Richard Sjunnesson

(when I wrote this blog the pre-orders for THE UNGUIDED - HELL FROST wasn't up, but they are now! Check out www.sixonesix.se for more info!)

Hej och hå

Looks like The Unguided nerve center has been sitting on some well hidden cards? And as you have noticed we are now finally showing our hand to you, our trusty devotees. Slow but steady! And I can assure you that those cards of secrecy will continue to be revealed until we hit the well awaited and anticipated debut album release day on November 30^th. Things have already been set in motion at www.sixonesix.se so I recommend that you keep it under close surveillance (as you always should!). At the time I write this (which will be a bit earlier than this article gets published) the album title, cover artwork, and release date have been revealed, and I suspect even more Hell Frost related things have already bombarded you.


The Unguided – Hell Frost, out November 30th. Pre-order here.

Emil has re-launched the www.armyoftheunguided.com forum after the old one suffered from a tragic spam related death. An extremely advanced security query from the future has been established on this brand new board and order should be restored! I bet there’s a lot to talk about now with the upcoming release of Hell Frost, so please join the discussions in the forum. And for your information, all of us in The Unguided actually keep a an eye out on the forums as well *hint* *hint*.


Army of the Unguided

There’s also an ongoing Hell Frost Facebook takeover going on as a multitude of dedicated fans have redecorated their Facebook walls to a very unguided Hell Frost custom, including myself! Join the fun and spread the word!


Hell Frost Facebook Takeover

Stay tuned for more info and check The Unguided Facebook and www.sixonesix.se for updates regularly! I also redirected www.the-unguided.com to www.sixonesix.se since we’ll be doing a new website for the album release.


"You are running out of miracles..."

I also want to fill you in on what has been going on since there has been a lot of confusion and questions lately. I left Faithful Darkness. Why? Well, there are some different variables really. First and foremost the original idea was that I helped the band out as a stand-in singer for one gig, when Erik left them promptly. This developed into a closer collaboration, and I eventually joined the band because I really enjoyed the music and they seemed to be good people. Before I joined, however, I sent an e-mail stating that I’d join under the following conditions; that they understand that I have no time available, I wasn’t going to tour, I wasn’t going to find myself in a situation where the band loaded my personal economy, I wasn’t going to take part in the writing of the album, and that they were aware of the fact I did not sound anything like their original singer, and that me on vocals would change their sound dramatically (quite a catch, don’t you think? Hehe). They we’re fine with all these extremes, and I finally joined the band. All good in the hood!


Good in da hood!

But as time passed in the band, I think every single premise I established on joining the band was broken or disregarded—save for the fact I still didn’t sound anything like Erik, hehe. But the farce that tilted the scale to their disadvantage and made me leave was the recent vocal session for the album. I entered the studio in secrecy to record the vocals. Possibly odd, but I indeed did this with good intensions for an even better cause. The main reason was because the band was pushing to get the album out before the upcoming tour dates. I had 2-3 days available to finish vocals for 12 songs in my extremely tight schedule, in an already overbooked studio with an equally busy engineer. So, if that was going to happen at all, I needed all the focus I could get on what became the most intense and stressful session I’ve done in my entire life up to date. That meant that for that particular session to successfully work out there could be no interference from other members, especially not the living hurricanes of Johan and Jocke. As a matter of fact, I’d rather eat off my own arm than to have them directing a professional studio recording. It would drive both the studio engineer and me to insanity, and someone would most likely get hurt. Don’t get me wrong; the two guys are great in every way! I like them, but to practice seriousness or professionalism is just something that is not included in this double trouble package consisting of the two of them.


Double Trouble

On the third day of this session I was done. I was working early shifts on the off-hours, and got 3-4 hours sleep a night if I was lucky. As said, this was the most intense, frustrating and energetic session I ever had but listening to the result of what we created in the studio made me extremely proud, and it was well worth the drudgery! By far the most brutal, soul tormenting and aggressive vocal work I’ve done up to date.


Rawr.

Happy over a successful session, I declared to the band that I was done with the vocals for the album. This is where a wall of disappointment from the band met me, as they realized they had not been invited to the studio. This was where my own patience ended as well. I know Johan and Jocke wanted to attend the session but I didn’t know that attended was essentially important to them. I did believe they had some trust in me doing a good job without them as well, seeing they had all heard the pre-productions and were fine with them, except a couple of tweaks here and there. The very same day as this drama took place they where supposed to come home to me so we could talk through some layout ideas for the album. I also figured upon their visit I could show them what I’ve recorded, since I did raw mixes of all vocals together with the instrumentals as well. And if there was something critical they didn’t agree to it could still be fixed in my home studio. But seeing they judged it before even hearing one millisecond of it made me agitated to the extent where I simply couldn’t take it anymore. I mean really, who the fuck do they think they are?


The fuck?!

I wrote lyrics to one song on the album, which was how much time I found to spend on it. I figured putting my own character and impression on the actual recorded vocals without external direction was of great importance to me seeing that was really the only “me” the record would include. If they saw it as appropriate to deny me that, I see no reason to continue together.  A band should be founded on the pillars of trust and respect. Much like a relationship, frankly. That was not included in the band mentality, and therefore, you can now consider (un)Faithful Darkness my ex.


Ex-Bandfriend

So there you have it, the story you asked for. It’s sad that it didn’t work out in the end, seeing the album would be killer. And I can guarantee it would take the band to new heights. But now it will suffer with additional delays just to be re-recorded by some average, no-name singer, and just fade out to be another watered down album on the underground market. Yeah I know that’s harsh and cocky, but then again it’s not exactly a secret that my fans followed me into that band, and will most possibly leave with me as well (Hoo Ra!). If they decide to use my vocals for the mix to save the band, it’s still open for discussion since it actually already was recorded and paid for. It would probably generate the most attention you’ll ever get. I certainly didn’t quit one band of jerks just to join another one. Good riddance!


Good riddance

Roger has been a nice boy and uploaded the tabs to Betrayer of the code here. If you are a guitar-virtuoso, and want to check out the other The Unguided tabs he made, visit this page.


Betrayer

Apparently YouTube upgraded my account, so it now removes clips I flag on instant. Very convenient in my battle for justice and greater good! So, if you want to try your luck and upload our songs, be my guest. I’ll bring them down in a blink of a mage. This function is particularly welcome now before the release of the album. I’d like to thank everyone that is continuously helping out with this issue and reporting whatever oversteps they find.

But then again, this may appear to be something of a double standard since I’m not exactly a slave to law and order myself. The big happening on 23/9 that I hyped up to the extent, some of you believed it to be the day of the album release (silly you!) But it was just the day I was getting my driver’s license back after an impressive speeding violation and a month to foot. But I like to throw them rocks in glasshouses and continue to do so as long as I must. But I currently drive 90km/h at 120km/h roads. Lesson learned!


Lesson learned

Our friends over at 2k2bt Clothing have supplied me with another pair of their awesome clothes. And their beautiful brand and The Unguided are working on some future collaboration ideas as well. I guess some of you already saw this design coming in their collection 2012?


Thank you 2k2bt!


2Unguided2BeTrue, coming 2012!

Max Dengler from Austria attended our gig at Malmöfestivalen as a roadie-photographer-friend-death-machine hybrid and sent in his pictures from the day to me just recently. I’m currently uploading them to the official The Unguided Facebook for public inspections. Check them out in this album! He’s a really talented photographer and his photos will also be featured in the Hell Frost booklet.


Malmö rules!


Unguided army in the house


Debriefing


Screamy business


Shreddin' business


Danish fans! ;D


Stealin'

Johannes Graßmann tagged me and Ella in this picture some time after our engagement as a little surprise “gift” and I must say it’s quite a piece. Loving the talent!


Not too far from the Hell Frost artwork!

Also, got this very heartwarming mail from Cezy some time ago that I figured I’ll credit by publishing it here. I get a lot of mails, but there’s not many that manage to stir my heart like this one. Thanks you so much!:

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Hey, Richard. I know you're usually heaps busy and stuff and I completely understand. But I just really wanted to let you know this.

I would like to thank you for everything you've ever done in Sonic Syndicate, and for everything you are doing now in The Unguided, as well as Faithful Darkness now, too :)
You are truly my greatest inspiration. Your lyrics have saved me countless times, and in many different ways.  And when you left Sonic for logical reasons and you stood up for what you believe in, that really touched me.  In fact it inspired me to try to do that myself, and it has helped.
You are my hero, my inspiration, and my savior. Thank you once again... for everything.

You are amazing. Keep it up, Rich!

From an eternally grateful fan :)
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It’s little things like this that makes it worth continuing with all this even through I’m tired out of my head, and could possibly think of a thousand reasons why I should go to sleep instead of sitting here and pressing on with this new blog entry. But in the end, you’ll receive what you give. And you indeed always give me so much back, more than you possibly understand. Even a few lines like these from humble, little Cezy can literally keep me smiling for a week. And a smile is probably something I really welcome in these dark times (even though I don’t smile, everyone knows that!). It’s particular hard now when my uncle left us just some weeks ago to a terminal illness. He struggled with cancer for a long period of time, but his suffering has come to an end, and I’m most certain he’s in a better place now. I thank everyone for your condolences. I remember it bright as a day when he handed me “Iron Maiden – Seventh son of a seventh son” almost two decades ago. He was my biggest inspiration and I looked up to him with all I had. That album was my first step on an ongoing journey and musical bearings of my life. May the angels carry you home Robert, I’m certain your will sunder the heavens with your incredible guitar solos, and you can be sure I’ll protect your silver rings with my life here down on earth in the meantime and honor you in every way I possibly can. You’ll be greatly missed…


Robert Sjunnesson *1970-11-20 †2011-09-07
"It's better to burn out than to fade away"

 

Barry White

Q: What kind of car do you own / which is your favorite car?
A: I drive a Volvo S40, and that’s my favorite car. If I would state any other car than Volvo as my favorite, dad would come knocking with a shotgun. That’s how I’m raised!

Q: What does "Meastitia" mean?
A: Grief.

Q: What was the most awkward situation you've ever had to perform?
A: Must have been in Oslo, Norway when we played at a venue and all the gear and lighting blew the fuses powering up the whole building. We continued playing, obviously. Another instance was when we played in Kurgan, Russia on the BTC tour, when every 808 we had on the backtrack caused power dips. At first we couldn’t address the problem since the power came back straight after the low-frequency rumble. But then when we realized the cause, it was like “Alight, another sub-bass coming up in this song, brace for impact…” kind of deal. All non-acoustic gear just went dead silent, hehe. Awkward, but funny!


Power outage

Q: Is your father actually a metal head, or does he just support you? And how did he feel about Turisas' DVD's?
A: Well, he’s not a metal head to the marrow, but he indeed enjoys some metal music. I know he likes our music at least. And he also listens to some Nightwish and stuff. I have not had the opportunity to ask him about the Turisas’ DVD.

Q: Has number 1 of the 616 been discovered? On that note, what about number 2 and 616?
A: Not yet, the search continues. I do think Despotz is camping 616. Sneaky!

Q: How many Betrayer of the Code sales and Nightmareland jewel case sales were there?
A: Answered as of the last blog.

Q: Is there a link between the 'castle of cards' in 'Green Eyed Demon' and the 'house of cards' in 'Jack of Diamonds'.
A: Maybe. It’s really just a synonym for an unstable state of existence, really. And a castle is bigger than a house, so I guess it just makes the situation more critical.

 
Castle of cards

Q: I'm a little confused. Is the album to be released in September going to still be titled 'Nightmareland' or were that only the single containing GED and Pathfinder? If it's a completely different album, then are you going to release the artwork/name soon?
A: Released in September? What is this madness!? The album will probably be finished by the end of September, music-production-wise, but it’s nowhere near a release yet (<-LIES). And it’s not going to be entitled “Nightmareland”. That’s the EP name, as you said. Album artwork/name will be released soon, yes.

Q. When I was talking about the album covers, I wasn't talking about like “artwork ideas”.. Although that would have been cool if you could show us as well? Anyways, what I was talking about was the Only Inhuman had; standard artwork, limited edition artwork, tour edition artwork, Japan artwork and another tour edition artwork. Love and Other Disasters had two, standard and the Japan artwork. So I was wondering why We Rule the Night didn't have any form for alternative artwork. Or if it ever was planned any else for any record really..
A: For legal purposes I can’t show you any artwork ideas from OI. I did show you J.A.Aranguren’s sketch for OI some time ago since I know him, and he wouldn’t mind. But the same guys that did the OI/LOAD art made the other artwork ideas, and I don’t know them at all, except that they are from Austria, I dare to remember. But did OI and LAOD really have alternative artworks for Japan? I want to remember it was just a sticker. And under the sticker it was the same as Europe. I know the tour edition had a little different appearance with the band in the right corner and stuff. But other than that, I think it was the same for both of them, save from the “slip paper packaging” had altered visual appearance, but that was not really the artwork, right? The jewel case itself had the same one. I can be horribly wrong, though!

Q: Will the new The Unguided album come with a DVD/special edition? If yes, will that one also have an alternative artwork? And if yes, will it include bonus tracks?
A: As said in the last blog, there will be a special edition with a bonus song. But there won’t be DVD, unfortunately. We’ve been lazy with the camera, and since we recorded it in different studio sessions (like closer to eight different occasions) it would be a hell of a job to get a smooth running thread with all the footage, and weird structure and separation as well. It would probably just be confusing. There won’t be different artwork, but there will be a different layout design for the special edition.


Special edition

Q: How many tracks have been recorded for this albums recording session?
A: 11 songs.

Q: When can we expect a track listing or artwork? Anything really...
A: When the fan Facebook reaches 10,000 fans, hehe. (<- LIES!)

Q: Are you planning to release another single before the album drops? If yes, if you can tell, which track? I'd personally love to see Phoenix Down as a single, can imagine the artwork being br00tal.
A: It’s uncertain which track we’ll use as the first single as of now. We’ll see when the entire album is mixed and done. Phoenix Down sure is a dangerous candidate for that, though! If anything, I think we’ll release a video with the first single of the album, pre-album release. These are just speculations, so far.

Q: Did you record any of the performances that The Unguided has had so far? Would have been wicked bonus material for sure.
A: Dad recorded the entire Getaway show on his camera. And Jejje Andersson recorded the entire Falkenberg show. I don’t think there’s a complete video upload of the Malmö show, as far as I know. Nothing we’re planning on putting as bonus material on a DVD or something, YouTube can have that honor.


No crowdsurfing so far

Q. I have seen so many pictures where do you wear nice clothes. Where did you buy them?
2k2bt clothing and Sullen clothing are both awesome! Do you know a Swedish shop where I can buy this clothing? My brother lives in Sweden too. In the north but he does not know where can I buy something like your clothes.
A: You can buy 2k2bt clothing in Sweden here and Sullen Clothing here.

Q: Okay, this is a two part question. Well the first one is actually a DEMAND! While you and Roland work on recording vocals, we better see another episode of UnguidedTV :P I love that 'behind the scenes' sort of stuff. And secondly, since Roger has finished recording most of the instrumentals, do you think you could release a few tracks with the instrumentals only on your blog or something? That would be really cool :o
A: First question; we recorded some footage. We’ll see if we can use it for TheUnguidedTV. Your second question; NO! There won’t be any spoiling here; you patiently have to wait for the release.

Q: Just wondering if it's true that Roger has left Sonic Syndicate?
A: No, read his statement here.

Q: I am an aspiring harsh vocalist and I have a major question that I would like answered. Is there specific sheet music for screaming, or does it work the same way as singing? Also, do you even need to be able to read music to scream in a band? Can you read music?
A: Yeah, there’s sheet music for screaming and it’s very crucial for your screaming career to be able to read music in your screaming business. Sheet music for screaming can look something like this: BLAAARGH-RAAAWWWRR-GAAHHH-YAIIIIII-OHHHHHHH-BLAARGH-RAAAAWR.


Music theory

Q: I found myself hanging around your (The Unguided) MySpace profile (as having no-life day) and there's this "About Us" Section with bunch of Latin words and stuff.. I Google Translated the text and makes kind of no since (As any other text Google translated, heh) Here's the original and the translation to English:

Original:
lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur a dipiscing elit. aliquam sodales semper tellus ac scelerisque. duis vitae augue ut risus ornare rhoncus at tristique est. nullam quis orci odio, quis magna. proin tincidunt posuere massa, et mentum ullamcorper. aenean tortor lectus, dignissim non consectetur vitae, tempor at tellus. phasellus dignissim rutrum euismod. suspendisse ullamcorper urna nec tellus.

English:
Click images to list in the following from the dipiscing here. development and nation always remove it later. I'm here or trackback from your users and that is laughter. no more hatred, a man great. we put you here, and your chin. We use the bed, dignissim your life, at more. Add your Content. Forum process essentially unchanged. Do you have any sence why is this there and what is it REALLY trying to tell?
A: “lorem ipsum” is, in publishing and graphic design, just a placeholder text. It’s used to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or a visual presentation. It’s solely to test the font, typography and layout. Read more here. The proper English translation is suppose to be: “Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?”

Q: Gratz on the ring of yours :D I love the date 08-02 cause. 8-2 = 6 and 8*2 = 16.... Facit = 6,16... 616 :D
A: That was clearly intentional, haha. Probably as intentional as I happened to find the number in my social security number not too long ago, hehe.


The one ring

Q: By the way, I read an Interview with Roger today And he said Sonic will pause?? Awesome news to be honest! And they don't know for how long! If they would disband, would YOU get the rights for the songs?
A: I have no idea; I’m really not updated at all on what’s going on, you tell me? And no, the rights to the songs are personally tied. It’s not tied around Sonic Syndicate’s existence or lack of existence, so to speak.

Q: So are the three songs already released going to be on the new album?
A: Yes. We talked this through and we decided that we’ll put GED, PF and BOTC on the album as well. Why? Since there will be a lot of new fans to be gained with the album, and they certainly never heard the songs at all. They will however appear with a new mix/master, new drums and GED and PF will have new keyboards.

Q: When you write a song with your band, which instrument do you guys start off with? Guitar riff or the vocal?
A: We always start with the instrumentals first.


Instrument