Fenzine was a Swedish fanzine written in Swedish, but here’s an interview translated to English for you.
Yes, it's that time again! If you didn't get enough of BOLT THROWER in the first issue (I'm talking to the smart guys who bought the first one, I don't give a damn about the rest of you, at least in this preface.) then you'll get your fill of BOLT THROWER in this issue. Funny, huh?
The reason there's an interview with BOLT THROWER is simply that they visited Sweden in April and you just can't let such an opportunity go to waste. Here we get the answers from Andy (with the exception of the last question when it's Karl who speaks.). Over to Eskilstuna and Andy (+ Karl)!
"Warmaster" has finally come out but why was it delayed almost 4 months?
- Mainly because of the cover. We were supposed to record it in August but we ended up recording it in September, so it was delayed a month. We are in the process of sorting out the artwork with Games Workshop. Everything was perfectly fine until Games W. came and said: "We made BOLT THROWER so we have decided we want more money!". They wanted ridiculous amounts of money, about twice as much as we had spent on the entire album, the recordings. In the end we told them that we couldn't afford it so we had to get new artists. It took a month. Then there were some drawings in the booklet that we weren't happy with. Everything was just rushed so we had to have drawings that we weren't 100% happy with. But they fit the album anyway.
How has the album been received?
- Very good. I'm pretty sure that the first pressing of 20,000 albums, excluding the CD, has more or less been sent out. As soon as they are sold out, the LP will only be available with a single envelope, no gatefold. I don't really know how many CDs we have sold. The record is now available in America too and they had a "pre-sale" figure of 19,000 there. Combat are really happy with us. Hopefully it will continue to sell well.
There is every reason to be happy with "Warmaster", right?
- It is the only LP, after we have played it and listened to it a few times, that I am still happy with. I was not particularly happy with "In Battle..." & "Realm...". They could have been much better. "Warmaster" is my favorite album so far, that goes for the whole band, by the way. The production is clean but it still has a heavy sound and it sounds like BOLT THROWER too.
Is there any point that you are not satisfied with?
- The only thing I have no regrets about is the booklet, the drawings. I don't think they're as good as on "R.O.C.". But on the other hand, it's that little extra compared to regular records that you get with an inner bag with lyrics and pictures.
Personally, I think you play more Death now than before and where have the grind parts gone?
- Yes, it's more of that sound. But we haven't set out to put ourselves in a special category. The songs have kind of made themselves, if we like the riff they get a place in the song. I agree that it has a more Death Metal side. Could have to do with the production. The sound too, for that matter. On "R.O.C." and "1.8.T.N.L." the production is pretty crappy. Another thing is that we've tuned the guitars up a bit too. Before we had tuned them down 5 steps, now we only have 3 steps down. The reason for that is that we want a clean sound when we play live. The thing about the grind parts, it's mostly a case of progress we've made. We're not aiming to sound like anyone else. I'm fully aware that there aren't as many grind parts on "Warmaster" as on "R.O.C.".
Digby is going more and more into Death Metal. Has he influenced you in any way?
- No, no, no! He has nothing to do with our album, other than paying for it. He sometimes comes down to the studio and listens but he doesn't produce them. He might say: "That sounds good!". But he doesn't tell us what to do, he knows that if he did we'd just tell him to go to hell.
You've made a video for "Cenotaph" and then you're going to make a live video too, right?
- The "Cenotaph" video is out. It was made during our last European tour. It was recorded on the English part of the tour. It's for promotion on ATV and stuff like that. It's mainly for America but it's probably going to be on the European MTV as well. But it's going to be released to people who wouldn't have heard it otherwise. The live video; what's happened to it is that it's been delayed because the label is in financial trouble. So in October/November on our European tour it's going to be recorded. Over two weeks at Marquee.
We were actually going to do it in June but then we're probably in the US with DARK ANGEL. We want to do it in Europe.
Why did you choose "Cenotaph" as the EP and for the video?
When we recorded the LP he really liked "Cenotaph", it was the best song on the record according to him so he said: "Why not release a single and then make a video?". The single is pressed in only 8000 copies (4000 vinyl and 4000 CD) so it's a bit of a limited edition considering it's spread all over the world.
Personally, I think you play more Death now than before and where have the grind parts gone?
- Yes, it's more of that sound. But we haven't set out to put ourselves in a special category. The songs have kind of made themselves, if we like the riff they get a place in the song. I agree that it has a more Death Metal side. Could have to do with the production. The sound too, for that matter. On "R.O.C." and "1.8.T.N.L." the production is pretty crappy. Another thing is that we've tuned the guitars up a bit too. Before we had tuned them down 5 steps, now we only have 3 steps down. The reason for that is that we want a clean sound when we play live. The thing about the grind parts, it's mostly a case of progress we've made. We're not aiming to sound like anyone else. I'm fully aware that there aren't as many grind parts on "Warmaster" as on "R.O.C.".
Digby is going more and more into Death Metal. Has he influenced you in any way?
- No, no, no! He has nothing to do with our album, other than paying for it. He sometimes comes down to the studio and listens but he doesn't produce them. He might say: "That sounds good!". But he doesn't tell us what to do, he knows that if he did we'd just tell him to go to hell.
You've made a video for "Cenotaph" and then you're going to make a live video too, right?
- The "Cenotaph" video is out. It was made during our last European tour. It was recorded on the English part of the tour. It's for promotion on ATV and stuff like that. It's mainly for America but it's probably going to be on the European MTV as well. But it's going to be released to people who wouldn't have heard it otherwise. The live video; what's happened to it is that it's been delayed because the label is in financial trouble. So in October/November on our European tour it's going to be recorded. Over two weeks at Marquee.
We were actually going to do it in June but then we're probably in the US with DARK ANGEL. We want to do it in Europe.
Why did you choose "Cenotaph" as the EP and for the video?
When we recorded the LP he really liked "Cenotaph", it was the best song on the record according to him so he said: "Why not release a single and then make a video?". The single is pressed in only 8000 copies (4000 vinyl and 4000 CD) so it's a bit of a limited edition considering it's spread all over the world.
I heard you don't like being filmed live?
Sometimes. If it feels like we're going to do a bad show. There are a lot of videos of us circulating around. Some from BELGIUM, GERMANY & THE NETHERLANDS. The reason it annoys us is that a lot of the people filming don't bother to ask, they just come to the gig and film, then they make money off of them. We never get to see any of them. Some people make a living filming concerts. All we want the people filming us to do is send us a copy of the tape. It's like bootleg T-shirts. There are a lot of those on us. We never get to see any money for them. In some places it has affected our sales. When you come across the people who make the shirts just look at you like you're crazy and say: "Why are you getting annoyed, we only sell T-shirts? T-shirts are the only way we get money when we're on tour. The money we get on tour goes to the tour managers, the rowers, etc. To keep us in good standing.
Haven't you toured with NOCTURNUS in the UK with Europe as a venue too?
- They toured with us in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany. It was pretty good, especially for us. NOCTURNUS didn't do as well as I think they should have. I think people expected them to be more like MORBID ANGEL. That tour was very bad from a record sales point of view. Even "In Battle..." sold out on CD. Hopefully the same thing happens here in Sweden.
Grindcrusher 2 is out now.
- Fuck it! I think it's the biggest rip-off scandal ever. I don't see any point in it. Most of the songs are old like ours for example, two songs from "Real Of Chaos". They could have used new songs instead of using old tracks. The money goes to nothing. By the way, they don't make a lot of money from Grindcrusher so I don't understand why they do it. Next thing is the Grindcrusher video.
What do you think of the least cool, controversial bands like MIGHTY FORCE, NAKED CITY etc.?
- I don't like MIGHTY FORCE at all! They're just trash! NAKED CITY is pretty good but I can't stand the singer. They should have been released on a minor label and not on Earache. I mean, a lot of people buy the Earache LP and expect it to be Grind/Death Metal. When they've bought the record just for the Earache label and go home and listen to it, it's just crap. What happened with the NAKED CITY EP was that a lot of. of the distributors, who usually do Death/Grind, didn't know how to promote it so it ended up in the wrong hands. We told Earache that.
Karl, you get the last word! This is the third album you've written war-fixated lyrics on?
- There are a lot of interpretations of the lyrics. Some might say: "That's political analysis" someone else says: "They deal with world economic issues!" I try to write the lyrics so that you can't put a single message on the lyrics. But that's what we're known for now. If we gave up on that and did something completely different I think it would be a bit too dramatic. You can sit down and read them and interpret them in different ways. That's how I work and hopefully I've managed to do it in a good way.
Well, that's how it was. Nothing lasts forever. The interview you just read is over now, if you're wondering. I suppose… or rather I'm counting on you wanting to write to these long-haired Englishmen.
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