Murdryck have been around for some time now and just seem to be getting better and better I spoke to Skärseld from the band on their “reboot”, the various metal scenes in Sweden, how come some many great metal bands come out of a country the size of Sweden, growing up in Scotland and much more.
* You’ve been at this for some time now – my biggest question to you is what made the switch between your dark ambient sound to a more classic Black metal sound?
Ok, well I think it’s fairer to say the band is a reboot and the Black Metal angle wasn’t something we drifted into. It was never my intention to move Murdryck towards a new sound. The intention was to start a new Black Metal band that had the key ingredients I wanted to hear. After trying to come up with a name for a new band I decided to take the name with me to the new style. Murdryck was never a band that was well known on the scene at the time or at any point afterwards so it seemed a reasonable idea to keep the name.
* Does the name Murdryck mean anything in English?
It’s a made up word. At the time of Murdryck’s original creation I was extremely inspired by the more ambient side of Black Metal and became immersed in the atmospherics people were adding to their albums in the mid 90s. I’d always liked soundtrack music with dark synths and simple textures. I think simple music can be entirely captivating when done in this way.
* You are based in the town of Vänersborg Sweden? is there much or a metal scene there or does everyone just converge on Gothenburg? If so how far is Gothenburg from you?
People always ask about ”the scene”. I don’t think there’s ever been a scene anyway for this kind of music. At best, a large group of associates who know each other or of each other. I’ve always been a satellite my whole life. Never really part of anything just doing my own thing. We do have a rockbar, Backstage, in the town adjacent to Vänersborg and that’s pretty amazing in reality that a town that size can sustain a rock bar. It’s the local hangout for people of all ages and all musical forms from punk to metal and the subgenres contained within. Backstage do a lot for the smaller bands by giving them gigs without asking for anything. They also manage to bring in more known touring bands sometimes which is pretty cool. Paul Di’Anno has played there, Chris Holmes from WASP, Anvil have played there. Gothenburg is about an hour on the train. I rarely go there. I rarely go out to be honest. I just can’t be fucked with a night life. Plus I’m pretty asocial anyway so these things are just a hassle for me rather than things I enjoy.
* Do you think there is much rivalry between the cities of Gothenburg and Stockholm?
I don’t think there’s any rivalries within Metal music at all. Swedes are not culturally bred for confrontation anyway. If you play with a band at a show you usually get to know them and they become friends or at least an acquaintance you can call upon if you need help with anything. I’m not the kind of person who goes around being everyone’s best pal but I’m happy to help anyone if they ask. I do think a lot of other people have an agenda when they befriend another band and suddenly they call them their best mates or brothers in arms and all that crap.
* The Country of Sweden is smaller than New York City – why do you think so many good bands come out of Sweden? is there something in the water there?
I can’t offer anything other than my limited perspective since I wasn’t around in Sweden at the time a lot of black and death bands were kicking off in the early 90s and becoming recognized for being a quality act.
I am from England originally and spent my formative years in Scotland. I had one friend who liked metal back in those days and I was treated like a total outcast for being into metal. Like some kind of zoo animal almost. There were few opportunities for me to play in a band or even see gigs. I’d have to travel to Glasgow which was a long way. I’d watch bands like Carcass and Cradle of Filth play to around 30-50 people back then. For me, being into metal was a completely private affair but it was exciting. I’d order mail order cassettes and CDs from small distros and read fanzines. I’ve been in Sweden 16 years now and my experience here is that people do not follow any rigid social structures like other countries. You can be whatever you want to be an no one gives a shit. On the other hand, Sweden does have a kind of copy-cat culture. As soon as any trend kicks off in the US people here are doing it. Hanging around in clown outfits or whatever, we are doing it.
The people here are quite peer influenced. It’s incredible how many people do the same cultural stuff despite having completely different interests. So to answer your question I think not having any social stigma to being a metal head means the number of people listening to metal per capita is quite high. The copy-cat culture creates a diverse musical platform. There’s another reason too…getting a rehearsal room here is cheap as you can get subsidies for it. It means anyone at any age can play music and not be restricted by lack of income.
* What bands were an inspiration for you to get into Black metal?
The inspiration to get into Black Metal came from the early days. Burzum, Gehenna, stuff like that it. Originally it came from Norway because that’s where the music came from. I think what I share with a lot of Swedes though is a love for Iron Maiden and bands from the 80s. Megadeth, WASP, Slayer. I think musically I am more inspired by these bands (as are a lot of Swedish BM bands) but have added the black influence from the bands from the 90s. We get compared a lot to Dissection. Which is great but at the same time it’s odd cos I’ve never been a big fan. I’ve heard them. They were ahead of their time in their day but I can only name a couple of songs when I hear them. My guess is that Murdryck and Dissection are influenced by the same things. It would be a lie to say a band like Dissection haven’t influenced in some respect. The BM bands Murdryck are inspired by have been inspired by Dissection. So a more indirect influence I guess.
* Your lyrics have a biblical theme to them – do you believe that we live on after death? That we have had past lives?
Metal Archives is great for spreading false information. The lyrics have never been biblically influenced. The lyrics are dark in nature but somewhat semi abstract. They are thematic but they are not biblical.
I don’t believe in life after death. You go out as you were born. There was nothing before you were born and there will be nothing afterwards. I dislike the term Atheist. It tags a lack of belief as a belief system. But we don’t have words for not believing in Fairies or Father Christmas. You don’t say ”I am an a-fairyiest. I don’t believe in Santa I’m a-santaist.”
* You seem to write most lyrics in English – I know many Swedes are extremely fluent in English yet some bands choose to sing in Swedish?
English is much more diverse language than Swedish. You don’t realize it as a native speaker but it’s fantastically rich. There are hundreds of ways to say the same thing. It’s an art form to write English. I think Swedish is a little less expressive in that sense but Swedish can be very cool to write in when the music calls for it. We don’t consciously aim to capture a greater audience but a universal language is easier for people to catch on to.
* After making so many releases now you guys must be seasoned veterans – what in your mind is the best way to record your albums now?
I consider this a new band. The only thing seasoned about me is my age but I have been inactive from music for a long time previous to this incarnation of Murdryck. I played bass guitar for a short period with Lord Belial to help them out with a few gigs when their current bassist couldn’t commit. I guess from there I caught the bug again to get creative. I’ve always had an interest in recording and mixing music so for us the home studio is where all our creations happen. I usually make the songs on the computer in demo form then the arrangements are made from the demo. This comes from jamming mostly. Unfortunately, I am not the kind of person who has music in my head that I can pluck an idea and write it down. I jam until i get something that I think has potential. This can inspire to hear something in my head later or to add a texture but the songs are rarely formed without improvisation. Sometimes a song can develop and the end result have none of the original ideas.
Finally, everything’s redone properly in a studio environment at my house. It makes no sense for a band this size to be spending money at a studio. The results wouldn’t be as good either because I can spend as much time in my studio as I like perfecting everything. If we had a big budget and several weeks to record and mix I wouldn’t mind letting someone else have a go to see if a producer and professional mixer/mastering engineer can make a big difference to our sound. But the recording is a big part of the creativity for me. Bands our size and even larger are spending their own money to finance studio recordings. I’d rather put hat money into something I can keep or use again. At least owning a studio I have a chance to recuperate some costs doing mixing work for others. Not wishing to toot my own horn but not everyone has the capability to record and mix at home to a good standard. It takes years of practice and knowledge to be able to mix well and understand all the software and hardware in the studio. I couldn’t go to a professional studio and mix though. I’d be lost. But in the environment I control I can do a pretty good job.
* Are any of the band practicing pagans..if so what faith?
Fuck no.
* I know you are planning on live shows and tours soon – in an ideal world what would be your two most interesting countries to tour? Japan? South America? Russia? etc
Touring is an unrealistic goal for us. I don’t have the motivation to spend weeks away from work and home. I don’t really like it that much anyway. A few gigs here and there can be fun but usually it’s a pain in the ass. I’d like to be able to go and play in Germany. It’s close enough and far away enough to be interesting and is culturally rich. Japan and South America would be cool I guess but it’s not something I dream about. Being asocial and a bit stuck in my ways I am not the easiest person to be on the road with. I don’t like going out for beers every night and the routine of gigging isn’t really that fun. It’s just a lot of work and little time to do anything. There’s so much wasted time just hanging around waiting for things to happen.
* Have any of the band been to the USA before and if so what did they think?
No.
* What can we expect from Murdryck in 2017?
Well, there’s been no official announcement and this is the first interview I’ve done for a few months but we have had a restructuring in the band. Our bass player moved to guitar and vocals. Our guitarist and left and returned as our bass player. The previous vocalist is no longer with us.
Right now I am working on the recording of our new material. It’s more than likely to be an EP and appear around April 2017. I’d like to do an album though tbh but we have agreed with the record label to try and have at least an EP ready for March/April. With the way it’s going it’s doable but we don’t have enough new material for an album as of today. If we miss the April deadline then I think a new album is more likely around October 2017.
* Any final words to your fans?
Yeah we appreciate all our fans that take an interest in the music but the people who are prepared to put some money into our digital downloads or buy our physical CDs are really our supporters. I personally believe if you spend money on something you have a deeper connection to what you buy into rather than if it’s free. When things are free you’ve nothing to invest in. If you pay for something you’ll get more out of it. It also goes some way to helping the band recoup their costs.
Thanks for the interview! // Skärseld