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July 24, 2008 |
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Peter Wildoer
June 25, 2005
By Brian Davis
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A metal titan in a country filled with metal titans, it's not enough to say that DARKANE are part of the elite metal onslaught spawned by Sweden in the late '90s; that moniker applies to any number of bands and implies only talent, not distinction. But as the name suggests, there is a dark and arcane aura about the band's music that conjures uncharted, contrasting musical landscapes of harmony and horror; worlds of the familiar and the unimagined. With the release of their 4th and most definitive invocation, "Layers Of Lies", DARKANE validate their necessity in the world of metal, channeling depth and purpose from the vital planes of originality and creativity. Drumming wizard Peter Wildoer gives METALEATER an informative peek inside the "Layers Of Lies", lives and history of DARKANE.
You've known (guitarist) Christofer Malmström for quite a long time, right? You've been friends for a long time?
Yup.
You were 14 when you started ZANINEZ?
Yeah, exactly. That's a weird name, isn't it? (laughs)
Yeah, where did you get that?
(still laughing) We got it from some kind of slang dictionary that was "Saninez" or something, some word, and we just made ZANINEZ out of it. But it's...yeah, it's weird. (laughs)
You guys were really young, like 14 or so?
Yeah, I was 14 when I started playing and Christofer was like 15. And we were just…at that point we probably never thought that we were as good as we were back then. (laughs) We thought we were brilliant; the new IRON MAIDEN! But I guess we were not. (laughs)
And I was reading that shortly after that, Christofer joined a barbershop chorus. What’s that about?
Yeah, he actually did, yeah. He did very much. And that's very good, actually, because he also got to know arranging stuff and stuff like that; that's also very good to know since he's doing all the classic arrangements. For the intro on "Layers Of Lies", for example, he did all the string arrangements and stuff like that; and he's just brilliant at doing it. You've got to learn everything now and then. Yeah, that was totally...probably an important time, but a time that he probably does not talk too much about. (laughs)
Okay, and then after that you guys joined DEMISE, which later became AGRETATOR?
Yeah, exactly.
So you were making progress with them and you had been signed with Inline Music, who I guess made a bunch of big, empty promises to you guys.
Yeah.
Was that a big reality check on how the music world is?
Yeah, that was not so cool. It was a good journey though; a good session where we did learn a lot, actually, about the whole business.
You learned the hard way, but...
Yeah, it's a hard way but it's also knew what was good or not. (laughs)
This seems a little ironic, but near the end of your guys' time with AGRETATOR, you were looking for another label and had contacted WAR music through ARCH ENEMY, but they told you that you were too technical.
Yeah.
But then you and Christofer wrote a couple songs that wound up becoming DARKANE, and WAR signed you. So what was the difference for them between the two styles?
I would say AGRETATOR was actually very...very weird. It was bit like a mix of CYNIC and MESHUGGAH, in a way. Also inspired by the more technical sides of DEATH, like "Human" songs, or "Individual Thought Patterns", stuff like that. But it was very technical and kind of weird sounding. It will probably be released later this year or the beginning of next year. Actually we will release all the AGRETATOR songs on a CD, so that will be very cool; they're cool songs, definitely.
Yeah, I was interested reading about it. In fact that was my next question: to ask if that was going to be available.
It will be, hopefully later this year or maybe early next year. It's actually cool songs; it's very technical but it's also very cool.
Great. And for the first couple of songs that you originally submitted to WAR, you had "Speed" (Strid) from SOILWORK on the vocals.
Yeah, he did the vocals because we didn't have a vocalist and we wanted to do something that was in that kind of style that he's singing. He did the vocals, and it turned out very well, actually, but we soon discovered that they were getting more involved, of course, in the SOILWORK things; and also we wanted a vocalist who wasn't a permanent member of another band. Then we found Andreas (Sydow) and were very happy with him.
So there was never a time where the possibility existed for Speed to join? It was just to fill in on those songs for you?
Yeah, it was kind of a session thing; it was cool. Nowadays it's a bit of a cult - those two songs we recorded with him. People still ask if they can get a hold of them and stuff like that.
Will it be available? Will you release them like as bonus tracks on a future album or something?
We've been thinking about that, because we've also been thinking about putting out a DVD, and that would be the perfect kind of bonus tracks on a DVD. The thing is, it's actually not as well played (laughs) as DARKANE nowadays, of course; and the sound is not so good. The cool thing is actually that Klas (Ideberg), who is playing guitar with us - it was in his studio we recorded it. So he did the recording, and we were old friends since long ago, but then...because we were looking for a new guitar player and we couldn't think of anyone, and then someone just said, "Hey Klas, you are a good Thrash Metal guitarist. Why don't you just join the band?" He thought it was a good idea, and from there on it went.
That worked out.
Yeah, I think so.
You released "Rusted Angel", and Christofer said on his website that "for the first time in (his) life he felt that the CD (he) was playing on had a good sound and (he) was completely satisfied with it." Is that the same for you? Is that the first time you guys really felt like you had something?
(Peter mistook this question to be about "Layers Of Lies"): Especially for the guitarists, I do…we talked about that. Especially on "Expanding Senses" I think it's very hard to hear what the guitarists are actually playing. It's very hard to hear because the sound is a bit muddy. I would say that I think this one is...not only because you can hear what everybody's playing, but I also think it's very good because it's a more direct kind of sound, in a way; and I like that very much. So yeah, I would definitely say that it's one of the CDs I've played on with the coolest sound, where you can hear what everybody is playing and stuff like that. So I enjoy it very much, and the new production I think is very cool.
It's been obvious since released "Rusted Angel" that you're definitely wanting to create your own style and not really try to follow many people. Definitely one of the most distinct things about DARKANE is your vocal approach. What were you looking for when you sought out a permanent vocalist?
You know, actually we went the other way around. Most bands start off with a good screamer, a guy that can scream or do Death Metal vocals, then halfway through they figure out that they want to have a melodic chorus here and there, and this guy has to start taking vocal lessons (laughs) and learning all that. We went the other way around: we wanted to have one that actually was able to sing clean vocals, and from there on it went on with the more extreme vocals. In the beginning, it was very difficult for Andreas (Sydow) to find that style. It was very hard for him to learn how to sing that kind of aggressive vocals. But I would say that it turned out very well, and I think especially now Andreas really found his kind of vocal style. He's the guy who actually did the best development for the new CD I would say, definitely.
It's evolved from the last album.
Yes - that's exactly it. I think he really did very well on this one.
There are a lot of subtleties. The more I listen to it, the more I hear slight changes in his voice. It adds a kind of extra dimension to it, and definitely the heavy parts, like on "Creation Insane". I love that chorus. It's just super heavy.
Definitely. He's found his vocal style and he's also more comfortable in the band now. In the beginning, he was almost afraid of doing the vocals because he had to fill the shoes of Lawrence (Mackrory), who did the vocals on the first CD, and also that he didn't know if he was able to do those kind of vocals or not. And I think now, on the new one, we really spent the time...since we could record it in our own studio, we could really spend the time needed for the vocals this time around, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Andreas is brilliant.
He's found his groove now, so it'll come a lot easier.
Yeah, he's got a very unique vocal style. And some people like it, some don't, and that's the way it is. It's a matter of taste.
You had some major wrist problems that delayed you from being able to work on "Layers Of Lies"?
Yeah. I was rehearsing with the band TIME REQUIEM that I was playing with also earlier on. That's more like a mix of SYMPHONY X, DREAM THEATER, and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, and we were doing production rehearsals for 4 days, like 6-7 hours a day. And you always play a bit harder when you do production rehearsals, or for example, if you do live gigs you play harder or push yourself a bit more. And the thing is that I played so much it started to hurt in my wrist. Then we went on tour in Japan and it started to hurt a lot. I put this gel on that you put on your wrist as a painkiller, and I took some painkillers right before the shows; of course I couldn't feel the pain, but it got worse and worse. At the end it was so bad, and 3 weeks later we had to go on tour. DARKANE was supporting TESTAMENT in Europe, and after that it just turned out so bad.
We were supposed to start recording...that was in April 2003 when we got back from the tour, and we were supposed to start recording a new album right after the summer, but I had some problems. And then we did another tour in November when everything was starting to feel well again with me, and when we got back from that tour with DEATH ANGEL, it hurt so much I couldn't play at all. And then from January until July last year, I didn't play any drums at all; I didn't touch drumsticks for 6 months. And that was really...yeah, that was really uncool; really bad. And because of that we had to wait for so long to start recording.
So obviously that had to have been pretty frightening at the aspect of the thought that you might have done permanent damage.
Exactly. I thought, "Well, this is the end for me playing drums probably." ...or maybe- not probably but maybe; and I thought that this is the end for...I work as a drum teacher; I mean what more can I do? I do all this, and that was really a hard time for me. I'm normally a very happy guy, you know? (laughs) But that period...I wouldn't say I was depressed, but I was really, really in a bad mood; that 6 months was really bad. I had to figure out, "What will I do if I can't play drums anymore? What will I do? What more am I good at?" Luckily I can play again now.
That's good. Are there any lingering side effects?
No. When we were mixing the album I was working with the mouse for the computer very much, and it started hurting a bit then, but I just took it very easy and start working very slowly, and not to overplay. That's the most important. As of now it feels very good.
So it's just something you really watch out for now and make sure not to push yourself?
Yeah, now I know what it feels like when the pain comes.
Can you explain the songwriting process you had for "Layers Of Lies"?
It normally always starts off with me and Christofer writing together, or I am writing with Klas (Ideberg). Normally it starts off with a riff or two that we have and we just go from there. Normally it starts off with Christofer making one or two riffs, and then we take it from there and try to make new riffs that fit to those riffs we already have. And then we put in...like maybe we'll have a verse or a chorus and then we'll try to figure out what riffs fit in between them, what more can we do to put in between. It's normally not a mysterious process at all. We just go with the flow and hope for the best, and I think now - especially on "Layers Of Lies" - I think we knew what we wanted from the beginning. We had a bit harder time before; we just wrote songs that we thought would be cool in the end. But now we knew what we wanted, so I think we've figured out the sound of DARKANE.
And lyrically what motivates you guys? What do you look to express?
Definitely movies for my part. I'm always getting inspired by different movies. It's not that I don't like reading books, but I tend to never really spend my time reading books. (laughs) I tend to practice drums instead or something like that; but I always have time for a movie every now and then, and that's a very big inspiration for me, and I know Christofer too. Of course some books he will read - for example "Secondary Effects", the track we did the video for - Christofer was inspired by a book by Dean R. Koontz. The title track, "Layers Of Lies", and also "Fading Dimensions" - both those tracks are actually inspired by "The Matrix". "Layers Of Lies" is all about, "If you take the blue pill, you will wake up in the real reality, or take the red pill and you will wake back up in your virtual reality."
What was the Dean Koontz book that inspired "Secondary Effects"?
I don't know what it's called in English, but it's about a guy who starts to let his inner beast outside, and in the end he actually turns out to be a reptile. It's kind of the classic werewolf theme, but in the theme here he develops into a reptile actually. And he wakes up in the morning - all blood in his apartment and he doesn't know where this comes from.
What's the most distinct element of the album for you? Would it be the vocal progression?
I would say probably the vocal progression, yeah definitely. That's definitely where I think we did the biggest steps forward, that's the biggest progression we had. I would say that's also the thing that I'm most happy with - that that progression came along this time really well. Or else it's a mix of all three previous albums, in my opinion: you can find a little bit of the more thrashier sound of "Rusted Angel", the first CD. You can also find the technical stuff that was on "Insanity", the second CD; and also the melodic stuff that was on "Expanding Senses". And I think it's a modern thrash album, in my opinion. It's very thrashy, especially with the vocals this time around. It has less Death Metal vocals.
Yes, absolutely. Which I think is a really great contrast - it's a different element than you would expect to hear over that kind of music, but it works extremely well.
Yeah, and I think that's what makes DARKANE. I wouldn't say we are totally original. There are thousands of bands out there, but that's what actually makes DARKANE a bit more personal. I think we have this kind of...these sort of vocals kind of contrast with the music in a way, and I like that very much.
Your album covers are always very cool, and I think this one is the best and also the most odd. Is there any specific imagery you have going on there?
Actually, a colleague of mine came to work one day and said, "I found the perfect guy for you guys." The day before he went to an exhibition in Malmö (Sweden), and he found this guy. The guy who made the cover for us had an exhibition. He never did a CD cover or anything before like that; he's just an artist, he only has exhibitions in art galleries and stuff like that. It's a photo - it's not painted, it's a photo. He manipulated some stuff on the computer, of course, but like 80% of it is photo; it's only the planets and the stream of water coming out of his mouth - that's the only stuff manipulated with a computer. So the whole workshop and all the tools and everything is for real; it's a photograph. So he's normally just a photographer who puts his art photos in galleries and stuff like that.
I checked his website, and the first thing that was ever put up on his website was the cover that we have now, and I called him and said, "We want that picture for our cover", and he said, "Well, I never did a cover before and I have to think about it, so call me tomorrow and I will think over it if I want to use it for a cover or not." And I said, "Well, think about it seriously, because we want to do it." We were very happy with the way it turned out. He's a brilliant guy to work with and...you only got the promo I guess, yeah?
Yes.
In the booklet there's a picture he did of us, and the picture is really - we call it the human meatball (laughs). It's just us guys all tied up in ropes and everything, and then he just added extra arms and legs to us. (Bassist) Jörgen (Löfberg), for example, only has one leg; so he manipulated the computer in a very weird and very bizarre way, and it's very cool. He's just a brilliant guy to work with. I love his work. His website is www.fredrikodman.com. I think we have a link our page too.
You mentioned the intro (to "Layers Of Lies")..."Amnesia Of The Wildoerian Apocalypse".
Yeah, we also have "Klastrophobic Hibernation", of course-And Klas' last name is Ideberg, and that actually means wintersleep; "Ide" means wintersleep, or hibernation; and "berg" means mountain, you know. In the beginning we wanted to name it "Klastrophobic Wintersleep Mountain" but we thought that was maybe too funny. (laughs) And then we have "Maelstrom Crisis" - that's Christofer Malmström, Malmström Christofer.
I was wondering - you mentioned the intro and the string arrangements and whatnot - is that a style that you guys pursue away from DARKANE?
I think Christofer and I especially are very inspired by Classical music, and Christofer is an incredible guy with harmony and the chorus and all that stuff, and I'm more the rhythm guy. Christofer is just brilliant in writing these arrangements, and this time around, a little bit less people play the strings, and they have to overdub themselves - that way it turns out much better, much more clean playing, much more in tune. But we've just had problems dealing with big artists before and so we choose to do it this way. But I would say Christofer is a genius with that, and we love this kind of classical stuff. And also, because we have a classical intro on "Insanity", a tune called "Calamitas", we wanted to have a new intro live tune, and all these bands are always using these old classical pieces, and we wanted to have our own unique intro. So we will use this one live from here. It's a very cool start to the beginning. It sets the vibe, you know?
It does, exactly - you know what's coming.
Yeah, you know what's coming. You just expect that Pinhead from "Hellraiser" will show up.
Yeah, it's a creepy, horror style, pending doom kind of vibe.
Yeah, that is what we wanted. Of course it's better to know that we actually have real strings and just some keyboards. Some people think it's keyboards, but we just say, "No, that's actually the real thing."
You played on ARCH ENEMY's "Stigmata" album. How did you like that?
That was cool. How I started out with that is I actually played with Christopher Amott on his first ARMAGEDDON album; and then after that Michael Amott from ARCH ENEMY said that because back then Daniel (Erlandsson) - the drummer they have now. They had before me too. He had some family issues, some problems with that. So they wanted me to play with ARCH ENEMY, and I did the "Stigmata" album and that was very cool; but not so cool afterwards though when they talked shit about me. That the reason why "Stigmata" didn't turn out to be a faster, cooler album. It was because of me and stuff like that. I didn't write any songs for that cd, you know? I just played for them and I played the stuff they wanted me to play. And yeah...that's the way it was. But it's a cool album in a way; they were very much...or Mike when he wrote the songs - it was in a period when he wanted to write songs in a vein of QUEENSRŸCHE and NEVERMORE and stuff like that.
And I would say that he succeeded very well with that, but afterwards when people didn't like the heavier sound they kind of blamed it on me.
That's no good.
Yeah, but I'll live with that.
You're also working with Christofer on NON-HUMAN LEVEL, and you're doing vocals?
Yes, exactly. We actually did the first track the day before yesterday. We will continue tomorrow to record the vocals.
How would you describe that?
The music is somewhere between YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, DEATH and DARKANE. (laughs) It's a lot of harmony, and a lot of guitars, of course. I would say that the vocal side is a bit like...I don't know - it's some really more high kind of pitched vocals, and some vocals are very much like the old David Vincent style.
Yes, MORBID ANGEL.
I think it will be a cool sounding record. I do hope so, anyway. I like it.
Are you guys planning to give that a full release?
Yeah, it will be a full release. It will be released on Listenable Records. Nuclear Blast was also interested in it, but not so much, and we'd rather go with a company that wants to have...we'd prefer it to be a big fish in a small sea. But I think it will be a cool record, definitely.
Are you guys coming to the US to tour for this album?
The absolute main goal with this CD is to go to the US, definitely. And I think that will happen this time around. This is our 4th record, and I think we need to go on tour in the US. It's a matter of money also, and how much money people want to invest in it, and so on. So I would say that most likely it won't happen during the fall because we'll probably go on a European tour, but it will happen in the beginning of the next year, definitely. And we're really just hoping to get a good spot with a well known band.
A good support slot.
Yeah, that would be awesome. I'm looking forward to it. I also think that this CD probably fits the US very well.
Yeah. I think it's come at a right time for the sound you have as far as people being receptive to that and wanting to come check it out.
Exactly, I think that's true.
Alright, that's about it. I certainly appreciate the interview.
That's cool. I hope to see you on tour, Brian.
Yes, absolutely - I'll come out and see you guys. Give my thanks to the rest of the guys and good job on the album. Keep it up!
Thanks for the support man! Take care. [FIN]
» Official DARKANE Website
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