WOLFBRIGADE

As you may know by now, Wolfbrigade has returned from the dead. So I felt I had to see what they were up to. This interview was conducted via e-mail with Dadde.

One and a half year have past since you officially rose from the ashes. How has things been since your reunion gig in Stockholm in February 2007?
It's been really great. More or less all the shows have been packed and
we've had a great time. The band is in such great shape now and we love
hanging out together instead of dreading it :)

What would you say is the biggest difference with the new Wolfbrigade compared with the old Wolfbrigade?
The biggest difference is probably the fact that we all live in the same
city (first time in 11 years!) and have our own practice place which has
been good for the songwriting process as well as for us becoming even closer as friends. For the records "Progression/Regression" up until "Prey to the world" we wrote songs individually and then we threw the songs together rather fast in the practice place before hitting the studio. Now we have actually had time to try out what is works and what does not work. It's great working as a real band again.


”Prey to the world” was your first album with the new line-up. How has the response been on that release? It differs a lot from the “In darkness you feel no regrets” and “A d-beat odyssey”. How were you thinking during the making of “Prey to the world”?
It's been overall very good. A lot of the old Wolfpack fans have admitted
"that Wolfbriagde isn't that bad after all" and that's kind of what we aimed
for. But we didn't really think a lot. We had intentions to just do an EP
but all of a sudden we had enough songs to do an LP and thought "what the
heck" and then went in and recorded it in one weekend. I really love some of
the songs, but there are some songs that we could have worked harder on when
you look back at it. But we are happy with it, it serves pretty well for how
the situation was, we were super excited and in a rush to record as
Wolfbrigade again and the outcome was "Prey to the World". It was cool to
work with Johan on bass as well, this was his first album but it wasn't the
last one with Marcus since he hasn't played on an album since
"Progression/Regression" (where he only played bass on half the tracks due
to lack of dedication). It's great to have a steady line-up where everyone
has the same mission.

While we are talking about releases, you just announced that you are working on a new full-length album. What can you tell us about it?
Well, it's an album we have been working on since September last year and we
just recieved the master. We have been recording on and off in the studio
since December and really worked hard on the songs and the lyrics. As I
mentioned, this is the first album we have done while practicing on a weekly
basis since "Allday Hell" and I think you can tell. We have been working a
lot on dynamics between the songs, but still trying to get them as hard and
extreme as possible and really tried to take the "trademark" melodies in
another direction while relying on our old Death metal roots. It's a harder
metal edge for sure, without falling into all these black metal/crust clones
or into the stenchcore category. It's been a long and hard process,
especially since we are five individuals that really have put our whole
hearts into this, but I think that also means we will be more pleased with
this album years from now than some of the other albums.


And what about the title of your new full-length, "Comalive"?
It's a mix of the two states of Coma and being Alive. Sometimes it feels
you are in this bubble, like you are in a coma but still alive. Dreaming of
how things could be. Wanting to come alive. It's a play of words, but a
pretty serious one. One way of seeing it is also that it's a pretty the
common state for people all over the western world, either it's a chosen
state - you are too jaded to find the energy to stay alive but still are, or
just how the common consumerist zombie live, like they were in a coma.


How do you think about being one of the “big” bands in the punk scene? Your name is written everywhere from bands stating their influences to patches and t-shirts. I know that this is a complex question, but aren’t we heading the wrong way? It sometimes feels like the stardom, fame and glamour of the music industry is catching on to us.
It's a complex thing for sure. We don't really think of it, other than it's
a privilege that we get to play around the world as much as we do even
though we can't tour as much as we would want to, and that so many people
love our music and honouring us through wearing our shirts, or tattooing our
logos. A big downside of it is the "law of jante" (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jante_Law) which I think gets extremely obvious
when a punk band gets too well known. We are just like any other band and I
think anyone that meet us will notice that we aren't rock stars or whatever
they want us to be :) But according to some people you can't be punk if you
draw too many people to your gigs or if too many people like you. We've had
friends coming up to us and ask us if we are only in this "for the money".
What a load of crap, people like that can just fuck off! Seriously fucked
elitist "punk" attitude. If there are a lot of people on the gig there will
obviously be some money too, and we'll ofcourse take our share of that (if
it's not a benefit), and that's nice, maybe we can save up for a future
recording, or buy new instruments or whatever, but it's nowhere near why we
do this... The reason we are into this is for the love of the music, the
outlet we get from playing, spreading our message and having a laugh with
our friends in this so called "scene", nothing else. Hopefully it will
backlash on us, "Tragedy-style", and we can go back to be a "normal" band
again haha! No one will get rich from playing DIY punk shows. There are a
few bands that actually tour so much that they can pay the rent back home,
and I say more power to them!
Despise all this rambling, I can still see how it sting in peoples eyes when
punk bands get too big, but I think it's quite a big difference between
idolizing and wearing a band on a patch or a t-shirt.
I take it as a great honour that so many people are into us and try not to
think what some people try to make of it.

Well I know you’re not rock stars in any way. I’ve always had a good time when I’ve met you so it was nothing personal. But I think it’s something we, in the scene, need to talk more about. The way I see it is that it’s the people in general, not the bands, that causes all of this. As you said, you’re just another band and act accordingly.
Thank you Sonny, you're swell as well ;)

You said earlier that your motive with “Prey to the world” was to get the old Wolfpack fans back. But what do all the newer fans say?
I haven't really heard anything negative to be honest, but we expected the
people into "In darkness" etc to miss the most obvious Puke and Strebers
influences(or as a majorty wants to put it: "Tragedy Influences", hahaha,
know your history!). The new album actually has some more of that but in a
different way, which I can't really explain... You'll just have to wait and
see!


So if we take a look into the near future, when will the new full-length be released? Any plans on touring?
Looks like it will be out in December. After that we plan on trying to do a
more compact Euro tour to support the album, maybe in March 2009. Always on
our mind Japan, Australia, South America, Canada, Mexico tours... Who knows
what the future might bring?


Alright, that was the end of it. Is there anything you would like to add?
Thank you for the time and effort and good luck.
I can't think of anything I want to add. Thanks for a great interview, and
hope to see you and everyone that reads this at a gig soon! Cheers

Dadde and Wolfbrigade
www.wolfbrigade.se
www.myspace.com/wolfbrigadeofficial

PUNK ILLEGAL FEST part IV

After the success of the summer edition of PUNK ILLEGAL FEST it's time again to spread some light in the gathering darkness of the Swedish autumn. It's once again time for the PUNK ILLEGAL FEST at Musikens Hus here in Gothenburg. For all of you who hasn't payed attention, PUNK ILLEGAL FEST is a hardcore punk festival with the ambition to raise money to help refugees. The tickets are released so you better hurry if you don't want to miss the most important festival around. The tickets can only be bought via www.ticnet.se though.
For further info about the festival, visit:
www.myspace.com/punkillegal
www.punkillegal.com

SHITTOWN FESTIVAL '08

Another year has gone and it's soon time for 2008 years edition of the ShitTown diy hardcore punk festival.
This is one of the best festivals in Europe and use to attract people from all over the world which makes it one of my favourites of the year.
Just like last year, the festival is taking place in Christiania, Copenhagen at Den Grå Hal (the Grey Hall). Be sure to make it there, or you'll be sorry.
Among the bands that will play the fest you can find Pisschrist, Skitkids, Distress, Sotatila and Warcollapse, so it's gonna be a hell of a festival.
Besides music there will also be a lot of cool and interesting workshops along with the extremely entertaining bike destruction derby Bike Wars.
For more info about the festival, check out their website: www.shit-town.dk

MORNE

Morne is for me an up until now unknown band. I came across them by accident on MySpce when I browsed through the bulletins and I got stuck on a headline saying something about a new band with a member from Filth of Mankind. Could this be? I had to take a closer look at this and went to their MySpace in search of some more info about the band. As I was waiting for the site to load, the player started to play the song "Machine". I don't know what happened but for a few seconds I couldn't move or think, just being awashed by a gigantic wave of pure and utter darkness. An amazing intro fills the room and spreads an eerie atmosphere that is so thick you can actually almost touch it. All of a sudden I get draged into a whirlwind of riffs that are executed in a perfect manner. It's an explosion of haunting, epic crust. Bands like Amebix and Sacrilege flashes before my eyes hand in hand with Counterblast as the next track starts. After listening to the 4 tracks on their MySpace over and over again I decided I had to let the world know about this band. I still don't know much about this band since they haven't posted any info or anything on their site. But I do know that they will tour the US in September. I really hope they will make it to Europe soon and that they will release the planned split LP with Warprayer. If you want to check them out, and you really should, go visit their MySpace: www.myspace.com/mornecrust and prepare to get blown away.

Reviews january 8, 2008

Nux Vomica - A Civilized World CD
Aborted Society Records

I'm gonna be honest. Since I got this record from Aborted Society, I have listened to it almost every singel day and I have to add that I got this record a while ago. That alone proves that this is a solid record because I grow tired of a record so fast if I listen to it too much and it doesn't have that extra special that makes me go crazy. Anyway, I think where Nux Vomica got me was somewhere between my weakness for Iron Maiden, At the Gates and melancholic bands like Remains of the Day. I'm talking about melodic hardcore punk with an impending metal feel to it. I know you've read that before a thousand times in reviews and descriptions about bands but Nux Vomica has a different approach to these features which I find very refreshing and enjoyable. Ca 31 minutes of piercing guitar leads, devastating vocals, powerfull basslines and insane druming with gloomy acoustic breakdowns. This made it to my "best of 2007" releases. Do yourself a favour and check this band out. Read the lyrics while you indulge in Nux Vomica's debut full length. [Sonny Subvert]

www.abortedsociety.com
www.myspace.com/abortedsocietyrecords
www.myspace.com/nuxvomica2