EREB ALTOR (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What’s EREB ALTOR currently up to?
I’m just doing some pre-recordings of some new ideas I have in my head for a future album. And we’re discussing with a few festivals and promoters about possible live appearances.
– You have recently released your new “Gastrike”; how is its feedback being? Considering the good response your previous albums got, did you work under more pressure or does this just give you more confidence and motivation?
I honestly don’t care too much about the critics. Ereb Altor will go its own way no matter what the critics says.
I read some critics though and reviews are sent to me from magazines, but it’s a bit early to say how the response for Gastrike really is. Until now most of the reviews I’ve seen are positive.
– And are you personally satisfied with the final outcome? Is there anything you would like to change or have done differently?
It’s always things that I would have wanted to do differently on every release. A couple of months after recording you always find flaws in your own creations. That’s probably what makes you want to try even harder in the future. I try not to look back too much and I don’t want to change anything, Gastrike is history for me now.
– This has been your first opus as a three-piece. What prompted having a third member? And what could you say has Tord brought to EREB ALTOR?
Faster drumming! We needed a good drummer and he was the right man for Ereb Altor.
– With this new “Gastrike” you are still keeping your own essence, but I would say it’s more aggressive and faster as well. Has this changed been well received by your fans?
Some like it and some don’t I suppose. The new album is sounding a bit different compared to the previous ones but still it has similarities. I guess that some fans that really liked our slow hymns might find this album too fast. The vocals is also different and some like clean vocals and some like harsh vocals and this time we chose to use more harsh vocals to reflect the stories and the music.
– This being said, it seems like you have taken a different approach. Was this something you were looking for or did things just happened naturally?
I had some epic songs in the same vein as “The End” but I will save those songs for later.
Gastrike has been in my head for a long time and I needed to do this release. And the lyrical theme made everything to fall in the right place. The stories needed a darker approach musically.
– On this new opus there is more focus on vocals; is this how you envisioned the album since the beginning? Did you have any notions on how do you wanted “Gastrike” to sound like?
I think all Ereb Altor opuses are focused on vocals. It probably will be always. I had a clear vision of how I wanted the album to sound like musically. When it comes to the actual sound I had some ideas but I’m not a sound engineer and of course I needed some help.
– We could say is an album with a bigger Black Metal flavour, in fact production is also rawer. How was the production process like? Who took such duties?
Yes, it has lots of Black Metal elements and therefore the production needed to be slightly different compared to our previous releases. The album is mixed and produced by Jonas Lindström at Studio Apocalypse in a close co-operation with Ereb Altor.
– All this being said, as you have new blood on the band and due to this subtle different final product; has the songwriting process been different?
No. Gastrike is written in the same way as the others and I think this is something you can hear in the compositions.
– In fact “Gastrike” is a really dynamic and varied record. Is this something important for EREB ALTOR?
I think it’s important that the music is dynamic but it’s not so important that the music is varied when it comes to Ereb Altor. As long as the music is sounding good in my ears I’m pleased.
– And how could you describe this new CD in just 3 words?
Dark endless forests
– Finally, what are your near-future plans?
We are trying to get as many live shows as possible, we’re looking at a possible European tour this fall.
