Every time I go to Amsterdam for interviews there is always something going wrong. This time it was no different. Despite a public transport strike and damaged vocal chords (all hail Jägermeister!), I managed to conduct an interview with Anders Björler and Peter Dolving from The Haunted. What follows is a pleasant conversation about the new album, entitled ‘Revolver’, dysfunctional minds, crazy video shoots and Peter’s awkward sense of humour.
Compared to your previous effort, ‘One Kill Wonder’, the new album is more accessible and less ferocious. Is this done on purpose?
Anders: Whether it is accessible depends on people’s different taste, I think. There was not a real plan to make it so, besides Peter being back in the band, which made it all more varied vocal-wise. The production on our new album is clearer and not as messy as our last one.
Another thing that stands out on ‘Revolver’ is the fact that the vocals are allotted a more prominent role than ever before.
Peter: Absolutely! I have grown more confident as a singer and we all felt more confident to strip the recording process, and that gives more room for everything. Basically we have two guitars, a bass, drums and vocals, and we have recorded them with as few overdubs as possible. For Peter, the studio engineer, who recorded the album, it was only a matter of bringing it all a little forward.
Why did you choose to record the album in Studio Fredman (Gothenburg, Sweden, ed) and decide to have it mixed in another studio?
Anders: I do not think the recording process is that important actually. It is all about the instruments having a natural sound. The most important part of recording is the mixing part. That is why we chose to let Tue Madsen do the mixing of the album, because we knew he is good. We tried a local guy as well, but that did not work out.
On the new album the lyrics deal with the dark side of humanity. Why is it so appealing to write about murderers and stuff?
Peter: I do not write about such people, that is a misconception, but totally okay.
Anders: The objective is more on other strange people.
Peter: It is more about the dysfunctional mind really. It could be about serial killers, but it might as well be about people with deranged minds or simply a record label manager. Honestly, when it comes down to it, the mind is a very dangerous place. I simply cannot escape it, because it is so absolutely fascinating. I think that people are kind of disgusting, but people can be great too. I am fascinated by my own repulsive perversions, haha, and the madness I see other people are capable of. I am baffled to see what fucking sickness we carry within us. We can be extraordinary beings, but we have all the capacity for the ultimate evil.
The new album marks the return of Peter Dolving on vocals. Is there a new vibe within the band since he is back?
Anders: He hurts us, haha. We knew Peter for years, so after Marco Aro left, it felt like a friend coming back. Musically speaking we get a lot of new ideas. Marco never contributed to the musical side of things, while Peter came up with ideas for riffs for instance, so that is a whole new situation. At times it was very complicated to work with Marco because he lives in Stockholm, which is 500 kilometres away from Gothenburg, where we operate. We used to send sketches of songs to him and it was very difficult to work without him being present in the rehearsal room and to come up with certain song structures, because we cannot think as a vocalist. As a guitarist I cannot think as a vocalist.
Can Peter think as a guitar player then?
Peter: I can just barely think, haha. I think it is good for these guys, because we complement each other. I am not a structured person and that is fine by me and the people I work with. It feels great to be back in the band again.
Your return will have implications for your other two bands/projects, namely Mary Beats Jane and The Peter Dolving Band. What do you have in store for those two?
Peter: The Peter Dolving Band is no longer The Peter Dolving Band, we finally came up with a band name. It is called Bring The War Home now. We are recording an album at the moment and it is going to be fucking brilliant. It will be out when there is a possibility for it after we are done touring the world with The Haunted. Expect something in the vein of Sonic Youth and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. It has nothing to do with The Haunted musically speaking. It is about how sick people are in the head in an alternative rock way. Same theme, different music, haha. Mary Beats Jane is a complete studio project with no touring involved, it simply cannot be done. Perhaps we can do a one-off show at a festival, but I do not want to be close to these guys when they are drinking. I love them and all, but they are these really bizarre party animals and I am not strong enough to deal with that, haha.
Let’s get back to the recording process. Can you give some details on how everything went?
Anders: As usual, recording in the Fredman Studios was a very pleasant experience. Patrik and Fredrik are very down-to-earth guys and it has a very creative environment. We recorded almost like business hours, between nine in the morning until five in the afternoon. That kept us focused and gave us time to think about it at home and come back the next morning with fresh ears. It is a far better experience than to be squeezed for time and live in the studio 24/7.
Does this laid-back way of working return in the music?
Peter: I do not think it sounds relaxed, but the music contains a lot more energy in a way. It is almost explosive.
Anders: You can hear it back in the song structures, because we have done a pre-production. We never did that before. With Peter back in the band it gave us the opportunity to explore new things with the vocals.
The band has done a video shoot for ‘All Against All’ and that was quite an experience. Can you tell more about it?
Peter: First of all, we have done a documentary for our upcoming DVD which will contain a live video for a track called ’99’. It was shot during the Sweden Rock Festival. Three weeks ago we did a video shoot for ‘All Against All’ and we put a little note on our website asking for help from our fans. A little over one hundred people showed up at 8:30 in the morning and we spent all day headbanging, jumping around and acting like monkeys, haha. We had a great time.
Are you not afraid your video will not get much airplay on television and the whole making of it will turn out to be a waste of money and resources? Metal is not exactly popular on TV here in the Netherlands.
Anders: I do not know, but Metal is growing again due to the New American Wave of Heavy Metal, bands like Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, Shadows Fall and Slipknot. It is a great way to get more attention from the media.
Peter: It is fun doing it.
Anders: I do not think it is a waste of money and materials, because it is a great promotional tool. In Sweden, Metallica and Slipknot are shown on daytime TV.
Peter: Do you not have that here in the Netherlands?
Ehmm no, just your daily dose of rap and R&B crap.
Anders: That is strange, because Slipknot sells more albums than most rap artists I think. The mainstream media suppresses metal.
Talking about America, you guys got yourselves a new touring agency and record company, Century Media, and you are going to tour with high profile acts like Damageplan and Shadows Fall. Are you trying to make some kind of breakthrough on the other side of the Atlantic?
Peter: It is not a question of making a breakthrough or something, but continuing what we have done so far. The band has done a lot of touring with Marco in the US and we are fairly successful there. For some reason we are doing better there than we ever did here in Europe. We are not trying to be anything we are not.
Anders: Being a part of that tour was planned with our album release. It is going to be a big tour with a diverse audience consisting of hardcore kids and metalheads.
Many thrashcore/metalcore acts claim to be influenced by The Haunted. What do you think of it and what is your take on the whole (melodic) metalcore movement?
Anders: We had not heard about the whole movement in Sweden until we went to Germany. It is labelled differently in Sweden. It is all hardcore from our point of view. It is nothing new really, because D.R.I and Prong did something similar in the eighties. I think it is flattering when bands say that they are inspired by us. To be honest I do not really know what to say more about it.
Peter: It is great to inspire people and it means that people are taking something good from our music.
Are there any touring plans for Europe and will you guys perform in the Netherlands again?
Peter: Absolutely! We do not have any dates yet, but we will start touring in Europe in February. Our booking agency is working on a tour for two or three months and it will be packed. It will be a headliner tour, unless a big band shows up and takes us along as a support act.
Anders, there is one question that cannot possibly be avoided concerning your past with At The Gates. For the people who are hoping for a reunion, is there any hope?
Anders: We played one this summer. No we did not, haha. I think the opportunities for a one-off live gig are good, one on each continent or something, but a full-blown reunion I do not think so. It is too much work and too time-consuming and we can never top ‘Slaughter of the Soul’, so why?
The final question, gentlemen. In your biography The Haunted are referred to as Thrash Metal titans. What do you think of this rather pompous statement?
Peter: We are not Thrash Metal titans, we are breast metal titans, haha.
Anders: We are not talking about Thrash Metal, we implement so many more elements into our music like melody and stuff. Have you seen the movie called ‘Bad News’? We are the kings of metohl!
