Infernal

At around 20, I had already had some half-traumatizing happenings that made me even more like this. Of course, I could be social at times and basically like anyone else, but that's to me is mainly theatre. I don't let anyone really know me unless I am pretty certain I can trust that person. And statistically - It hasn't looked to good. as well, just because I've had a half-miserable life, it's not the reason for me getting interested in all this Dark Music and why I label myself Satanist. In fact, I am NOT a Satanist in the orthodox theistic sense, meaning you worship the devil and you believe in his existence. My hatred lies with humanity. So In reality, I am more of a misanthrope hating humankind, and then of course as well hating their creator - meaning God, Jehova. (according to that crap book called "The Bible"). Satan literally means fiend, adversary, and enemy, and that is what I pretty much feel myself as: an enemy of mankind. So if am actually a real "satanist" or not I do not care. but worshiping something that doesn't exist, I am sorry but I don't find it very smart. I can get attracted to dark atmospheres, evil surroundings, and a lot of Satanic things like books, films and other physical things etc. but to tell the absolute truth, I am first and foremost a musician who likes to create evil and atmospheric sounding music. I am not religious. But I have a hatred for religion and people.

Were you always drawn to the dark side, or was there a catalyst that directed you toward the path that you have followed all these years? What does the Satanic concept, that has been present in all of your bands, mean to you?

Yeah ,well as far as the Satanic aspect of the band, it's pretty much back to basics, more lyrically actually what I did with NECROPHOBIC than with DARK FUNERAL and INFERNAL. Of course all bands had its roots in the hatred for Christianity and mankind. That's what it was for me, other members of these bands might describe it differently....but personally I had the feeling of hatred for mankind. (Okay, not including exactly everyone on the planet, but for me, people only means problems.) And as for the state of this world, I truly believe some really bad is going to happen, if not Armageddon, something at least close to it. just turn on the TV, wars everywhere, people dying in front of the camera, That there will be a World War 3, I am 100 percent sure of. I hope not in my lifetime, but it could easily happen. The Arab world against the US and European world if we generalize things. Yes, I believe things are going to go truly to HELL, on which scale I do not know though.

I can certainly agree with your sentiments. You brought up NECROPHOBIC. Was this the very first band that you played with? How exactly did this band materialize and what was the primary goal of that which you created?

As a serious musician, yes, NECROPHOBIC was the real first one. There were earlier versions of the band with a lot of different stupid names (so stupid - I wont tell ya...) back in high school, One particularly funny memory was when we me, Joakim Sterner and Stefan Zander (first NECRO vocalist) rehearsed in this big music room, and we played the infamous track that a lot of bands have begun rehearsing with - Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and this old principal came by to complain that we played to loud, and we just ignored him and continued playing. Don't remember actually, but I think we got thrown out of that music room and wasn't allowed any more rehearsals...

What can you remember from those earliest times, back when NECROPHOBIC was still putting out demos and working toward making the first record? How was the Swedish Black and Death Metal scene back then?

As far as those old times, there where good times and bad times too. Some rehearsals wasn't always funny, since you argue about riffs, arrangements and stuff, but when things were ready and recorded it of course felt good. Although I cannot really listen to that old stuff now (guess I soon have to as Regain now has said that special Satanic Blasphemies box shall be out in September...finally! ) if not they must be seriously punished. They have now had a year. and I was never even asked about the whole thing.--

The early Swedish Death/Black Metal scene was very special. Now, everyone in basically every band knows each other, but things was a little different back then, but the incredible thing is that so many of the bands that started the whole thing still are around, maybe in different constellations, but all the old Stockholm bands now exist again. anyway, when INFERNAL is coming back the circle will be sealed.... (I feel I have my rightly earned place in the history of the Stockholm Death/Black Metal scene, regardless of which bands I have played with.)

As for the first NECROPHOBIC album, even though we were not one of the most popular underground Death Metal bands at the time, when we recorded The Nocturnal Silence at Sunlight studios, we had the record in having " most friends" there. Something like 30 people in this little studio. Fucking insane. I had a hard time concentrating when we should mix or whatever it was...

What was the response like for The Nocturnal Silence? Did you go on tour to support the record, or did Black Mark even make this an option?

The response was mainly very good. Rock Hard, Terrorizer and some other bigger magazine gave it quite high quite high scores; no 5/5 BUT several 4/5's.... I actually can't remember any really bad words about that album.

I can surely remember a couple bad reviews of the DARK FUNERAL albums, but hehe in retrospect what can you say???

The The Secrets of the Black Arts has sold until today more than 40,000 copies. The mini-CD/E.P. is today above 20.000 copies with it's all different formats. Only one "mini-CD" (if we talk Black/Death Metal) has sold more, and that's the split L.P./CD with EMPEROR, but that's not a real MCD since it has two bands on it.

As for NECROPHOBIC The Nocturnal Silence, it might be something in between 10.000 and 15.000. It was about ten thousand when Black Mark stopped selling it. Then, I guess Hammerheart re-released the first three NECROPHOBIC albums. Even a vinyl version exists. It's pretty cool, done by Painkiller Records.

As for any touring, no, we did not go on support for that album; only gigs here and there. We could have, if we absolutely wanted, but it was a tour with, I think, LAKE IN TEARS and INVOCATOR. They just weren't very cool bands, but to be honest, I didn't feel like going. Okay, if there was better bands, but actually I felt somewhat tired of the other guys at the time, and simply didn't want to spend a month ,or if it was three weeks, on tour with them. I felt like I wouldn't be able to stand them for that long 24/7... Anyway, gigging with 'PHOBIC was cool, and we mostly got a good response. I think all in all I did 16 gigs with them..

It was not long before you created another band, DARK FUNERAL. What led to this decision; i.e. was there any thought that your musical vision could not be achieved through the boundaries established by NECROPHOBIC?

Regarding the creation of DARK FUNERAL, it happened because of two things: I wasn't satisfied with some parts of NECROPHOBIC, for example the drumming, and at the time, and some other things that made me see that there wasn't that much future for the band. Then I met Ahriman and well, we were both going for the idea to create some very extreme Black Metal, and with both our minds united, things just rolled on very very fast, and 3 years going from nowhere we had created one of the top Black Metal bands here in Sweden.

Did DARK FUNERAL become your primary focus, during this period? There seemed to be quite a lapse of time between The Nocturnal Silence and Spawned By Evil. Was this a direct result of your involvement with DARK FUNERAL or was there a lack of creativity within NECROPHOBIC?

Yeah there was both a lack of creativity in NECROPHOBIC and the total opposite at the time for DARK FUNERAL. So leaving NECROPHOBIC was just a question of time. It was a little irritating though that most of the tracks on Darkside are mine. Even the cover idea was mine; I called Necrolord and told him how I wanted it to look. But, well, a small revenge is coming as far as that record goes. (You know what I'm talking about...)

Indeed. So once you guys put together a full line-up, for DARK FUNERAL you did the MCD at Hellspawn/Unisound, with Dan Swanö. Many people don't remember or never knew that the early 90s Black Metal scene wasn't always looked upon too kindly. Only in later years it was accepted and became highly regarded. How was it going from Death Metal to Black Metal and what was the response like for the MCD?

The early years, like 91-95/96 , were very very special; I really must state that. Back then there were not a million bands and labels, and a lot of the bands knew each other at least a little, since there wasn't so many bands at that time. Back in 94-95, the big three Black/Death Metal bands were DISSECTION, MARDUK, and DARK FUNERAL (excluding the more regular Death Metal like ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER and UNLEASHED). Those were very special times, since the Black Metal scene hadn't yet been exploited and was still pretty much a very underground thing. Black Metal was something people actually were scared of, with all the church burnings and murders up in Norway. Nowadays, not that many Black Metal bands are very scary... the extremity and the feeling of belonging to something forbidden, special in those old times were very strong. It was a kind of magic that most likely never can be recaptured again.

The response for the MCD was good from the start, when we sold the first 100 we felt very proud, then it became 500, and so on and so on. We never imagined we could sell so much of that MCD. but it came at the right time.

Hellspawn/Unisound seemed to be notorious for producing a flat sound, when it came to Black Metal. The only ones that escaped this fate were the early DISSECTION records; however, one can hear other albums recorded there, such as Those of the Unlight or Opus Nocturne, by MARDUK, to see the poor results. In speaking with Themgoroth, a couple years back, he explained that the DARK FUNERAL full-length was originally recorded in the same studio, but that the sound was less than desirable. What was the main problem, in your opinion, and how did you make the decision to go to Abyss Studio?

As said, I made the decision to go to Abyss Studio, because of the shit sound we got on that first Secrets... session. Marduk's Opus Nocturne is another good example that suffered from that flat crappy sound. They used the same gear as we used on that session, and those recordings have the same flat crap sound. That's because Swanö changed mixing tables (a digital one - which was supposed to be so good - but was really shit) and some other equipment that wasn't too good either. The early recordings in Unisound, like the first DISSECTION album, the DARK FUNERAL MCD and a lot more, were pretty good sounding, until he changed basically all the equipment.

What was the main difference between working with Peter Tägtgren as opposed to Dan Swanö? Also, rumor has it that you recorded most of the guitars, yourself, for The Secrets of the Black Arts. What led to this development?

The difference with working with Swanö and Tägtgren was day and night. From the day we arrived at Unisound studios for The Secrets... recording, everything felt stressed. Swanö was apparently stressed and simply burned out, and as well he had got some new gear that sounded like shit (mixing table and new microphones and shit). To make a long story short, that recording ended up being very bad, sound-wise and performance-wise. I knew directly that we had to re-record it, or DARK FUNERAL would most likely be over. The other members did not understand this, of course, but when we went to Sunlight some weeks later, to try to re-record some vocals, Tomas Skogsberg made a call to Swanö that basically saved the band. He phoned him up and asked him (Swanö), "Well, what the hell do you think I can do with this??? This record I can not save, regardless if we re-do the vocals and re-mix it." Then, Swanö, like a little mouse, said to Skogsberg, "Okay, I have fucked up totally. I will let the next band on No Fashion record for free, and the money No Fashion are/were going to use for that, they simply take for DARK FUNERAL to go and re-record the album." Without that call from Skogsberg, our ships would have been burned.

Two months after that Unisound crap recording session we went to Abyss (actually as one of the first bands there; only THE ABYSS, ALGAION and early HYPOCRISY had recorded there before). The recordings sessions went pretty good, but it was actually quite boring being out there in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much to do. but compared to Unisound, it was 10 times better at least.

The only thing I regret is the guitar sound. Peter had just started the studio and used a Marshall Valvestate as the main amplifier and that's one of the reasons the guitar sound is pretty weak. but Peter wasn't as experienced back in those days as he is now - the "metal guru" of Sweden. If one thing, I like to hear those compositions with a thicker and overall better sound. The songs are still really great, but would need real Marshall JCM 800 stacks (I am a complete Marshall fanatic) and then use Metal Zone distortion boxes. Anyway, it sounds like it sounds, but the sound really doesn't do some of the songs justice. For sure, they are several times better than on that Unisound session, but could have turned out better with some different gear and more experience from Peter. Anyway, as a whole, I am quite satisfied with that album. However, every album has it's faults, and you can never be 100 percent satisfied. Actually, INFERNAL might, sometime in the future, re-record "Bloodfrozen", since that song is basically 100 percent mine, and could have been done much better. we might record it as some bonus stuff, or just for free for downloading sometime. That one isn't a blast song so much, so it would fit in with the "new" INFERNAL concept.

Finally, that rumour that I recorded more of the guitars is partially true. Ahriman recorded however 90 % percent of his guitars, but couldn't do some riffs, because he had an hangover. Those where some riffs in "When Angels Forever Die" and two riffs in "The Dawn No More Rises." Maybe some more riffs, but those are the ones I clearly remember. It's not like I recorded a loads of more riffs than him.

By 1996, a relatively short time after the DARK FUNERAL L.P. was released, there were already line-up changes. First, Themgoroth left the band and was replaced by Masse Broberg of HYPOCRISY. How much longer did it take before you left as well and why was the band falling apart when it had achieved so much success?

Masse/Emperor Magus Caligula came into the band in the summer of 1995. Themgoroth had already done the vocals then for The Secrets of the Black Arts but he simply didn't cut it live. As well he showed little motivation even though the band was getting immensely popular... I left a year later, in the summer of 1996. That wasn't planned, of course, but the tensions between me and Ahriman were just too big to be able to continue together at the time. He got physical (fistfights) two times with me, and since then I felt I could never work with him again. Actually, just right before I left, we talked about kicking Ahriman out of the band. Then it was him and Masse who had some disagreements. I left, but not really to leave for good. I had some hope that, “Okay, we take some time out now, and later try to talk through things”.

Anyway, that never happened. The band went on tour a week after I left, and the backstabbing from them was simply horrible. The saw me as the enemy, whereas I hadn't done shit other than building the band from scratch. Actually I still did a few rehearsals with Tomas/Alzazmon, but when Masse and Ahriman heard that, they told Tomas to choose sides. He wasn't allowed to play with me, since I was the "enemy". Then, I took my equipment from the rehearsal place (same studio/Tomas rehearsal place) and got into my car and said, "Well, never see you again..."

That he (Tomas) really chose sides with those two idiots is beyond comprehension, and I know he badly regret it now, as he left the band himself, less than two years later, because of the exact same reasons reasons that I left. For a long time he was my enemy, (since taking sides with those idiots is unforgivable). but after some years, in 2001, I started to talk with him a little bit again and the "ice" in between us melted away quite fast. And here I am with him as the INFERNAL drummer.

So, after establishing DARK FUNERAL as one of the top Black Metal bands in Sweden, you turned your attention back to NECROPHOBIC and did the Spawned By Evil E.P. and then left the band not too long after. You already touched upon reasons for exiting the band, but why did you not remain long enough to record Darkside? The album was filled with your lyrics and songwriting, according to the credits, yet you only made a short guest appearance.

I left then exactly when the Spawned By Evil MCD was finished in January 1996, I think, simultaneously with the release of The Secrets Of The Black Arts. I felt I had to choose, because things were really starting to happen for DARK FUNERAL, and in NECROPHOBIC, it didn't happen much ...of course I could have made the decision to stay in the band and record Darkside, but if that was to happen we had to do something with the band, like changing guitarist, or drummer. Martin who plays in INFERNAL now, wasn't really as good in the beginning, but he got better the longer he was stayed in the band. But, I have always wanted to play with a guitarist who is either better than me or in at least on my level, and say if we would have taken in Sebastian instead on Darkside, it might would have been worth to stay. But I can´t say for sure, but then I would have had a guitarist that gave me some serious competition. Martin worked well live, but was at least at the time a lesser good guitarist than me. As well, at the time I left we were all pretty tired of each other as persons. Anyway, Martin is one of my few friends I have left, and he is as said in INFERNAL now. But I generally demand high standards both for myself and from others, so being in a band with me - you have to work hard. Sebastian, now the main writer of NECROPHOBIC would have made me stay if we have had him in the band at that time. Yes, in retrospect, it feels pretty meaningless to have done 70 % of an album an not play on it (okay, one solo), but well , as YOU know, we will (INFERNAL) do some thing very special that has to do with Darkside for the INFERNAL album...

I'm certainly looking forward to it. The next band that you were involved in was WAR. What was the story with this and did you have aspirations for it to become more than it did, or was it simply a side-project?

WAR was originally intended to be a one off project, but then we talked some more, as we received good reviews on the Total War MCD, so we thought, why not doing a whole album. so we booked time in the Abyss for it, and Peter was going to drum and It was going to be on it to, but as most people know It didn't turn out that way. Peter was occupied with too many projects and album productions at the time, and It all off a sudden sold all his things, (half his record collection to me) and according to rumors, moved, to Finland. I don't know if this is true, but I've also heard that he traveled around the world for some time, like Asia and stuff. but that's just rumors. He moved/left Sweden because his True Satanist Horde was basically falling apart and some other personal problems. He just simply left in late 1997 and since then I have heard absolutely nothing of/from him.

Anyway, since we still had that studio time booked, me and All were going to cancel it, but in the eleventh hour, we said "let's go for it anyway, even without the other guys. That was a pretty bad decision, me and all was over at my place for a weekend or so recording riffs, collecting ideas for the We Are War album, but fuck what can I say, it didn't turn out that very well. We had to take in HYPOCRISY drummer Lars Szöke and he was by no means the right man for the job. He did kind of a Cannibal Corpse blast or something, not the type of blast that Peter did, and the songs suffer pretty much because of that. The production was not very good either, since Mikael Hedlund (HYPOCRISY bassist) did the whole shit in a few days, and it sucks pretty much. Had Peter and It been there, and Peter done the production, I'm sure we would have done a pretty good album... A few of the songs are cool though and those are re-released on the We Are Total War CD that I released myself on Hellspawn. It was the "Total War" MCD/CD and seven of the best tracks from that We Are War crap session. it's passable, but not much more.

Also, in 1997, you created INFERNAL, recruiting former DARK FUNERAL vocalist Themgoroth. The 1999 self-titled E.P. completely killed the material that your former band mates released following your departure. Did you guys have a goal in mind of proving a point to them or were you simply carrying on with your vision? How was the E.P. received in the underground, at that point?

The vision we had with INFERNAL back then was to create something even more sinister and brutal than DARK FUNERAL. That was basically the one and only goal. We (or rather I) had high expectations on INFERNAL back then but, as usual, Themgoroth jumped off the ship, and left me pretty much alone without any other members. Matte Modin (who played on the first INFERNAL MCD/E.P.) was more of a session guy, but very serious. I think me and him rehearsed more together than me and Themgoroth (and Matte). He left in the summer of 98, if I remember right, and I didn't have a clue what to do at that moment. But, as times passed by and I talked to Themgoroth some more, I encouraged him to go up to Abyss Studio over a weekend and lay down the vocals, so the shit could finally be completed. That was in summer 99, so a whole year passed, having a record without any vocals. So, he was already out of the band when he completed the MCD/E.P.

The MCD got very good reviews (almost too good, because actually it is good, but not that bloody good), even though was basically grind/blast stuff all the time, people love it, or at least liked it a lot. We got a 10/10 in the Swedish magazine SLAVESTATE (very flattering, as said I don't really agree, A 9/10 would have been more right). Anyway. generally it got good reviews everywhere, despite its lack of anything else than extremely brutal and Satanic blast!

Some time after the first INFERNAL MCD, you rejoined NECROPHOBIC, presumably to replace Martin Halfdan. Was this a different experience than being in the band years earlier? Were you there long enough to do any shows or work on any new material?

Hmm, I was hoping this question wasn't going to come up, since it all ended up in nothing really...

Anyway, the thing was that I had talked to Sebastian a couple of times on some metal Clubs/pubs, and he told me Martin had left and they wanted me back in the band. I don't know if he said that literally, but he implied on it.

Then all of a sudden I got a call in 2000 from Joakim Sterner (NECRO drummer) and he simply asked me if I wanted to re-join the band again. I was taken aback slightly at first, since I didn't expect this, and initially I said no. I thought, "Why the hell would it work now when it didn't work that good last time" (or the last 2 years rather), but he called me up again some weeks later, and since I didn't had much musically going on, and the first line-up of INFERNAL was split up, and I didn't do much else than running Hellspawn, I thought, "Okay, let's give it a try".

There's now Sebastian on guitar and not Martin and I thought it could be cool to play with a really great guitarist for once. Anyway, we rehearsed about 8-10 times, and it went pretty okay, but honestly, I didn't like the material they were doing so much. This was the Bloodhymns era, and it was going to be recorded in Sunlight once again, and I was against that. As well, the rehearsals were like sometimes only 45 minutes once a week or maybe an hour at best, but that's how they worked. I never got the feel for the new songs like "Dreams Shall Flesh" and I don't remember the name of the other I learned during this time. Although, I liked some of the songs from The Third Antichrist. Those felt cool to play.

However, I said that I wasn't 100% sure about the new material, but I will do my best and be part of this album and play live and everything. When Joakim heard that I didn't say I am joining for a longer time, since I said "I'll play on this album and we try to make the best of it, and for the future we'll see",he didn't seem to accept that I said that, that I would join for this album, and then we'll see.

A week later I got a call from Joakim that they didn't want me in the band. Anyway, things would have worked, but maybe I would only do that album with them. The musical direction was more Thrash/Death, than the Death/Black they are doing now. their last albums are way better than Bloodhymns. Another thing was that I never felt really part of the "new" NECROPHOBIC. There wasn't much communication between us, except on these short rehearsals. There was no team feeling, at least for me, but the others seemed quite tight together. Anyway, it was the best that happened; I think me and Joakim just can't be in the same band for any longer time, and we didn't get along too well. I mean no calls from the guys if I want to go out for some beers or so, there was no good team feeling simply. I don't want to be in any band that I haven't got that much in common with. Tobbe is a great guy though, he's basically the only one I occasionally talk to from that band.

By the end of that year, you released Summon Forth the Beast. This featured two original songs and a few covers (I think the VON cover surpasses the original). Was this E.P. always planned or was this the material that had been prepared for the full-length? What was going on with the band around this time?

Actually, what the sole purpose of the MCD was to see how well this new line-up would work. Those songs, and the covers, are okay, but I felt that the other material we had was not going in the right direction. The other guys, Tomas/Alzazmon and Typhos liked the stuff, stuff that mainly were written by Typhos, and I really didn't like it. It was not at all the original Satanic Holocaust feeling that we did earlier, neither was it something in the vein of what we are doing now. Just not good enough riffs really. As well, Typhos had the habit of never showing up or canceling about every second rehearsal, and sometimes he drove me nuts. He still a good friend, but I never want to play with him again. That line-up just didn't have any future. The MCD was cool though, but a full-length with the other stuff "we" had would have meant the end for the band. Typhos never sang on rehearsals either so if you're gonna take the front man role, you at least have to work at it.

Anyway, around the time Tomas joined DISSECTION full-time, everything fell apart and I was actually relieved. Even though Typhos was/is a good friend, we're not good band partners. so I was almost happy that line-up ended.

Now, it is 2009, and INFERNAL has returned. You've recruited Tomas on drums and Martin on guitar and you're handling vocals, guitar and bass. The songs that are available online definitely have an old school vibe. Is this indicative of what fans can expect for the upcoming full-length?

Yes, absolutely. those tracks on the official INFERNAL myspace site, shows pretty well the direction we are going in. There will be some other stuff too, some track that has a definite SLAYER vibe and one a definite MORBID ANGEL vibe. Also there will be a few riffs that really are simple metal riffs, little bit like JUDAS PRIEST or MAIDEN. As a whole, the album will be slightly diverse, but not meaning any fucking jazz and fusion shit. It's simply heavy and hard catchy and pretty simple and also brutal music. going from fast to slow, melodic to pretty brutal. We are in no way going into fusion/avantgarde style. This is Metal, Satanic Death Black Metal.

As you look at the Swedish Black and Death Metal scene today, do you feel that there's something missing and will INFERNAL be the final piece of the puzzle to complete this?

Well, you're pretty much laying out the answer in my hands, but yes, there is a missing piece of the Swedish Death/Black metal puzzle that we are filling in. Dissection is no more, we take a little bit of inspiration from them, and are also taking influences from metal bands like I earlier said like MAIDEN ad PRIEST. As well, since the old "Nocturnal Silence" NECROPHOBIC is no more, (well they try to copy it, but only I can do those types of riffs) as well, there will be a little bit Funeral maybe (but not very much) and a little bit of the old Infernal (but just a little bit). Anyway it will be very orthodox metal, easy listened stuff, but melodic, brutal and evil at the same time. Strange enough, I haven't heard a band doing what we do, although it's pretty damn simple stuff. As well, we bring back the vibe of the 90s, I would definitely say. I hate most music done after the year 2000.

As for the upcoming album, do you already have a basic vision of how you want it to turn out? Do you think you might work with Necrolord again, for the cover art?

Hahaha - we have had the cover art for ten years, no joke. and it's a Necrolord painting, yes. We were supposed to have done an album with the first INFERNAL line-up in about 2000 and I talked to Necrolord back then (for the fifth or sixth time) and what he has done is simply amazing... Comparing it to the The Secrets of the Black Arts cover, this one is even better. It's very simple and evil... you'll see for yourself. It will definitely make a great digipak and a Picture disc.....

Before wrapping this up, I just wanted to get your thoughts on some bands in the Swedish scene.

DISSECTION?

Very good - with one of the best guitarists that ever was. but I like the second album most.

NIFELHEIM?

Funny guys - cool music, but really, I don't know if I really think they're that very evil. They do not scare me; they are pretty nice guys.

WATAIN?

Pretty good, but hadn't heard them until about a year ago. One of the better newer acts.

NECROPHOBIC?

Hmm, what shall I say? Yes, the new album is good, but they are definitely less than the hype around them.

DISMEMBER?

Never liked that much and never will.

MARDUK?

Good in the old days, and good again now with Rosten (Arioch/Mortuus) as a vocalist. he's really good actually.

DARK FUNERAL?

Next question please. What the hell shall I say, not good, not bad.

UNLEASHED?

I liked the first album, and then pretty much hadn't heard much since a couple of year ago when they restarted, recently heard a song/video that was really good called "Black Horizon"...

Alright, thanks for your time. Any final words?

I am pretty worthless at doing those cheesy final words, like "keep heavy" or "stay metal" or "fuck off" or whatever, but, well, keep the infernal flame burning. This time we are coming back for real. Fear the Infernal Return!

http://www.myspace.com/officialinfernal

The last time that the world heard from David Parland, there were many plans for the resurrection of Infernal, as well as the rebirth of a musical legacy that goes back over two decades. However not all went as it was meant to, in the months and years that followed. Following the release of The Infernal Return, things got quiet once again. After all this time, the silence is finally broken...

Morbid hails! It has been quite a while since the last interview that you did for the Rites of the Black Moon Webzine. What have you been up to for the past few years? Why such a long period of silence and relative inactivity?

Well, to really to tell the truth, the way it's been, I've felt like I've literally been placed under a curse. No, maybe not, since I don´t believe in real curses, but for the last ten years I've really fucking struggled every day to survive. Every day. Without giving out too many personal things (which I am doing here for the most part anyway, I realize), I guess I have to to explain this long absence. Also, I've heard rumours that I should be dead etc, pure bullshit of course, but well can't deny the fact that way too many years I've lived really miserably.

To begin with, I've been living under very bad financial circumstances, since I am not working or having a day job any more. This has mainly been the result of living in constant physical pain for a very long time.

It basically started with a car accident, well over ten years ago, when I had been up to the Abyss studio to talk with Peter Tägtgren and bought some of his old (but still pretty good) studio equipment. I bought his old A-DATs and some other studio gear, since I had the intention of starting up my own little studio. This was around the year 2000 or so. I did run this little studio in the rehearsal place that I had back then, but I had to stop, after about two years, since I could not afford the rent and expenses in the end.

Anyway, what happened the same evening as I drove home from the Abyss studio is that by approximately 23.15, and just being a little more than over an hour by car from my home in Stockholm, I crashed at high speed with a fucking elk. This was in the middle of January, and I thought after driving most of the way home, that I finally was "safe" from driving on the roads where you have wild animals passing. Suddenly, a big elk came up from the right side of the road, and in seconds, crashed into my old Volvo, making it basically trash. It looked like it had been run over by a bulldozer. Incredibly, I survived and the recording equipment didn't get damaged either, since it was in the back seat. However, the car got so damaged that it didn't look like a car anymore. It was a total wreck. Anyway, I made my way out of the car by smashing out the side window, since I could not open any doors or anything. I climbed out of the car wreck, and basically didn't have a fucking scratch, as opposed to this fucking elk which died immediately and was thrown at least 20 meters in the air, behind the car. When I got behind the car and found it dead, drenched in blood and without both of its horns, I felt like I was in a movie. It was completely surreal. I later found one of the horns in the back seat of my, now, destroyed car.

So I just stood there in the middle of nowhere, late in the evening/night, without a car and not knowing how the hell I was going to get home. This was before mobile phones were so common, as well. After a while another car passed me and saw what had happened and helped me to contact a fucking cab that could drive me home, and to call someone with a truck, to carry away the wrecked car from the road. Even though, physically, I didn't get a scratch, I got a pretty bad whiplash injury, which I noticed just got worse and worse, especially after a few days. At the time of the crash I felt nothing though. This incident combined with the fact that I'd been having some back problems, from jobs where I had to carry heavy things, forced me to live in constant pain, and this started my "journey" into painkillerland so to speak. Now, over a decade later, I can´t fucking live without strong painkillers and some other shit that I've been as well addicted to over the years.

So for a whole decade almost, I did not do much, still playing, but not anywhere as much as I "use" to. other than some work with INFERNAL, and some work with Hellspawn. I've spent many years in isolation, because of very strong physical pain.Things are finally better with me now, and I am slowly coming back, and taking up music full time again. However, as it is, I can not function normally without meds.You may know that we have the hardest policy in the world when it comes to giving out pain medication to people (pretty much same as in the US, but worse). Nearly everything is considered a narcotic here. You can´t almost get sleeping pills. Too many people die because of this insane and completely non-scientific policy. It's morals from politicians who have the vision of a completely "drug free society", and that will never be accomplished. This is medication, except for the worst drugs, like heroin and shit; otherwise this really is medication for people. For long periods, I have been denied any help at all. Needless to say, I've been forced to self-medicate, which I normally would never have done. I do not feel any guilt for this though, as I didn't ask for this shit to ever happen and my faith and confidence in the Swedish health authorities/doctors is beyond zero. I want to crush this, and it's one of my goals. This goes as well for the whole Swedish society, as its downfall is getting worse and worse with every month. I am moving out of Sweden the day that I have enough money, that's for sure. It would not bother me one bit if practically every politician (except one, which I am actually supporting) should directly get a bullet in their heads. The nation of Sweden is dead, and the country I grew up with is dead. The crime rates are comparable to those in the US and the immigration is the worst that we have here in Europe. Everything is corrupt. No shit, only the uncomfortable truth.

Apart from all this, I have been forced to live under very extreme circumstances particularly for this year, almost ending up dead several times. I do not have my old apartment anymore. I've been arrested by the police numerous times, being in custody for about a week. I've been placed against my will in a "psychiatric" ward for "detoxification purposes" for some weeks as well (for this painkiller/"drug" addiction.). This was legally wrong since I am no fucking hardcore junkie or so and never will be.. Also been on trial for beating up a social worker, and got my punishment for this some months ago, jail or probation for a year. So, of course, I chose the latter. Also, not too far back, I felt so fucking sick of everything that I nearly finished myself. There was just too many bad incidents in way too little time, so in a moment of feeling really miserable that I swallowed a jar of very toxic pills. This was a deadly dose by all means, but ok, I wimped out at the last minute and called an ambulance. Everything went black from then, basically.

The next day, I woke up in the hospital, having had my stomach pumped and having to drink large amounts activated coal/carbon. I had electric sensors all over my body, as well as a fucking straw/stick in my mouth and throat which restricted my airways, almost choking me to death. This was something far beyond any horror or terror I've ever felt before. I was still heavily sedated so I couldn't speak either. Imagine being choked and not being able to communicate at the same time. That's exactly what happened and it was so horrible I would have chosen death instead of this. After half an hour or so I finally slurred "get this shit out, get this shit out", since I couldn't breathe at all, but they just pushed this thing back in my throat, and it literally felt like being raped and assaulted, this by the hospital staff. I finally got that thing out and could start breathing again and screamed to that hospital team, "Fuck, didn't you understand I was fucking choking to death???" Fucking idiots! I could have died there.

After all of this, life has actually gotten better. Seemed like I had to hit absolute rock bottom to start climbing up again. I am definitely several times better now, although the pain's not very good, but I am finally back to playing a lot of guitar for hours every day, since I am and always will be a guitar freak. I have started a lot of projects that will all result in new record releases. It will be very hard work, but I am coming back. Not much can stop me this time. I am so full of anger that I could kill hundreds of people, but well, I try to focus and put that energy into a full comeback. Hate that word by the way, but that is what shall happen. Too many years have passed by without any purpose at all. I am mad, pissed to the core, that I've had to endure all this, but this makes me even more motivated to get back and kind of take back all that I've lost.

I know this was rather difficult to share and appreciate the candid nature of your response. So, taking all of this into account, what is the current status of Infernal?

The status of INFERNAL as a real/full band is, well, not happening right now as we speak. But this doesn't mean that there isn't going to be an album. I've said it too many times before, I know, but there is absolutely going to be an album and this sometime during 2013. I have 80% of the material, but the biggest problem right now is to find a really killer drummer, but I´ll start a massive search for that any day. I'll do the rest myself if its needed. As you know I have done the vocals since 2009, so right now the drummer thing is the main issue. Fuck, this drummer thing has nearly fucking killed me. There are just always problems with them.

What other musical projects are you working on, as of right now?

Except for INFERNAL - just BLACKMOON (re-named Blackmoon´s DARKWINDS for a while, but now changed back). Anyway, this might seem a little too much to do at the same time, but since this is both old and new material, that has been collected over a long period of time, I have quite a bit of stuff. So right now I'll work on both, simultaneously. INFERNAL, I obviously have most material for. BLACKMOON, about half an album, and it's very much in a slower, heavy kind of Dark/Black Metal. It's probably the most melodic stuff I've ever done. I hope for a late 2013 release for this as well, but before that, a 3-4 track promo CD will be out (released by myself, just to do some pre-promotion for the project, and as well to hopefully get an album deal for this project). I hope to release a 3-4 track very limited CD, just as a taster, and as well to regain interest in the project - which is, by the way, not exactly the same stuff as I once recorded at the infamous Unsound studio with Dan Swanö. This is so much more professional.

Hammerheart Records is actually re-releasing the old Total War CD. By the way, as far as re-releases go, I am currently working on a jubileum issue of the In Conspiracy With Satan BATHORY tribute album, since it's been fifteen years since it came out. This will be with completely new packaging, superior artwork, and about 5-6 bands added. So, I am working with quite a lot right now you see, but I don't yet know what will come out first - probably WAR or the re-release of the BATHORY tribute. Possibly even this BLACKMOON taster CD. INFERNAL will be later, despite that this is what I have absolutely most material for.

In 2010, The Infernal Return E.P. was released through Goathorned Productions. It seemed that they did not do the best job of promoting and distributing this recording. How would you judge your dealings with this label? Did they meet your expectations or not?

I think they did an ok job. I never expected much from this very small and little cult Colombian label. They did their work, and got the E.P. out, but of course, the distribution has been next to disastrous. I still love the way it came out, with my own artwork, combined with theirs as well, as doing it in both black and purple vinyl. So I have no resentment towards them.

Are there any plans to revive your old label and to reissue The Infernal Return on CD or even cassette?

No. As for reviving Hellspawn, I shall never say never, but not as it looks now. I would probably do it if I had stronger finances, but not for INFERNAL, since that release simply needs a bigger label.

As for the 7” itself, the material was great and should have silenced any critics that may have questioned your abilities, after such a period of silence. What sort of feedback did you get and how pleased were you, personally, with the end result?

I am pleased with it, as said, but really disappointed that practically no one has heard it. Almost no one. There exists only some very few reviews of it, all positive though. Honestly, I think the songs are bloody fucking good, if I am allowed to say that myself. "Of The Seven Gates" is a track that I actually listen to over and over. This one kind of shows the direction of the whole album. I'd say the upcoming record will sound like a cross between old NECROPHOBIC, but with blastbeats as well, with some guitar harmony stuff similar to DISSECTION and well some old Thrash and Heavy Metal. Maybe a few (old) MORBID ANGEL influences too. Of course, I don't need to say that this is purely Satanic, as it should already be understood.

Despite being quite productive with various bands during the '90s, you've had problems in maintaining a stable line-up for Infernal, for the past decade. To what do you attribute this difficulty?

Well, to begin with it's really hard finding dedicated and talented people. But otherwise, there haven't been any other specific difficulties/problems to hold together bands for me, than the same problems other bands have as well to keep their members. If I was somewhat more social though, I have to admit it might be easier to find new members, but I see the same thing in most bands who are splitting up, changing line-ups, or argue and go separate ways. Bands like (hehe) DARK FUNERAL, MARDUK, MEGADETH, BLACK SABBATH, ANNIHILATOR, BEHEMOTH, VADER (just to name a few), and a horde of others have had zillions of members. I think DARK FUNERAL have something like 13-14 ex -members, and the other bands mentioned above have very many as well. I think I read that ANNIHILATOR had had something like 30-35 (!) members through all years. With the recent split, now, NECROPHOBIC are rising in numbers as well, as far as members go. Of course, they are light-years away compared to a lot of other bands.They´ve been around for 23 years now so I guess that's natural. Their last line-ups have been good, I think.

What happened with Martin and Tomas, both of whom were members of the band when we did the last interview? Would you say that their departure is the primary reason that there has been no follow-up L.P.?

As for Tomas, there are a lot of things I could say, but I choose not to say too much since it leads to absolutely nothing but more animosity. Unfortunately, we aren't friends anymore, which is about all I can say. I've tried to contact him many times, since I'd prefer to bury the hatchet, but I've now given up. He's still a killer drummer, I suppose. Anyway, Martin (who I don't meet that often anymore) is at least still my friend. He actually never got into to the band for real. We were planning/hoping we could start to rehearse around early 2010, after Tomas had done those GORGOROTH recordings, but everything fell apart. Anyway, I never fully understood why things went as they did. Also, there was some really foul play involved last time, if you remember that, since this whole matter affected our last interview (some questions were forced to be erased etc). That was really fucked and should never need to happen again.

You've mentioned that you have much of the material for the long-awaited Infernal full-length, and told a bit about what we can expect musically. Do you have a title in mind and can you share any song titles or other info?

I can, but of course that totally destroys the mystique. The album is going to be called The Infernal Retribution and it will feature nine songs (ten with an instrumental outro track), including those from the E.P. As far as titles, well, I can share at least the following:

"Descent To Hell", "Killing Christ", "The Infernal Retribution" and "B.M.R" (old song from an old band of mine - a new version yes - since it's 100% my song/composition, but it will be on the album for sure). Also, the tracks from the 2010 E.P. The Infernal Return. For those who aren't familiar with them, these are "Of The Seven Gates", and "Godforsaken - (With Hate I Burn), and the intro "The Darkside Calls". Lastly there is this dark, doomy heavy instrumental called "Anthem Infernali". So that´s what I can share with you folks!... but that is not all as said. I have a few more up my sleeve.

Ideally, by when would you hope to be able to record and release this album?

In 2013, and release it maybe September of the same year. There's too many factors that I just cannot control myself, except the music, so I cannot say anything for sure. Had Tomas and I stuck together, we would have had this out at least two years ago. So finding a new drummer is again, absolutely, the first priority now.

What do you think of bands like Watain and Ondskapt; those that have risen in your absence and currently seem to define the Swedish Black Metal sound, so to speak?

I haven´t really heard of ONDSKAPT, except the name, but WATAIN I like. However, though, if they play Anti-Cosmic Death Metal or Christraping Black metal I don't care. That anti-cosmic thing for me feels a little overdone. For me, Satanic means being an adversary, fiend; meaning the enemy of mankind and this shit world/society and has not too much for me to do with these anti-cosmic ideologies. I hate people! That's what I've always said and I'd like to murder them myself. If I got my will satisfied, so many fucking people would die, several hundreds. But, as said, being a misanthrope. That's enough for me. If today's definition of being being a Satanist means killing/extinguishing the whole of the cosmos, which seems a rather hard thing to do (understatement), I do just not care. I am a pure misanthrope, Satanic by my own definition. I am just less interested in this ritualistic stuff.

As for older bands, what do you feel of the completely ridiculous farce that is Dark Funeral and have they tarnished the legacy that you hoped to create with releases such as Dark Funeral and The Secrets of the Black Arts, in your eyes? The truth is, most newer fans only know them for their worthless releases that came since your departure, not realizing that the band was once worthwhile. Does this ever bother you?

No, it's not bothering me at all that they continue with their Black Metal circus. But well, the band was basically another band on the first two releases. My vision was definitely not what they are doing today. I am not a Church of Satan disciple either, but they are. We were not that in the beginning, that's all I can say, and as long as I stayed we were never labeled as Church of Satan followers. LaVey was clearly intelligent though, but his Satanism, no. I've read a lot about it; I even got the old "Black Flame" magazine from them, but the more I read, the more I disliked it, apart from some things like taking revenge on your enemies, which is the most christian thing to NOT do ever... But these theatrical bullshit rituals aren't my thing. I'd rather sacrifice a living human for the sake of it, or kill someone who has done something harmful to me. Then they deserve punishment. As for Lavey though, he was partly an intelligent person, but also a charlatan. But, again, I guess I have my own interpretation of what Satanism is. It's being the arch-enemy of this world and mankind, rebelling against normal conventions and living a life which has not very much in common with the average normal person.

Anyway, sorry if I got carried away there. To return to the question regarding my old "bandmates", well, I've nothing against them really. But come on, there is not much of a sinister radiation when seeing them play today. They just rely on extreme blast drumming. Their drummer is killer though, and the new vocalist seems better than Masse (Lord Oranienburg - as he was originally called on his first gig with us in Germany, 1995). For me the riffing and guitar-work is very generic and very predictable, though, So, no - it doesn't give me much or anything to listen to them today. Lord Ahriman's statements that they are developing for each album are purely ridiculous. Sorry, but have to say it, since every album have sounded more or less the same since I left.

In the last couple years, old Necrophobic material has been re-released. Were you able to have any input in the process and what do you think of the band celebrating its history a bit more; history that you had a great deal to do with?

I am 100% for these re-releases that have come out now in the last year on Hammerheart. They have at least given a little bit of hope for me that there is any idea to continue (with music). I wasn't originally involved in any of those old (NECROPHOBIC) releases, (Satanic Blasphemies on Regain Records, that is). Despite that Joakim claims he contacted me about this, he didn't really. I read it on Blabbermouth, and contacted him about it. I have no resentment towards him by no means, but I just told him we should release this on Hammerheart instead of Regain (who ripped off every band in the end, then completely disappeared from the surface of earth. See any similarities with old us Necropolis here??). So, in connection with Guido, (Hammerheart boss) I made the Spawned By Evil E.P. happen (with those extra demo tracks) and now finally give Satanic Blasphemies a proper release as well, so that we're not totally ripped off like with Regain.

Speaking of Necrophobic, they recently lost both guitarists and had to recruit new blood for the band. After all these years, and one aborted attempt at a reunion, would you ever consider rejoining the band?

Maybe, but as I've already re-joined them once in 2000, and it didn't really work out in the end, I have a little bit hard to think it would work out now. However, if just Joakim and I could sit down and discuss some things, I don't see this as an impossibility. Joakim and I are old, old mates, but in a band situation and in the long run, there has been some problems, I am not denying that. The band is partly another band now and, when I rejoined, it was just not the right time. The material for Bloodhymns was definitely more straight Death Metal than the so called "Blackened Death Metal" that we we were doing on the first albums, and that we were known for. However, I feel they have somewhat returned to that sound, so musically I can't see any reason for it to not work. Anyway, they must of course have an interest in having me back, which I doubt, but as I am a much better guitarist now, compared to what I was when the first asked me to re-join, I think it could work. As long as me and Joakim can just sort out some minor differences. I'd be open for it.

If given the opportunity, what musicians would you like to work with, if any?

Anyone who is serious (really serious) and committed to doing music on a pretty professional level. It would demand a pretty high level of musicianship of course. If I can find another guitarist with a strong will and is prepared to sacrifice time for a band (INFERNAL, or a complete new band), I would do it directly. Also, just to stress this, a really killer and dedicated drummer. Actually the latter is what is absolutely most important right now. That problem needs to be solved somewhat fast. I have a few in mind, but if that doesn't work out, I'd/we have to put out an ad or something on the internet. This must be solved. I am not gonna sit with a drum machine and program this...(I use this only for early demos though).

What are your immediate plans for Infernal and would you ever be interested in putting together a touring line-up and playing the summer festivals?

No. Never. I hate, truly utterly hate, especially, summer festivals. I am not a summer guy. I have only been to festivals twice in my life. As for INFERNAL, the only real goals are to (1) find a drummer and, (2) rehearse and play guitar until I'm better than I've ever been, and then record The Infernal Retribution.

If you were playing live with Infernal, what sort of stage show would be involved? Describe the ideal Infernal gig, to best convey the musical and aesthetic vision that you have for the band.

No specific stage show at all. I/we don't need that. Just playing as professional as possible. I don't need any special gear or stage equipment, just all dressed in black and my guitars + Marshalls and hopefully feeling the adrenaline flow. Yeah, of course, having a few people slaughtered alive on stage also.

How important are lyrics for Infernal and what are the main things that you draw inspiration from?

Lyrics are not the absolute most important thing. The music is. But it's a must of course, that they deal with whatever diabolic visions I may have, and want to write about. It usually ends in different expressions of Armageddon - the end of this world, suicide, visions of Hell itself, and hatred towards pretty much everything. I won't change into singing about other stuff, like for example NECROPHOBIC, who now both invoke Satanic forces in their lyrics and as well deal with Norse mythology on their last records, although I see nothing wrong with that. Anyway, INFERNAL is and will always be dedicated to pure Satanism. Not in a tongue in cheek way like DEICIDE nowadays. This is serious. Other projects may include other subjects to write about however, but no singing about flowers here or happy summer days.

As I've known you for years, it is no secret that death is an ever-present thought in your mind. How has this affected you over the years and in what ways has it, or will it, come through in your music?

Well, Death is something that at least is "democratic" (although i really despise that word). It will happen to all of us, regardless how rich, famous or whatever social status you may have. I pretty much know though, that even since I'd prefer a long "healthy and happy" life, I don't think it´s going go that way for me. If the suffering continues the same as in the last years, and as I have already lived more than half of my life (probably a lot more actually), I'd prefer going out and ending things myself than having 20 more years of suffering in this world. I live for the moment now (it´s a cliché - know that), but when your time is out it is out. But living in pure torment, no chance, that is no choice for me. Give me ten more good years, rather than 30 years of just meaningless existing without any purpose.

What do you do, these days, to maintain some grip on sanity in this hellish world we're in?

It's hard to keep sane, I must say, when the world and everything is so extremely fucked up and not sane itself. Anyway, I work on my playing, music, and try to keep a minimum of health, walking late by night usually. Otherwise I do not do much. I used to play a lot of video games, all these years, when I was in "solitude", so to speak. I've kind of lost that interest, and now only play occasionally. Mainly the old Capcom games. Resident Evil 4, I played for over a year, but the new ones suck, especially this last abomination (RESI 6). It's totally horrible. I still play the God of War games once in a while, but as said, now all time goes into making music and playing again. That is my call.

What sorts of music do you find yourself listening to, the most, lately?

Actually most old Metal, since I am an '80s Metal guy. All but some other stuff that I just happened to get my hands on. Anyway,lately, it's been old MAIDEN, ACCEPT, JUDAS PRIEST, BATHORY (of course) and the DEMONAZ album, which is fucking brilliant. Didn't know it even existed. Really killer stuff!

Since you are a big fan of King Diamond's older work, it should be asked whether or not you managed to make it out to the Sweden Rock Festival earlier this year?

I do not like the Sweden Rock Festival, never been there. I´ve seen KING DIAMOND in early 1987 on the Abigail tour, and some years ago as well. I don't remember for which album it was, but it was a good show. This was before he was hospitalized and had his heart operation and back surgery though. KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE are both still all-time fave bands of mine.

In general, how are things in Stockholm and have your political views remained the same as before?

Stockholm sucks worse and worse, everyone thinks so, since the mass immigration which I totally despise.This is not because I am racist, but fuck, we just can't take all the immigrants of the world to this country. Actually, I'd say there is a total political war about this thing. If you are against any more immigrants coming (we already have the highest rate of immigrants in the whole of Europe), you're considered far right-wing and far left-wing if you think the opposite. We have a media that is 100% dedicated to the total downfall of Sweden, for example, the tabloid Expressen's absolute highest wish is to have as many immigrants and as much multiculture as possible in this country. Everyday, there are several articles about the so called racism here in Sweden. Actually, there is none basically. It's all media lies. All this fucking country's money goes to immigrants so then how could we be racists??? I am not going to stay here though. I'd likely flip and kill some of these left-wing people, since they really destroy the whole of Sweden... I'd rather get some peace somewhere else.

Thanks for your time. Any final words or anyone you would like to wish an unpleasant demise or a simple 'fuck off!' to?

WELL, THEN A BIG FUCK OFF TO THE WHOLE FUCKING WORLD.. Anyway brother, thanx for the interview, AND KEEP THE FLAME OF DEATH BURNING...






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