J of Bastards of Bohuslän

 Interview with J of Bastards of Bohuslän

Hail my friend, you are very welcome to Archangel’s Lantern. Introduce to the readers your awesome page Bastards of Bohuslän. When and how did you start it? What is the main goal of Bastards of Bohuslän? 

(I’m so thankful to you for sharing my interviews with my dear Swedish metal-bother, Carl-Gustav Karlsson)

J: All hail mighty Archangel’s Lantern!

Bastards of Bohuslän is a project me and a friend started in 2013 because we were bored and wanted to have something to do. Shortly my friend left to do his own adventures. The main goal for me is to promote and help my friends and other local musicians to spread their music. NO SELFGLORIFICATION!! I am a person who prefers to be in the background. It took years for some friends to realize that it was me who was behind the page. 

Yeah I don't have any problems sharing interviews with great people. Carl is an awesome drummer and a genuine nice person! 

How and when did you join Swedish underground movement? What was/were your very first stuff and which bands did you see for the first time? 

J: Hmm, I’m not sure I am a part of the underground…

I was born in 1981 so I think I am a bit too young to have been there in the beginning.

But as a young little fart I was at parties with older local musicians who are now my friends. I started out as many before me with listening to my older brothers vinyls. There were albums like Maiden's Number of the Beast, GnR’s Appetite for Destruction and the early Helloween albums. Those are still some of my favourites today. It was a great day when I saw Kai Hansen perform some Walls of Jericho tunes on Sweden Rock Festival many years ago. But in my brothers small collection there was a mixtape with a song on it that caught my ear. I listened to it over and over again but I didn’t know what it was. Later I found out that it was the song Terrion by Scanner. Their first album Hypertrace is an overlooked gem! I highly recommend it. Their other albums are shit! 

If anybody knows what the first singer Michael Knoblich does today please let me know.

My first record was Metallica - Master of Puppets on vinyl. It was the coolest thing ever to drop the needle on your first record bought with your own money. 

Hmm I don't know if I remember my first show exactly. I started to attend live-shows rather late. Me and a friend use to take the bus to Gothenburg to see bands like Dio, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Manowar and UDO. I really like the classics!

My Swedish is unfortunately very poor but with translating programs I’ve read a lot of interesting things on fuckingbastards.blogg.se. Temporary I could not check out your blog but would you be so kind to tell in brief its content? Will you plan to continue that amazing blog? 

J: The Facebook-page is mainly for pics. I don't want to just google pics of local records. I want to find them myself and take pictures of them. A treasure-hunt for my own amusement. 

The blog is a place were I publish my interviews. I have my ups and downs with activity on the blog. It contains mainly interviews and shorter stuff like musicians listing their favourite albums. Its not just local musicians. There are so many nice musicians that I have interviewed. Jeff Becerra of Possessed is a piece that I think turned out great. His tragic accident were he was shot and left paralyzed and his now rise to success again with Possessed. An overall nice person! 

I am also grateful that I have been able to talk to people from my favourite bands like Tankard and King Diamond. An interview with the King itself is my lifegoal!

My goal is to continue doing interviews and continue asking questions that musicians don't normally get.

Did you play back in the day or are you playing in any band(s)? If yes, tell us more about it.

J: No unfortunately not. It is one of my regrets in life not starting to play an instrument in my younger days. It’s one of the reasons I now write about music instead. My son now plays guitar and I do anything to support him. 

What are your most preferred hordes and albums/tracks of my dear Swedish metal brother Carl-Gustav Karlsson? 

J:The great Calle! 

Well, Mastema - Those Who Walk In Darkness is one of the greatest promos! Check it out! His work in Grief of Emerald, Author Of Pain, Sarcastic and of course Protector is awesome! I don't think he can be bad?!

In our private chats you mentioned Jonas Lindblood of Puteraeon. What is your opinion about Puteraeon and his past hordes? Do you have any favourites from his musician activity? 

J:He is a nice guy! I am not close friends with him but we use to meet once a year at an annual music-quiz. I really don't listen to Puteraeon. The reason we chatted a while ago was that i didn’t realize that he was the main brain behind an album me and a friend listened to very much in the late 90’s. The album is Taetre - The Art from 1997. It’s still a great album! Check it out!

Swedish underground scene is a very famous with a lot of brilliant hordes long time ago. How do you describe the entire Swedish movement in golden era and our days? Let’s talk about amazing movement in Bohuslän. What bands could you recommend us from early days and currently? What is the situation with live-shows in Bohuslän?

J: It would take a lifetime to talk about the entire Swedish metal-scene! But I think the Swedish scene alongside with Norway have made an impact on the entire metal-scene around the world. But of course we are much better than Norway, he he!

The movement in Bohuslän is another story. There are so many great bands from here. But I have to include the areas around Bohuslän too because they often have members from here. 

Local bands that I really like are:

Dissection for obvious reasons. One of the best bands ever. 

Swordmaster from Strömstad with Jon Nödtveidt's brother Emil is fucking awesome!!

Lord Belial from Hedekas is really underrated! Great band!

Decameron!!

Deathstars. Maybe a bit controversial here but a really like the first album.

Nifelheim with the evil twins. (Stop arguing and get the band together again!!!)

Sarcastic and Hathor from Strömstad is also worth checking out. 

Loud N’Nasty! Rob from LNN is a local sleaze hero and tattoo artist. He lives and breathes music. He have over the years put on many local shows and released many albums under the name Loud N’Nasty and more music with his solo-project N.A.S.T.Y.

Martin Hogebrandt is a friend of mine who has been apart of Suicide Winds. He has many current bands.

Legions of War. A war themed Black/Thrash band. 

Exhausted Cocks. A punk band who is getting better and better! 

GutGrippers. Maniac metal with people from Suicide Winds and Bestial Mockery. New video out. Check it out! 

Three active bands and he is still restless?! Settle down old bastard!! He he!

Suicidal Winds from Uddevalla is also great. Matte Johansson and Peter Haglund going at it since the early 90’s. Is Matte a mad genius?!

Rawhide. A filthy Rock n’ Roll band from Uddevalla. I got to know Rob from Rawhide in high school cos his cousin who also played in the band was in my class. I am a true supporter of Rawhide and have seen countless gigs with them. They have not been active for some time due to some line up problems. But now they seem to be back on track and nothing makes me happier! He is also in the band Warhawk. Just as filthy! 

Bestial Mockery. Bestial with Master Motorsåg in the frontline. Only one way to describe them. Pure. Fucking. Chaos!

Warfect. From a small band to one of the best Thrash bands in the world!! Watch them rise!

And speaking of the evil Nifelheim twins. They now each have their own bands. Tyrant with Crank. A more like Rock n’ Roll band. I’ve seen them live once at a local pizza-place and it was awesome!! What a great night. They didn’t have enough songs so the played their setlist two times! Ha ha! 

And Hellbutcher has Hellbutcher. Why change a great name? I think it sounds more in the same line of Nifelheim. I am looking forward to the full length album cos what I have heard so far sounds amazing. 

Perhaps you know that my humble blog is eternally dedicated to Jon Andreas Nödtveidt (R.I.C.) amongst others. Did you see and meet him? What are your favourite bands, albums and tracks from His heritage? 

J:Hmm well of course his music has been a big part of my life and still is. I have never met him. I was too young then to hang out with the big boys. I really like all of his music but my favourites are the two first Dissection albums. Although I think Reinkaos is a great album and probably was the right next move for the band musically. But the first two for me are more raw and aggressive. And The Somberlain was one of the first more extreme metal-albums I have heard. So for me I like the classic Dissection more. Jon, Peter, Ole, John-John and Johan is the shit!

My favourite tracks are:

Dissection - Heaven’s Damnation

Dissection - Shadows over a Lost Kingdom

Dissection - Soulreaper

Dissection - Thorns of Crimson Death

The Black - The Book of Leviathan

The Black - Towards the Golden Dawn

Dissection - Starless Aeon

Dissection - Black Dragon

And of course Thunder - Dreams/Guilty of Love!

(©MrForbiddenLight/facebook.com/JNodtveidt.Biography)

I think its really sad that all people can talk about nowadays when his name is mentioned is the fucking shit that happened. Not unlike Pelle Dead who is also now reduced to a suicide-victim who ended up on a album cover. People should focus more on their music. 

Jon was probably One of the most talented musicians ever. And according to my friends who was close to him a funny nice guy. THAT is what he should be remembered by!!

I have a good metal brotherhood with Tobias Fongelius of Voodus/ex-Jormundgand since Winter, 2009. 

What do you think about Voodus and his past horde, Jormundgand? 

J: I don't personally know Tobias. But I have had some contact with him when I have done some interview with him. A super nice guy! Jormundgand is a good band but I really like Voodus more. It kind of has an dangerous eerie feeling to it. I think they carry on the legacy of the older bands. The old heroes would be proud!

I know it is a very hard question but what are your favourite albums of all time? (from Bohuslän to Worldwide)

J: This is a question that has been discussed on many parties. And we can agree that its impossible to answer. But I can answer what albums I often return to again and again. Worldwide it would go something like this:

King Diamond - Abigail (For me the best King album)

Thin Lizzy - Johnny the Fox (Phil is a true hero of mine)

Tankard - Zombie Attack (My German heroes)

Exodus - Bonded by Blood (Crush the posers! Paul Baloff rest in beer!)

Manowar. The first 7 or 8 albums are great! People who don't like Manowar can fuck off!

W.A.S.P. - Winged Assassins (Blackie still creates great music!)

Slayer - Show No Mercy (The best Slayer album!)

Helloween - Walls of Jericho (Kai Hansen's voice is so raw!)

From Bohuslän:

Dissection - The Somberlain (No explanation needed)

Rawhide - Deathpunk Playboys is a killer (and the rest too)

Legions of War - Towards Death

Warfect - Exoneration Denied

Swordmaster - Postmortem Tales

Loud N’Nasty - Teaser Teaser

Suicidal Winds - Victims in Blood

Bestial Mockery - Gospel of the Insane

Decameron - My Shadow

Unfortunately I never have been in Sweden so far. Share some thoughts about your beautiful land Bohuslän. What places are your recommendations to visit me? 

What local foods and drinks could you recommend me to taste? 

J:I hope you can visit some time. Well i recommend you to go to the ocean and just sit and watch it. I find it both calming and mesmerizing. A good place for that is Tjurpannan. A windy nature reserve where the cliffs and ocean have taken many lives. In the northern Bohuslän there are rock-carvings all over the place. Stuff your face with local seafood and beer. Maybe look up where some of the local music were made? If you travel outside Bohuslän to Gothenburg there are many metal locations of importance you can visit. 

There are many small villages along the coast who are worth a visit. Except for Fjällbacka. Stay away from there! Fucking wankers!

Tack så mycket, my friend, it was a pleasure to talk to you. To complete our conversation, send your message of Bastards of Bohuslän to the readers of Archangel’s Lantern, please.

J:Thanks for the talk and the opportunity to spread the word about my page! Your support means the world to me. Hate religion and keep support your local bands and keep buying their records.

”And I laugh as I burn down the pearly gates of light.

And forever ill be within the arms of abomination!”

Important link, Bastards of Bohuslän: 

facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063706683904

Warhawk (Gothenburg) in  Körpehölafestivalen, (25.V.2024)

recorded by J: 

Martin Missy and Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Protector)

 Interview with Martin Missy 

and Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Protector)

Questions compiled by Georgius, Paco (Spain)

 and Joanna (Poland/Germany)

Hail Martin and Carl-Gustav! We would like to congratulate you both with the release of 8th Protector LP, "Excessive Outburst of Depravity" (It’s just brilliant one, I’ve marked 10 in my Hungarian review on Kronos Mortus -G/). How went the whole process of composing it? 

C-G: Thank you! We are really amazed over the reaction of the album and very thankful that everyone likes it so much. The process of the composing is that Mathias a Mike and Martin have had some ideas and riffs Both Martin and Mathias have written lyrics also, then we have tried all ideas and song arrangements in our rehearsal space. You can say that we rehearse and create at the same time.

Martin, official release of "Excessive Outburst of Depravity" has happened 1st of July (the birthday of Michael Hasse (R.I.P.) and my humble person as well -G/). What are your favourite albums and tracks by heritage of Michael Hasse?  

- The first demo from 1986 is a great recording. It made me a fan of the band right away. Also, the whole Shedding of Skin album, which Michael and Olly recorded together, is great. 

Martin, you always write some historical lyrics. Where do you get inspiration from? Have you any favorite historical eras? Which historical books are you preferring most? 

- I get inspiration from movies, books, tv documentaries and the internet. I have no favourite historical eras; I'm interested in history overall. I'm especially interested in novels that have a historical background like "Im Westen nichts neues" and "Tuntematon Sotilas". 

Who were the guest musicians on your new album? 

MM: We had some background singers from other bands on this album. Ollie sings in Phidion, a band I was singing in 2003-2012. Ludde plays Bass and sings in Talion, another one of my old bands here in Stockholm. Shayan has played Bass and been singing in a band called Obscyria. Today he is a member of the Stockholm based band Putrid Vision. 

How were your live shows this year? Your experiences?  

C-G: I think all of the shows Stormchrusher festival and Gothoom open air and Chronical Moshers where very special this year, sins we have been looked down for two years.  it was fantastic to play live again. The audience and our fans were awesome to meet again :) 

MM: All five gigs we played this year were great. I am really happy that we finally were able to play these shows, that were all originally planned for 2020.

Are you planning to play next year in Spain? Where will be your next shows in 2023? 

MM:

- Spain is unfortunately too far away from Sweden, and because I don't fly, it will be very difficult for us to play in Espana. Our shows next year will be in Stockholm / Sweden in June, two shows in Germany in September and two shows in Poland in November. 

On the 21st of September Protector’s still awesome EP “Misanthropy” had its 35th anniversary. How do you remember the recording, Martin? Carl-Gustav, what is/are your favourite tracks of Misanthropy? 

C-G:

My favorite tracks are Misanthropy and Agoraphobia, but I love the whole EP.

MM:

- It was awesome, but also very nervous to be in the studio for the first time. In the beginning I couldn't get the voice quite right, but after a lot of screaming and shouting it all went well.

Martin we are so thankful for your kind dedication on the cover of the “Apocalyptic Chronicles” written by you, excellent book! Share please some thoughts about the Apocalyptic Chronicles. 

- It was a lot of work to put all the information together, but it was also a lot of fun. It was great to see how much the band had done and achieved through the years. I'm very grateful to all bandmembers who helped me put together the information from the period in the history of Protector when I wasn't a member of the band. 

Carl-Gustav, I saw a photo, you posted about your first tour with Grief Of Emerald accompanied by Bestial Mockery, Obtest, Skyforger and last but not least Hungarian Sear Bliss. Would you be so kind tell us about that tour more? 

- It was my first experience of being able to play outside of Sweden. I probably had too high hopes. I was very inexperienced and really didn't know very much.

The following dates were:

Oct 18, 2002, Germany  Hagalaz Club.  SAT - Oct 19, 2002  , Germany  Festung.  Oct 20, 2002 Arnhem, Holland Goudvishal .Oct 22, 2002 Ljublana, Slovenia  Metelkova Oct 28, 2002 Finland Helsinki Factory 

Unfortunately, the tour was not very well organized. We had a small bus where only 3 of the bands were allowed to come along, so poor Sear Bliss had to go in their own car. There was no toilet and our equipment went in a trailer. No sleeping places were booked on the road and the drivers were not too happy. When the organizer tried to fool us and them. And went to hostels where it always was some misunderstanding. 

There was a lot of partying on the bus and in the evenings after the gig. there was a lot going on all around. very fun but also very hard. Everyone on the bus was hiding in need of a pee, so we had to pee in bottles on the bus after the route was so badly planned. It was both funny and terrible when all the bottles went around in the bus, maybe Sear Bliss had a good time in their car anyway. A few times on the road I woke up in a panic and thought I was driving. and looked for the steering wheel. I had a period right then that gave everything. I was sober the whole tour, but in Finland I freaked out- The tour broke me after building up and down my own drum kit every night, no sleep. No compensation at all, my cymbals and drumheads where totally broken. So, Grief Of Emerald cancelled that gig and I really did party that night. I have a faint hunch that we played the gig anyway, but I'm not sure.

Nevertheless, this is one of the funniest things I've done and now in retrospect it was great fun even how miserable it was. We did a really good gigs and so did the other bands as well. Word spreader and there were more and more people at each gig.

Martin, which interesting places, local food and drink are your recommendations from Wolfsburg? And from Sweden? 

Carl-Gustav, what would you suggest to visit in Strömstad? Are there some local drinks? 

C-G:

- We have an area in Strömstad called Blomsholm that is one of Bohuslän's finest cultural heritage landscapes, with lots of remains from the Stone Age until medieval times. Blomsholm has ancient remains of national interest. For this reason, it may be the most exciting pre-historic site in Bohuslän. Strömstad is very close to the Norwegian border, so this is where you should really drive by first if you want to visit Norway. 

MM:

- When I was living in Wolfsburg (until 1995) there wasn't really so much to see in the city. It was a typical working-class town where half of the inhabitants worked at the VW factory. Today we have the Autostadt, which is interesting to visit, especially if you like cars. We have the Phaeno and the Badeland, which is great for Families. And of course, you should also go and see a match of Wolfsburgs soccer teams when you are in town. The men’s team play in the Volkswagen Arena, and the ladies in the AOK Arena. And the castle from the 13th century, which gave the city its name, is also nice. 

There actually exists no special food or dish in Wolfsburg. Probably because the city is so young (founded in 1938). But of course, sausages and potatoes always work out fine. 🙂 

In Sweden there are a lot of beautiful places. My favourites are Småland and Stockholm. 

my Protector signatures from Poland, which ones brought me Andrey Misanthrope-G/

Danke Schön Martin, Tack så mycket Carl-Gustav for the interview, we wish you both all the best with Protector and in your private life. Hope to see you live very soon! Send your messages to the readers please.

C-G:Thank you so much for the support. If you have missed listen to our new album Excessive Outburst of Depravity you will find it on all digital platforms. Stay Metal.   

MM: Thank you for doing this Interview with us! A big Thank you to all our fans for supporting the band over the years! Stay Metal everyone! 🤘 

 

facebook.com/Protector.666not777 

 

Martin Missy

Interview with Martin Missy (Protector)
Questions compiled by Cornelius of Encomium 'zine, 

Sorin Necrotrooper and Georgius

(Martin Missy in Rostock, 2017 picture by Thomas 'Thor' Wittlich)

Hail Martin, you are very welcome to Archangel’s Lantern! Our congratulations for the excellent old school Protector album “Summon the Hordes”. Tell us the details of the recording of your vocals. What should we know about the current lyrics and cover art of “Summon the Hordes”? 

- My three bandcolleagues Calle, Micke and Matte recorded their instruments with Harris Johns in Berlin. Because I don’t fly, and the trip from Stockholm to Berlin by car would have been too long, I recorded my vocals at the Wolfden Studio in Stockholm. Harris came up to Stockholm for the recording. The day after some friends of mine recorded the background vocals.

The lyrics are mainly about the same things, that I use to write about: Movie-inspired lyrics (Stillwell Avenue), Life on the road / Metal lifestyle (Steel Caravan / Unity, Anthems and Pandemonium / Summon the Hordes), a dedication to Celtic Frost (The Celtic Hammer), strange / bizarre themes (Two Ton Behemoth), “fun-lyrics” (Glove of Love) and history (Three Legions). Our bassplayer Matte wrote the lyrics to “Realm of Crime” and “Meaningless Eradication”, which have a political / social critic content.

The cover is inspired by the cover of our “comeback demo” from 2011, “The Return of Thrash and Madness”. The artist Andrej Bartulovic has given it a more professional look.

According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, you played in groups such as Spitfire, Golgotha and Inzest. Can you tell us more about them? 

- Spitfire was my first band. That must have been around 1984 / 1985. It was a classic Heavy Rock band. We never recorded any demo or played live though, and I can’t recall writing any lyrics for them either.

Golgotha was a project that I had together with my friend Peter Laske (who also was in Death Attack and Heritage) and two other guys. This was in 1985, if I remember it correctly. We were inspired a lot by S.O.D. We rehearsed only a couple of times. We never played live, but we recorded a two track rehearsal (the name of the songs were “Kill the Nuns” and “Teutonic Tales”).

In 1986 I joined the band Inzest. Ace (guitar) and Peter Schulz (drums) had been playing together with Peter Laske and Michael Hasse in Death Attack. Now they had started a new band. It was a Speed Metal band, and the guys wanted me to sing like Paul Baloff. The instruments of the others were so loud though, that I had to scream, rather than sing, to make myself heard. It was good that I sounded like I did though, because when Michael Hasse heard one of our rehearsalroom recordings, he asked me if I wanted to join Protector...

How did you value the good old days of the 80s in Germany, especially in Wolfsburg? Could you recommend us some newcomer thrash/death metal bands from Wolfsburg and Stockholm?

- It was an exciting time of course. There were so many bands and new genres all the time. Even in Wolfsburg, which has just about 120.000 inhabitants, there was a quite vital Metalscene back then. We had a couple of bands that were playing live in youth clubs all over the city. The biggest band from Wolfsburg is of course “Heavens Gate”. I liked their “pre-band” Steeltower (one of the first, if not THE first Metalband in Wolfsburg) as well. There were two things that were not so good with Wolfsburg: There were not so many places were Metalfans could meet and listen to their favourite tunes (most often that happened like once a week in a youth club) and that we usually had to travel to Hannover or Hamburg (or other German cities) if we wanted to see a big Metal band.

I’m not so well informed about new bands from Wolfsburg and Stockholm, but I can mention “Cryptic Brood” (Wolfsburg) and my old band Phidion (Stockholm), although Phidion is not exactly a new band anymore (formed in 2003).

(Protector bandpic taken in Wolfsburg in the summer of 1987)

I have the same date of birthday as Michael Hasse (R.I.P.). Would you be so kind to share some memorable story/or stories about him?

- Michael was my best friend back in the 80s when I was a part of Protector. One evening, when we were drunk, we even became blood brothers. He did my first tattoo (the Alpha/Omega/Golgotha sign) just with a needle and some ink. He used to have the Sodom fanclub back at the time of “Obsessed by Cruelty”, so he knew Tom, Witchhunter and Blackfire quite well. When we played our first show in Germany (Braunschweig in 1987), he managed to get Sodom to play the headliner for the show. We had organized the concert by ourselves, and didn’t know what to expect. In the end around 500-600 headbangers showed up! It was an amazing night.

(Michael Hasse (R.I.P.) and Martin Missy, backstage in Amsterdam, 1988)

What is the situation with Zombie Lakes currently?

- We had great fun recording our two albums, but as far as I know that chapter is closed now.

Which are your all-time favourite players and coaches from VfL Wolfsburg and Nationalelf? Do you have favourite football team in Sweden?

- Favourite VfL-coach: Felix Magath. 

Favourite VfL-players: Siggi Reich, Roy Präger, Edin Dzeko and Grafite. 

Favourite Nationalelf coaches: Sepp Herberger and Franz Beckenbauer. 

Favourite Nationalelf players: Fritz Walter, Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Pierre Littbarski, Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose and Toni Kroos. 

My favourite football teams in Sweden are Öster Växjö and Brommapojkarna.

Name us please your Top 5 Motörhead albums and Top 10 fave bands and their albums.

- Oh, this is difficult. There are so many. But I’ll give it a try: 

Top 5 Motörhead albums: Iron Fist, Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades and Another Perfect Day. 

Top 10 favourite bands and one album each from them: 

Motörhead – Iron Fist 

AC/DC – Highway to Hell 

Slayer – Reign in Blood 

Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales 

Accept – Restless and Wild 

Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden 

Manowar – Battle Hymns 

Sodom – In the Sign of Evil 

Razor – Evil Invaders

Nifelheim – Servants of Darkness 

...but there are, of course, probably at least 50 more bands / albums I could mention.

(2007, after the gig with The Protectors, Stockholm)

For September/October you’ve booked some European shows. What kind of setlist can the diehard Protector fans expect on those thrash rituals? Do you vary the live set per each show or you’re going to play the same set of songs each night?

- We will play songs from the 80s and 90s, and of course there will also be three new songs (one from each new album) as well. In Germany we are planning to play 1 or 2 songs more from the latest album, because we have played the old songs there so often now. In the other countries it will be more of the “oldschool-setlist” mentioned above.

The reanimated Protector (2013): 

Carl-Gustav Karlsson, Michael Carlsson, Martin Missy, Mathias Johansson

All of the sudden, the show in Košice (Slovakia) was cancelled and replaced by Ostrava (Czech Republic). I’ve planned to visit that show, thus really curious to know what’s happened with it? Will you going to postpone that cancelled Košice show for 2020?

- The organizer of the gig in Košice contacted us about a week ago and said that he couldn’t do the show, because he has to go on a business trip from work around the time of the concert. Fortunately, we were able to find an organizer who was willing to do a show on the same date with us in Ostrava instead. For the moment, there are no plans for a show in Košice in the future.

Danke schön/tack så mycket Martin! At the end, please send a message to the Carpathian hordes of Protector.

- Thank you for doing this interview with me. Stay Metal everyone! I hope to see you soon live somewhere.

Protector (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/Protector.666not777

Carl-Gustav Karlsson

Interview with Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Protector) 

Questions compiled by Cornelius of Encomium 'zine 
and Georgius of Archangel's Lantern

Hail brother Carl-Gustav, hope you are doing fine! First of all, we would like to congratulate you with the release of the awesome new material of Protector, called “Summon the Hordes”. It’s just brilliant! How went the common work with the legendary producer Harris Jones? What are your favourite tracks out of it?

- Hello Georgius. Thank you so much for having the interest in Protector and me as well. The support you give and your dedication to music. We are so thrilled over the new album and are very satisfied with the new record. We recorded the album both in Germany and Sweden. We recorded drums, guitars and bass guitar at the Phonostudio Johannisthal, Berlin. And Martin’s vocals were recorded at Wolfden Studio, Stockholm with Jocke Rydbjer and Harris Johns. After that back to Germany for mixing and mastering, everything went so smooth and Harris Johns is nice to work with in every way. He is very responsive and listen to our demands and ideas. I think it’s very important to have a conversation and an idea how you want to sound before you went into the studio. Favorite track is “Two Ton Behemoth”.

Who came up with the idea of recording it such way? I mean it sounds as it was recorded back in the 80s, especially I like how the drum-sound turned out. Pretty unusual sound production in general for a record out in 2019, isn’t it? 

- It was our guitar player Mike that cracked the idea to record it with Harris Johns. We discussed how other bands have sound true to their discography and how the different studios were important for progress. The sound came out naturally and without too much compressing and the great mixing with Harris Johns it turns out this way. We really loved Tomas Skogsberg’s production and will surely record there once again, but it’s also important to adjust the sound a little bit and have some variation for our fans. It was also a small dream to us all to make a recording with both Tomas Skogsberg and now Harris Johns. Harris Johns have recorded amazing records Kreator, Sodom, Coroner and Protector’s “A Shedding of Skin” earlier, so we have loved his production. I am glad you notice the old school sound. I think there are not so much people that appreciate that kind of sound nowadays. So yes, there are surely some that don’t really like it. There is no record that I have found in 2019 that sounds that dynamic and live as well. The drums are recorded without triggers and I am really satisfied with the tuning and everything.

What are the responses to “Summon the Hordes” from the press and the fans so far? Did you receive any numbers/statistics regarding the album’s selling from High Roller Records yet? 

- The response from magazines and reviews have been fantastic, so it seems the most of them like our songs and the harsh sound anyway. We have no statistics yet, so we don’t know how much albums we have sold. 

Your drumming is pretty fast and at the same time precise as well. So it would be great to know the names of the drummers who influenced you back in the time and the ones who still impress you with their skills these days? What kind of gear (drums, cymbals, pedals, electronics) you are about to use live, in the studio and at rehearsals?

- Thank you for the nice feedback. I try to practice as much I can, and progress goes slowly, but I try to get as much time as I can behind my kit and practice pads. Back in the days it was Pete Sandoval of Morbid Angel and Ole Öhman and Tobias Kjellgren of Dissection that influenced me most at that time. There were no YouTube channels and therefore you must learn everything by yourself. I have made lots of mistakes and have also learned wrong techniques and struggling was also present with some technical issues. Nowadays I have started learning via YouTube and trying to do exercises after Ukrainian musician Eugene Ryabchenko (Castrum), Austria’s Marthyn Jovanović and Italy’s James Payne. They are the top drummers for extreme music and have nice videos out there. Since I don’t play hyper speed black our death metal anymore, maybe it’s strange influences, but I try to be updated. The gear I use both in rehearsal space and sometimes live are Tama Artstar Esprit kit from ’97, which I’ve also recorded “Summon the Hordes” with; cymbals: Meinl MB20 14”, 16”, 18”, 20” and Sabian AAX 22” metal ride and Sabian AAX 14” hi-hats; Pedals: Trick Drums Pro 1-V. I have a low budget digital drumset at home Millenium MPS-600 with a Roland TD-8 module that works fine to practice on.

What are your experiences from Protector’s latest live performances? Protector will be going to play in Hungary this year, more precisely on the 1st of October. Have you ever been to Hungary? Do you like Hungarian metal hordes? If so, list us your faves, please. 

- It’s always a fantastic experience to play live with Protector. The fans are so nice and we often have a really nice time. Last time we played was at our release party here in Sweden. It was intense and went awesome. Warfect a great thrash metal band from Uddevalla did a guest show and the after party was nice. We are so looking forward to play in Hungary in October and it will be the first time I visit Hungary, so I am really thrilled. I would love some sightseeing, but there will be no time unfortunately. Hungarian metal is great. There are lots of great bands.  I have had the opportunity to tour with Sear Bliss in 2002, then I played with Grief of Emerald. My favorite bands are Tormentor, Sear Bliss, Stress, Omen, Mörbid Carnage.

You are living in Strömstad, which is well-known about its glorious underground scene, especially due to the bands coming from the end of the 80s and early 90s. What bands are you going to recommend us nowadays? 

- Well I mostly like extreme metal. I have a new favourite black metal band called Whoredom Rife from Norway that is on uprising. They really sound like black metal in the middle of the 90s: https://youtu.be/IrKuluuPTaU. A thrash metal bad called Warfect that lives 8 miles from here: https://youtu.be/AIRwjkwBRgc. And a death/doom metal band called Runemagick: https://youtu.be/UBmb3D3nLH0. This is what spinning just now at my record player.

Earlier you played in MÄBE? Tell us your memories from those years? Do you keep in contact with Mattias “Mäbe” Johansson? How do you like his new stuff? 

- Mäbe is one of my best friends and I have nice and good memories of playing with Mäbe. We have done lots of nice stuff together. We had a hell of a time on a rock boat from Gothenburg to Kiel in Germany. I cannot tell you a specific moment, because there are too many, but we have lots of humor and funny moments, laughing, talking music and have great time in general. We have another thrash band together called Sarcastic that we always try to get time to rehearse with, but there is always something that come in between. We try to have contact now and then, but he is also busy making music and he is also playing records here at a local pub. I hope to have chance to visit him this summer. The new material of Mäbe is very good. If you could understand Swedish language, the lyrics are incredibly deep and he has written them with great thought, he ties in some local people in the lyrics that have passed a worse fate, old stories and some of his own. He is very poetic by himself and the music is captured by a dark concept. I like the music. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to understand for outsiders. 

As far as I know, your nice city is near the Norwegian border. What kind of places, drinks and foods would you recommend to us?  

- Strömstad is a town that lives on tourism. We have Norwegians visiting us for shopping cigarettes, candy and alcohol. There are lots of people on weekends and now in summer time there are people everywhere. We have some historical Stonehenge places you must see and have a very famous island called Kosteröarna. In Norway about 2 miles from here you should go to see the Fredriksten fortress in Halden. This is where the Swedish king Carl XII (Charles XII) was killed – in 1718 – during the war between Sweden and Norway. At that time a province of Denmark. Here is also a new Norwegian black metal festival called Imperium that will take place this weekend: facebook.com/events/2261984214022448. Strömstad is not so big, so you will find some nice local pubs and some are specialized on seafood. We have no rock pub or any concerts yet, but sometimes there are some small local metal gigs nearby in Halden, Norway or in Grebbestad and Uddevalla.

In our first conversation you told us that you’ve been invited by Jon Andreas Nödtveidt to play drums at his rehearsal place. Did you just jam with him or played some covers? 

- I was twelve years old at that time, so my drumming was horrible, heheh. I remember that he tried some riff ideas, but you could just call it jamming. Anyway, it gave me so incredible inspiration at that time, I practiced drums, so my hands and fingers were full of blisters after the drumsticks. I remember practicing whole days.

At the end, please feel free to add any latest news from the Protector camp as well as to send your greetings to the Protector legions of the Carpathian region. 

- We are just now rehearsing for the upcoming tour in September/October. I hope you Hungarian metalheads have time and interest and would come and see us play in Budapest. We shall deliver an awesome show that will take you back to 80s/90s and present of Protector’s history. More info at the event page: facebook.com/events/367354930513207 or at our Facebook: facebook.com/Protector.666not777. 

“Summon the Hordes” tour:
27/9 Kassel (DE)
28/9 Prague (CZ)
1/10 Budapest (HU)
4/10 Warszawa (PL)
5/10 Wolfsburg (DE)

Thank you so much for the support! Cheers, Carl Karlsson and Protector.

Carl-Gustav Karlsson

 Interview with Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Protector, Sarcastic, ex-Mastema, ex-Author Of Pain, ex-Grief Of Emerald, 

ex-Con (live))

Hail Carl-Gustav, you are very welcome to my small weblog, Archangel’s Lantern! How and when did you enjoy the metal community? 
Which one(s) was/were your first musical stuff? (cassette/vinyl) What hard rock/metal band did you see live first?

- Hello Georgius and Archangel’s Lantern, thank you so much for inviting me for this fantastic blog. 

Well I started to listen to a copied cassette that my cousin gave me. On the first side it was Bruce Springsteen and the other side it was Twisted Sister the album "Stay Hungry". I was totally sold on the raw sound from Twisted Sister and bought the album directly on vinyl. Afterwards I started to gain interest for metal and tried to buy an album every month. It was everything between W.A.S.P., Judas Priest to Metallica. Metallica was a breakthrough to more extreme music and soon after that I gained to Kreator, Possessed and Morbid Angel. The first band I experienced live was a concert on a local youth center. I think it was Nosferatu, Malicious Decay (Mastema) and some local smaller bands. 

When did you start to play the drums? Which drummers/bands were your influences in the beginning? Do you have nowadays some favourite ones? What was your first band? Would you be so kind briefly share some thoughts about Swedish scene those days (especially from your area, Strömstad)? 

- I started to play some guitar in primary school I think it was in forth grade. I see very fast that I couldn’t catch up with the other musicians in school so I quit guitar and started to play drums. We had a band at the time that was called  Terror Zone after the Kreator song. We were influenced by Dissection that lived in our town and had the opportunity to see them rehearse and hang with them at the youth center where also the rehearsing room was located. Of course I was inspired from Ole Öhman and Tobbe Kjellgren but  in my opinion Pete "Commando" Sandoval is the biggest drummer in extreme music. 

We had lots of gigs in our area everything from extreme metal to some rock music. Jon Nödtveidt was very driven and arranged very cool gigs in our area. The music community was fantastic between 1989-2004 and you could see bands as Grotesque, Entombed, Mega Slaughter, Carbonized, Dark Tranquillity. We had also lot of contests called Rock of Bohuslän that the youth center arranged. But after that the music really died in Strömstad. I actually moved 8 miles to Uddevalla because the lack of interest ... and after 9 years I have also moved back to Strömstad but the music scene in town is quite dead. We have some active bands in rock music but there is nearly no extreme music at all. I have some old friends of mine, that still are into extreme music and they tried to arrange 2012-2013 Metal legacy with bands like Mayhem, Nifelheim, Marduk, Destruction, Belphegor. But the second time they had really problem with the economy so I don’t know if they are gonna try one more ore not. The scene today in general has grown in Sweden there are a lot of gigs and festivals. The main problem is that there are a lot of bands that just play music and sometimes you wonder, if they really should be on stage. They have no passion and sometimes you really wonder if they really mean and stand for their words. 

Tell to the readers more about your previous awesome hordes, as Author of Pain, Mastema, Sarcastic, Grief of Emerald, M Ä B E, Third Stone From The Sun. 

- Mäbe Mathias Johansson is an old session guitarist of Dissection. He is one of my best friends and we have always been sharing the passion for music. We have had different projects and bands during the years. We have done a lot of music experiments, like Third Stone From The Sun, that was more punk-rock and Nosferatu that evolved from Death metal to some kind of melodic slow pace metal. 

M Ä B E are also a Swedish rock band that I have been active in and we have released two records together. M Ä B E is still active but after I suffered from some shoulder problems and less time, I had to leave the band at that moment.

We have also a Thrash metal band called Sarcastic. I joined the band somewhere between 2004- 2006. We are still active but do not rehearse. We are actually planning to release a record through To the Death Records and there will be a mixture of old stuff and new one. 

Author Of Pain was a Death/black metal band that started somewhere in 1993 and where located in Strömstad. We released three demo tapes: 

1. 1998/3=666  

2. Seven Gates 

3.The Christian Doom. 

We where very inspired by Dissection and Marduk. The band dispatched 2002 after Erik Beast Electric joined Swordmaster and Deathstars.

Mastema is an old band where you can find all music elements of Death, Thrash, Black metal. The band moved from Strömstad to Uddevalla and I joined the band in 2000. The band has had lot of members from Lord Belial, Grief of Emerald, Soul Reaper, Swordmaster.

Mastema has always been really underground band and has released only four demos. It's really shame that the band has dispatched. I don’t know if the flame is still there or not. But the music is incredible.

Grief of Emerald is a Death black metal band with elements of Morbid Angel and since the band used keyboards it has always been compared to Dimmu Borgir. There are many that not give the band a chance and that is really a shame. I've joined the band for a tour in 2001 and have been in the band to 2014. I have also written some lyrics to the last two records and I think the band is killer. After some serious problems with my shoulder as I told you earlier I had to calm down my drumming after an operation and I am still training and rehabilitate to gain speed again. I am on my way in the right direction. And my shoulder doesn’t hurt so much anymore. 

I’ve found on Encyclopaedia Metallum, that you played at live with CON. ( I like so much this horde and can’t wait to listen to their debut album). Enlighten us please about this Occult Alliance. How were the live performances with them? It would be amazing a common European tour of Protector/CON in the future.

- Pontus Norman mailed me and asked if I could join the band. It's many years’ since now. And I don’t really know if the band will play some gigs or not in the future, but I really hope so, because as you said we are sharing the Essence of Darkness and have many same thoughts. Lets see what the future brings. 

Protector and CON are not in the same chapter music wise and I think CON must be more spiritual and play with such bands.  

You were a session/guest musician in Thrash metal band, called Conspiracy (nowadays Chtonium) on demo ”All You Ever Feared” (2006). Any memories about it?

- Yeahh, it was awesome. I remember we rehearsed five times and after that we went right into the studio. Neither there are nor so many drummers in our region so I love to help out and do what I can to help bands and be supportive. 

When and how did you meet Martin Missy? Unfortunately I don’t know too much information about the beginning of Martin Missy and the Protectors. Would you be so kind to speak about it?

- Well, Martin Missy and I have had a common friend called Jonas Svensson, who lived in Uddevalla. After a concert with Nifelheim in Stockholm Martin and Jonas discussed Protector and Jonas told to Martin that he should do a reunion with Protector. Martin said, that it should be difficult but Jonas cracked the idea of a cover band. And told, that he will get members for him... Martin: "yeah, let's see if you find someones..." after that I visited Jonas on an after-party in Uddevalla there was playing some music on his stereo and since I have listened to also Protector in early age and it is one of my top gems in Thrash metal, it turns out, that I recognized the music and we just talked about Protector the whole evening. Jonas called me after 2-3 weeks and told me the idea. Of course I joined directly and after that I called Mike that also has been in Mastema and we started to rehearse. The best thing of all was the first time we rehearsed with Martin and saw his look on his face, he was really impressed. After that we did some small gigs in Sweden to test the songs live and see how it felt. After that we played in Germany, Finland, Norway and around for 6 years. Somewhere between the gigs we discussed making new songs and well suddenly we started to make new material. And after contact the old members and ask for permission, in August 2011 the Protectors recorded a 4-track-rehearsal, which one was released on the 8th of October 2011 under the name Protector. This date marked the rebirth of Protector at Hell Inside festival.

(Tom Angelripper of Sodom/Onkel Tom Angelripper, Jonas Svensson and Carl-Gustav Karlsson)

I’m an old fan of Protector since 1988/89 and for me it’s really great feeling that Martin with you returned under the glorious banner of Protector. Which Protector tracks/albums are your favourites from old releases?

- Misanthropy (the whole mini-album), Apocalyptic Revelations, Protector Of Death, Nothing Has Changed, Urm the Mad.

Unfortunately I couldn’t listen to following releases with You yet, as "The Return of Thrash and Madness" (demo), "In the Vein of Blackened Steel" (Split), "Merciless Metal Onslaught "(Split) but "Reanimated Homunculus" definitely is one of my favourite albums of 2013. Are you satisfied with these works? 

- Well we wanted it to sound old school and I think we have accomplished that so I am quit satisfied with all the recordings, all of them has different qualities but they sound ok.

As I’ve written on my review on Hungarian Kronos Mortus webzine, your new release, "Cursed and Coronated" is simply brilliant job. What are your favourite tracks from new stuff? What are your plans for this year? It is possible, as we could see you live near my region, Slovakia/Hungary?

- Well my favourite track are Xenophobia and Selfdestrugtion really pure Thrash stuff. We try to play in Europe and hope that maybe someone will contact us for a show that would be awesome. We travel often by car because Martin is afraid of flights but anything is possible. 

Archangel’s Lantern is Eternally dedicated for Jon Andreas Nödtveidt. In our private conversation we talked a little bit about him. Would you be so kind to tell your opinion about Jon, as person/ musician? Please Revive a few remembrances with him! 

 - Jon Nödtveidt is a fantastic musician both vocals and as guitarist and writer. He was one of a kind. But I also want to make a statement that the Essence of Dissection also lays on the other members especially on The Somberlain and Storm Of The Lights Bane. I mean you could not do such records without Ole, John, Peter and Johan. Every musician has his own style, so I would say that he couldn’t do it with the rest of the members. I think people should give more gratitude to the whole band. 

Jon was a really nice person. He and Ole inspired me to start playing music. One time he invited me to play drums at his rehearsing room. I was twelve, I think. You can imagine how it felt to play drums at some riff that he was jamming. I think I practiced 8 hours per day after that session. So he really get me started. He was really supportive. If I don’t remember wrong, I think that I bought a copied cassette from him where some Protector songs were recorded. 

Tack så mycket, Carl-Gustav! Wish you all the Best with Protector! Please send your message, to the readers of Archangel’s Lantern. 

- Thank you so much for this great interview and the opportunity and everyone who are reading this. Check out my band Protector and the new record, called  "Cursed and Coronated" or my other projects new and old. Hails!

Important links: 

 Protector: facebook.com/Protector.666not777/?ref=ts&fref=ts

  

Sarcastic: facebook.com/SARCASTIC-134091089964122/?fref=ts

Mastema: facebook.com/thetruemastema/?fref=ts

Author Of Pain: facebook.com/AUTHOR-OF-PAIN-258859854139311/?fref=ts

Grief Of Emerald: facebook.com/Grief-of-emerald-205899279441696/?fref=ts