The iconic Melodic Deathsters ABLAZE MY SORROW from Sweden, have returned with a new album entitled “Among Ashes Αnd Monoliths”. THEGALLERY.GR had the opportunity to talk with the band’s bassist Anders Brorsson about it as also about the good old times of the Swedish Death metal scene. You will find all the answers into the very interesting interview that follows…

---

–  Hello and welcome to THEGALLERY.GR. Congratulations for your new album “Among Ashes and Monoliths”! What are the first reactions from the listeners worldwide? Is the outcome the one you expected to be?

Anders: Hello there and thank you Dimos! We’ve had great response concerning the new album which of course feels good. Black Lion Records has been doing their job very well so far. Beside the fact that we can’t support the release by playing live shows everything has went according to the plans. It feels really good that we finally got to release an album on vinyl even though the vinyl is delayed for a month or two due to lockdowns and other covid-related problems.

– Tell me some things about the lyrics and their source of inspiration in this album. What does “Among Ashes and Monoliths” stands for, I found it quite a strong title. Is there a concept about the lyrics?

Anders: The lyrics on the album delves into the topics of misanthropy, depression and the pointlessness of existence. It also touches upon subjects such as anger at people who do not dare to educate themselves and evolve, thus letting their fear, prejudice, ignorance and preconceived notions rule their decisions and view of life. The title, Among Ashes and Monoliths, refers to a post apocalyptic world where nothing is left of but a barren waste land where the naked trunks of trees stand as monoliths in a dead, ash covered world – a mausoleum telling the tale of human greed, fear and ignorance. The inspiration for the lyrics is the state of the world, Jonas personal experiences and the bands own old lyrics.

– You decided not to add a lot of new elements and effects in your music, despite the fact that most modern Melodic Death bands do that nowadays. You insisted to focus in a more “guitar riffing” way of songwriting, based in the old school Swedish Death metal sound. Do you feel that you could change things in the scene, now that “Among Ashes and Monoliths” is released?

Anders: There are, as you say, no new elements even though we’ve used clean vocals and female vocals in a more prominent way than we’ve done before. Our goal isn’t to create something new and unique but rather to sharpen the edge of the melodic style of death metal we’ve been playing for the last nearly 30 years.

– You have a new singer in the band, Jonas Udd, who is the younger member, if I’m not wrong. Do you think that he gave you a boost to push your music furthermore? What happened with the former singer Kristian Lönnsjö?

Anders: We have a span of five years between the youngest and the oldest member of the band and Jonas is actually right in the middle of that span. We looked for a new singer for a while but kept recording the album simultaneously. When Jonas joined the band everything just felt right and this, as you mention, sure gave us a boost. Kristian had to leave the band due to health reasons. Shortly after the recording of “Black” he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He went through a period of heavy medication and is now free from the cancer. Sadly his throat was too damaged to be able to continue as a singer of the band. Kristian is still one of my absolutely best friends, he’s an amazing human being.

– You added some clean vocals which I found it very impressive and also had a collaboration with Jonna Enckell. What made you come to this decision?

Anders: Jonas came up with the vocal arrangements by his own as he wrote all of the lyrics on the album. When he came with the lyrics for “Her Cold Embrace” we discussed the idea of having some female vocals for that track since it would fit the lyrics well. The idea behind the usage of Jonnas vocals is to let her be the voice of Hel, the goddess of death in northern mythology.

• 

• 

• 

– You are one of the oldest Melodic Death bands in Gothenburg area (ps. ok, you are from Falkenberg which is close to Gothenburg!) and had a contract with the ICONIC label No Fashion! Could you tell me some things about this collaboration and the fact that you were under the same label with bands like KATATONIA, MARDUK, DISSECTION, DARK FUNERAL and many more? What do you have to remember from this era? What was the way this so important label was handling the bands, having such an impact to nowadays’ Melodic Death/Black metal scene?

Anders: We first signed a deal with No Fashion when Thomas Nyqvist owned it. When he sold it to House of Kicks our contract wasn’t valid due to some reason I can’t remember. We recorded a new demo entitled “Demo ‘95” and H.O.K/No Fashion sent us a new contract. I see No Fashion Records as the most important record label ever when it comes to Swedish death/black metal. There are so many incredible albums released through No Fashion that it’s almost ridiculous. It makes me proud to be a part of their legacy.

– “If Emotions Still Burn” came out in 1996. The music belongs in the first wave of the Melodic Death Metal. What do you have to remember from this era of ABLAZE MY SORROW? What was the “vibe” in the recordings? Can you mention some other underground (at this time) bands you were connected with and some stories you can recall from that time?

Anders: We were all teenagers when we started the band in 1993 and, even though we all had been involved in other bands before, this was the first time we recorded something in a real studio. Everything was new and we had a great time in studio to record our debut album in 1995. We had a great “scene” here in Falkenberg even though it is quite a small town. Shows with bands such as for example At The Gates, Dissection, Decameron, Eucharist, Dismember and Entombed were set up in the early 90’s. We also had the possibility to go to Gothenburg to see shows since that’s only about 100 km north of Falkenberg. When it comes to Greek bands I was in contact with Jim “Mutilator” Patsouris of Rotting Christ and Varathron.

– “The Plague” and “Anger, Hate and Fury” were another great albums that came before your intermission. Would you change anything in those albums, listening to them so many years after their release?

Anders: I actually like the sound on both of those albums, I wouldn’t change anything even if I could. That being said they probably wouldn’t sound the same if we did record them again today. Everything you do and everything you record bears a stamp from where you are at that time in your life. I’m proud of everything we’ve released.

– What made you being inactive between 2003 and 2013? Personal problems, issues with record labels, lack of inspiration or something else?

Anders: The main reason was probably that some of the members had children and there just wasn’t time or motivation enough to go on at the time. No Fashion Records was shut down around the same time which meant that we stood without a label contract but I can’t recall that we ever discussed the lack of a contract as a reason to take a break.

– All these years did you have any feedback from Greece and Greek fans? As far as I remember you have never performed live in Greece, yet…

Anders: Yes, I know that I’ve answered interviews from Greece as well as I’ve sent demos and shirts to Greece. You are right that we’ve never played a show in Greece, but I really hope that will change soon.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

– I’m sure that this COVID 19 pandemic has a great effect all over the world. How did this change your lives and how difficult is to write music, go to the rehearsal studio for practice and be the whole band together? Do you have any plans for live appearances or streaming (this is the new era) performances?

Anders: Sure, the pandemic has affected us as a band since we’ve had some delays due to it and the fact that we haven’t played live since November 2019. We recorded the album during 2020 and that went well, rehearsals are no problems since we don’t have any lockdown in Sweden. The biggest personal difference is the closed borders which mean that you are not being able to travel or fly where you want to. We are starting to make plans for a European tour in early 2022, hopefully everything is back to at least a bit more normal world by then. We will not do any live streams.

– I would like to thank you for this little conversation, to congratulate you for the new album, wishing you good luck with it. Feel free to say you last words to your Greek fans and to THE GALLERY’s readers worldwide….

Anders: Thanks a lot for this interview and for supporting Ablaze My Sorrow Dimos. Stay safe, clench your fists and fight through this shit. See you on the other side, cheers!

Interview: Dimos Karadimos
Cover Artwork:  Giorgos Tsiliggaridis
Design & Editing: Alexandros Soultatos
Live Photos: Christian Thyrsted
Date: March 7th 2021
External Link: ABLAZE MY SORROW – Facebook Page
Copyright © 2021 by THEGALLERY.GR