1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
P: We're still in the middle of the aftermath of the album-release. This means doing tons of interviews, getting reviews and finding gigs to promote it. We're also rehearsing like mad and starting to write new material for the next album.
2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it
differs from previous releases?
P: It is similar in many ways. We still balance on the razors edge between melody and brutality. As on previous releases this album has plenty of variation and spans from American style death-metal via the old-school Swedish sound with some black and thrash influences here and there.
The difference this time around is smarter and more coherent songwriting, simpler more in-your-face structures and more thoughtful arrangements, both vocal and instrumental. The foundation is more focused on death metal this time around.
3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with
the new release?
P: The lyrics deal with social/spiritual/political issues. In many ways the three are connected intimately. Much inspiration has come from the state of affairs in the worlds only remaining superpower, a country that seems to be evolving backwards in many ways. It's very fascinating how a single country's political spectrum can hold such diversity, from the most enlightened to the most backwards and conservative. The staggering stupidity, intellectual cowardice and ignorance of certain influential political groups. It seems to be a land where cynicism and money dictate the laws. This is disturbing since the ruling party of Sweden seems to hold that particular model as a big influence.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
P: I wish I had a good answer. An answer to show how the choice of name was well thought out to reflect our music and lyrical topics in the best way. Unfortunately this is not how it happened. We actually started out as "Septic Breed". Not really satisfied with that name and fresh out of the studio with our second demo that we considered a damn good one we felt it was time for a new and better band-name. After looking through the dictionary for cool words we settled on "The Forsaken" since one of the songs from our first demo was called "Greed of the Forsaken".
5. This is your first album in 9 years what was going on during the hiatus?
P: Pretty much the same as usual, only very slow. We wrote material but it didn't sound as good as it used to. Since we split up geographically after "Traces of the Past" we couldn’t write songs in the usual way but had to rely on fewer rehearsals and more individual work. It didn't work out and as other priorities arose "The Forsaken" slowed down to a crawl until we decided to kick some life into the old corpse last year. We were never broken up but there wasn't much action happening in our camp for many years.
6. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how
would you describe your stage performance?
P: I think we have always been about having fun and putting on a good show rather then being flawless musicians. Less finesse, more brute force. It's so fucking boring to see a band that stands still looking at their damn instruments during a gig. If I wanted to hear a perfect recital of the songs I'd have listened to the album. A live gig is about exposing the energy of the music and sharing it with the crowd.
7. Do you have any touring plans for the future?
P: No touring plans at the moment. We've made plans for the summer with a bunch of festivals but nothing resembling a tour. We'll see what happens.
8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your new album by
extreme metal fans?
P: The feedback has been awesome! There's always a certain nervousness when throwing a new album out to get reviewed, especially since we've been gone a long time and that this album differs slightly from the others.
9. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full
time line up?
P: I'm not too sure about the rest of the band but I have plenty of other projects, all non-metal. I want to keep the best stuff in The Forsaken so any other metal band for me would mean I'm only contributing the rejected riffs and that doesn't seem fair. Anders has had a couple of projects, especially during our slow period but I don't think he's got any active ones at the moment.
10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases/
P: I really can't say. We've got some new songs and they sound like a natural continuation of "Beyond Redemption", but then again there's a lot of songs to be written before a new album is ready to hit the shelves so anything can happen. As Calle and Stefan contribute more and more riffs for the next on there's bound to be a few changes in sound and style. I doubt it'll be crabcore though...
11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music
and also what are you listening to nowadays?
P: I still think the old Swedish classics are a big influence. Entombed, Dismember, Grave, Hypocrisy have always influenced our sound. On the older albums I guess you could throw in bands like At The Gates, Dark Tranquility and The Haunted as well but that's not what we sound like anymore. I don't really follow the scene like I used to and I keep coming back to my old favorites, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Death, Deicide and the likes.
Nowadays I listen to all kinds of music, folk, hip hop, house, electro as well as all kinds of metal. It really depends on my mood if I'll listen to Fleet Foxes or Darkthrone.
12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
P: Since my job also revolves around music there's not really room for much more in my life. I'm a big fan of reading historical literature, watching movies and stuff like that but I don't have much else. Perhaps I should take up knitting just to diversify my interests.
13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
P: Nothing more then a big thanks for the interview. If you haven't done so already, check out "Beyond Redemption". I think it kicks all our pervious albums asses pretty fucking hard, then again I might be biased. It's damn good though and you can find it on Spotify and I-tunes so there's no excuse not to!
Cheers!
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