THE STORYTELLER (Eng.)
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with THE STORYTELLER?
Hi.All the guys and The Storyteller are doing just fine thanks. Right now we are working with the Label and getting all the «paperwork» done. There is alot going on besides that. We are currently talking with several booking agency’s to get the band out on some touring and perhaps even some festivals even though we are a bit late for some of them.
– First off, as I guess there may be still some people who aren’t familiar with you yet; could you please share some history of the band?
We have quite a long history. We started the band way back in 1998 and released out first album 2000. (The Storyteller)Sinse then we have released four more albums: Crossroad, Tales Of A Holy Quest, UnderWorld and Dark Legacy – Our comeback album,.Our style is Heavy/PowerMetal with medieval tunes, which is our trademark..
– Last April you released your latest album, «Dark Legacy», your first album since 2005, when «Underworld» hit the streets. After several years without releasing a new opus, how did you feel about it? More excited or pressure maybe? And how is the feedback for the album been thus far?
When we first decided to re-unite and record another album we were a bit nervous about how it would be welcomed after over 8 years of silence. We knew we still had quite a strong fan-base but still after all these years, how many would still find us interesting?As it turned out we were still very interesting and many people from all over the world, both diehard fans and new fans as well wrote us explaining how glad they were to see us back again and telling us how much they loved the new album. We were both amazed and also really happy about it. We took a bit of a chance releasing the album on our new formed label and we felt a bit nervous about how it would work but the fear is long gone now as the album is going really well.
– 8 years are quite a lot between two releases, due to this I would like to know how has THE STORYTELLER evolved throughout these last years.
When we started to write the songs to Dark Legacy we all felt very clear about one thing – we weren’t going to sound exactly like we did four years ago.there is no point returning to the scene after all these years sounding just like we did after those years so this time we wanted to make the sound a bit «Raw» and to make the songs more aggressive and a bit «Darker» we didn’t want to change the music style and our trademark with the medieval tunes but still we did some changes that older fans will/did notice.
– On this new effort, once more, you remain true to yourself and to Power Metal, but with a wider approach I could say, being more versatil in different ways. Was this how you envisioned the record since the beginning or do you just let things flow naturally?
I know many bands say just like Im about to say but its true for us as well :0) The writing of the music went so smooth. The ideas just kept coming and for the first time after all these albums we sat down and wrote this one as a band.Before it would just be one or two of us contributing to most of the materials, but this time we did it all together and i think that’s why we got such a great album.Everyone had their saying in it and contributed with their ideas and from now on i think this is the way we will do the forthcoming albums.
– It’s also more diverse lyric-wise so, could you please tell us what are some of the lyrical ideas covered this time around?
we put allot on effort on the lyrics. As the name states – we are The Storyteller and therefor its important to us making lyrics that has good stories behind it.this time we dogged deep into our own Mythology writing about the Northern Mythology.we have lyrics telling the listener about Oden (Allfader) Thoor and the other Gods from Yggdrasil. Their home in Asgard, the Frost Giants and the last song on the album is an epic one telling you about the battle of Yggdrasil.The lyrics is helt up by some fast dubbelkicks, aggressive guitars and big choirs. Backing that up with some aggressive vocal with a wider range than before.
– On production terms this new «Dark Legacy» has more of a live vibe, having a more organic and even raw sound. Did you approach the production process in a different way?
This time the band decided to start fresh and to work with people that never worked with us before.This time a friend of ours: Ronny Hemlin from SteelAttack, Tad Morose recorded it and produced the album with us in his own studio: Studio Claustrophobic.The mixing/mastering were made by Mike Wead from King Diamond, Bible Black and many more.This explains a bit of our new sound and we love it.
– All this about «Dark Legacy» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
bombastic, Darker, Aggressive.
– You are hailing from Sweden, a really prolific country for Metal, but specially into extreme Metal, or revival stuff, as there are recently coming out several Swedish bands providing a quite classic Heavy Metal sound, or even with an 70’s Rock vibe. Due to this, maybe is harder to play Power Metal or rather the opposite, as it would be easier to stand out?
Right now PowerMetal isn’t as popular as it used to be in Sweden, but that just keeps us more motivated getting it back on top again. We believe that this new album will state that The Storyteller is true to our style and don’t go change it just to get more popular. Its just us doing what we do, and we do it damned good.
– And how do you see the current state of the Metal scene in Sweden?
Over all Sweden is still a really good land for any band playing Metal. At the moment Death Metal is really huge but over all any Metal is welcomed in Sweden.
– Finally; what are your near-future plans?
Touring and writing songs for another album. The one that will state that we arent here just for one album but to keep deliver our Metal to our fans. I would like to say hi from all of us to the fans over there and hopefully we will see you on tour or festivals.
Take care
/L-G ~ The Storyteller
