Johan Edlund (Tiamat)
March 2008
There's been quite a long time since your latest album's release. I don't think it was a planned five year break after Prey...
No and I hope it's not gonna become a habit. We don't really want to wait that long between the albums but many things happened in our personal life. There was many reasons for this long wait but it's definitely wasn't our intention.
Did you miss writing and performing during this period?
We have been playing some shows during this time and I have been constantly working on songwriting so we haven't been totally away from the band.
And you also released a live DVD in the meantime...
Yeah, it was released in 2006. I've heard mostly positive reactions about it from the fans and we were pretty happy with the DVD as well because we tried to pack it full of worthy material and we tried to include not only the live show but also the history of the band. I think it made sense.
Do you still have some unreleased material?
Not much but we have some stuff so maybe when we release another DVD in a few years we'll have some bonus material like some shows we recorded. I think it's very important with a DVD that you include as much as possible for the viewer.
Last year saw the release of a Tiamat compilation CD. I guess that was your old label's idea...
Absolutely. If we had something to say about these things we would never release a best of album. But of course the record company needs to spread the music and their releases the best they can, that's their job, so we tried to work together with them to come out with a compilation album that we were also satisfied with because otherwise they would have done it their way.
So did you have the chance to compile the songs?
We had a very good contact with Century Media about everything over the years and they even asked me to design the cover artwork for the compilation CD. The had a suggestion for the tracklist and I only had a few changes to be made and they were fine with that. It went really good. We still have very good working relationship.
Are you satisfied with the CD even though you don't like the idea of compilations?
Yeah, it is good as it could be. For me it's difficult to see the whole point with a compilation album but if there's someone that didn't hear the band before and he wants to know what we have been doing from the beginning until now, maybe that would be a good start. I would have hoped that compilation albums in general should be cheaper to buy because they are more like a sampler. Almost something you would get for free in a magazine, so they shouldn't be too expensive.
Would you urge your fans to buy it?
I have no problem if the don't buy it, to be honest. (Laughs)
We already mentioned that you're not with Century Media any longer. Is it because end of contract?
Yes, end of contract. Then we started to negotiate a new contract with many companies including Century Media but in the end we decided to go for Nuclear Blast because they seemed to be the ones that were the most interested in the band. We have signed for two albums with an option for a third so at least we'll do one more with them.
What are your expectations?
It's too early for me to say. I don't know if the people were good yet, I haven't visited the office in Germany, so I don't know much about them. I don't know exactly how they work, what they do differently from Century Media. I think we have to see that by the end of the year when the album is out for a while.
You have recorded the album with the same line-up that seems to be very stable...
Yes, it's quite stable for quite a while now. We have more family issues nowadays. I mean two guys have kids and we have some other things on the side. For some shows that we're gonna do this summer and also that we have done the last couple of years sometimes we had to hire a session guitarist for a few shows, so we have been a bit unstable when it comes to live shows but for the albums we have the same guys for quite a long time.
The new album is quite different from the previous Tiamat outputs. Is it something you wanted right from the start?
No, we never really know what to do. We just write stuff that we like and enjoy ourselves. We never have a plan before an album and this was the case this time as well. I think we approached this album the same way as all the other albums. I cannot say why it turned out like this. It's obviously something we just wanted to do at the moment.
How did you feel about recording rough vocals again?
I've been singing like that quite a lot lately on the shows when for example we played In A Dream live. It's not something I haven't done for years because I've done it every year at the shows ever since we recorded the old albums.
I'm sure that you know that the album is already leaked despite Nuclear Blast's new way of promotion...
Yeah, I've heard that.
Does it piss you off?
No. I mean it was just a question of time anyway. And getting pissed off about something like this... well, I mean I think life is short for that. Of course I would have hoped that it would leak a little bit later closer to the release date. Now it blows the fun of having release parties and all that. Of course we knew that sooner or later it's gonna leak and people who prefer to download albums will do so. For me personally I don't think it changes much.
The album's sound is very raw, more like an old school recording. Was it intentional?
We didn't speculate, we just tried to do something we like and we worked with it until we were pleased and we got what we thought would fit the songs.
Did you produce the album on your own?
Yes. I think the role of the producer is a little bit misunderstood in the media because basically the producer's main work in the studio is to keep everything together and take care of some of the business. In the movie business you have the producer and the director for example and the producer is taking care of organising the stuff. In the music business the producer has to do many more things. We don't need a babysitter, we don't need anyone to arrange everything because we used to do that ourselves. I think the importance of a producer for the sound of an album is totally overrated. It has more to do with the sound engineer and the guy who is mixing the album.
When did you start composing for the album?
I don't remember. I guess I already started writing right after Prey but of course I haven't been working on it all the time. Back and forth while trying to do other things in life. My life is not only about music, we do other things on the side. When I felt inspired I worked on songs in my studio.
Did you use any older ideas for the new album?
No, everything that we recorded was written for this album.
What did inspire you as far as the lyrics this time?
Pretty much the same like always: a lot of religion, which I think to be very puzzled by and still have a lot of questions about that to write about it a lot. And also I wrote about some other topics. I mean I never write anything fictional so it has to be something that I went through and the usual questions about life and death.
What would be your favourite song both lyrically and musically?
If I would pick two songs right now this would probably change tomorrow already. Right now I think it's Equinox Of The Gods and Until The Hellhounds Sleep Again. Equinox Of The Gods seem to be pretty much a straight forward black metal song as far as the lyrics because it's very harsh against Christianity. In the end of the song the last verse I'm singing make kind of a turn to hint that maybe the whole song was political without revealing too much. Until The Hellhounds Sleep Again is about the forgiveness of the church, about the people that go out and behave like real pigs on a Saturday night only to go to church to ask for forgiveness on the following Sunday.
The lyrics of the opening track is like a biography telling the listener, "We came back, we're back in business"...
Yeah, it was supposed to be like a resume... like when you watch a TV series and you miss some episodes and you have these few minutes in the beginning that gets you up to date.
Did you record any bonus tracks?
Yes, it is called Thirst Snake and it's gonna be on the digipak version of the album. We have also recorded some more material that is not mixed yet and some of them are not even fully recorded but we have a lot of bonus material that we'll continue to work with.
What songs off the new album do you think would work best in live situations?
I don't know. It's something we really have to think about in the upcoming weeks. There are so many things we could do. We have so much to choose from nowadays. It's very difficult to find a way how to combine what we have done in the past with the new songs. There are many options and I shouldn't say too much until I talk to the other guys about that. Equinox Of The Gods is the song I would really like to play live and also Raining Dead Angels, which we could open the live shows I think. We'll see. There are many ideas and many strong wills in the band. (Laughs)
What are your touring plans for 2008?
Hopefully we'll get on a lot of festivals in the summer and then go on a European tour in the autumn. Some festivals are already booked but we are unsure about when exactly the tour would take place.
You have released a Lucyfire album in 2001. When can we expect a new one?
I have no idea. The only thing I know is that there will be another album but most likely not this year but maybe next year. I have a lot of songs written that's why I'm quite sure that it will be done. I haven't given it up and I'm still working on new songs. Actually just a few days ago I was working on new songs.
Will it have the same musical direction as the debut was?
Yeah. Lucyfire is a little bit more like AC/DC or Motörhead (laughs) and we don't wanna change too much there. I can experiment with Tiamat but with Lucyfire I want to keep pretty much the same kind of gothic rock'n'roll that I like very much.
What was your three favourite albums from last year?
I don't even know three albums that were released last year. (Laughs) The last Dark Tranquillity was very good but I even forgot the title of that one.