belonging, very nice festivals, and yeah, seems healthy.

Yeah, I agree. I know it's a subjective feeling that it starts to reawaken in some people at some point, because in a way, if you spend more time in that circle of very unhealthy communities like the extreme metal ones which really tend to be, especially black metal, even if you love the genre, you just can't stand the people. And I'm really glad that the classic heavy metal community is not on that same level of elitism and toxicity. Elitism kills the mood, and it really makes you feel confused, it makes you feel lost and scared. It's good that bands and people are keeping it on a good reputation.

Yeah, exactly.

So far, are there any plans to do any shows in Europe to promote the new album?

Yes. We have shows planned in Europe, we are in discussions. We're playing in Finland sometime in early spring or late winter next year, and we are going to play in Germany in late May or early June. A couple of shows at least, and we're looking to see if we can string together a mini tour of a week or so in Germany and adjacent places, but other than that there's nothing booked. I mean, there are a couple of guys in the band who have recently become fathers, so I mean, maybe it's not the time for making long tours. We are definitely looking to play a lot of single shows here and there, what comes along.

Yeah, sure. Even my friend told me that he got some Helvetets Port posters, and we're from Serbia. He said that he was going all around Belgrade, and he said that he put up posters for the people to discover this band even in local record stores and talking to promoters. So, if you guys ever plan to come to Serbia, I hope you do, because we have Fifth Angel performing in a week or so, and we already had Enforcer kicking ass last year and even Tygers of Pan Tang in May. You guys are always welcome if you wanna come and play here.

Yeah, that would be awesome. We've never played there, and now that you mentioned Serbia, I was thinking of the fact that the band Warriors from there was a bit of an inspiration for the song "Black Knight", what their album cover kind of looks like.

Oh, my god, I love that band. That's one of my favorite local bands actually, I even recently purchased the Canadian release of their second album, it's very rare, and I actually prefer the second album over the first one, but Warriors is, in my opinion, much better than Wild Strawberries. I'm really glad that there are people from other countries who love and appreciate this band. Even a friend of mine gave a copy of a Warriors single vinyl to Olof when they were performing in Belgrade last year. I asked him" "Why did you do that?", and he said: "I want them to know good music".

Hahahah, yes, that was a good one. That's awesome.

Tomas, thank you so much for doing this interview. And once again, congratulations for your well-done job on Warlords, and I hope to see you guys live in the near future. And, are there any final words you'd like to say?

Oh, well. Firstly, thank you for having me and thank you for your kind words on the album. It makes me really glad that you appreciate it. And well, for my final words, if there is anyone out there who would like us to come play in Serbia, and if you have the contacts, the means to make it happen, then by all means, contact us, and we'll see what can be done.