Hej! How are you doing? Do you have a lot of interviews to deal with at the moment?
Hi there! we're fine thanks:) Well, lets just say we don't have the problem of not knowing what to do with our spare-time...haha!

I’ll try not to bother you too much anyway. Shall we start with the customary biographical information? How long have you been Unmoored? Has the line-up evolved a lot since the early days? Do the current members play in other bands or solo projects?
(Christian answering):
We started off back in the winter of 1993/94. Recorded three demos between 1994 and 1997. Signed to the Singaporian label Pulverised Records, in the summer of 1997. Recorded our debut-album, "Cimmerian", at Sunlight studios later that same year. Went through som line-up changes and then recorded our second opus, called "Kingdoms Of Greed", at studio Abyss, at the end of 1999. Went through some more line-up changes, before recording the promo, simply called "Promo 2001", which eventually got us signed to Code666, at the beginning of 2002. Indefinite Soul-Extension was recorded at the Abyss studios and Cristeria Mastering, in the winter of 2002/03. As goes for the line-up, it has changed quite a lot, over the years. In fact, I'm the only member, left from the original one. The current line-up consists of me on rhythm-guitar and vocals, Thomas Johansson on lead-guitar and Henrik Schönström on drums. Both me and Henrik have other bands, besides Unmoored. We both play together in "Solar Dawn", "Incapacity" and "Torchbearer". Then there's all the projects, but that's another story:)

“Indefinite Soul-Extension” is your third full-length already, and yet the name Unmoored is still pretty young to my ears. Do you get the impression that your previous works have received the promotional coverage they deserved? By all means, do you feel that this label change is likely to throw the band’s recognition into a new light and, as a consideration, are you facing bigger pressure to convince the world?
(Christian answering):
Well, no, I don't think our previous albums have received the recognition they deserve. Once they were released, we did some promotional interviews and got some great reviews and so on, but since people had such a hard time finding the albums, the word never really spread. In fact, I think that's one of the main causes to why Pulverised had to call it a day. Their distribution simply wasn't good enough. It doesn't matter if you get the best of reviews or people can read about you here and there. If you can't get hold of the albums, the bands will miss out on the recognition and the label won't see any money coming in from sales. The way I see it, it's a stillborn situation! With Code666 backing us up, people are finally starting to take notice. Back when we still were signed to Pulverised, 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 s till it didn't feel like people in general, were able to get hold of them. With Code666 all of that has changed though. As goes for convincing the world, I think we've already done that, by being able to stick around for 10 years now, in spite of everything we've gone through.

Your promotional flyer states than you’d been in contact with some larger labels before Code666 won the day. How comes none of those negotiations resulted in a deal? Were you asking for a company jet and the same royalty rates as Metallica? Seriously, how did the happenings of the past years of band history affect your outlook on the “business” side of metal music? Have you been humanly disappointed by some behaviors? Finally, please be forthright and tell me: did you at any point consider your entrance into the Code666 arena as a kind of “last resort”, and if so has your opinion evolved positively since then?
(Christian answering):
I won't go into which labels we negotiated with, since I find all this a thing of the past. A past that never even came to be. Lets just say there were a couple of major labels interested and leave it at that:) The reason to why none of these negotiations resulted in a deal, was because we had such problems, coming to a reasonable agreement. Since nothing was to our mutual satisfaction, the negotiations were sort of bound to fail.

Well, I assume it is safe to say that your music capitalizes on the assets of the now renowned “Swedish” death metal sound. Now, obviously bands who came first to the forefront of a style are always quoted as references. It is likely that most reviews will state at some point “Unmoored sound like Edge of Sanity and Soilwork” (I’m oversimplifying on purpose). Do you find those comparisons frustrating, taking into account that you’ve been around even before some of the bands you’ll be compared to came to life? Do you think that the style is now established to a point where the references frame will remain, or is there in your opinion a chance that, in some years, people will say: “band X sounds like Unmoored”? What does it take to actually become a reference? Above-average skills and innovative craft, or merely luck and timing?
(Henrik answering):
Being compared to Edge Of Sanity is nothing that bothers me. They were a great band and are one of my favourite bands in the genré. But why we are being compared to Soilwork, I can´t really understand. In my opinion our music doesn´t sound anything like theirs. We play death metal, more in the oldschool vein. Our music is also more founded on riffs, when they choose to focus on melody and guitar/bassdrum incorporated riffing. Regarding the references, I think it all differs. If we for instance take Slayer as an example, they were one of the first bands playing that kind of music and furthermore doing it really well. They have become a huge reference for almost everyone playing extreme metal and in their case it´s a combination of above-averge skills, innovative craft and luck with timing. With newer bands I think it, in many cases, has a lot to do with which label you´re signed to. Bands, like Soilwork, which are signed t o major labels (like Nuclear Blast, Century Media & Metalblade) will automatically get more publicity and reach out to a bigger crowd and when they get big and sell many albums, a lot of people will automatically compare the more unknown bands to them.

Can you give us some facts about how the album was recorded and produced at the Abyss Studio? Had you ever faced such professionalism from an engineering structure beforehand? What aspect did predominate: fun and pleasure, or rather stress and constraints?
(Christian answering):
Recording at the Abyss studios is 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", with Unmoored and Solar Dawn, 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:)

Your CD alternates moments with a deliberate melodic edge with some very brutal parts. Now, lately Swedish death metal had rather tended to go either the all-catchy or the all-brutal spree. Do you envision your music as a kind of reaction to the excessive compromises to accessibility some of your fellow bands have run into? Do you pay a lot of attention to achieving the right balance melody/violence for each song in order to establish a band’s trademark, or do you just do things instinctively as they go, regardless of whether the songs will or not sound very dissimilar to one another in the end?
(Henrik answering):
For us it´s very simple. We write riffs & parts that we think sound killer! And if it, for instance, sounds more death metal or black metal, it doesn´t matter. We try to make the songs as interresting as possible and to achieve that, we try to make the songs diverse, yet coherent. In the end we are writing music that we want to listen to ourselves and if someone else share our vision, that's great!

Are you the kind of band who compose methodically one song after the other, or is there always some kind of wild brainstorming going on at your rehearsal place, and you then go fish in your riff collection and do some cutting and pasting in between whenever a part seems to fit into a song?
(Christian answering):
Well, it’s pretty much me, on my own, trying to squeeze out the very best I can, riff-wise and so on! Then I do a pre-productional thing. Once done, I send it off to the other guys and they do their thing. This is basically the way all our albums have come up, music-wise. I wouldn’t say it’s the most bandlike way of doing it, but it works for us.

The way the synths are mixed and used is amazing. Somehow they are way behind the guitars and all the aggression wave, but each time a keyboard part kicks in it’s always like the track rises in another dimension, so that 1° one feels goose bumps all over; 2° all cheesiness is avoided. Is there a specific “technique” to recognize when it will be timely to add some synths to the song flow, and do you generally try a lot of different sonorities before finding the one which best adapts (I think of the fluctuation between here bombastic, there ethereal or even creepy sounds…)?
(Henrik answering):
The use of keyboards is like you said, to take the music to another dimension. Instead of just using guitars to create melody, it gets more diverse using keyboards every now and then. It´s also fun to work with keyboards, because of the great amount of sounds you can abuse and play around with. Sometimes you instantly know what kind of sound you wan´t and sometimes you just know that you want something different and that's when you have to try out many sounds, before being able to nail something down.

I must confess I haven’t heard any of your previous efforts, but I must wonder about one thing, namely the skillful clean vocals. It is noticeable that more and more extreme metal acts for some years have been experimenting with clean voices as a way to widen the array of emotions. Are these vocals a feature that you’ve always carried in Unmoored’s luggage, or have you started to think about their integration from the point it became commonly accepted across the death metal scene? In any case, did you train your vocals hard on purpose for this album?
(Christian answering):
The clean vocals have always played and still play an important part in our music. In fact, our very first demo, which was recorded back in 1994, contains some clean vocals, so it's not like we've just found out about them. We've done them for 10 years now and I guess that's one of the main reasons to why they're finally starting to sound the way I want them to. Thank heavens practising pays off...haha!

Taking up from the previous question: is each and every symptom of open-mindedness healthy? In other words, can one basically marry every possible stylistic horizons in one pot, or do you believe in some kind of “implicit” border, beyond which a style loses its identity? Is there a limit to the range of sonorities that you’d be willing to accept within Unmoored? Let me just illustrate this with a few examples: would you consider welcoming traces of jazz, funk, or
oriental music within your typical death metal sound? And can you understand bands who do this?
(Henrik answering):
Sure, I understand bands who like to experiment. Some people just love to play metal like it has been and don´t want to change it. Others may like to experiment a bit more. For me, both ways are welcomed. I mean, you should do what you think is cool and what you love to do. If you want to incorporate traces of jazz, funk or whatever into metal, just do it! Don´t give a fuck about what other people think. As long as you´re happy with it, thats all that matters. Concerning Unmoored we already experiment on some levels. Maybe we don´t have jazz or funk, but you can notice some progrock stuff in our music. We also use violin in one song. That isn´t used too much in death metal. But in the end of the day we´ll just go what we think sounds cool.

The album closes on what you could call a “ballad”. Are you planning to challenge Tatu at next year’s Eurovision? Can you explain under which circumstances you gave birth to this song, and what was your strategic purpose (if any) to stick it at the end of the album, rather than as – for instance – a reprieve before the final storm?
(Christian answering):
Unmoored at the Eurovision song contest...haha...that would be a sight for sore eyes, or should I say ears:) Well, I needed an ending part for the "Final State"-trilogy and having this verse and chorus just lying around, the song practically wrote itself in no time. The way we see it, placing it last "is" a reprieve before the final storm, being our next album....haha!

I don’t have the lyrics at hand and the song titles don’t help much, but I take it for granted with notions such as “Revulsion”, “Grief”, “Failure”, that the texts are not dealing with the sexual behavior of boreal lemmings… Could you reveal and comments a few of the topics dealt with in the course of “Indefinite Soul-Extension”? Is it a concept album?
(Christian answering):
Like the lyrics for "Kingdoms Of Greed", which all deal with the act of conceiving desires and the aftermath of doing covetous deeds, the lyrics for "Indefinite Soul-Extension", also spring from a conceptional theme, running all through. I will not go into what they're dealing with though, since they are very personal this time and my intention is to keep them that way.

I find the album cover particularly gorgeous. Who is to be credited for this work of art? Maybe I’m pushing it much too far but: could the cover in a way epitomize Unmoored’s career so far, the three wild geese against the full moon being the three of you guys finally soaring up from the deep dark woods thanks to this album?
(Henrik answering):
The man who´s responsible for the artwork is Fabio (http://www.neontrinitykill.com/). He´s very talanted and we´re really satisified with his work. "Indefinite Soul-Extension" is, like Christian told you earlier, a concept album lyrically, so we felt that the artwork should represent the concept, yet without giving it away.

The prospect of a tour has been unofficially mentioned by your label. Do you have some concrete information to share in this respect?
(Henrik answering):
At this moment there are no plans for a tour. We´ve never been out touring with Unmoored, but if we had the chance, we probably wouldn´t hesitate!

Should you have the opportunity to pick three Code666 bands to come on tour alongside Unmoored, which ones would that be and why? Determine if you can the optimal order of appearance in the set…
(Henrik answering):
If we should do a tour with only bands from Code 666, I think Konkhra & Bloodshed would be cool to go out on the road with. The auidence would get an intense night! We play different styles, but I think the variation would be a good thing.

When you look at a band like Marduk for instance, who spend about ¾ of the year on the road: is it a kind of life schedule you would like to experience yourself with Unmoored? Do you consider the nonstop contact with fans from all over the world and the chaotic routine of the tour bus as a potential fuel for life, or would you rather keep touring a once-in-a-while adventure and remain most of your time anchored in a fully-settled geographic position with wife and friends?
(Christian answering):
I'm more of the "once-in-a-while-adventure" kind of guy, if I have to choose. I'd sure like to experience life on the road, but since the writing process is the prime mover for me, touring is merely a bonus. The process of writing music is what gets me going, so to speak:) I'm not saying I don't like to play live, because I really do. It's just that it doesn't quite exceed the kicks I get out of writing music. At least not yet!

Let’s leave the music aside for a minute. I’d like to come back on the subject that has thrown Sweden under the spotlights lately, namely the murder of Ana Lindh in the context of the referendum for Sweden’s adhesion to the Euro zone. This is not exactly the kind of event one would have expected, having in mind Sweden as a socially stable and peaceful country, even though the anti-European factions knowingly weigh a lot in Scandinavia compared to most other European countries. Anyway, how has the public opinion reacted? Were you personally supportive of the Euro currency or not? Are you afraid that, on an indefinite term – and provided that the European construction actually proves solidly successful – Sweden’s global weight and economical situation might start to worsen?
(Christian answering):
I am not particularly active when it comes to politics, however, I don’t think that Sweden’s influence, or economical situation, will worsen because we chose to keep our own currency. On the contrary, I believe Sweden’s global influence will only strengthen because we did turn down the offer, thus stating that we care for our independency. I voted against the Euro because I saw no positive sides of it, other than not having to change currency while travelling (then again, VISA works just as well). A lot of people claimed our economy would get worse and prises would elevate if we turned down the Euro, although from what I have seen so far, nothing has
changed.

Now, I’m going to give you a list of five names related to Unmoored’s music (or maybe not…). Please write for each one a short comment or the first words coming to your mind:
(Henrik answering):
- Emiliano Lanzoni: Dedication!
- Anders Edlund: Good friend and amazing bandmate!
- Mikael Akerfeldt: Talanted! Love the old opeth stuff, but the last two albums were a great disappointment.
- Tommy Tägtgren: A great guy and a kick-ass producer!
- Kelly Osborne: A less talented singer who ride on her fathers fame.

Let’s call it a day – or a night, or whatever… To finish with, could you just leave your contact/website address and sum up what you just had for dinner? Please shut the door behind you. Farewell…
Thanks for your shown interest! We can be reached at: unmoored@hotmail.com. The address to our official website, reads as follows: http://www.unmoored.com. C-ya!