SKELETON BIRTH – Intervista alla band (with english version)
Welcome among the pages of tuttorock.net. First of all tell us, who Skeleton Birth are? Where do you come from? And how the band members got together.
Jan: Thanks! We come from Boden, in the north of Sweden.
All members in Skeleton Birth have a history from playing in other bands. Erik (drums) and Morgan (guitar and vocals) had a cover band together, but wanted to make original music, so they founded the band. Erik has also been a member in bands like War Empire and the final lineup of Slowgate. Next to join the SB was Ulf Johansson (guitar). Ulf had been a member in Twilight Symphony among others, and still have a progressive hardrock band called In the Hidden going. Morgan then contacted me. We had earlier talked about writing and playing heavy metal together. I have been a member and played the bass guitar in a lot of bands. Some of them are Witch and later Mordor with Mike Wead (King Diamond, Memento Mori, Bibleblack, Hexenhaus), Warning, Slowgate and Maninnya Blade.
On War Diary, your debut album that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, people can hear a Thrash Metal very influenced by Slayer’s sound. But I also heard in your music, elements from other genres beyond Thrash. Especially elements from Death Metal. So, which other bands do you consider an inspiration?
Jan: I´m really influenced by both the Bay Area thrash scene and the German thrash scene. I´m also very influenced by the NWOBHM. Also classic Florida death metal and the swedish death metal scene means a lot to me. I´m really addicted to metal and is also a record collector. Bands I consider an inspiration? Exodus, Testament, Destruction, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Accept, Death, Pantera and many others!
Morgan: I listen a lot to bands like Bloodbath, Lamb of god, at the Gates, and Meshuggah. When it comes to soloing my inspiration comes from guitarists such as Joe Satriani, Zack Whylde and Kirk Hammet.
Ulf, who is an absolute maniac when it comes to fast riffin´, has amongst others Dave Mustaine as a personal house god.
Your mix of frenetic drums, technical and fast guitars and almost spoken singing style is a particular compound. Is this sound researched, or it came automatically blending the different background of each band member?
Morgan: Well, when we started in 2010 Erik already had a mid tempo band called Slowgate. And he refused to start another. Haha! “if I´m gonna start a new band, I want to play fast as hell!” Said and done, we did. So, the tempo is set, but the influences have been flowing free. We where a little bit worried in the beginning that our masters would have to much influence on the music. But since our inspiration stretches from Joe Satriani to Meshuggah, and the fact that we, exept for the tempo, just let our juices flow, I think that we have created something original.
Jan: Our sound just come naturally when we start throwing riffs and drum patterns around. We don´t force anything. We just play our instruments. If it feels good, sounds right and sounds original we just go for it. We just “let the metal flow”, to quote the legendary Chuck Shuldiner.
Often people think that in Scandinavia, Metal genre is more “approved” than in other countries. Do you think is easier, for a Swedish band, to publish music than in the rest of Europe? And in particular, has it been hard for you to came out with your debut album?
Jan: There is a big metal scene in Sweden and good traditions with a lot of high quality bands, great festivals. Swedish bands have a reputation of “delivering the gods” so maybe it´s easier to get listeners all over Europe interested in our music.
We have been in contact with some major record labels. Some were interested in Skeleton Birth, but in the end we decided to have our debut album released by the independent record label Grinding Records.
Morgan: Yes, metal is a natural part of the music scene in Sweden. And that is good. But with that comes hard competition. You really have to deliver if you are going to stand out from the other bands.
What is the way, for a new extreme Metal band, to came out in the overcrowded music business of today? Live shows? Quality music? Promotion?
Jan: All of them are really important. If You don´t fulfill all of them, there is a great risk that You get lost among all other good bands out there.
Morgan: It´s all about hard work. Making music, recording and all that stuff is 5% of the work you put in. The rest 95% goes to promotion.
A question for Morgan: I read about your experience as a soldier in Afghanistan, which is reflected in War Diary lyrics. Did you play music before being a soldier or did Metal become an outlet for your feelings of that experience?
Morgan: I have been playing music since I was 12. But my experiences in Afghanistan most definitely inspired to a more brutal sound.
The sound you propose is very warlike. It’s fast, rhythmic and brutal. This musical choice is depending by the topics of the lyrics or did you want to play this sound from the beginning and the lyrics came after?
Morgan: Well, both I believe. Erik´s will to play fast music and my will to express myself after Afghanistan melted together quite well. The lyrics describe both actual situations as thoughts and reflections from the frontline.
Seven years and married is a true story about a seven year old girl that was married to an old man I the district I served in. He promised not to “fulfil” the marriage until she was nine, when its legal in Afghanistan. But he did anyway. The girls parents reported the abuse to the chief of police, but since it was “only” two years left untill she turned nine, the case was droped. It’s a sick world out there…
Troops in Contact describes when we were ambushed in the middle of the night by 25 talibans. In the song I tried my best to describe the situation and the feeling you get when the bullet are flying around your head and chaos needs to be tamed for you to survive.
Chains were written In 2011 during the Arabic spring, when everything still looked promising in the world. It`s about revolution against dictators and oppression, and what comes afterwards. Will thing get better? Or is the situation the same, will the new leadership? I think we anticipated that one quite well…
How would you describe your live shows? And why an Italian metalhead should come to see Skeleton Birth on stage?
Jan: We are actually rather good musicians so we deliver the songs the way they are recorded. We thrash around on stage and have fun. We believe in the concept of good music and a good show together. Thrash metal, lights, a great stage setting and the Skeleton Birth uniforms are all essential parts of our show. Italian metalheads will enjoy a Skeleton Birth show for the reasons I just mentioned if they like our songs.
Will the band come to Italy for any live show?
Jan: We hope to do an European tour sometime, maybe next year. We would love to play in Italy, because we know that Italian metalheads are fantastic. We just need to arrange it logistically and financially.
What are your future programs? Any international tour?
Jan: To play some shows/festivals in Sweden and to write and arrange songs for the next Skeleton Birth record.
In your intentions, will the possible successor of War Diary addresses the same topics? Or do you think that the topic “war” has ended with this album?
Jan: We have talked about another subject, but we like concept albums. So we will see what comes to Morgans mind.
Morgan: Afghanistan is a closed chapter now. But the will to describe the world as It is and the injustice and horrors that are being done to humanity, is still strong.
Ok, we are done. Do you want to tell something to Italian people?
Jan: You can listen to our album on Spotify and if You like what You hear (I´m shure You will), order it and support us on our metal mission.
Thank you and see you soon.
contact@grindingrecords.se
http://www.skeletonbirth.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/skeletonbirth
https://www.facebook.com/skeletonbirth