For some unknown reason, not that many old school Thrash Metal fans knows about Invocator from Denmark. Maybe it’s just that, they’re Danish and not from US, UK or Germany. Well, anyway if you haven’t heard them, you’re missing out.
Here’s an interview from Norway Rock Magazine #3/2022 in English
Invocator – A history lesson in Danish Thrash Metal
Text: Ronny ØstliDanish Invocator defied the growing death metal wave of the early 90s, delivering good technical thrash metal. The big breakthrough did not happen and the members later made themselves known in other parts of the music industry. The first two albums, "Excursion Demise" and "Weave The Apocalyse", are now being reissued by Hammerheart, which is a great opportunity to dig into the Danish metal underground.
Invocator's guitarist and vocalist, and only current original member, Jacob Hansen, is best known to most as a producer for, among others, Volbeat, Pretty Maids, The Black Dahlia Murder and UDO. Now let's leave that aside and go back thirty years in time and reminisce. How does that feel?
– Haha! That's really great, but I also like talking about myself and my passion, which is recording and mixing music. Creativity is a very big part of me.
– Like Norway, Denmark is a small country and we both had to see ourselves beaten by Sweden when it came to the amount of hard rock and metal records in the 80s. Nevertheless, you beat Norway in the harder part with bands like Mercyful Fate and Artillery. Not least, you had Lars Ulrich. Tell us a little about the scene in Denmark and what made you form Invocator.
– Back in the eighties, I probably didn't pay much attention to Sweden or Norway. Denmark was a developing country when it came to heavy metal. BUT, just the fact that Lars Ulrich played in one of the world's coolest bands at the time, Metallica, created an early interest. I remember my friend Simon and I went to the library in Esbjerg and borrowed "Ride The Lightning", and I was completely stunned! I remember the smell, the place and everything about Simon's room in his parents' basement when I listen to that album. It was a dark atmosphere and a universe I had never heard before. This also applies to Mercyful Fate, who was my favorite band throughout my teenage years. My room was wallpapered with Mercyful Fate and Kind Diamond cutouts. I was a fan! When Artillery released "Fear Of Tomorrow" I could feel a bit of the same dark and brutal atmosphere that I felt on "Ride The Lightning". Here was really a band you could look up to. And they were Danish. The next album, "Terror Squad", is one of my favorites from that time. It was super inspiring. But Invocator was also inspired by Venom, Agent Steel, Kreator, Destruction and early thrash metal.
Hansen formed Invocator in 1987. Through flyers that ruled the underground in the late eighties, I ordered the demos "Genetic Confusion" and "Alterations". The debut "Excursion Demise" was released on Black Mark in 1991, and contains a couple of songs from the latter demo. Between the demos and the record, death metal had exploded as a genre, how was "Excursion Demise" received?
– When we started writing the songs for the album, we had noticed that there was a death metal movement on the rise in the US. I was taping with Fenriz and Nicke Andersson, and they introduced me to new bands that weren't thrash, but death metal. We thought this was very interesting, but it was difficult to incorporate this into Invocator. We were a bit stuck in the material we had, but it became a kind of mix between thrash and death metal. A bit of Dark Angel and Sadus with a portion of Scandinavian death metal. We tuned in D on that album, and that's only a whole tone down. I think most people tuned in C or B. Carcass was really the extreme when it came to tuning down the guitars. We had no idea that it was something you could do and that that was why it sounded so brutal. The album received mixed reviews. Morbid Angel, Atheist, Pestilence, Obituary, Morgoth were bands that released albums that changed the whole world, so we were probably falling between two chairs a bit. I still think the album is cool. It was recorded in a week, almost live, and we were really a cohesive band at that time.
– On the demo “Alterations” from 1989 and the debut album, the lineup is the same. Two years later, the sequel “Weave The Apocalypse” comes out. The album is heavier, more groovy and technical. Now only you and drummer Per M. Jensen are left of the four who were together before.
From the first Invocator show ever in Esbjerg, Denmark. December 1987
– We changed the line-up a bit before this too. When Per came in as drummer ahead of “Alterations”, the band changed radically. For the better of course. Maybe one of the world’s best metal drummers. And yes, we never became a death metal band, because grunge also came, look at my Alice In Chains t-shirt in the band photo, haha. And Pantera. And everything became a kind of mix between hip hop and metal. The Judgment Day soundtrack was big and showed bands with more groove and melody, and that was also something we liked, so that’s why the songs became a little different. I still think it's one of our strongest albums, because the band was really a complete unit. We were super sharp about what we wanted and it ended up sounding really good, thanks to producer Eric Grief (RIP) and mixer Carsten Neumann.
– Jakob Schultz was part of the formation of Invocator, and left as guitarist after "Excursion Demise".
– I wanted to develop the style we had on "Excursion Demise" in a more death metal direction. I can understand the direction Jacob and Per wanted to go, and it was probably also the right direction, and the right time to change the line-up. I could have stayed on as bassist, but it wasn't something I wanted. The band was built on friendship and it was of course sad to leave something you had put a lot of energy into for the last five years. We started this from scratch based on common interests, so it was a bit hard to realize that as best friends you develop in different directions. For me, the old Invocator died during this period.
– On your Facebook page there is a video where you and Schultz open the boxes with the reissues from Hammerheart and tell some anecdotes about them. It seems to me that you are still good friends and have good memories from this time?
– Yes, I feel like we are good friends and I hope Schultz agrees. For me he was a world of knowledge. I loved visiting him for coffee, reading fanzines and listening to death metal. It was a huge loss when he left the band, and I think we both felt a friendship was lost. Now, however, it is absolutely great and I am happy every time we meet. The same applies to other former members. I don't think there is any bad atmosphere between anyone who has been involved. It was really a big day when we got the rights from Black Mark and the records could be reissued. Now we just have to work on getting "Dying To Live" out too.Please report dead links
Schultz agrees that it felt like a friendship was lost.
– It was hard to keep the friendship at the same level, because everything we did together was about the band in one way or another. We started it together, slept in the rehearsal room since we lived far apart. Rehearsed, listened to music and lived for Invocator. But we will always remain friends. And it was really fun to open those records and talk about the old days. Hammerheart has really done a good job with these.
– You also have memories of “Weave The Apocalypse”. How involved were you in the work on this record?
– After the tour with Dark Angel we started writing the music for the second record. My last concert was Roskilde, which I consider a worthy end. There we played two of the songs from it, “Lost At Birth” and “Doomed To Be” I definitely think. Now afterwards I like the new style, but for me it was death metal that ruled, which resulted in the band Maceration, a band I kept going for a few years.
– Their only record “A Serenade Of Agony” came out in 1992, and Hansen is on it as a drummer. Schultz is now a journalist and probably known to many as the editor of the magazine Metalized.
– I have been involved in Metalized since 1987, so I did this in parallel with Invocator. Last year we reunited Maceration and we are playing three concerts this year. Our album “A Serenade Of Agony” was recently reissued and the new record is on the stairs, thirty years after its debut.Please report dead links
Hansen talks a little about Invocator's status among fans.
– Well, it feels like Invocator has a classic status in Denmark. It's really nice. I've talked to many people who can tell you that our records have meant a lot to them personally during difficult times in their lives, and that's powerful. I know what it's like. I myself have records from difficult times that I feel have helped me. Creating records that have helped or guided people through life is not just great, but huge. I feel the interest has been there all along. And now the records are finally out. So if the old ones are worn out or stolen, it's now possible to buy new ones, hehe.
– On the CD editions we find both demos, live recordings and cover songs. We've already had the collections "Early Years" and "Alterations From Ther Past". Do you feel that with the new releases Invocator's history is being collected completely and in a way that they deserve?
– There is a lot of material, but it's hard to find as much of this is on bad cassettes from the eighties. I would have liked to have included even more, but it was hard to choose. As you say, some of it has already been released on different albums. We are still working on finding more for a reissue of "Dying To Live", so we'll see what comes of it.– “Dying To Live” came out in 1994, and then the band disbanded. Drummer Per M. Jensen later joined The Haunted. You had a record store in Esbjerg, which I visited that same year. Then it became the record label Serious Entertainment before you made a name for yourself as a producer. You have also been in a few other bands, as well as releasing an Invocator record in 2003 and doing scattered concerts. Tell us a little about your husband Jacob Hansen. All of this must have started with a hunger to contribute something to the metal scene?– I always knew I was going to do music in some way. Whether it was as a musician or something else, it was bound to happen, so I tried my hand at it. Some things went well, some not so well, but when I discovered my passion for recording bands and mixing music, I noticed that this really felt special. Here I could almost be in a band without doing the crappy job of touring, haha. So yes, I hope I have contributed something to the scene. It is in any case It is important for me to give something back to a world I was welcomed into as a teenager. That's how I see it.
– Were you interested in studio work already at the time these two albums were recorded, or did it come later?
– Yes, I was interested in this already at the age of 10, but only got serious about it after Invocator. I think I felt I needed to have more time for it, which I didn't have while Invocator was active.
– In 2003, another Invocator album came out, "Through The Flesh To The Soul". There have also been scattered live performances over the years. Can we expect anything more from Invocator in the future?
– I don't actually know. I know that Perle, who took over as guitarist after Schultz, would very much like to write something with the band again. I also have songs that were written after the previous album, but it's difficult to answer. I have always said that if I want to and can't help it, new music will come out. If we are going to release a new album, it has to be one hundred percent pleasurable, otherwise it won't work.
