SPAWN OF POSSESSION (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for taking your time. What’s currently keeping SPAWN OF POSSESSION busy?
We are practicing for the upcomming tour next month!
– You will soon release your third album, that’s why I guess some people won’t be familiar with you yet so despite your great success so, could you please share some history of the band?
Dennis and I founded Spawn of Possession in 1997 and pretty soon Jonas Karlsson joined us as an lead guitarist.
In 2000 we recorded and released a EP called «The Forbidden» via Pama Records. In 2001 we recorded a demo called «Church of Deviance» and we got signed to Unique Leader Records and in 2002 we released our first full length album «Cabinet». In 2003 and 2004 we did several tours with bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Hypocrisy, Kataklysm, Gorgasm, Disavowed, Inhume, Exhumed, Pyameia, Severed Savior etc. we also did some festival gigs around europe during that period. After that we wrote and recorded our second full lenght album «Noctambulant» which was released In 2006. We toured with Hate Eternal and after that we split up.
I continued writing songs even if the future for SoP was uncertain. In 2008 and 2009 Caspersen, Muenzner, Schill and Chalky joined SoP. And we had a complete line-up for a short while. In 2010 we did some shows in Australia. After that my daughter was born and I couldnt leave home for rehearsals anymore. You have to understand that the drummer (Schill) was living eight hours away from me. And he didnt like the idea of learning the new songs by himself. Which he would had to do if he had stayed in the band. And the new vocalist (Chalky) was living in Australia which I thought was to far away and would have become a problem later on.
So I had to find another vocalist and drummer. During the same period Dennis started his own band Begotten with Henrik Schönström on drums (They will release their debut album later this year).
Anyway, I contacted Dennis in 2010 after four years of silence and sent him some preprods of the new songs and he liked the material. So he came back to SoP as a full time vocalist and it didnt take long until Henrik also joined us. After that we worked hard to finish the last details in the new songs and then we recorded «Incurso» in the summer of 2011. Thats it.
– As I said, your new “Incurso” will hit the stores really soon; what are your expectations with it? How are the first reactions being?
I dont have any expectations at all, I never have any expectations about anything really. The reactions has been really good so far. Thats great.
– How could you describe this new effort in just 3 words?
Aggressive, epic & dark.
– Your music skills are getting ever better with each album, and “Incurso” makes no exception. Do you use to practice with your instruments?
I cant speak for the other guys in the band. But I dont practice much anymore since I have a day job and a daughter to take care of. I only practice before recording sessions and tours. That dosent mean that I dont need more practice. But there is just not enough time for it anymore.
– It seems like you have taken the best of some previous compositions by the band and you have perfected them in any possible way. Do you think this has been just because the gap of time between your last albums and the maturity you have gotten with them?
This time we didnt have a dead line so I spent more time with the arrangments and just let the songs grow a little bit more before I decided they where finished.
Some songs I re-arranged or re-wrote several times. Like Where Angels Go Demons Follow was first finished in 2009, but Dennis had some fresh ideas, and it was rewritten right before the recording. But I dont think it will take five years to write another album now when we have a line-up and a label to work with.
– In fact have been none less than 6 years between “Noctambulant” and this brand new “Incurso”. What have you been up to during this time? Has this helped you getting a more solid outcome?
Primarly writing new songs and looking for a new label. And the line-up problems also took a while to solve.
– For this album four new members have joined SPAWN OF POSSESSION, could you please tell us the main reason behind this? Does so many changes make more difficult creating a new record? Specially considering the band’s technique and complex compositions, anyway it seems like you have got the perfect member s for a band like yours.
No it didnt make it more difficult. All the new members are very professional and know how to deal with this kind of music. And its three new members not four. Dennis did the drums and vocals on all previous SoP recordings. But yes its a very strong line-up indeed.
– And what could you say have them all brought to the band? Is this a steady line-up?
I think its pretty steady now. Caspersen and Muenzner contacted me and wanted to be in the band because they like Spawn of Possession. Dennis came back because he believed in the new material. Henrik joined us because he cant have enough of playing blast beats and fast bass drums.
– Have your musical influences changed throughout the years?
No not really. Im completly stuck in the 80-90s. So many good bands and albums came during that period. I have already found my favorite bands and albums long time ago, and Im sticking with them since they still inspire me. I listen to a lot of old Thrash, Death & Heavy Metal. and also to some classical music and soundtracks. Some of my main influences are old Monstrosity, Gorguts, Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Eucharist, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Anthrax, J.S. Bach, Shostakovich to name a few.
– And how has the songwriting process been like this time around?
It was a slow process since I was pretty much alone this time. Before the split up in 2006 I wrote the songs together with Dennis and we did the arrangements during rehearsals. Which was a lot more effective than being alone and arranging everything with midi drums. Caspersen did help me some thou, and he also contributed with some riffs. There is still a lot of new material left that didnt end up on Incurso. Maybe those songs will surface later. I dont know.
– What do some of the lyrics on the album deal with?
The lyrics are written by Dennis and are like short twisted ocult horror storys. One song is about an insane doctor doing sick surgery on people. Another one is about a religious family father being decieved by an evil entity of the unknown. I dont want to spoil anything for those who wants to read the lyrics to the music. So I want say anything more about that.
– This is your first CD with Relapse Records; how’s everything going with them so far?
I think everything has been really smooth so far. Feels good.
– The album was recorded again at Pama Studios. Are you satisfied with the final sound on the album?
Yes we returned to Pama and the producer Magnus Sedenberg once more. Same procedure as previous recordings. Im satisfied with Incurso but I wish we had more time for the mix and mastering. It was a little bit chaotic in the end and we didnt have the time to go through all the details that we wanted.
– During the last years the most brutal and technical side of Death Metal has become really strong but, what bands could you suggest?
Im not the right guy to answer that question since Im not listening to any technical Death Metal besides my old fav bands Monstrosity and Gorguts. But I have heard a couple of songs of Psycroptic and Obscura and there are some great musicians in those bands. I think Hate Eternals latest release has some great moments. But they are more of a brutal Death Metal band I guess.
– And finally, you will soon embark on a tour with OBSCURA. What are your expectations?
As I said before I dont expect anything. But I hope we will get a lot of beer and that we will have a good time! I see the tour as an vacation. Going to be nice to get away from the job a while!
– That’s all from my side, thanks once more for your time. Now feel free to add some final words.
Thanks for being interested in Spawn of Possesion. For those who are into the more intense kind of Death Metal «Incurso» might be the album for you. It will be released in mid March. Make sure to check it out!
Cheers!
/Jonas Bryssling
