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Hello my son, du Pimmel mit Ohren, hahaha. Some news about you and Enthralled expect that you steal not printed reviews, hahaha!
Hello daddy, du geile Sau mit möpsen, hahaha! Of course we steal not printed reviews, because you guys are so fucking lazy… Na, just kidding! Well, Enthralled is about to do a gig in Gothenburg 14/9 along with “Diabolical” and “Portal”. I think it’s going to be a real crusher, we’ll show NO MERCY!!! We’re also to be heard on Mighty Mag’s next compilation CD #16 with the song “Dead Or Alive”; it should be released sometime during September. Some radio stations around Europe are currently playing us, and that’s very cool!
O.k. Hjalmar later we’ll have some fun again (I only say Judith!). Tell us a little bit about you and Enthralled. When did you start to play? How old are you Fuckers and wich rotten city spitted you out? What are you doing when not playing brutal Thrash Metal? Any fuckin`side projects where you’re involved in?
Back in -96 we were four hungry-for-destruction metalheads who decided to start playing brutal thrash. We do not come from any city, but from the ancient Swedish forests 100km east of Gothenburg… Yeah, we’re “cowboys from hell”, hahaha!!! I (22) and Robert (24) are both having full-time jobs, Robert working in the army at an airbase and I at SAAB’s car factory (it sucks!) here in Trollhättan where we both live. Hannes (21) is studying at music-school in Gothenburg, and so does Mikael (18) in Trollhättan. Erik (22) is also studying, but he’s going to be a pedagogic. When it comes to side projects are both Erik and Mikael dedicated members of the Swedish thrash/death band Impious.
Talking about your MCDs, namely “Death is Breeding” from 2000 and the newer one “Anthropomorphous”, fuckin finger and tongue breaker, from 2002. On “Death…. your stile was Death Metal and on “Anthr…” you play brutal and fast Thrash Metal in the right vein. Why this change? Jumping on the Thrash train?
Certainly not! It’s just the way we’ve developed and I don’t think we play less death metal on Anthr… except for the switch to thrashier vocals. The main reason we took Robert as our vocalist is that he’s a great singer and also because I wanted to concentrate more on playing the guitar. Now I don’t have to compromise anything on stage and we’re a lot better live act this way. I think that it also implements a new dimension to the music when we alternate brutal growl with nasty screaming, it keeps up the brutality and gives more variation to the music.
On “Anthr…” you got a new singer, a real Thrash vocalist, Robert Green. Where did you find him? Am I right when I say that Robert sounds a bit like Leif Jennsen (Dew- Scented) and Rob Urbinati (Sacrifice)?
We have known Robert for several years, which were kind of a priority when we picked him. He was singing in a demo band called “Conformatory” where he also played the bass-guitar. They do not exist anymore, but he has just started another band along with my little brother Henning (drums) and former members of Conformatory. Don’t think they have a name yet… I can’t say I think Leffe’s and Robert’s voices are that similar, but I agree that they have the same kind of rhythm and intensity. Robert’s voice sounds a little more desperate and mad than Leffe’s, but not as crazy as Rob’s! Something in between maybe?
What`s up with your former drummer Martin Restin? Do you know what he is doing nowadays? And why you didn`t obligate Gene Hoglan?
Hahaha! Gene Hoglan is too fat! He could never keep up that speed, hehehe… No, seriously, one shouldn’t joke about him. He’s one of the greatest metal drummers ever. The only thing I know about Martin is that he’s working here in Trollhättan, we haven’t been in touch for a long time. For a short period of time he was playing in “Solar Dawn”, but he never recorded anything with them.
In my review to “Anthr…” I wrote that Enthralled can fill the gap that Hypnosia leaved. What do you think about this statement?
I don’t think that we have the same sound as Hypnosia, but it’s a hell of a compliment!
If we were to fill that gap I would certainly be pleased. They’re really cool guys by the way!
Describe the musical stile that Enthralled follows?
To always play brutal, aggressive metal with a nice flow and technical variations! Hopefully leaving the listeners begging for more…
What do you think, how important is the internet for a band like Enthralled?
It’s very important for us! You get out to a lot of more people a lot faster and I don’t have to show my bad handwriting, hahaha! It has meant a lot to us, especially as people from all over the world can hear us out just by going to our homepage.
I think your logo is one of the best I've seen in the last time. Who did it?
Thank you very fucking much! We really like it too. It was an old friend from school, John Lennartsson, who made it. He could paint the most beautiful things; to bad we don’t have any contact with him…
Do you like vinyl more than Cd`s?
OF CORPSE!
If yes, I tell you a little story: It`s dark, you are sitting in your restroom, something is knocking at your door. It is Satan! He comes in your house, goes to your refrigator, takes a beer, sit down and speaks to you. He says: Hi Hjalmar, I´m a big metalhead. Give me all your records, only one you can keep!” Which record you`ll save! Hahahaha, nice story, right?
Yeah, it’s certainly a great story, hahaha! Well, let me see… I would say that I kick Satan down and take possession of his throne! But if he were to beat me (most unlikely) I would say “Somewhere In Time” by Iron Maiden. It was my first real metal album.
Trick question: Do you know Sacrifice, hahaha?
Well, now I do! Thanks to you pa’, hahaha!
Before we continue with “Anthr…” I`ll give you the names of some alltimeclassics, and you tell me, what you think about, o.k? Here we go:
Sacrifice- Torment in Fire
A real thrash assault! To bad they didn’t know how to tune their guitars, hehe. Turn In Your Grave is awesome!
Demolition Hammer- Epidemic of Violence
Kreator-like voice and blasting drums, like them.
Sadus- Illusions
Aaaah! If you listen to this you’ll be struck by “CERTAIN DEATH!” – “Birthplace” of Steve Digiorgio, my favorite bass player!
Artillery- Terror Squad
Hmm… Have only seen them live once, but I thought they where great!
Disinter- Demonic Portraiture
I know this is your favorite band Marcus, so I won’t puke as much as I’d like to, hahahaha! Well, to be honest, I have a hard time with some of their melodies. But they have really brutal times and a great vocalist – STRENGTH AND HONOUR! (Isn’t it a little early to call it an “alltimeclassic”?)
Holy Terror- Mind Wars
Only heard of, never listened to… But I’ll check ‘em out!
Dew- Scented- Inwards
Typical end of the 90’s Swedish thrash, very nice performed and produced but getting boring after two songs. I miss variation guys!
No Return- Machinery
The little I’ve heard of them sounds pretty good I think! Very well played and technical death with some cool “industrial” elements… Their cover of Death’s Secret Face is awesome!
Hammerfall- Glory to the brave (hahahahahaha)
Hmpf! A disgrace… I’m ashamed of their nationality…
Agent Steel- Skeptics Apocalypse
Well, a cool band! But I think that Anthrax did almost the same thing on "Fistful Of Metal" and did it better.
Dark Angel - Time does not Heal
This is a fucking great album! Gene Hoglan and his crew show how things should be done.
“Anthr…” is a fuckin Thrashblast, very intense and very brutal produced. What do you think now about the Cd? Was the production expensive?
The thing is that we could have got much better sound on Anthr… We had never recorded with digital equipment before and putted our total trust in the engineer. The problem was that he bailed out on us just two days before we entered the studio! So, there we sat on our sorry and analog asses with no knowledge about the studio whatsoever. Everyone who knew the studio was already booked for other things, and when we got our hands on someone who at least had SEEN the studio, well… he slept through most of the time! But at last we got our hands on a great guy and a fine engineer (who also never seen the studio before) and made the best out of the situation. A big thank to John Frick; our savior! I think the total costs got up to almost 700EUR.
Also you have these killerrefrains like in “Dead or alive” or in “Back to the Asylum” , that makes Enthralled very 80ies like . So it is very simple to follow the song and to remember. You work really hard therefore, right?
Yeah, we do. I think there always should be a recognizable “line” through the song in our genre. What could be better than a crushing refrain? But sometimes it’s very good to go away from the “standards” and just create a feeling I think. And to surprise! That’s a very important ingredient.
Another big plus is your guitarwork. Hannes and you didn`t play since yesterday! Where do you get your inspiration? I think not only from the heroes of the 80ies! And… it`s not too modern like The Haunted it does!
Thank you very much! I’m just playing what feels and sounds right, cannot say that I have any particular names of inspiration. Maybe my girlfriend’s screams when I abuse here, hahaha! I just try to create a good harmony between the riff and the solo. As for Hannes I don’t have a clue. Perhaps his neighbor’s cat or something?
Do you have some reactions back about “Anthr…” press, metalheads?
So far we got great response! Most people get very surprised when they hear we’re not signed by any label… From the press we’ve almost only got top reviews, so that’s great!
How many copys you have sold at that point of time?
I have no fucking clue! Mostly we’ve just spread the demo to labels and zines.
Tell us a little bit about the scene in Trollhättan! Any good bands that are worth your mention?
Hmm… We have the big ones like The Crown, Lord Belial and Impious. I think they’re all unique bands and great guys. Then we have an upcoming great fucking band (at last Lennart!) by the name of Pathos. They have just been signed by Massacre and hopefully they’ll get the credit they deserve. Awesome musicians! One of their guitarists (Daniel) plays in Dimension Zero and both the drummer (Esko) and the bassist (Tomas) are playing in Nostradameus. Nightspirit is another band worth mention, hopefully they’ll record something again.
You play live as often as you can? Any good memories from your shows?
Well, a friend of us said that he would never bang his head to any other band than The Haunted… I can tell you that he banged as hell when we warmed up for Evergrey, as the rest of the audience! It was a fucking great gig man! The guys in Evergrey was about to go on a US-tour and they asked us when we would… They really raised their eyebrows when they heard we’re not even signed to a label.
I hope your Austrian girlfriend Judith translated all my reviews correct, hahaha. She translated it, right? Or your mother? And how many weeks or months they translated the Legacy Mag. I´ve send you?
It took Judith just an evening to translate the Legacy review… What kinda question is that??? Check them out at our website, du FICKER! Hahahaha!
What will the future bring for Enthralled?
As usual there will be massive and extreme beer drinking mixed with coffee, whiskey and snot! In between we hope to get our sorry asses out of the underground (don’t take me wrong, I have nothing against the underground) and sign with a label and hopefully doing a lot of gigs. I feel something is on the way… Something big… Something hard! Oh… it was just my dick, hahaha!
O.k. Hjalmar, let`s close the interview. I`ve birthday and we will have a big party later. Only my family will come, you know, I`m too old for this shit. Later at night I`ll have a big fuck with my girlfriend and that’s all for today. I hope you had some fun with my stupid questions and enjoyed it a little bit. Last famous words are yours. Greetings from Germany. Hail Enthralled and good luck for the future.
We would like to thank everyone who supported us so far, hopefully you’ll hear from us soon! Hope you enjoy your birthday and your big fuck Marcus, you’re a great guy!
Greetings from Sweden & Hail Carnage – Zine!
BEWARE OF LOOKING INTO MY ASS… ‘CAUSE YOU MIGHT LIKE WHAT YOU SEE – SEE YOU BEYOND LIGHT AND TIME!!! (Sug å fräls!)
Interview: Marcis
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