Photo by Jens Rydén
Congratulations on the upcoming release of In the Twilight Grey. What would you like listeners to keep in mind going into the album?
I think that maybe it’s not as directly catchy as the last two albums. It maybe demands a few more spins than the previous albums to get its depth. But when you find out the greatness of it, maybe it’s going to be long-lasting for the listener.
Can you please tell me about the creative process for this album?
Yes, it actually started with our new bass player, Tobias, formerly from Grave, Dismember, and many other bands. He started to play with us in 2021, and he sent us a demo tape with a lot of songs that he had created that he hadn’t given to any band. He said: “Listen to these. If there’s anything that could be used in Necrophobic, that’s fine.” Everyone listened to the tape, of course. Sebastian, the main songwriter, kind of started to see what could be used. He started to dissect the songs and take out the stuff that was very much Necrophobic or could be new paths for our songwriting. So, it started with the demo of Tobias.
Tobias obviously fit right into the band, yes?
Yes, very much. Very much.
What would you say was the biggest challenge during the making of In the Twilight Grey?
To be honest, I wasn’t involved at all with the songwriting, but I know this band so much. This is how Sebastian explains — when he has written the first song, it kind of lays out how the rest of the songs are going to sound. And then, the creative process starts. Then, all of a sudden, we have a new album. It sounds easy, but it isn’t easy.
Did everything go smoothly with the recording, mixing, and mastering?
Yes, we have worked with the same guy, Fredrik from Unleashed, for over ten years. We are very confident working with him, and it’s also a very relaxed feeling recording and making albums with him. At least, I personally feel very relaxed and focused on duty. And everyone else also thinks that Fredrik is great, so therefore we have continued working with him.
The cover art was done by Jens Rydén, who clearly did a great job. I believe that Sebastian advised him. Is there anything you’d like to say about your collaboration with Jens?
First of all, me and Jens went to the same art school many-many-many years ago, and I, of course, knew him from his days in Naglfar. We have been close friends throughout our entire careers. But, yeah, he’s been doing photographs for the band since 2013. We like his way of being involved in terms of not only how he takes the pictures but also finds the right places to take photos. He’s very creative himself and listens to what ideas we have for photos. Two years ago, I worked with our entire back catalog doing all the reissues with the layouts, and he helped me with a bit of that.
This time, on his website, I think Sebastian saw a picture that he made, and he thought that it would be good for the artwork for this album if we tweaked it. So, we asked Jens if it was possible for him to make the changes that we wanted, and he said: “Yes of course it could be arranged.” I already had the idea that he would also do the graphic design, so he sort of got all the work with the photos, layout, and artwork.
You’ve worked with a lot of great artists like Kristian Wåhlin, for example, and Erik from Nifelheim. And, as you mentioned, you’ve been involved with the artwork as well in various capacities. I was wondering if you could please tell me a little bit about your journey as a visual artist.
It’s often Sebastian that has the main concept because he also writes the lyrics. He’s quick-thinking, and most of his first ideas are the most brilliant. So, if we go back two albums to when we did Mark of the Necrogram, he said to me: “Have you ever wondered what happens in the Darkside cover artwork around that red castle in the center of the picture?” And I said: “Yeah, of course.” “And what if the new cover would show the front of that castle?! Everything in front of it is taken away, and we’re just standing before that castle.” And for Dawn of the Damned, he was just thinking: “Oh, what happens inside this castle?!”
So, the concept is well-used for us now. This time, it was time for a bit of change. We, of course, liked all the things that Kristian Wåhlin has done for us, but it was time to do something different and not be too repetitive, so it’s not the same artist all the time. Basically, the cover captures the essence of an album. We are also very fond of all the great artwork that Iron Maiden has done for all of their albums. We are much into that style of artwork. We feel that album artwork is really important, not just for us, but maybe also someone would be more interested if they see great art.
This year marks 35 years of Necrophobic. How do you feel about that?
Well, it’s a bit scary to think about it — 35 years! But it’s also great that we have been around for so many years. Lately, things have been really happening for us with the two last albums — changing record labels and playing many shows all over the world, not in Asia though. It’s a great feeling. When I was like eighteen years old, I sat at my school desk and said to my friends: “What if we shall start a band?” And here we are 35 years later and still doing this extreme metal music. It’s fun, actually.
A former member of yours, Alex Friberg, is a tattoo artist. He has his own tattoo studio that he co-owns with Ida Morbida. That’s something that happened after he parted ways with Necrophobic, but I’m still curious: Do you or any of your members have tattoos by him, or are any of you planning on getting any?
No, none of us have a tattoo done by him. And you’re correct. He started that business after he departed from our band. Lately, we have been becoming close friends again, which is very nice. Me and him support the same sports team, so I promised him that he would make our team logo on my shoulder. It hasn’t happened yet, but he will do it.
What’s the team that you support?
Well, it’s a Stockholm team called Djurgårdens, the same team that L-G Petrov also supported. So, maybe he put that team on the international map for people interested in sports. But, anyhow, Alex will do it on me sometime in the future.
Obviously, Jon Nödtveidt from Dissection was an incredible musician. He appeared on one of your older tracks from Darkside. I was wondering if you could maybe speak about collaborating with him or if you have any memories of him as a person that you’d like to share. I really admire his art.
Me and Jon, we connected very early in the underground. He had a fanzine, and, yeah, he had his band. I had Necrophobic. We actually sent letters back then, and we played a few shows together in Sweden. On the first album, we had guest musicians. When we did Darkside, I came to think about whether we should use guest musicians again. The band said: “Yes, who should we use?” It sounds corny, but I dreamt that Jon came to our studio and sang a song with us. So, I called him a couple of days later and said: “I dreamt of you, Jon.”
Yeah, I also asked him if he would be able to come up to Stockholm and come up to the studio and sing parts of a song. I sent him the tape and the lyrics. I don’t know for how long this process took. Anyhow, we went to the studio. I don’t remember so much. He was very quick and professional recording his vocals. I guess we went out partying later on that evening, and then he went back to Gothenburg. Then, when the stuff happened with him, we lost contact. When he came out again, I was at his concert. I talked to him a little bit, but we didn’t get the connection again that we had earlier. He was a nice guy, and, yeah, we liked the same kind of music and stuff.
Yeah, he did seem a great guy, and I’ve heard that he was from others. So, I would like to ask: What are your plans for the future are with Necrophobic right now?
Yeah, the album is coming out in two weeks. We will play two shows the same week that it comes out, one in Germany and one in Sweden. Then, after that, we have one show in Mexico and one in Colombia, which we are all looking very much forward to. We actually haven’t played in Colombia before. I want to say that we were supposed to play in Colombia several years ago, but we had played in Brazil a day or two before, and no one had informed us that you have to take a shot for yellow fever when you go particularly from Brazil to Colombia.
If we go from Sweden directly to Colombia, we don’t need the shot. But since we were in Brazil, we had to take that shot. So, we had to cancel that show, and we regret it very much. People were upset, but also many people understood. But now, we’re coming. And now, we are not coming from Brazil to Colombia, so nothing will stop us now, I hope.
Are you working on new material already?
No, nothing right now. The creative box is empty.
What has it been like for you to work with Century Media because they’re a really great label.
Yes, it’s fantastic. We still have the creative freedom that we always put on top of our list when we are talking to new record labels because we don’t want labels to decide how our music shall sound to sell more records. If they sign us, they have to really like us and our music for real. We will never change our music to sell more records. And, yes, it’s a big label with good promotion. They are good on social media. It’s great to be on that label. We’ve been there since 2017 now. This is the third album.
Is there anything that we didn’t cover that you would like to discuss?
No, not really, but I hope to also come to New York.
Yes, I hope that you’ll come to New York! That would be amazing. I urge readers to check out the new album because it’s fantastic! Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.
(Pre-order Necrophobic’s In the Twilight Grey HERE.)
