Dismember Interview


Dismember returned to the scene that they helped define with their bombastic album "Where Iron Crosses Grow", soon to be followed by the equally impressive "The God That Never Was". Now as they head out on the road as part of the juggernaut that is the Masters Of Death extravaganza, Metal Chaos speaks to one of the driving forces behind the band David Blomqvist.

“The God That Never Was” has been out for the past 7 months or so, what has been the reaction to the album?
Fantastic actually. Of course some of the older fans still claiming that the first album is our best, but you will always get this. That is alright as we are still doing the same old stuff with the same old influences, and we still enjoy it.
Do you feel this is grossly unfair to compare all new Dismember releases with your first 2 albums, or have you come to terms with the constant comparisons?
I wouldn't say it is unfair but I know exactly what you mean. It can be frustrating when you are making a new album and it is being compared to "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" or "Indecent & Obscene", but we really don't sound that different from back then. The main difference is that we put a few more melodies in there, a few more two guitar harmonies. Real Maiden kind of stuff. I'm the one to blame for that. I was the guy in the band that wanted to change the influence a bit and bring in some new stuff, so I brought in the Maiden stuff. We get it all the time in America, "I love the Carnage album, the first Dismember record is killer". We still make records today that are 100% Dismember and we stick to our guns, we have the same influences and no way will we ever write a song because it reminds us of "Bleed For Me" or "Skin Her Alive". It is just not how we work.
	The bands love of Iron Maiden is no secret, but how do you draw on this influence into what is unquestionably ‘true’ Death Metal?
	Well it was when Heavy Metal was least popular in the mid nineties, when Grunge was big. I was still listening to Maiden, Accept and Mercyful Fate and all this stuff, when everyone started cutting their hair off I brought Priest and Maiden into the sound. Which surprised a lot of bands and fans. We starting doing the whole Tipton and Dowing thing onstage. No one was doing that kind of thing anymore [laughs].
	"The God That Never Was" has all sorts of religious connotations; can you enlighten us to the meaning behind the title?
	I think the title really speaks for itself. It is very anti religion, but we aren't going to far to the other side also, not like the Norwegians [laughs]. Just a joke! We all have the same opinions about religion in the band. Religion is why there is war and so much hate in the world. I'm sick of religion, but I'm not saying a religious person is a asshole or an idiot. It is up to every person to believe in what they want. I choose not to believe in any God or anything like that.
	As a consequence of these beliefs Dismember have often been labelled Satanic, when infact I have always thought the band to be more anti organised religion. How do you respond to those who misunderstand your message?
	I can tell them read the lyrics and wake up! Our stuff is about faith. If you have ever read the lyrics for our album "Hate Campaign", Matti wrote as much about Religion as Satanism. We just free minded individuals.
	Conceptually and lyrically the band have moved on from the days of ‘Skin Her Alive’. Has this been a conscience effort on the part of the band, or a development that has occurred over time?
	It came about I'd say about ten years ago. I've only ever written one lyric for one song in the Dismember history, Matti and Fred are the ones that write all the lyrics. It juts came natural for that period in time when you are a bit younger and more angry. If you read Mayhem's lyrics there isn't as much hate in them as there used to be [laughs]. We matured a little, but we would never change the type of music we play. We are just Metal retards, we can play a show and be on stage for an hour and a half, and head bang constantly. Then on the tour bus we'll put on a good old album like "Mental Funeral" by Autopsy and head bang more.
"The God That Never Was" sees the recording debut for Tobi Christiansson. How did Tobi come to join Dismember.
Tobi is a friend of Martin's girlfriend. He actually came to the studio when we recorded the album, we asked him to play as good as you can, and we just jammed. It is very easy for anyone to come into Dismember, we're laid back type of people. There is no pressure, we just had a few beers. He is a very cool guy.
The new album was recorded at Sami Studio, as was "Where Iron Crosses Grow". Was there no temptation to return to Sunlight, scene of past success?
Sunlight is history. Now we have Fred as the producer, I think it is much better and he understands Death Metal much better than Tomas Skogsberg. So there is no reason to go back there. People say that there is a 'Sunlight sound', but we can get that sound somewhere else to. It pretty much our guitar sound that they are talking about.
You mention Fred Estby and Thomas Skogsberg have been responsible for the production of all the Dismember records. Have you ever felt there would be any benefit in bringing fresh blood into the mix?
No, not me personally. We have talked about it, but I have always said that Fred is doing a great job and he knows how to put a Dismember record together. He knows how to make a good Dismember production.
The band appears to have a reignited passion and drive since returning from your 4-year break. Was time away from Dismember necessary to put the fire back into your bellies?
Probably yeah. The time around and after we recorded the "Death Metal" album, it was quite a hard time. The old style of Death Metal had absolutely no interest from people. We weren't going to do commercial stuff, so we didn't do that much stuff or tours, then a few members quit the band. Basically when we recorded "Where Iron Crosses Grow" me and Fred wrote and rehearsed all the album for ourselves [laughs].
Dismember have, unlike some Death Metal bands we could mention, have never been content with releasing the same album over and over again. How do you approach writing new material to keep things fresh?
Basically we don't analysis our music to much. We have the same influences as we had fifteen years ago but we try to do it fresh each time. We write both collectively and individually. Me and Fred make most of the music, and it's a case of us putting riffs we have together in the rehearsal room, we work mostly like that. Songs like the instrumental song the latest album, are quite easy to do at home, you know to write all the harmonies and to put it together.
	November 3rd sees you hitting the road as part of the ‘Masters Of Death’ tour. It is quite a bill, Entombed, Unleashed, Grave and your selves, a Death Metal Clash Of The Titans. How are you looking forward to the tour? How did the idea come about?
	Fred and Martin came up with the idea. They just said "lets do a tour with all these older Swedish Death Metal bands". So they put it together and put them all on one bill. Firstly it was to tour Europe, now we are going to the States also with Grave and Entombed. The interest has been fantastic.
	So how do you guys enjoy touring in the States, do you notice any significant differences between the US and European audiences?
	The main difference really is that the people in the US don't really go mad. The biggest fans are the South American's, they really love their Metal. I have to say I really prefer touring in Europe.
	The ‘Masters Of Death; tour rekindles thoughts of the old days, with Stockholm’s greats all on tour together again. The tour aside, how is the Stockholm scene these days?
	For me the scene is dead to be honest. I really don't follow any new bands around today. It is not so much a lack of interest, it's more how the musical style has developed. I prefer bands to sound like Autopsy or early Death, you know Grave. That style is almost dead, there are no bands today that play that type of music. It is just impossible.
	How much of a difference has it made to you and the band to be full time musicians and not have to juggle part time jobs aswell as your commitments to Dismember?
	The main difference is that we have to do a lot more touring, that is the real difference as we still have to pay the rent. Fred and Matti have kids at home but they can still go on tour. It is really hard to have a regular day job and play Death Metal. I quit my job. I asked for like a week off to do some touring in South America, they said "no", so I went into an office and resigned. So I get to head bang 100% now [laughs]. I mean, me and Fred started this band almost nineteen years ago, I was fourteen when we started. We were just small kids, but we still feel very strong towards the music. We still love playing and still wan to do this.
	Any words to all the Dismember fans out there?
Buy all the records [laughs]. See you on the tour and we will make sure we will give the fans a great show, always. We'll give 100% as usual, the only shame is we will only have about 45 minutes on stage. We'll be playing lots of old stuff, I know when I see Maiden I want to see the early stuff aswell as the new stuff to. Of course we are not a reunion band who will only play the first two albums. You should never forget the classics for the fans, but you should also play the new stuff. I'd much rather play stuff from the last two albums but of course the fans want to hear "Skin Her Alive". You should always respect your fans.

All photographs and images used with kind permission of Regain Records and Dismember.