I spoke to Henrik of In Solitude a few nights ago and finally have the results typed up. However… Skype was a bitch. Despite testing fine before the call, Henrik ended up sounding like Stephen Hawking being put through a mincer at points. As such, ing the original recording just isn’t an option.
Also, it means that I’m missing a couple of his responses as I simply couldn’t make them out. Henrik very kindly volunteered to step into the breech and fill in the blanks if I emailed him what I had, but time wasn’t on my side as he was heading off to the US to start a tour!
Obviously a jinxed interview as the original time I had scheduled had to be reorganised as he was stuck on a delayed train!
What I got from him, though, was good. And it’s below. For you. Because you’re worth it.
You’re the newest member of the band – would that be right?
Yeah, but I’ve been in the band for about four years now. I ed in 2009, but it was made more official in 2010.
So you worked on the previous album and the new one (just released, end of September)
Yes, I think the big release was yesterday – , Austria and… Spain? The US today. Everywhere should have it by now, pretty much.
I have you listed as a “classic metal” band. Would you say that covers it or do you have other influences?
Yes, we’re a classic band but we have our own influences. Personally, I like real classic bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. This shines through more this time than last time.
Sabbath’s an obvious one – your style is dark and heavy.
I’ve heard us compared to post-punk bands like Joy Division or gothic bands like Souxsie and the Banshees. The atmosphere… we like a lot of extreme metal too, and that’s a lot about atmosphere these days. The bottom line is we’re a heavy metal band and that’s what comes through.
Has the lyrical content changed on this album? Your known for your Satanic themes.
I don’t write the lyrics, but I think Pelle said that they’re more about Satan than ever before! We write the music together, though. A very personal record for all of us and Pelle had all five of us in his mind when he wrote the songs. I think the occult theme is more personal now than on the earlier records.
So it’s very much a group project to write an album for you?
Yes, very much – at least the two albums I’ve been on. It’s not like one person writing everything and we just play together. I think on this record all of our personalities shine through. It’s a step to making something that’s more representative of ourselves and more personal.
What do you think of the new Sabbath album?
It’s good, but I think it’s too long and it’s not breaking new ground. It’s very one-sided, very much on the doomy side. A bit too generic in that sense, but it has a lot of great songs. I think that’s one of the problems today, some of the bands put too many tracks on an album. Eight songs is fine, four songs on each side would be perfect. I still really respect them for doing it even though Bill Ward wasn’t there.
Are you a Ronnie James Dio person, or an Ozzy fan?
(laughs) Aah…! I’m really just a huge Sabbath fan. I even like some of the Tony Martin albums, but I tend to like most of the Sabbath albums. In the end, I’d go with Ozzy and the first six records!
I gather you’re about to begin a tour with Watain?
Yes, I fly out on Friday to New York and then on to the start of the tour. We’ll be away for one month exactly; leave on the 4th and come home on the 5th of November.
Watain are a band you already know – Gottfrid guested on one of their albums?
Yes, he’s on a B-side of one of the singles and Watain have guested on our stuff as well! We know them really well – toured with them before, too. So we’re really looking forward to it. A good few weeks with friends on the road! We plan to represent Sweden in the US.
[As ever, thanks to Andy at Metal Blade for organising the interview and for Henrik for giving up his time and talking to me at a ridiculous time in the Swedish evening!]
