{"id":9337,"date":"2012-11-22T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2012-11-22T00:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=9337"},"modified":"2013-07-20T11:53:26","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T11:53:26","slug":"feature-grave-11-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-grave-11-12\/","title":{"rendered":"GRAVE &#8211; Flesh Epistle (November 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"title\"><strong>GRAVE &#8211; Flesh Epistle<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"smalltitle\">Anthony Morgan<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt\">November 2012<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/grave2011promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Grave (l-r): Ronnie Bergerst\u00e5hl, Ola Lindgren, <br \/>Mika Lagr\u00e9n and Tobias Cristiansson<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em>Pic: Therese Larsson<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Swedish death metal veterans Grave parted ways with bassist Fredrik Isaksson, publicly unveiling the development on September 1st, 2010. Fredrik\u2019s swansong performance as a Grave member took place on July 30th of that year at the Eisenwahn festival in Obersinn, Germany. Tobias Cristiansson of Dismember notoriety was revealed to be his immediate replacement, dates in Colombia and Finland marking his first live performances as an official Grave member.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTobi did a couple of fill-in gigs with us I would say two and a half years or so ago,\u201d recalls Ola Lindgren, founder of Grave. \u201cWe had festivals booked that Fredrik couldn\u2019t do for whatever reasons personal. We asked Tobias because we had known him for many years, having toured together when he was in Dismember. It was just a totally different kind of feeling \u2013 both onstage and off stage \u2013 when we had him with us. I think he did three shows with us or something like that over that summer or within six months. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Fredrik eventually left the band, it was very easy for us to ask him. Also, Dismember was put on ice \u2013 they weren\u2019t doing anything. He was very happy; he\u2019s one of those guys that lives for doing this, and he loves playing live. It was very easy, and he brought a lot of stuff to the table for the new album. He had a ton of ideas lying around, and he also plays bass differently. He plays bass like a bass player, which is really not too common in death metal bands I think. Most bass players play like a guitarist on the bass, but he adds old school bass like a musician does, more than some guy that just wants to be onstage and pound on the bass.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The vocalist deems Fredrik to be \u201csome guy that just wants to be onstage and pound on the bass,\u201d to be precise. A series of happenings culminated in the bassist\u2019s departure. \u201cPartly I would say it\u2019s his own fault as well for not being available for those shows where Tobi filled in for him,\u201d Ola observes. \u201cThat opened our eyes to what it could be to have someone else doing that job. Tobias was a totally different player onstage, and also with the boring stuff like traveling and all that Tobias fits very well with us. It\u2019s like we\u2019ve known each other our whole lives, and have played together forever. There was just a lot of stuff that went on that last year, so we finally decided to&#8230; Not to kick him out, but we talked to him and came to the conclusion that it would probably be for the best. It didn\u2019t feel like he was a part of it anymore really.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But having said that, if Fredrik hadn\u2019t opted to leave his musical services would\u2019ve been dispensed with nonetheless? \u201cYeah, but when we had the discussion and laid everything on the table \u2013 what was on our minds, and why we thought that would be the best thing \u2013 he pretty much agreed,\u201d the guitarist reiterates. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have gone on as it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grave subsequently signed a fresh global album contract with Century Media Records on July 7th, 2011, albums eight (April 2008\u2019s <em>Dominion VIII<\/em>) and nine (June 2010\u2019s <em>Burial Ground<\/em>) having been issued through Regain Records. \u201cWe fulfilled our contract with Regain,\u201d Ola offers. \u201cWe only had two albums on that contract with Regain, and we were shopping around again to see what we should do. We had interest from I would say three to four other labels, but I think the thing that tipped it for us was that Century Media has the majority of our back catalogue. I know and have worked with a lot of the people there for 20 years almost, so it\u2019s very easy. You know that everything works, and you know whom to talk to. It was just a very easy decision for us really.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although the relationship spanned across a mere two albums, the frontman is complimentary of Regain\u2019s efforts overall. \u201cThey did their work, definitely,\u201d he praises. \u201cThe thing is, going from Century Media to Regain was a very weird transition for us because they\u2019re so small in comparison. There were pretty much two to three people working there, doing everything. Everything took a lot more time to get done. You\u2019d think it would be easier with less people involved, but of course there\u2019s more stuff to do because there\u2019s more than one band on there. I would say we\u2019re pleased overall with what they did for us on those two albums though.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grave\u2019s opening six studio jaunts had arrived via Century Media, the band\u2019s temporary Regain association coming to light December 1st, 2007. \u201cIt was the same thing, really,\u201d Ola muses. \u201cWe were out of contract for the first time in 15 years, and we thought that we should shop around following <em>As Rapture Comes<\/em> (July 2006). It was a good decision not to re-sign with them straight away. We looked into other labels and what other labels could bring, but it would really be stupid for us now to go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/graveolalindgren2012livephoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>Ola Lindgren<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Writing and recording sessions in support of August 2012\u2019s <a href=\"\/site\/album-review-grave-endless-procession-of-souls\/\"><em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em><\/a> \u2013 the first since Grave inked a new Century Media contract \u2013 were preceded by the departure of guitarist Magnus Martinsson, a development revealed on October 26th, 2011. \u201cThere was stuff going on on a personal level, I would say,\u201d the singer guesses. \u201cHe had a lot of stuff going on to do with his job. In the end, it came to a point where we had to take a session guitarist on tour to do a tour that we had booked. That was Mika who\u2019s now in the band, and it just doesn\u2019t work like that. I wouldn\u2019t say we\u2019re on some really high level with what we do, but still there is a level. I book tours and I expect people to honour commitments, but then of course there\u2019s a conflict and something has to be done about it. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was really good for the band; he was great onstage. He\u2019s a good friend \u2013 he\u2019s actually my cousin. It was a very hard decision, but it was the same thing. We had to have that talk, and he said straight out that he didn\u2019t think that he would be able to commit to whatever was in the pipeline for 2012 \u2013 the writing and recording for this album, and all the touring that would follow for it. We just decided that there was no use having a guy like that on the actual album if he couldn\u2019t follow that up by doing tours, and all those duties afterwards. In the end, it was a joint decision. It was under different circumstances than with Fredrik, but still it had to be done. It was a very hard decision, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Commitments and responsibilities beyond the music industry such as family and employment generally hamper the long-term membership prospects of death metal musicians. \u201cWith this kind of music, it\u2019s really hard to make a living out of it,\u201d Ola laments. \u201cIf you want to do that, you have to tour pretty much constantly \u2013 at least six months out of the year, I would say \u2013 and not many people can do that. When we did the earlier stuff we were in our early 20s, and at that time in your life you don\u2019t really care about whatever\u2019s going on and have fun. Now we\u2019re all up against our 40s though, there\u2019s different stuff. I don\u2019t have a family, but some of the other guys do. I understand that they have to make that balance when it comes to work and family, but you have to have the right mindset for it to start with. I think family and work has to work, and you have to be able to take time off and go away for stuff. That doesn\u2019t always work out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, Grave is a full-time occupation for the axeman. \u201cI have been since I would say 2006 or 2007, or something like that,\u201d he estimates. \u201cI do a lot of stuff. I also managed the band up until 2011 and did all of the bookings and stuff, so it\u2019s pretty much a full-time thing for me. It\u2019s really hard. You have to think differently, because you don\u2019t get a fixed wage every month as you do when you have a steady day job. The other guys in the band work in-between tours and stuff. It\u2019s very fortunate they have jobs where they actually are in a position to take time off. It has never caused any problems with this line-up, and it doesn\u2019t seem like it will do either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The decision to pursue Grave full-time has been a fruitful one. \u201cThe past five to six years have been very good; we\u2019ve gotten a lot of offers to do stuff with this new album, because there has been an overwhelming response,\u201d Ola enthuses. \u201cWe knew we had something very good when it was finished. Century Media was very excited about it, and did a great job pushing it and promoting it. That brings a lot of good with it. I would say it\u2019s looking bright, definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lack of a family greatly aids the mainman in prioritising Grave, something which is through personal choice. \u201cI wanted to be able to take care of my baby, pretty much,\u201d he confirms. \u201cIt\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing for the past 25 years pretty much. I used to work of course all the time in-between tours up until 2006 to 2007. It\u2019s working out. I mean, it\u2019s not easy. You have to distribute your money in a whole different way, but it\u2019s working out. If I feel like it\u2019s not gonna work out for a period of time \u2013 if we don\u2019t have anything \u2013 I\u2019ll just do something on the side. I also have the brand new studio we built earlier in 2012 when we recorded <em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em>. I have a lot of projects going on there, mixing and mastering jobs for other bands. I have a lot of stuff going on here for the rest of 2012, and throughout 2013. That\u2019s kind of my pension plan; I intend to do that in-between tours and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/grave2012photo1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Grave (l-r): Ronnie Bergerst\u00e5hl, Tobias Cristiansson, Ola Lindgren and Mika <br \/>Lagr\u00e9n<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Facebreaker guitarist Mika Lagr\u00e9n supplanted  Magnus Martinsson. \u201cMika has been a friend of ours for many years,\u201d Ola discloses. \u201cHe toured with his other band Facebreaker, who were out with Ronnie\u2019s other band Demonical on tour a few years ago. He came in pretty much like Tobias did; he filled in for Magnus on the Obituary tour we did in 2011, and fitted in straight away. He\u2019s a great guitar player, a great guy, and always fun to be around. On a personal level there have never been any problems with work or family or anything like that, getting time off to do what he really wants to do. He also brought a lot of ideas to the new album. When we did the guitar tracks and the lead tracks and stuff like that, he always came up with something interesting that we could use. I would say he\u2019s pretty much exactly like Tobias is, so I\u2019m very fortunate to have those two guys. Ronnie has been with me since 2006, so it\u2019s been pretty much mine and Ronnie\u2019s band up until this new album I would say because we pretty much did everything. Now it feels like it\u2019s a full band again that\u2019s doing stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 2011 tour in question comprised Obituary, Grave, and Pathology. Dubbed the Metal Chainsaw Massacre tour, the package ventured across Europe during April of that year. Comprising guitarist Ralph Santolla (formerly of Obituary, Deicide, Death, and Iced Earth) and Grave members Ola (guitars), Tobias Cristiansson (bass), and Ronnie Bergerst\u00e5l (drums), classic rock \/ metal assortment Redscream formed during this time. \u201cWe were talking about doing stuff, and Ralph was gonna be in Stockholm that summer a lot,\u201d the axe-slinger explains. \u201cWe said we should just get some ideas together at our rehearsal place, and jam out to see what we could come up with. We came up with the name one night after heavy drinking. Redscream is a direct English translation for a Swedish word, which means cheap red wine. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing has happened pretty much lately, but we did a lot of stuff in the summer and winter of 2011. Ralph was here in Stockholm a lot and a lot was written already, or ideas for songs. I really don\u2019t know when or if we\u2019re gonna be able to finish that off, but there\u2019s all that stuff and we keep in contact. Hopefully we\u2019ll be able to record a promo of some kind, and shop it around to see the response we would get from labels. People who\u2019ve heard it thus far \u2013 the pre-production stuff \u2013 think it\u2019s very cool. It\u2019s just old school hard rock, like Queensr\u00ffche, Scorpions, Def Leppard, and some <a href=\"\/site\/black-sabbath-articles\/\" target=\"_blank\">Black Sabbath<\/a> stuff in there. It\u2019s very mixed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To date, Redscream is yet to recruit a vocalist. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard for that kind of music,\u201d Ola ponders. \u201cThat\u2019s a very important thing in a band like that, to have a good singer. It has to be something special, very powerful, but still with his own little personal twist. I don\u2019t know what to compare it with, but people we love from those eras are Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), and Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath \/ Dio \/ Rainbow \/ Elf) of course. J\u00f8rn Lande is a perfect example of a guy that would fit in a band like that, definitely, because he can do anything and has an amazing voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been looking around. We had this one guy we wanted who couldn\u2019t do it due to other engagements he has with his own projects and bands. We have our little detectives out, and there\u2019s a couple of guys here in Stockholm that we wanna try out to make it easier than having people spread all over the world. We haven\u2019t done anything with it lately though. It\u2019s pretty much put on ice I would say until everything settles down, and we have time again to pick it up. We\u2019ll see when we get some stuff down on tape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The necessary commitments a potential vocalist would have to make is as yet undecided. \u201cWe\u2019d have to see where it takes off,\u201d the guitarist notes. \u201cI think it could really be something incredible. There\u2019s not too much stuff out there like that today, except the old bands who tour. If there\u2019s anything out there, there\u2019s like sleaze bands. I think people would really appreciate something like this that would sound old, but still new and fresh with new ideas. It\u2019s just one of those things that could actually go somewhere if we ever get it done. We\u2019ll have to see if we can get an album out first of all, what kinds of reactions we\u2019d get from it, and whether it takes off or not, to be able to determine if we would tour for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/grave_endlessprocessionofsoulslarge.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>August 2012 Grave outing <em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em> doesn\u2019t deviate from more recent platters. \u201cWe wanted to keep to what we did on the latest two albums, to do very old school Swedish death, not complicate anything, and just be very straightforward and brutal,\u201d Ola admits. \u201cI\u2019d say it has the kind of very primal kind of death metal, which is very easy to get into. There\u2019s nothing complicated or technical about it. I tend to write the kind of stuff I want to listen to, that I want to get into. Whatever I listen to I want to get some kind of response from, some kind of feeling immediately. I don\u2019t want to sit around and think \u2018Oh, what\u2019s that drummer doing?,\u2019 or \u2018How many rounds were that part going into the next part?\u2019 It\u2019s too complicated. I just want to get some kind of reaction straight off, and nothing that\u2019s \u2026 That\u2019s what we do and what a lot of the old bands do as well, like Autopsy or Asphyx. All the good old bands that are just very straightforward. There\u2019s no fuss about it, and it\u2019s not overly technical \u2013 it\u2019s just the music.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a lot more collaboration within the band due to getting two new members since we recorded last \u2013 Tobias on bass, and Mika on guitar. That also brought a lot of ideas to the table. It was much more of a band collaboration, I would say. We\u2019re very happy with it. It was written very quickly, in about two months. We recorded everything ourselves in our own studio, and I did the mix and master for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The resultant additional collaboration causes <em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em> to be a varied album. \u201cIt sounds old and it sounds like Grave, but it still has some kind of fresher&#8230;,\u201d the vocalist begins. \u201cIt has nothing modern at all. I wouldn\u2019t say that, but it has more variation and more well-written songs on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Newer death metal groups tend to be excessively technical, Ola argues. \u201cIt\u2019s very rare that I pick up something that would interest me, mostly because the majority of stuff that comes out today is just so overly technical and over the top that I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re trying to do really,\u201d he rebukes. \u201cSure, you can be impressive and show that you\u2019re good at playing your instruments but songs still have to be the base of it. It has to be a good song for me to be able to enjoy it and get into it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Technical efforts seem to be penned in the hopes of impressing other technically minded musicians. Music listeners generally aren\u2019t bothered by a track\u2019s technicality, but only whether they find it to be audibly pleasant. \u201cExactly, and there are very few bands who do actually pull that off,\u201d the frontman submits. \u201cNile is a perfect example; they\u2019re extremely talented at their instruments and it\u2019s very impressive, but they can still write songs. They actually have good songs on their albums, and they\u2019re not over the top. Just very well written, and very well executed stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In discussing <em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em>, Ola commented that the album has \u2018some more old school, groovy <em>Soulless<\/em> parts.\u2019 Arriving in June 1994, <em>Soulless<\/em> was Grave\u2019s third studio full-length offering. \u201cI think it has that kind of feeling,\u201d he critiques. \u201cThe <em>Soulless<\/em> album was always very highly acclaimed among our back catalogue, and it has something special. It\u2019s definitely a favourite for a lot of the fans. I think that\u2019s the first album where we started writing songs more than we had been doing on the first two ones (August 1991\u2019s <em>Into The Grave<\/em> and September 1992\u2019s <em>You&#8217;ll Never See&#8230;<\/em>). We were so young in those days, and we really didn\u2019t know what we were doing \u2013 we just threw together stuff that sounded cool. On the <em>Soulless<\/em> album, for the first time we started structuring songs in a different way, and I think that\u2019s the same kind of mindset we had. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had to be songs, and very easy to get into. They had to have a set chorus pretty much for every song. It\u2019s kind of like writing pop songs actually, the same kind of build. It\u2019s real writing, and especially doing it with very few riffs in every song but also putting the lyric and the vocal parts on it contributes to getting that actual thing with every song. That could be even if there\u2019s just a raw and live feel or whatever it might be in there that sticks in the head of whoever\u2019s listening. The first album <em>Into The Grave<\/em> is very well spoken of as well, but I think there\u2019s a lot more thought behind the <em>Soulless<\/em> album than the first two albums. It\u2019s not so primeval. It\u2019s a more worked through album I would say, and it\u2019s still one of the highest rated albums from our back catalogue.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/grave2011promophoto2.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Grave (l-r): Tobias Cristiansson, Ola Lindgren, <br \/>Mika Lagr\u00e9n and Ronnie Bergerst\u00e5hl<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em>Pic: Therese Larsson<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Much of the lyrical content on Grave\u2019s tenth studio jaunt deals \u201cwith supernatural things, the afterlife, and stuff like that that\u2019s really easy to write about. No-one can really tell you if you\u2019re right or wrong, so it\u2019s an easy topic for me to write on. When we splice everything together, it has kind of a supernatural feeling to it. It\u2019s a thing that\u2019s in your head; it\u2019s not too complicated, and easy to remember as well. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d say most of the tracks on the new album revolve around those kinds of topics. The stuff that I write about mostly except for supernaturalism is religion and stuff like that though, in any shape or form really. We\u2019re not preaching any kind of religion at all, Satanism or anything like that. I\u2019m just amazed by how people can live by laws or culture in this day and age. We\u2019re so enlightened and there\u2019s so much information everywhere, and you can still live by values and stuff just because you\u2019ve been brought up like that, not questioning it or looking around for something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Florida\u2019s Death influences inaugural cut \u2018Amongst Marble And The Dead\u2019. \u201cThe way we did the vocal parts on there kind of resemble some of the old stuff from the <em>Leprosy<\/em> album (November 1988) I think, or something like that,\u201d the axeman remembers. \u201cIt\u2019s no secret that Death has been a huge influence on us since the early days. I got that idea straight in my head when we put the song together, and recorded everything. I was writing lyrics for it in the studio, and just got the idea to have that kind of singing on it. I think it\u2019s a very good opening track. It has pretty much everything in it; it\u2019s not hyper fast, and has a lot of groovy parts, heavy stuff. I think straight away from when the song was finished, we all felt it should be the opening track for the album.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thrash influences tracks like \u2018Perimortem\u2019 and \u2018Disembodied Steps\u2019, meanwhile. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty much the same thing; it\u2019s paying a homage to our roots,\u201d Ola discerns. \u201cWe were very, very thrashy in the old demo days, and we sprung out from the band Corpse which was pretty much Grave. We just changed the name. Corpse was very much influenced by, first of all, I would say the German thrash bands like Kreator, <a href=\"\/site\/destruction-articles\/\" target=\"_blank\">Destruction<\/a>, Sodom, and also Celtic Frost of course. We wanted to do something different. \u2018Perimortem\u2019 I would say is the most audible in that respect. It\u2019s very, very thrashy; it has that classic going from A to E riffing in it. It\u2019s just a very cool song, and I think it\u2019s a good way to break the overall feel. I think people get surprised when they reach that song, the first time they hear the album. A lot of people actually regard that as one of their favourites on the new album.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Besides the aforementioned, other metal groups influenced the material on <em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em>. \u201cI think we often referenced songs to other bands a lot, even if there was just one riff which resembled another band,\u201d the singer divulges. \u201cOne might be called the Morbid Angel song up until we have lyrics and a title for it, for example. Pretty much, I think we had \u2018Flesh Epistle\u2019 as the Celtic Frost track just because of one or two riffs in there. The thrash song was \u2018Perimortem\u2019 obviously, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s really too much more than that really.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As was the case with <em>Burial Ground<\/em>, Ola handled the mixing process for <em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em>. \u201cI think we had a pretty clear mindset from the start about what we wanted to do,\u201d he reckons. \u201cWe wanted everything to sound very old school, but still fresh in some ways. We definitely wanted clarity in the mix where you could separate all of the instruments in there. We recorded all of the instruments and everything very closely to what we wanted in the end, so it wasn\u2019t really hard to put the mix together in the end. Pretty much all of the sounds were there. There was a little bit of tweaking here and there of course, but nothing major. The mix didn\u2019t really change during the process up until we started putting stuff together. It was pretty much clear from every sound we recorded from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Romanian artist Costin Chioreanu designed the cover artwork for the record, having designed the cover artworks for previous outings <em>Burial Ground<\/em> and <em>Dominion VIII<\/em>. \u201cHe\u2019s very, very talented to work with, I would say,\u201d the mainman endorses. \u201cWe just gave him a couple of titles from the album of course, and some ideas about what kinds of colour schemes we would want. He came up with that in two to three weeks maybe, and as soon as we saw it we knew that we wanted it. We kept it like that, and didn\u2019t change anything from the original painting he did. It\u2019s very cool, and very, very easy to work with that guy. He also did everything for the booklet pages, and the inner sleeve stuff. He\u2019s a very great guy to work with. I think this is by far the best one he\u2019s done for us, and one of the best he\u2019s ever done for any band I think.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/grave2012livephoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>Grave (l-r): Tobias Cristiansson, Ola Lindgren and Mika Lagr\u00e9n<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Deluxe edition versions of <em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em> include three bonus numbers, all of which are cover interpretations. \u201cIt was just a cool way to have bonus material for the fans,\u201d Ola gauges. \u201cCentury Media is very good at thinking about different kinds of formats. It\u2019s really hard to sell records at all, so it takes something different for fans to buy albums like the CD box set. It has an extra disc which consists of covers, and I think the patch and poster in there makes it a special thing. It\u2019s very cool to have those different kinds of formats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Voivod\u2019s \u2018Killing Technology\u2019 is the first of these, the original of which features on the April 1987 album of the same name from the Canadian metallers. \u201cI\u2019ve been wanting to do a Voivod cover for years now,\u201d the axe-slinger imparts. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about it for the latest two to three albums at least. We just never got around to it, but this time we had a lot of time on our hands. I said \u2018We\u2019re gonna do it, definitely.\u2019 It\u2019s not the easiest thing because it\u2019s very weird kind of music, especially the guitar parts. We went through <em>Killing Technology<\/em> and <em>Dimension Hatr\u00f6ss<\/em> (June 1988), and I think actually the easiest song out of all of the weirdness was the title track \u2018Killing Technology\u2019. We tried to give it a little bit of our own feeling. It\u2019s a totally different tuning, which makes a lot of difference. I think we did it a little bit heavier, and of course the whole production and mix makes a difference as well. It\u2019s just a cool thing, and I think it came out very good. I was happy to finally be able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)\u2019 is another, the original Anthrax composition included on March 1987 outing <em>Among The Living<\/em>. \u201c<em>Among The Living<\/em> by Anthrax is one of my all-time favourite albums from those times,\u201d Ola exclaims. \u201cWe went back and forth a little between two to three tracks I think on that album. We tried out \u2018Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)\u2019, which fits a lot with what we do. It\u2019s heavy, it\u2019s groovy, and it\u2019s got a very clear, specific chorus on it, so we thought it would fit in very well with the new album. It wasn\u2019t easy to do really, but in the end it came together. When we were doing these two covers we said that if we\u2019re not definitely totally happy with them we won\u2019t release them, but I think they both came out very cool actually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A compilation housing the cover interpretations Grave has recorded over the years is a possibility. \u201cThat would pretty much be up to what Century Media has in mind,\u201d the vocalist stresses. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stuff we\u2019ve done. We did some stuff when we were on Regain as well, so trying to get permission to have those on a Century Media release would be a different story. I\u2019m sure there wouldn\u2019t be any problems, but there are no definite plans for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grave celebrated the 20th anniversary of debut proper <em>Into The Grave<\/em> on November 12th, 2011, the concert taking place at Club Distortion \/ Kulturhuset in Stockholm, Sweden. The event was filmed for future DVD release. \u201cWe recorded that whole thing with four cameras, I think,\u201d Ola informs. \u201cI\u2019ve done all of the audio mixes in the studio already, so that\u2019s all done. We haven\u2019t really had time to look into getting all of the footage edited and put together but that\u2019s definitely a plan we have, to release that show as DVD with some extra material on it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Endless Procession Of Souls<\/em> was released on August 27th, 2012 in Europe and subsequently on the 28th in North America, all via Century Media Records.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview published in November 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GRAVE &#8211; Flesh Epistle Anthony Morgan November 2012 Grave (l-r): Ronnie Bergerst\u00e5hl, Ola Lindgren, Mika Lagr\u00e9n and Tobias Cristiansson Pic: Therese Larsson Swedish death metal veterans Grave parted ways with bassist Fredrik Isaksson, publicly unveiling the development on September 1st, 2010. Fredrik\u2019s swansong performance as a Grave member took place on July 30th of that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[427],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grave"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9337"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13109,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9337\/revisions\/13109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}