Uladzimir Spaider Hlušakoŭ (SpaidereviewS, Iron Fest Metal Music Festival)

 Interview with Uladzimir Spaider Hlušakoŭ

(SpaidereviewS, 

Iron Fest Metal Music Festival)

Hail my Belarussian metalbrother Uladzimir, you are very welcome to my own hell, called Archangel’s Lantern. When and how did you join metal music? What was your first tape/vinyl/CD? Which band(s) you saw very first time? 

- Hello metal brother! Thank you very much for your interest in my humble person. 

I got acquainted with metal music quite early. My family lived in a small urban-type settlement near Vitebsk. 

When I moved into second grade, black and white photographs fell into my childish hands: Iron Maiden "Killers" and Kiss (where Gene Simmons licks a bloody knife). Naturally, my children's brain exploded after what I saw and I became interested in what kind of music these groups play, the uncle of my classmate helped me in this, who introduced me to this music. Accordingly, I began to collect everything related to metal music, cassettes, records, posters, badges.... Kiss was the first, then rolled towards heavier stuff.

In 1987, my family moved to Braslav (a small town on the border with Latvia and Lithuania) and the quality of my collection improved markedly. I went to the neighboring Latvian city of Daugavpils, where there was a metal spot on the market where I hid various metal stuff. A cool moment, in Braslav in the stall "Soyuzpechat" vinyl was regularly imported and it cost 2r 50 kopecks. There I bought the first records: Aria, Master, Cruise, Черный Кофе, Citron, Deep Purple, Bon Jovi, Metalmania 87 records with foreign performers cost 3r 50 kopecks.

Another funny moment was that there was a glass container reception across the road, I handed over the bottles, crossed the road and bought a record))) That's how it all started...

You are have awesome collection of different stuff of underground music, what are your most preferred treasures? 

- In fact, my collection is not that big, but Igor has an impressive collection!)

Of course, I try to collect branded discs, but licensed editions are also not bad. I try to write reviews on albums, at least some benefit from collecting)))

Stylistically I collect: from classic heavy to Brutal Death, Grind... 

Would you be so kind to describe Belarussian underground movement from the beginnings to our times? Tell us more about your activity in your local scene.

- My acquaintance with the Belarusian underground took place in the year 88 - 89, then on TV I saw the Minsk Thrash Metal band - Tornado and realized that metal is also played here. There was also a group on hearing - 7 Hertz, but at that time I did not hear them. Later, an article about Tornado was published in the Krynitsa magazine and their poster was printed. For me then they were very cool and their poster hung on my wall, the joke is that now these are my friends with whom I communicate, organized a concert, drink vodka together and talk about old metal)))

Then there were bands: Exhumator, Pathologist Department, Septic Schizo, Thrasher, Morbid Victory...these bands don't exist anymore, but they left a huge mark on the Belarusian underground. 

By the way, Igor helped me a lot too, introduced me to many groups, dragged me, so to speak, to a broader movement. Now there are also enough good bands, but the situation with concerts is deplorable.

I do video reviews for albums of various underground bands, my blog is called - SpaideReviewS666: youtube.com/@SpaideReviewS666. Currently I collaborate with such labels: Fatal Ecstasy Productions, Satanath Records, Funere Productions, Careless Records, Wings Of Destruction Productions, Grimm Distribution, Metal Race Records, Narcoleptica Productions, Symbol of Domination Productions. I bring metal to the masses so to speak)))

 Are you playing the musical instruments and were you in a band or are nowadays? 

- No, I only play on nerves))) 

Unfortunately I’ve never been in Belarus so far. What interesting places would you recommend to visit for me? What are your recommendations of your local cuisine and drinks? 

- If you will be in Belarus, I'll definitely look forward to meet you in Braslav, be my guest! The nature here is just amazing. More than 300 lakes in the area. There are four lakes in the city. There is something to see... food... I'm fat, I eat everything, so I advise something... although драники/potato pancakes are super!!! Drinks, hmm, I love vodka))) 

Which bands do you like from Ukrainian and Hungarian scene? 

- The Ukrainian metal scene has always been very strong. I like a lot of bands: Fleshgore, Khors, Flying, Nokturnal Mortum, Hellfire, Apostate, Castrum, Lucifugum, Dub Buk, Valhalla, Forgotten Spirit, Tesseract...and many more. Many of the bands from the list no longer exist, but at one time their cassettes were heard to holes. At the mention of Hungary, I immediately remember - Tormentor))) Right now I'm listening to FOG with the album "Zuhanás". Also, great bands: Mörbid Carnage, Malediction, Gutted... there are a lot of good bands in Hungary.

Perhaps you know, that my small blog is eternally dedicated to Jon Andreas Nödtveidt and Lars-Göran Petrov. What are your favourite albums/tracks from their heritage? Did you see and meet them live? 

- Unfortunately, I have not seen either Lars or Jon live, but I have great respect for them and their work. Entombed love the first two albums: '1990 "Left Hand Path" and '1991 "Clandestine". I love all the materials of Dissection!!! It's a pity that they are no more…

Are you have any special hobbies? 

- All my hobbies are related to music.

What shows did you visit last time? 

- My last concert was made by me. This is a small friendly fest - IRON FEST with the participation of Minsk bands: TORNADO and NEWLEVEL.

There is a question for Igor. He visits to all sorts of foreign concerts.:) 

I know, it’s a very hard question but name us your eternal favourite bands/LPs (and not only from big bands and their releases)

- Wow, there are a lot of them))) Well, I'll try:

Venom - Black Metal

Iron Maiden-Killers

Slayer

Metallica - Kill 'em All

Dark Angel - Darkness Descends

Accept - Restless and Wild

Deicide - Deicide

Carcass - Necroticism...

Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated

Bathory - Bathory

My Dying Bride - The Angel and The Dark River

Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness

Obituary - Slowly We Rot

Poccolus - Poccolus

Skyforger-Semigalls Warchant

Nokturnal Mortum - NeChrist

Vader: The Ultimate Incantation 

Well, and a couple of hundred more)))

Дзякуй вам вялікі/thanks a lot my great friend. Send your message to the readers to complete the interview.

- Thank you so much for your interest in my humble person.

I would like to wish all metalheads: stay true to yourself, listen to what you like regardless of the trends, support the metal scene with all your might (it needs it especially now) and of course a peaceful sky above your head!

Stay Metal!

Uladzimir and Igor

Important links:

facebook.com/spaidereviews

facebook.com/ironfestbraslaw

youtube.com/channel/UCMoDOMpfVZMwDyqxy2tkATQ

 

Igor Ignatczyk (Possessed by Hate)

 Interview with Igor Ignatczyk 

(Possessed by Hate)

Igor with Peter (Vader), Minsk region, June 2015

Hail my Belarusian metalbrother Igor, you are very welcome to my own hell, called Archangel’s Lantern. When and how did you join metal music? What was your first tape/vinyl/CD? Which band(s) you saw very first time? 

- Hey Bro! It will be very nice to talk to you! I am very proud that you paid attention to my modest person  :) 

It all started a very long time ago, in the second half of the 80s. I had just served in the army, and I just needed something new. However, even as a schoolboy, I asked to be louder when my friends turned on AC/DC, Scorpions, Queen, Nazareth. At that time, I didn’t have my own tape recorder, and it was difficult for me to figure out what was happening, there was, of course, no idea where such recordings were taken at all)))

However, something stuck in my memory. My military service began in May 85, that is, practically with the beginning of Gorbachev's perestroika. When I returned a couple of years later, I was surprised to find that the union also plays hard rock and even metal, and moreover, if you try, you can buy vinyls of Soviet bands playing this music in stores. I even found Cultural goods in the military town, where these records were not scattered instantly, and you could have time to buy something interesting. By the way, my old friend Uladzimir said that he managed to find absolutely incredible things in the Soyuzpechat kiosks in his town. Ask him for more details.

The first bands I listened to, were Accept, AC/DC, Running Wild, Cruise, Черный Кофе, Master, Aria, Bonfire, Warlock. In the early 90s, the amount of music I listened to increased, my metal horizons developed as well. In general, in 1991, I no longer needed to ask more advanced colleagues what would be so interesting for me to listen to. Plus, I read a certain amount of fiction. I liked to read, and then there was enough time for this. That's how it all started. 

before the Skyforger-show, Minsk, 2011

You are with Uladzimir both have awesome collections of different stuff of underground music, what are your most preferred treasures? 

- My music is old school Heavy, Thrash, Death, Black, Black/Doom, Black/Thrash, Black/Death.

This is a huge number of bands, both classic metal and modern performers playing old school metal. There is simply no point in naming any names, I think there are more than a thousand such compositions. I think all the bands that you listen to like me too. 

Would you be so kind to describe Belarusian underground movement from the beginnings to our times? Tell us more about your activity in your local scene.

- Well, this is a question for Uladzimir. I'm not a big fan of the Belarusian scene... And not a very big scene in Belarus. The Metal Archives lists 491 names, both former and current bands. Not so much for a country of 10 million people. I will name a few names, but they are mostly from the past Exhumator, Pathologist Department, old Gods Tower, Oyhra, Pagan, Zmrok, Smiercieslau. I myself promoted at different times the music of Septic Schizo, Evthanazia, Frodmortell, Iratus Dominus. However, the representatives of Belarus quite recently pleased me with a good album. I mean the last album Smiercieslau. Black metal tarnada (Black Metal Tornado). 

Kilkim Žaibu festival # 14, Varniai, Lithuania, June 2013.

Are you playing the musical instruments and were you in a band or are nowadays? 

- No, that idea never crossed my mind. In general, there are not many metal musicians in Belarus from my generation. There are much more musicians among the guys born in the 70s. In the 90s, it was they who, in their 20s, formed the basis of the Belarusian scene.

Unfortunately I’ve never been in Belarus so far. What interesting places would you recommend to visit for me? What are your recommendations of your local cuisine and drinks? 

- As for me, it is unlikely that you have lost something from the fact that you have never been to Belarus. Nevertheless, there are very beautiful, filled with a unique atmosphere. For me, this is primarily the Braslav Lakes. Uladzimir just lives there. Also unique are Polesie (its southern part is located in Ukraine), Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Berezinsky Reserve (my wife Alla is from those places), Nalibotska Forest.

Among Belarusian cities, Grodno is my absolute favorite. However, in general, a trip to Western Belarus is quite an exciting experience. You can see a lot of interesting things. 

As for traditional Belarusian cuisine, it is largely intertwined with Polish cuisine. And it is not surprising, because a lot of common things have connected these countries for centuries. It is very sad that now Belarus is repeating the negative Soviet experience, supposedly there are enemies all around. It is because of this that the country is sliding into the Stone Age, depriving itself of prospects for the future. Well, to complete the theme of Belarusian cuisine and drinks, I can recommend the restaurant "Kamyanitsa" not far from the center of Minsk. 

Igor, you visited our local fest a couple of years ago in Uzhhorod/Ungvár, what organized my old mate Cornelius of Castrum/Encomium. (Unfortunately, I was not there). What are your experiences? Which bands do you like from Ukrainian and Hungarian scene? 

- Yes, it was really just an amazing action! The line-up of the groups was chosen simply superbly. Well, the places of origin of the performing bands was also voluminous, more than ever, either before or after this release of the festival: Ukrainian, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish line-ups. Well, I myself had a hand in ensuring that the Belarusian grindsters Exegutor performed there. So, it was very awesome and meaningful. 

I even have a T-shirt left in memory of this event. The festival itself, as far as I remember, was held in early September 2015. Wow, more than 7 years have passed!

In general, in the period from 2004 to 2017, I was lucky to attend about 10 festivals and concerts in Ukraine: in the Crimea, the Carpathians, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Uzhhorod.

with Radu Vulpe (ex-Decease) UzhGoreRot 2015

I'll start the second part of the question, perhaps, with the bands that impressed me with their music last year.

Among the Ukrainian line-ups, this is the Kharkiv Death Metal quartet Necrom. The group consists of very famous musicians, and the fact that the debut full-length was released on Osmose Productions only confirms the class of this group.

 As for the Ukrainian scene as a whole, here we have just a lot of great bands:

1914, Castrum, Deathincarnation, Dead Christ Cult, Gasoline Guns, Hellfire, Khors, Nokturnal Mortum, Paganland, Screaming Forest, Zombie Attack, Січгарт, and this is an incomplete list of Ukrainian bands I know. 

Basically, these are artists whose albums I like, but there are also a couple of lineups that I was lucky to work with as a promoter. And then my more than 5-year collaboration with the Black/Death Hellfire formation from Kremenchuk immediately pops up from my memory. In 2017 and 2021, we released 2 releases, this is the Goat Revenge EP. The CD was released on the German label Witches Brew, well-known in certain circles, and the Hungarian Iron County Records undertook the release of the cassette version, after 4 years the debut full-length of the band Lobotomized by Holy Crucifix was released. The album was released by Polish Mara Productions as CD in Digipak and Slipcase versions. Later, the guys had disagreements, and the group suspended activities, and then this damned war began. War of madness against common sense!  

There were other groups that I hope I was useful. I remember well that my collection Seven Burning Churches (A Tribute to Possessed) included cover versions of Ukrainians Січгарт and Castrum (your alma mater). 

 In 2017, the people of Kyiv Січгарт successfully performed at the private festival Serna Tusas in Lithuania. Later, another Kyiv-based Zombie Attack released their 2nd album on More Hate Productions. Prior to this, there was an edition of the album released by the band itself on CD-R.

Let me now turn to the Hungarian scene. Just recently, I accidentally discovered that the almost forgotten gangs Blizzard and Diecold released new albums in 2021 (Disengaged from Life) and 2022 (Rebirth) respectively. I immediately set aside a couple of hours to listen to this cool BM. And now I would like to see these opuses in my collection on physical media. And the first albums of these formations Rest in Hell (Diecold) and Les Litanies de Satan (Blizzard) got into the collection in the 2nd half of the 2000s.

 Of course, I am familiar not only with those that I just spoke about. I really appreciate the creativity of Age of Agony, Angerseed, Drünken Bastards, Dusk, Fanatic Attack, Gore Thrower, Gravecrusher, Gutted, Hell Eternal, Malediction, Mörbid Carnage, Fog. And, of course, the classics of Hungarian metal Angel Reaper, Fantom, Tormentor!!! 

with Diabolizer, October 2017 Warszawa

Perhaps you know, that my small blog is eternally dedicated to Jon Andreas Nödtveidt and Lars-Göran Petrov. What are your favourite albums/tracks from their heritage? Did you see and meet them live? 

- I like Dissection from the 90s! Everything there is just gorgeous! The 'Reinkaos' album, recorded and released after Jon's return from prison, disappointed me. Then, in 2006, I listened to it only once and never returned to it. I am less familiar with the work of Entombed, oddly enough, here for me No. 1 is legendary 'Left Hand Path' debut. I also really like the music of Firespawn, where Lars-Göran also sang.

Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to meet these legendary personalities live.

Are you have any special hobbies? 

- Well, our family loves cats. My wife and I have 7 pets in the apartment. We all met

under different circumstances, but all of them somehow needed a loving family then, and they found it. 

In any case, animals are much better than people, and for me this is an axiom in life))) 

with Martin van Drunen (Asphyx), Warszawa, October 2017

What shows did you visit last time? 

- Last year I managed to visit a couple of festivals and concerts in Poland and Lithuania. And these were the first promotions after covid restrictions.

 In May, I was at a rather interesting concert in the Polish city of Siedlice. This is the same city where I tried to work. We can say that he tried to start a "career" of a guest worker in February - March 2020)))

It was there that I learned what a pandemic is. However, I digress.

 So, on the stage of the Lemmy rock pub there that evening, local NuclearwinteR, my buddies, and Orgasmatron, a band consisting of musicians from the cult Polish bands Acid Drinkers, Turbo, etc., performed cover versions of Great Motörhead songs. The concert was clearly a success then, there was an unique and well-known atmosphere of a metal concert for every metalhead!

In the Summer, already in July, I went to Lithuania, to the small town of Macionys for a private metal fest Serna Tusas (Party at the Wild Boar). I was, maybe still am, a representative of this small metal forum and invited 2 Polish bands Frightful and Black Hosts there. The action itself, but I will keep silent about the atmosphere. Everything was not the same as before (I was there for 4 issues in a row 2016 - 2019) because of the war in Ukraine. 

And, finally, the last, I hope not the last, Metal Doctrine'fest vol.4 festival in my life. in the Polish city of Bytom. The hordes which performed there were really worthy of the attention of the most sophisticated metalhead. These were Polish Dimidium Mei, Witchfuck, Prosecutor, Sexmag, Titus Tommy Gunn, Deus Mortem, Infernal War, and Norwegian Bombers led by Olve Eikemo aka Abbath became the headliner.

Photos from the festival are on my fb page. 

with Herr Warcrimer (Infernal War, Iperyt, Voidhanger), Vilnius, March 2016

I know, it’s a very hard question but name us your eternal favourite bands/LPs (and not only from big bands and their releases)

- I will not go too far, I will name only a few  albums: VENOM "Welcome to Hell", MERCYFUL FATE "Don't Break the Oath", POSSESSED "Seven Churches", SODOM "In the Sign of Evil", "The Final Sign of Evil", HELLHAMMER "Apocalyptic Raids", BATHORY "Bathory", "Under the Sign of the Black Mark", DARKTHRONE "Soulside Journey", "Transylvanian Hunger", BLASPHEMY "Fallen Angel of Doom....", SARCOFAGO "I.N.R.I.", KAT "666", DESTRUCTION "Sentence of Death / Infernal Overkill". I think, after such revelations, everything is clear with me))))

Дзякуй вам вялікі/thanks a lot my great friend! Send your message to the readers to complete the interview.

- Дзякуй табе за вельмi цiкавыя пытаннi / Thank you for the very interesting questions!

What can I say? I wish that the black flame never goes out in the hearts of real old school metal Warriors! 

Igor and Uladzimir

Fredlös (Robert Lindgren, Tomas Karlson, Alex Hellid)

 Interview with Fredlös

(Robert Lindgren, Tomas Karlson, 

Alex Hellid)

Questions compiled by Georgius and Joanna

Hail Fredlös, you are very welcome to my small blog. On the 10th of February your band will release the debut album, “Fredlös”. I’ve got your promo material in 2022 and in my Hungarian review in Kronos Mortus I marked 10, brilliant material. What are the responses to “Fredlös” from the underground press and the fans so far? 

- Hi Archangel's Lantern, Robert, Tomas and Alex from Fredlös here.

To have had the opportunity to make this album in our own way, time and pace and then get to see so many writing about us and liking what we have done so far, has been quite overwhelming actually. 

The album attracts a lot more people from different countries all around the globe than we ever expected it to do. Especially since the lyrics are written and sung in Swedish. And to get a 10/10 review from you guys is a great honor! We are really excited to see what will happen and what people think about the rest of the album when it is released on the 10th of February.

When, where and how did start the Fredlös? What is the correct meaning of the name of your band? Introduce your members please. Who is/are the main song and lyric-writer(s)?

Robert: The band started out of the ashes of another earlier band called ”Barbro Says No”. It was founded by Tomas, Fredrik, Liv, Victor, Micke and myself and was a more traditional rock/metal band. But Tomas and I had a desire to write darker heavier music and he one day showed me a Swedish lyric he just wrote. Reading the lyrics I just felt it was absolutely brilliant. We did a demo and presented it to the rest of the band who all loved it except for our drummer at the time, Micke. He decided it was not for him so he left the band. All on good terms of course.

We continued on in the new direction and the result is what then became the song ”Våt Varm Jord”. Alex joined and Iman was recruited on drums. And there you have it, Fredlös was born.

Robert Lindgren

Tomas:

The name Fredlös directly translated to English is ”OutLaw”, but that isn’t really correct. The word “fredlös” is more like “outcast”. Before Christianity was introduced in the north and a long time after that we had this “social punishment” called fredlös. In the absence of a strong state this was a punishment where the individual was cast out of social context.  In most cases this resulted in death. No one would shelter, hide or feed an outcast.  

Tomas Karlson

Fredlös Members:

Robert Lindgren: Bass, engineering, Recording and Mixing.

Tomas Kalrson: Guitars, and writing all Lyrics

Fredrik Danielsson: Guitars and Vocals

Alex Hellid: Guitars

Victor Dahlin: Keys

Iman Zolgharnian: Drums

Liv Hope: Lead Vocals

Fredrik Danielsson

Alex Hellid

Victor Dahlin

Iman Zolgharnian

Liv Hope

Guest musicians:

Erik Grawsiö: Vocals on the songs ”Våt Varm Jord” and ”Fredlös”

Martin Björklund: Violins on ”Våt Varm Jord”, ”Otto” and ”Requiem”

Britta Zetterström: Erie “Kulning” vocals on Requiem

Tomas: I write all the lyrics for the band. I would say it most often starts with a riff, an idea or a topic the lyric will be based on. Then we work together around that and build the bones of the song. Then I write the lyrics and Liv gets to try out melodies. I adjust the words of the lyrics to fit her melodies. The process is a team effort. 

Your debut will be released through Threeman Recordings. Enlighten us about this awesome alliance. By the way, how did you meet legendary Alex Hellid of Entombed/ex-Nihilist, who joined your forces?

Robert:

Tomas met Alex some years ago and then ran into him again about a year ago and slipped him a demo. Alex just loved it and to quote him: ”Entombed is the best band in the world, but  I want to be part of this, even if it's just me dancing around in a plague mask”. 

And to have Alex onboard has proven to be invaluable with all his skills contributing to the music and all his knowledge how the music business works and to avoid all the pitfalls. For us to be on the same label as such fine bands as Entombed, Nihilist, Wachenfeldt is simply fantastic, it couldn’t have turned out better.

I know, it is hard a bit but tell the readers in your own words all the Fredlös-songs.

Våt Varm Jord: 

The inspiration for the lyric comes from the religious oppression that accelerated after the plague in the mid-14th century. The image of God became increasingly severe. Sin and shame took center stage. Life was an ordeal of mourning in anticipation of purgatory. Misogyny grew stronger among sexually fixated prelates, which sometimes had to take the form of witch burnings or heresy trials. The most famous during the era is the execution of Joan of Arc which we used in our video for the song.

Otto:

The lyrics are about Tomas' grandfather. Born in poor conditions in Jämtland, Sweden, he was politically red-blooded. Believed in a strong and humane state where everyone had the same conditions. Otto is a tribute to Tomas grandfather's values and the blood spilled by the working class to give us the living conditions we have today. It is also Tomas' declaration of love to his beautiful soul. I imagine that images of poor Sweden and Ådalen in 1931 visually explain the song.

Farsot:

The lyrics are about the plague that hit Sweden in 1350. Initially, the plague wiped out a large part of the population. The exact death toll is unknown but estimates place it at ½ or 2/3 of the population between 1350 and 1420. As usual, the clergy blamed the population and declared the plague as God's response to human sinfulness. Movements such as the Flagellants arose who wandered from town to town scourging themselves to appease the wrathful god.

Missväxt:

During the Middle Ages, the middle of the 14th century, a significant cooling of the climate occurred. Partly due to the lack of sunspots. The lyric line "Havet födde väldig rese" refers to the volcanic eruptions at sea that historically threw enormous amounts of ashes high into the atmosphere and caused a cooling of the climate. The result was stunted growth, famines and floods and years of winter. After the outbreak of the Plague in the middle of the 14th century, the colder climate followed, which further added to the population's suffering. At the same time, there were intense battles between noble families similar to the struggle between mafia families, which of course ultimately affected the population. The church, as usual, blamed the sinful people who incurred God's wrath.

Fredlös:

”Gästning” was the duty of the peasants to entertain the king, bishops and grandees with their retinues during their travels. ”Ledungsskyldigheten” seems to have been, along with ”Gästning”, the only charge (tax) that the king could demand from his subjects at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Sometimes the visit turned into pure looting of an already poor peasant home. That's what happens in the song. The lord and his jacks slaughter the last heifer and famine awaits this poor peasant family. The farmer kills a jack in desperation and flees to the forest. What then awaited was to become outcast (fredlös). The outcast could be killed for no reason by anyone and it was forbidden to harbor, feed or help the declared outcasts. You could buy yourself free if you had plenty of money (Nils Dacke did).

Uppror:

The song describes a peasant uprising. During the 15th and 16th centuries, there were a large number of peasant uprisings throughout Europe, including in Sweden. They rarely succeeded and were often put down very brutally. The peasants often rose up against the innovations introduced by the authorities as well as against oppression, exploitation and serfdom. The text was inspired by ”Dackefejden”. It was a peasant rebellion against Gustav Vasa in 1542-1543, led by Nils Dacke, a farmer from Vissefjärda in southern Småland.  The reason for the rebellion was the strong dissatisfaction that prevailed against the king's attempts to strengthen the central power, something that was felt especially hard in the previously relatively independent Småland. The insurgents were mainly dissatisfied with Gustav Vasa's tax levels and with church politics.

Iman Zolgharnian

Undergång:

The lyrics describe the total military defeat of the peasant uprising. Much depends on the treachery and unscrupulousness of King Gösta. Although the peasants were not as poorly equipped as one might think, they were totally inferior to the well-equipped mercenaries that were being trained by the king. The mercenaries often came from Germany but also Scotland and other places. In August 1543 Dacke was shot and fell at the border of Blekinge, after the rebellion his head was put on a stake and placed at the gallows hill. To reduce the risk of another rebellion, Gustav Vasa put Dacke's son in a prison cell where he was starved to death.

Deus:

The Lord's ways are his own

God was never on your side

In ashes, hope prevails

The ice never seems to melt

God was never on your side….

Requiem:

The epilogue to the defeat. After the war, savage reckoning awaited all the farmers in the participating parishes and those who participated in the insurgents' crowd. No amnesty was granted. Dacke's home village was brutally ravaged and Dacke's relatives were either executed or deported. At the same time, the chaos continued through the local peasant chieftains who continued to live on raids and waged their private war several years after Nils Dacke was dead. Economically, the war was a disaster for Småland and initially also for Sweden as a whole. 

Because of  Gustav Vasa´s victory over Nils Dacke, it became possible for him to centralize Sweden even more easily from Stockholm. The ”Dackefejden” is an important part of Sweden's history and it was significant for a long time.

Fredlös created 3 awesome videos, namely “Våt Varm Jord”, “Farsot” and “Otto”. Who made these awesome videos? 

”Våt Varm Jord”, ”Farsot” and ”Fredlös” (coming on release date 10th of February) was done by Robert and Tomas.

”Otto” was made by Staffan Thorström, same guy who do our Album Art.

We have more ideas and hopefully more videos will emerge later this year.

I like a lot your cover, which absolutely fits to your music. Share us some thoughts about it.

Tomas:

The cover art was made by my friend Staffan Thorström. It's truly a masterpiece of art where he tries to be as accurate as possible to the perspective and style of drawings that were made in the medieval times.

The idea was a cover where you could spend some time looking at it and see fine details and new things every time you look at it. For example you can find elements from all the songs, like the burning castle (Uppror), someone burned at the stake (Våt varm jord), people infected with sickness ( Farsot) and so on…

Erik Grawsiö of Månegarm has been invited as a guest vocalist on 2 tracks, “Våt Varm Jord” and “Fredlös”. What should we know about this awesome cooperation? What are your favourite songs and albums of Månegarm? 

Tomas: 

Erik is a friend. We all come from the same area around the small city Norrtälje just north of Stockholm. A lot of good bands and talented musicians can be found here like: Månegarm, Wormwood, MercuryX, Kråkslott and so on. Everyone knows someone who knows someone… Like Liv's Hope's Cousin is the drummer of Månegarm. Our friend Tobias Rydsheim, the man behind Wormwood also plays guitar live with Månegarm on tours and so on. So, it's just a matter of calling them up and asking.

Robert:

Hard to just choose one album from Månegarm, they have made so many great albums. I would have to choose two atleast and that would for me be: ”Fornaldarsagor” and ”Ynglingaättens öde”.  And if I am allowed to choose just one song from each of those albums I would say: ”Hervors Arv” and ” En snara av guld”

As a fun note, in the video of Månegarms ”En snara av guld” you will see our guitarist Tomas acting in the role of the king.

Alongside the Fredlös, in which bands are active your members? What about the past activity of Fredlös musicians in different bands? 

Robert:

Alex has Entombed which will always be his number one of course.

For the rest of us Fredlös is the main band. 

The only fun thing you could do growing up in this small town was to play music in a band. So there have been plenty of unsuccessful bands that started and ended over the years.

Then came the family-life and kids. I met Tomas I think around 2014 and we started to record a bunch of demos in my studio. And everything later grew into  ”Barbro Says no!” And in 2021 Fredlös emerged from its ashes to become what Fredlös is today.

Tomas and Robert

Tomas:

Liv comes from the “sing and songwriter” and Country scene. Before “Barbro says No” she had very little experience in metal music. She has a major impact in our song writing process due to her unique ability to evoke spelling melodies. In Liv we sure have struck the golden motherload. 

Liv Hope

If I mentioned legendary Alex Hellid, what are your favourite Nihilist/Entombed releases? 

Alex:

Let me go cliché supreme on y’all, OK? All of them! As it should be hard to single out favorites among the children. They all mean and represent and mirror a period or moment in time, something that was created with another cliché, blood, sweat and more sweat…and sent out in the world to hopefully find new homes in the orbits of others minds. From our first releases with Nihilist (Premature Autopsy a title we got suggested straight from our idol Chris Reifert of Autopsy!:) leading up to the first album (Left Hand Path) and to our most recent Serpent Saints I never take anything for granted and always find excitement in the possibility that creativity and energy will be picked up and spread inspiration. Sounds corny for sure but that’s the greatest feeling….so everything! :)

What are your favourite historical era and why? Are you have some preferred authors and books? 

Tomas:

I devour books about history as a whole but right now at the moment it's the Middle Ages as my main interest, but that could shift tomorrow ;-)

Man's way of seeing the world shifted dramatically in the Middle Ages.The life and agony of the common people and their reality and living conditions is actually far more interesting and gruesome than just writing about “knights and dragons flying high in the sky with fire”.

I'm heavily influenced by books by Vilhelm Moberg and Professor Dick Harrison. 

But you also need to read Machiavelli and such.

Unfortunately I’ve never been in Sweden. What interesting places could you recommend me to visit, especially from your area? What local foods and drinks are your recommendations to taste it? 

- Stockholm and the old parts of the city, “Gamla stan ''. Wander around the streets where the “Stockholm bloodbath” took place”. And then go to djurgården to see the Wasa ship museum. To get a nature experience I would recommend going north by train on “Inlandsbanan '' to Kiruna. Or travel by car up north on the east coast to see the high coastal areas (höga kusten). But then again, I know you live in the Carpathians mountains so maybe our hills and nature aren't that much to brag about really ;-)

Food wise I guess it's the same kind of food here just like any other western country.

But some things to try that you might not find everywhere else is:

- Blood pudding, Slice the pudding into 7mm slices, fry it in butter and serve with lingonberry jam and crispy bacon. Best served with Milk.

- Palt / Kroppkakor. depending on where you live it has a slightly different flavor and name. “Kroppkakor” in the south and “Palt” in the north. Kroppkakor are essentially big chunky potato dumplings with meat inside them, and there are many versions of these all over the country. Served with melted butter, lingonberry jam and pork/bacon. Also best served with Milk.

- One thing I like to do out in nature is Kolbulle.

50% wheat flour and 50% water and salt. all mixed up. Make a fire. Put a pan directly into the fire. A big lump of butter and lots of pieces of smoked pork, let that fry for a while. Pour the wheat mixture over it and let it fry for a while. It will become something like a thick pancake with pork. Serve it with lingonberry jam. A beer goes really well with this to warm your bones beside the fire.

I just realized all of the above include pork and lingonberry….

Things not to eat:

- Fermented Herring, just don't do it…smells rotting death. People say it tastes good, but the smell is overwhelming. And why eat something that smells like that….

Tack så mycket Fredlös, wish you all the best! Send your message to the readers of Archangel’s Lantern please to complete the interview.

- Bye and thank you Archangel's Lantern readers, wish you all the best and thanks for all support! Hope to see you at a show in the near future!

Important links: 

facebook.com/fredlosband

facebook.com/ThreemanRecordings

youtube.com/@threemanrecordings7563

https://www.threeman.net/

Mattias Johansson (Karnivore)

 Interview with Mattias Johansson (Karnivore, Goat Skull, ex-In Pain, 

ex-El Camino, ex-Nidhöggr)

Questions compiled by Georgius and 

Johanna (Poland/Germany)

El Camino period

                                                     

Hail Mattias, hope you are doing fine. Let’s start with your latest news: Karnivore released in early November, 2022 a killer single namely “Disintegrate”, it’s an awesome track and a brilliant video. Would you be so kind to talk about it more? There will be a new Karnivore full-length this year?

- Hi I'm doing great. Let's get into it, the new single disintegrate. we started to record it in Spring of last year and released in November of the same year because it was so delayed I don't remember but its typically Karnivore, it is always something coming up and getting in the way. 

But it is a track we have had for some time and finally got around to record, we felt releasing it online with a music video it was the easy and right way to go just to show people we were alive, the music is written by Jens and the lyrics mainly written by me with some phrasing and technical editing by our singer Martin.

The music video is made fairly basic in our rehearsal space and edited by our guitarist Per, it was recorded during a hot couple of hours in the summer ,and it came out really ok for being an real low budget homemade thing, It's our first one so we can't be other than happy with it, it will absolutely be more of that in the future, regarding a new release with Karnivore remains to be seen, we have music for almost an album but we have no record deal for the moment and we really want it to be released in physical formats, time will tell, fingers crossed an all that stuff.

In Pain unleashed a brilliant old-school album “The Thing from the Grave” in 2022, which LP is one of my favourites of latest year. (Thanks a lot for your signature on CD-cover!!!). How went the recording of the drums?

 - The recording for “The Thing from the Grave” went really fast and easy and was done in a couple of hours, I usually listen a lot to the songs taking some notes and then just record it and that’s how it usually is done with the In Pain recording because we don’t do much rehearsing, or any at all to be honest.

I had my companion Jens from Karnivore to assist and to record it, we have a long history of recording and playing music together so it's always a pleasure.

an awesome gift, 'The Thing from the Grave'  digipack CD and signatures of In Pain -G/

Unfortunately, your ways and In Pain separated because of the travel distance. What are your most preferred songs of In Pain where you played the drums? 

- That’s a hard question. I really like the first ones I recorded for the “ A Call from the Grave” and "Summoning the Dead"  EPs because everything was new, but if I'll choose from the first album it is "The Shadow from the Ancient Tomb" and "Battle" that comes to mind, from the latest album it is definitely  "The Beast Within" and "Midnight Rituals".

Back to the Karnivore: it is a pretty old horde and if I’m not mistaken you started in 2002 under the name Karneywar. Tell the readers briefly the band’s history and releases. 

- The short story of Karnivore is that we started a long time ago and recorded 3 demos under the Karneywar name those years was mostly about playing around in the rehearsal place and trying to get a steady line up going which was easier said than done, we finally got a good bunch of people together and did some gigs in our home town and some abroad, in Germany and Denmark supporting old school veterans Pagan Rites. Then we changed our name to Karnivore and recorded the first record “ The Triumphant Khaoz”, shortly after our friend and guitarist Patrik lost his battle with cancer and we were again some people short for live gigs... it was a hard blow to loose a friend and a band member so we lost it all for a while but got back on our feet and recorded a new album as a three piece called "In the Halls of the Wicked'". No steady line up so we started to work on the next record that came to be "Dödsriket" and now we are here in 2023 and have a new hard and heavy line up and working on new stuff and hopefully some gigs in the near future that’s the shortest version  I could do haha 

Karnivore 'Dödsriket' line up

You are active in the Mexican Black metal horde called Goat Skull. What should we know about that Hellish cooperation.

- Goat Skull is in a long sleep I think I haven't heard from them for a while but we recorded and released a split 7” with Sabbat (Japan) and an ep a couple of years ago, it was talks about a full length but we will see when that will happen, when they call I'll answer and pound those drums to dust for my Mexican brothers.

Goat Skull

Tell the readers about your past activity of the following bands, as El Camino, Fear The Future, Nidhöggr and Under Attack, please.

- El Camino is a local Doom band I played with for a couple of years, we recorded and released some really good records ( we share the same rehearsal space for the time being)

Nidhöggr is my good friend Björn Thorups black metal band that I also recorded a bunch of good material with, in that case it was also a matter of distance problem or I would surely still be banging those drums. Under Attack is also a band managed by Björn this is a Speed/Heavy metal band.

Fear The Future is not much to talk about for my part, the plan was to record drums for their second album but nothing became of it, good people and good friends though.

Nidhögrr

Perhaps you know, that my small blog is eternally dedicated to Jon Andreas Nödtveidt and Lars-Göran Petrov amongst others. Did you share with your bands the stages with them and meet them in person? Have you any favourite LPs/tracks from their heritage? 

- I have actually played (amongst many other bands on the bill) as an opening act for Dissection sometime in the mid-nineties with a black metal band I joined when I was maybe 16 years old. I have talked a couple of times with Jon both before and after prison but not more than in a fan kind of way. Really like all their albums but "Storm of the Light's Bane" is a fav.  

I don’t think I ever played anywhere near L-G but I'm a big fan of Entombed and LG was that kind of person you'll bump in to now and then which always was fun.

When did you start to play the drums? Which musicians influenced you in the past? What are your favourite ones nowadays?

- I started to play the drums in the late 80s but have never been a practice kind of guy, something I regret now, not that I practice much now either. 

My absolute inspiration back then was Kiss and especially Eric Carr, he got my interest for drums to awake, Nicke Andersson was a big inspiration during his Entombed years, Gene Hoglan of Death is of course a big one too.

Beside the drums do you play other musical instruments? 

- I play guitar and bass but not in any bands right now but I write some stuff so we will see what happens in the future.

Name us your eternal favourite albums.

Deicide - Legion

Iron Maiden- Killers

Entombed - Left Hand Path

Death - Human

King Diamond - Abigail

Kiss - Creatures of the Night

Bathory – Blood Fire Death

And of course many more but that’s the fundamental records  that never stopped spinning at my place.

Would you be so kind to describe your local Swedish scene? Alongside Karnivore which bands are there?

- It's not a long answer to this, my town used to be a really great music city so growing up here was all about playing and hanging out in the rehearsal room. lots of good bands playing all kinds of music.

Nowadays it's not the same, it is probably bands playing that I don't now about, but the bands worth mentioning is :

El Camino that I used to play in they are still an active band.

Pile of Death that play old school death metal and we are all sharing the same rehearsal space.

Tack så mycket/Thanks a lot, Mattias, we wishing you all the best. Send your message to the readers, please.

- Thanx a lot for giving me the opportunity!

Keep your eyes open for more metal from me and my bands in Sweden, and maybe Mexico who knows.

Important links: 

facebook.com/karnivoremetal

youtube.com/@karnivore9204