On January 13th, Swedish heavy metal outfit Screamer’s new album, Kingmaker, arrived via Steamhammer/SPV. Metal Insider recently caught up with guitarist Dejan Rosić to discuss the group’s latest offering.

What was the process like recording the new album, Kingmaker?

It was both smooth and challenging the same way I would say. Since we did pre production and full scale demos on everything we were very prepared for the recording and had a lot of room in the studio to work and add flavors. The drums were recorded in Gothenburg at Top Floor studios with Jakob Herrmann, Henrik our drummer spent a week there working with Jakob. Guitars, bass and additional recordings were recorded in our own studio where I engineered it all and that was both a new challenge and experience. Since I’ve never done it more than in a demo stage or just more simple recordings it was definitely a good learning experience. Vocals were recorded outside of Borås with Christian Svedin. Mix and master was done by Henrik Udd in Gothenburg and turned out exactly how we wanted.

How has the response been so far?

Very good! It’s so good seeing everyone getting their copies of the vinyl, streaming the song or whatever media they use and enjoying the album. The most exciting thing is seeing how everyone who has listened to the album has their favorite song. Can’t wait to play the songs live! 

How would you compare the new album to 2019’s Highway of Heroes? 

I feel it’s a quite natural progression, the songwriting is a bit more evolved on Kingmaker and the production is stepped up by a big margin. But other than that it’s still Screamer but bigger and better.

How has the pandemic influenced the writing for the new record?

Since the restrictions in Sweden weren’t as harsh as in other parts of the world it wasn’t that bad. But we all live in different cities and everybody in the band has their own home studio/recording equipment we work remotely. Except me and the drummer who lives close to the band’s hometown where I live. We got together quite a lot. When we needed to get together and work we did. 

This year marks the tenth anniversary for the album, Phoenix, can you talk about any fun memories from creating this record?

This was actually the first record with the band where I wrote and recorded. I remember everything being a new experience creating this record for me and a lot of good jams session writing the album. I worked the night shift at my day job and when I got off in the morning I drove straight to the studio and recorded guitars. Drove home, slept and did it all again for over a week so it’s a bit hazy.

What songs were more challenging to write?

Sounds of the Night haha. I think we got a few good first drafts of that song, then me and Henrik hit a bump in the road and started second guessing everything. Stubborn as we are we didn’t give up and we just killed the joy for ourselves with the song. But now in hindsight it turned out great and I can enjoy it a lot.

What was your experience creating the video for “The Traveler?”

I brought a camera with me to the first US tour we did with Haunt in April of 2022. My idea was to take pictures the whole tour. When we came home from that tour I started filming everything we did going to shows and being on the road and handing the camera over when we were on stage. So I finished the video after the last tour in the US in October 2022 and it’s a nice recap of everything we did and stand for as a touring band. 

Do you have any plans for this year you can share with us?

We have a few shows in Sweden coming up soon and our own festival TurboFest that takes place at the end of march 31/3-1/4 before we leave for a European tour with Skull Fist in April. There is more touring and shows in the pipeline for the “Kingmaker World Tour” and we will probably start writing new songs in the meantime.

Is there anything else you want to say or add?

I want to thank everyone who has picked up the album, listened to it or streamed it and I hope to see you all on the road very soon!