| (...interview continued) page #2 |
But, I would be unfair to the album if I didn't mention that all the tracks
on it represents PAGANIZER, the album turned out fucking amazing &
all who have heard it thinks it's the best Swedish Death album of recent
years, so I'll just let you check out what track you think is most
representative. You can find the track "Beyond Redemption" on our site
& that's the slow track from the album & then you can find
"Lobotomized" on the www.xtreemmusic.com site & that's the
melodic track on the album...haha! Also if you're interested at the same
site you can find an advance of the song "Shallow Burial" from our
next album...
WHO WRITES THE MAJORITY OF THE MUSIC IN THE BAND
OR IS IT A WHOLE BAND COLLAORATION?
I mostly write the music & the lyrics in the band. Sometimes our other
guitarist comes up with a riff or so & then i incorporate it in a song if it
on it represents PAGANIZER, the album turned out fucking amazing &
all who have heard it thinks it's the best Swedish Death album of recent
years, so I'll just let you check out what track you think is most
representative. You can find the track "Beyond Redemption" on our site
& that's the slow track from the album & then you can find
"Lobotomized" on the www.xtreemmusic.com site & that's the
melodic track on the album...haha! Also if you're interested at the same
site you can find an advance of the song "Shallow Burial" from our
next album...
WHO WRITES THE MAJORITY OF THE MUSIC IN THE BAND
OR IS IT A WHOLE BAND COLLAORATION?
I mostly write the music & the lyrics in the band. Sometimes our other
guitarist comes up with a riff or so & then i incorporate it in a song if it
fits with the concept. He usually writes more melodic stuff than me (he wrote half of "Lobotomized") so a
couple of riffs on every album is enough if you ask me...haha! Anyway, I'm pleased with writing the material
myself since then I can more easily get my vision of PAGANIZER's sound across.
I READ THAT PSYCHIC SCREAM RECORDS HAD SOME CENSORSHIP PROBLEMS WITH THE
RELEASE OF YOUR SECOND CD, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?
After we had recorded the "Promoting..." material we sent it off to PSYCHIC SCREAM & almost at the same
time the label was drawn into legal matters by the government in their home country of Malaysia. Apparently it's
illegal there to release music as PAGANIZER with anti-religious & death glorifying lyrics... So the label was
arrested by the police & put in jail for at least a day or so. Apparently they don't like Death Metal in Malaysia...
However as the album was already recorded we just waited & when things didn't get better we let FOREVER U.
release the album which proved to be very good for us in the end, so you can say that everything worked out
well for PAGANIZER anyway. However, I haven't a clue what happened to Eric at PSYCHIC SCREAM after
we last spoke maybe a year ago...
WHAT IS THE LYRICAL CONTENT OF SOME OF YOUR SONGS?
I've taken the decision that if we play Death Metal we will also have lyrics about death & related matters. It's an
easy topic to cover as there is virtually thousands of ways to slaughter a person... Also, I don't care much about
bands that write about their personal fucking problems or the environment or shit like that. Death Metal is about
death & the darker aspects of being trapped in this rotting existence & that's what we'll keep on writing about as
well.
DO YOU GUYS PLAY OUT A LOT? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU'VE PLAYED SHOWS
WITH? WHERE ARE SOME OF THE PLACES YOU'VE PLAYED?
No! Hahaha! we live in fucking Sweden & here the live scene is veeeery slow & small. Also we don't get many
offers to play in Europe since the costs for our gas & ferry tickets would be huge for any small club/festival. it's
mostly the bigger bands from around here that gets to play & the smaller & medium bands are mostly forced to
pay their travelling costs themselves & we refuse to do that since we are all very poor social rejects in the
band...haha! The last show we had was in Febuary just before going to Sunlight Studioa. We played in
Gothenburg together with PAGAN RITES which is a side project from NIFELHEIM. The show was cool & lots
of fun so I wouldn't mind playing live as often as possible, but as I said that won't happen as long as we're not a
bigger band...
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SHOW & WHY?
That would be a show from last year when I was a session vocalist for DERANGED on their European tour with
IMMOLATION & DESTROYER 666. We had two shows in France on different occasions & both were
fucking brutal! People in France seem to be some what crazy, haha! Those shows were really killer & also the
show in Croatia was cool as the fans there were totally devoted to Death Metal. On the other hand I once did a
show with my other band CARVE in Stockholm last year as well & I was so drunk I played totally other stuff
than the other guys in the band...after two songs I just stopped playing, told the audience to fuck off & feel off
the stage...haha! That was a memorable show, haha!
I HEARD THE GOVERNMENT IN SWEDEN HELPS FUND THE TEACHING & LEARNING OF MUSIC
THERE. IS THIS TRUE & HOW DO THEY HELP OUT?
I suppose it's perhaps better here than in other countries, but it's not as great as it sounds. Mostly the help is in
the way the cities & towns provide rehearsal places for bands to
low costs & also provides equipment to some extent. This is
really good for new bands & people who want to learn to play,
but for us who's been playing some years there's really nothing
much they do. PAGANIZER is also part of a local music net-
work so we recieve maybe 400 Euro a year for recording
purposes & so on which is not much, but as I said, other
countries maybe don't help their bands at all, so I'm glad there's
some advantages for us anyway.
THIS IS ONE OF THE RESONS I FIGURED THERE IS
SUCH A GREAT MUSIC SCENE IN SWEDEN?
Yeah, probably! It's very easy to start your own band here since
you don't really have to buy any of your own equipment in the
beginning. The winters here are fucking harsh too, so maybe
that's why people want to stay in & play as well...haha!
couple of riffs on every album is enough if you ask me...haha! Anyway, I'm pleased with writing the material
myself since then I can more easily get my vision of PAGANIZER's sound across.
I READ THAT PSYCHIC SCREAM RECORDS HAD SOME CENSORSHIP PROBLEMS WITH THE
RELEASE OF YOUR SECOND CD, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?
After we had recorded the "Promoting..." material we sent it off to PSYCHIC SCREAM & almost at the same
time the label was drawn into legal matters by the government in their home country of Malaysia. Apparently it's
illegal there to release music as PAGANIZER with anti-religious & death glorifying lyrics... So the label was
arrested by the police & put in jail for at least a day or so. Apparently they don't like Death Metal in Malaysia...
However as the album was already recorded we just waited & when things didn't get better we let FOREVER U.
release the album which proved to be very good for us in the end, so you can say that everything worked out
well for PAGANIZER anyway. However, I haven't a clue what happened to Eric at PSYCHIC SCREAM after
we last spoke maybe a year ago...
WHAT IS THE LYRICAL CONTENT OF SOME OF YOUR SONGS?
I've taken the decision that if we play Death Metal we will also have lyrics about death & related matters. It's an
easy topic to cover as there is virtually thousands of ways to slaughter a person... Also, I don't care much about
bands that write about their personal fucking problems or the environment or shit like that. Death Metal is about
death & the darker aspects of being trapped in this rotting existence & that's what we'll keep on writing about as
well.
DO YOU GUYS PLAY OUT A LOT? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU'VE PLAYED SHOWS
WITH? WHERE ARE SOME OF THE PLACES YOU'VE PLAYED?
No! Hahaha! we live in fucking Sweden & here the live scene is veeeery slow & small. Also we don't get many
offers to play in Europe since the costs for our gas & ferry tickets would be huge for any small club/festival. it's
mostly the bigger bands from around here that gets to play & the smaller & medium bands are mostly forced to
pay their travelling costs themselves & we refuse to do that since we are all very poor social rejects in the
band...haha! The last show we had was in Febuary just before going to Sunlight Studioa. We played in
Gothenburg together with PAGAN RITES which is a side project from NIFELHEIM. The show was cool & lots
of fun so I wouldn't mind playing live as often as possible, but as I said that won't happen as long as we're not a
bigger band...
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SHOW & WHY?
That would be a show from last year when I was a session vocalist for DERANGED on their European tour with
IMMOLATION & DESTROYER 666. We had two shows in France on different occasions & both were
fucking brutal! People in France seem to be some what crazy, haha! Those shows were really killer & also the
show in Croatia was cool as the fans there were totally devoted to Death Metal. On the other hand I once did a
show with my other band CARVE in Stockholm last year as well & I was so drunk I played totally other stuff
than the other guys in the band...after two songs I just stopped playing, told the audience to fuck off & feel off
the stage...haha! That was a memorable show, haha!
I HEARD THE GOVERNMENT IN SWEDEN HELPS FUND THE TEACHING & LEARNING OF MUSIC
THERE. IS THIS TRUE & HOW DO THEY HELP OUT?
I suppose it's perhaps better here than in other countries, but it's not as great as it sounds. Mostly the help is in
the way the cities & towns provide rehearsal places for bands to
low costs & also provides equipment to some extent. This is
really good for new bands & people who want to learn to play,
but for us who's been playing some years there's really nothing
much they do. PAGANIZER is also part of a local music net-
work so we recieve maybe 400 Euro a year for recording
purposes & so on which is not much, but as I said, other
countries maybe don't help their bands at all, so I'm glad there's
some advantages for us anyway.
THIS IS ONE OF THE RESONS I FIGURED THERE IS
SUCH A GREAT MUSIC SCENE IN SWEDEN?
Yeah, probably! It's very easy to start your own band here since
you don't really have to buy any of your own equipment in the
beginning. The winters here are fucking harsh too, so maybe
that's why people want to stay in & play as well...haha!
