This Report/Interview has been published on www.decayed-metal.com before and is re-published here with some of the pictures that I took at the gig. so with nothing further to add, enjoy the reading and please excuse my worthless photography skills:
Standing outside the venue of the nights death-destruction (in this case Ungdomens hus in Uppsala Sweden) in the evening sun of our northern climate Martin Persson (guitar) walks up to me and asks if im the guy doing the interview with the band, he then asks me if its ok to do it in a little while since the guys need to eat first.
So in we go, and after a while (one batterychange in the camera and a Dr. Pepper later) Tobias Christiansson (bass) aproaches me, im not used to people being able to look me in the eye with a straight neck but Tobias has no problems here. We step outside into the warmth of our scandinavian motherlands fresh sunny air.
Decayed metal- will there be a US tour soon?
Tobias- we were there back in 2006 with Grave.
He then tells us that the money isnt that good on the other side of the pond and that the scene is still very much underground. People seem to be more interested in bands like Creed. But there has been talks about doing Canada in the fall.
Decayed metal- wich beer is your favorite?
Tobias- Czech beer is a good overall, Staropramen is nice.
DM- why did you go melodic?
Tobias- Thats mostly because of David (Blomqvist, guitar), he wanted to use guitar harmonies and melodic stuff. It was pretty unusual in the beginning.
DM-whats it like being veterans in the genre?
Tobias- it feels good, shit what to say. There was a bunch of bands who started this, Entombed, Grave Dismember etc . they just dont quit even if its not as big nowadays as it was back then. Its not like i walk around and think about it.
DM- life on tour, party or the more mature route?
Tobias- well not that mature, theres partying.its easy to get stuck in a squirrelwheel, hangovers lead to more beer. Sometimes theres no energy left to party, its all about the circumstances if its even possible and who youre with at the time. Today he`s sober since he`s driving.
DM- whats your view on the music business today?
Tobias- its a bit slow so to speak, since the popularity of the internet and downloading fewer records are sold. Theres more money in performing live since the music is underground and people pay to see their favourite bands.
Tobias also tells us that he wants to own the whole album, not just a file on his computer.
DM- alot of old school bands release new material, why?
Tobias- thats probably just a coincidence.
DM- whats your view on doing a wedding gig?
Tobias- (laughs), that would feel very weird. He now tells us of a thing that happened on the last tour when they were aproached by a couple who had used “Dreaming in red” (Indecent and obscene, Nuclear blast 1993) on their wedding. As a finale that night the band had played that song.
DM- what makes a band longlived?
Tobias- there has to be a dedication to the music. You must like what youre doing. Comunication and personal chemistry are also very important. You should also enjoy touring. Everybody has the right to have a bad day.
DM- any last words for the readers?
Tobias- buy the new album, fuck thats standard, see us live! Fact is that live is one hundred percent, people who pay to see us should get a great night. Some bands look like theyre bored but not us we love performing live, we want the audience see and feel that we do aswell.
And with that we shook hands and went back inside. Eviscerated had started their set just seconds before we got back inside and were in the middle of their second song of the evening. Sadly the sound wasnt top notch and that makes a lot of difference when trying to listen to the music aswell as experiencing it with our eyes. But they still managed to deliver their brand of deathmetal to the audience.
They left the stage for Degial who claimed it in smoke after another Dr. Pepper or two. By now the bad sound of eviscerated was making everything pretty much useless, the band performed well but the songs were totally unhearable due to the awful sound. This i fear is more due to the bands themselves more than the engineer. Degial leave us with a desire to hear whatever it was they tried to perform, perhaps at a better stage with another sound somewhere else.
Enter tonights headliners, Dismember, lowering the volume and getting a grade A sound (compared to the supporting bands horrid sound) from the start creates a huge difference, we are treated to Iron maiden banners and a yellow mascot amongst other things. The band then starts off the slaughter.
Fuck this is good, these gentlemen tear the stage from the floor with their energy and playfulness. With a setlist containing most if not all of their old huge hits mixed with stuff from the new album they skullfuck pretty much everyone there. Dismember really show that the words of Tobias are true, they make sure everyone has a good night and look like theyre seriously enjoying their sacred craft of Stockholm death.
Watching Erik from Watain sing along to the older songs just shows how ace these guys are.
Dismember leaves the stage and the night is still young, i sit on the bus home listening to Reborn in blasphemy and just enjoy myself.
Dennis Östlund for Decayed metal webzine
Degial, Eviscerated and Dismember:
