Within the extremely rich realm of contemporary artists that rock out the good ol' hard 'n heavy, the Swedish band Tyrann has become another widely acclaimed attraction among New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal fans over the past few years, especially since the band's lineup consists of former members of Enforcer, with Joseph Tholl and Adam Zaars also being the current guitar duo in Tribulation. They have been going strong lately after the release of their second full-length album "Besatt" in 2023, which was also met with positive fan feedback like its predecessor "Djävulens Musik" from 2021, and there also seems to be talks about a third album that's currently in the works. For this occasion, I've decided to reach out to the band's bassist and vocalist Tobias Linkdvist, where we also discussed the current state and the bright future of Tyrann, as well as his previous experiences involving Enforcer and Terminal. I hope you will enjoy this conversation, and remember kids, don't make fashion out of our heavy metal passion!

Vladimir

Tyrann's new album "Besatt" has received positive feedback from fans and followers, with the new army of fans discovering the band. How does Besatt compare to "Djävlens Musik" in terms of the songwriting process, recording, etc.?Has your past experience with the previous album helped the work on Besatt flow more smoothly?

The recording process is always the same. We track the drums and bass of four songs, and about a year later, when we have more material, we track the drums and bass for the second half of the album. Then we record the vocals and guitars along the way. The recording sessions are rather split up, which works really well for us. I think we get smarter with every album. We found a very, very effective way of recording and rehearsing that helps us a lot.

Personally I feel that Tyrann has offered much more outstanding material on this new album, especially with songs like 'Transylvanien', 'Face The Tyrant', 'Omen' and 'Rå Energi'. Even though it is unfair to ask the artist about their favorite song, do any of the songs from "Besatt" personally stand out?

Thank you! I think this album is a bit darker than the first. I like the touches of black metal in 'Transsylvanien' and 'Rå Energi', but the stand-out track in my book is probably 'Face The Tyrant' or 'Varje Sekund Och Andetag'.

If you could look at both Tyrann's albums side by side, do you feel as if there was some overall improvement from Djävlens Musik? If you do, what would you say were some of those improvements?

I'm not sure we made improvements, necessarily, but "Besatt" has more black metal in it than "Djävulens Musik". A lot of bands release a heavy and raw debut, but go softer and more melodic with the second and third albums. We are doing the exact opposite!

Something that I really dig about Tyrann's music is that it is really driven by punk rock and rock ‘n roll energy that flows through the songs, while also being dynamic and uplifting as well. What inspired you to take on this kind of direction with heavy metal music? Were there any bands that had a big influence on Tyrann?

Like 95% of the music I listen to – whether it's black metal, 90's hip hop, or 50's rock n' roll – is driven by raw energy. That's what makes music interesting to me. I never cared about good musicianship and shit like that. Anyone can learn to be a technically good musician, but all that matters is soul, energy, and good songs. People just don't seem to understand that though. Bands like Tormentor and Hellhammer are big inspirations for Tyrann. That's the energy we want in Tyrann.

Another important factor in your music is the lyrics in your mother language which is Swedish, which I have only seen among a few other modern heavy metal bands such as Helvetets Port. It is often said that singing your language instead of English may slow down the band from reaching out to worldwide audiences, do you believe that is still the case or do you believe it's more or less a myth nowadays?!

Well, if you are going for the mainstream audience you gotta sing in English. But since we are not interested in that, I actually think we benefit by mixing Swedish with a bit of English. It makes the band stand out and makes us reach a worldwide audience within this small, true heavy metal scene.

Personally, what would you say how do both Tyrann's albums compare to your other notable works from the past, especially your contributions to Enforcer?

I'm still very proud of what we accomplished with Enforcer during the years I was with the band, but Tyrann is just as strong as any other band out there. Both are on record and live!

Besides your new album, another change within Tyrann is the return of Adam Zaars on guitar. Now that you are officially a four-piece, do you think that the new lineup will strengthen the band's work in the years to come?

For sure it will! This is THE lineup!

Last year, Joseph, Olof, Jonas, and you, celebrated 10 years of Enforcer's acclaimed third album "Death By Fire", which is seen as a crucial point in the band's career and every member individually. Do you feel that this album contributed a lot to your natural progress as a musician and what do you think has changed about your musicianship since then?

I personally feel that I took a big step to becoming a better and more experienced live musician on the extensive world tour we did on "Death By Fire". We toured a lot with the band back in those days, and (hopefully) you learn a lot from these experiences. As far as what changed about my musicianship since then, I was probably a technically better bass player back then, but I'm a stronger songwriter now.

As a final question, I'd like to ask this out of curiosity as a longtime bassist myself: Which of the basses that you have played or currently play stand out as your personal favorites?

My all-time favorite is my white Rickenbacker. Right now, I play a lot on a Squire jazz bass though. It's an awesome bass to be honest, one of the best I ever had.

Thank you so much for doing this interview Tobias! Looking forward to hearing more great music from Tyrann in the future and to seeing the band live someday. Are there any final words you'd like to say before we wrap this up?

Thank you so much for the support! Don't make fashion of our heavy metal passion!