Interview of UNMOORED for Noiseweb http://www.noiseweb.fr.st

First of all congratulations for your new album. It's a great album. One of the best in the
year.
Thanks! Cool to hear that you like it:)

So, first question : Can you introduce the new members since your last album ?
Sure thing! Tomas Johansson on lead-guitar and Henrik Schönström on drums. Tomas has never been in a death metal band before, while I play together with Henrik in a couple of other death metal constellations as well.

You are the only composer of all the lyrics and music, why ?
It's always been this way. I don't really know why! Guess I've always been the most creative and productive one in the Unmoored camp.

Indefinite Soul-Extension is for me the continuation of Kingdoms Of Greed, but a lot more worked, what do you think of that ?
I feel the same way! To me "Indefinite Soul-Extension" is an improved version of
the sound established on "Kingdoms Of Greed", not only performance-wise, but riff-wise and arrangement-wise as well.

What is for you the best evolution you have made on this album ?
Well, I think the songwriting has improved a lot and I'm personally also very proud of how the vocals turned out. Then there's the amazing guitar-solos from Thomas and the killer achievment from our drummer Henrik. In fact, performance-wise, we've never sounded better!

The music is more complex, with more melodies. Was it something natural, or did you worked in
that way ?
We just tried to make the best songs possible, without repeating ourselves musically and one way of doing so, is incorporating new elements into them. Not only do you evolve as a musician, but you also manage to keep yourself motivated writing it.

How do you define your music ?
Progressive death metal, in the vein of melody!

A word about the trilogy "Final State" ?
I've always been a sucker for the more ballad-like songs from Metallica. The ones they did back in the good old days, like "Fade To Black" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)". I guess you could say that the "Final State"-trilogy is a consequence of the great impact the aforementioned songs have had on my melodic source of inspiration! :)

Can you speak of the subjects of the different songs ?
All I can say is that the lyrics on "Indefinite Soul-Extension" spring from a conceptional theme. I will not go into what they're dealing with though, since they are very personal and my intention is to keep them that way!

A word about the artwork, is it linked to the album title ?
Yes, it is, but since explaining the meaning of the album-layout, would indirectly give away the lyrics, I choose not to...sorry!

Can you speak of the guests, the same guys as in Kingdoms Of Greed ?
Yes, it's the same guys! Johan helped us out a lot with the keyboard-parts, while Mats took care of a violin-part, in one of the songs. They are both very skilled musicians, as well as good friends of ours, so we will most likely be working with them again in the future.

How was the recording session ?
Recording at the Abyss studios is always very stimulating and inspirational. The Tägtgren brothers are both very easy to work and associate with. The surroundings are also very cool and gives a great atmosphere to the whole thing. Since we've been to Abyss a couple of times, before recording "Indefinite Soul-Extension", we know Tommy Tägtgren quite well by now, as well as the recording procedure. Therefore we already knew about Tommy's skills, as well as what we can accomplish at his residens. It was a bit hectic recording "Indefinite Soul-Extension" though, since the studio only was at our disposal for one week this time. We had to nail the drums, the rhythm-guitars and the bass, quicker than we've ever done before, which was not an easy thing, considering the songs being so complex and varied. Luckily, we managed to pull it off though:)

With your new label you must have new expectations, no ?
With Code666 backing us up, people are finally starting to take notice. Back when we still were signed to Pulverised Records, it never felt like our albums were released for real. Sure, you could read about them in ad's, interviews and reviews and so on, but still it didn't feel like people in general, were able to get hold of them. With Code666 all of that has changed though.

Do you have a bass player for the gigs ?
Yes, but only a sessional one, since we haven't been able to recruit a new full-time
bass-player yet.

Will you tour to promote Indefinite Soul-Extension?
We'd sure love to, but there's nothing planned at the moment!

Can you speak of one of your others projects : TORCHBEARER ?
Sure thing! Omer Akay, who is the labelmanager of Cold Records, asked me one day if I would be interested in putting a death/thrash/black metal band together, releasing an album through Cold Records/Metal Blade Records. Since I like recording different stuff with different people, I accepted his offer. I then got in touch with some friends of mine, playing in bands such as Satariel and Setherial, asking them if they would be interested in a collaboration. Being so, we ended up recording our debut-album at Black Lounge studios, in December 2003. It's entitled "Yersinia Pestis" and it was released in Europe on March 22 and it will be released in the US on May 4.

Will it sound like the song of the same name in Kingdoms Of Greed?
No, not really! Of course there will be similar elements to find, since we're talking about closely related genres, but it's not like we put the band together, with the intention of doing a continuation of the sound established in the Unmoored-song. We just thought "Torchbearer" sounded cool, not only as the title of an Unmoored song, but as a detached bandname as well! :)

Can you say a word or two about SOLAR DAWN, there's a new album in work, no ?
At the moment, we're in the midst of recording some pre-productional stuff. Hopefully, a new album will see the light of day, in a not too distant future!

With INCAPACITY you have four different groups, what they procure to you ?
Well, it can be a bit tough sometimes, writing new material to several bands at the same time, but strange to say, that's the way I like it:) I've actually come to depend on the pressure, that having many bands puts on you, in order to motivate my creativity.

What is your implication in each of these groups ?
In Unmoored and Solar Dawn I practise the guitar and lead-vocals. In Incapacity
and Torchbearer I practise the guitar and backing vocals.

What is your goal with all these groups ?
World supremacy...hehe! Joking apart! I don't have any real goals, in the strict sence of the word. I just love to make and record music and as long as there is dedicated people willing to pay and release the stuff I'm involved with, I'm satisfied! :)

Do you have any other project ?
Well...yes...hehe! It's not official yet though, so I'm afraid I have to keep my mouth shut, until further notice! You will probably be able to read about it soon though! :)

A last word for the readers of Noise ?
Don't forget to check out "Indefinite Soul-Extension" and keep it heavy!

Thanx a lot and take care.
Cheers
Fab' from Noise.