Richard Sjunnesson

Ave!

Second show of The Unguided accomplished! Our hometown show here in Falkenberg at the annual Grand Rock event kicked major ass! The weather was to our advantage, as well, after many days of weeping skies on our sorry coast. Key representatives of the unguided army were at place, and the whole city was altogether veiled in a magical atmosphere.


Magical Atmosphere, Photo by: Robert Svensson

Our preparations for the second coming of The Unguided exceeded the premiere by a landslide, and there was even time to enjoy the show from our side this time around. It’s starting to feel a bit more organic, as everything is sinking more into its place. We’re all having a hell of a good time together. I understand now that this is how it was suppose to be, how it always was suppose to be.


"You are NOT prepared!" Photo by: Robert Svensson

The Unguided Grand Rock 26/7 LIVE Setup:
Richard Sjunnesson – Harsh Vocals
Roger Sjunnesson – Guitars
Roland Johansson – Clean Vocals / Guitars
Henric Carlsson – Bass
John Bengtsson – Drums


Rich, Photo by: Robert Svensson


Roger, Photo by: Robert Svensson


Roland, Photo by: Robert Svensson


Henric, Photo by: Robert Svensson


John, Photo by: Robert Svensson

The Unguided Grand Rock 26/7 LIVE Set list:
1. Pathfinder
2. Phoenix Down (New unreleased song)
3. Serenade of Guilt (New unreleased song)
4. Betrayer of the Code
5. Iceheart Fragment (New unreleased song)
6. Green Eyed Demon
7. Inherit the Earth (Fallen Angels revisited unreleased song)


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Fuck yeah ;) Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Kim Renström


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Robert Svensson


Photo by: Robert Svensson

We ran into little setbacks this time around. The arrangement, altogether, was convenient; the only complain would be that we had to sound check after “doors” which always looks awfully unprofessional (especially for divas as ourselves hehe.) Luckily, for us, the hero FOH sound engineer (Olle Persson) was well familiar to our sound, and had previously mixed us many times before in Sonic Syndicate. (He was also a colleague to Roland in Dodge.) It was a swift procedure, as he’s extremely skillful in his craftsmanship. I’d like to thank Jimmy Ahlberg and Grand for making this possible, Robert Svensson and Kim Renström for the awesome photos, Jejje Andersson for filming the whole deal and letting our distant fans be a part of it on YouTube, the 616 army for, once again, traveling far to support our sorry asses, and of course Sullen Clothing for supplying me with wicked threads, and doing so throughout the years. YOU’RE THE BEST!


Army of the Unguided, Photo by: Robert Svensson


The stage, before the unguided holocaust


Maximum security


Pimped merchstand


Getting shit togheter


Roland with his new iBanez baby


Medievil gear for the right vintage sound


Sad Bassist Panda


TM facial expression


Soundcheck, Roger got Roland's seal of approval


The 616 is mobilizing, Henric is well excited


Johncheck with his new toys


Backstage before gig


Extreme focus 


A final hairspray fix


And onwards to the stage!


Probably the youngest TU fan in the world, doing devil-horns, sort of...


After gig feast

Now we’re reloading the unguided weaponry for the upcoming Bandit Rock Night at Malmöfestivalen 20/8. The third show (and last summer show of The Unguided) this year will take place in Malmö - Sweden. It’s free entry, and we’ll share the stage with Dead by April, Hardcore Superstar, and Supercharger. If you are attending, join our event on Facebook here.


All your spettekaka are belong to us

As some of you know, who are following me on Facebook—and previous entries of this blog—I’ve been to Finland recently. Ella and I were attending Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in Helsinki to watch Blind Guardian, the best birthday present I ever got! Let me wheelchair you through this weekend:

Finland / Tuska Open Air / Blind Guardian Day II (22/7):
We had an evening flight from Landvetter airport to Helsinki-Vantaa aiport, so we didn’t drive towards Gothenburg until late afternoon. The same day we were leaving, I received the new Betrayer of the Code shirts from our fellow colleagues at Despotz. After some slight modifications, we both represented this new magnificent cloth, and armed ourselves with our Dark Funeral pentagrams obtained at Getaway Rock Festival.


We mean business

While I had to stay sober and drive, Ella jumped to the gun and had some Jäger in the car to the sound of Blind Guardian, on almost speaker blowing volume. I patiently had to wait until we passed the security at the airport for my first alcohol infused beverage, which of course blatantly SUCKED. (But nonetheless was a more euphoric experience once I got to cool off my throat with that magical first beer.) This was the first time I got to see Blind Guardian in almost a decade. For a band that’s without any competition my all time favorite, that’s a pretty low show attendance frequency, don’t you think? Well to be honest, I’ve tried! But we have always out toured each other, or other stupid obstacles (like silly ex-girlfriends with no taste in good music and shit) have been in my way. Last time they were in Sweden, I had my final batch of shows with Sonic Syndicate. And believe me, when I say that I really wanted to NOT show up on these and just drive to Gothenburg and sing “VALHALLAAAA” until my throat could not make one single sound anymore. Sadly, the loyalty to my brother hindered me to do such thing, but still the thought was compelling.


Thirsty driver


Shotgun drinker


At Landvetter. So far, so good, SO WHAT?!

We did an internet check in, and printed our boarding cards in advance at home. Meaning; not during one single occasion we had to legitimize ourselves at the airport. How that’s possible, or even legal, I do not know, but still that’s the most relaxing airport experience I ever had. Thank you, Finnair, for being awesome and service minded! Well behind the security, we rushed to the bar to maintain our fluid balance with a big beer. (Well not big in a “Deutsche lauten” perspective, but you know what I mean.) It would be nice to leave rainy Sweden behind to hit Finland, which, with our current Intel, was suppose to be hot as the Amazon jungle.


Smell you later Sweden
 

Landvetter


What took you so long!?


"Tämä on olut!"


Kippis!

While on the plane, we instantly ordered in sparkling wine to celebrate our first airborne experience together out of many to come. We also spoiled ourselves went nuts with cookies and… nuts for dinner. The flight to Finland goes an hour into the future, meaning the land of a thousand lakes could expect us somewhat before midnight.


Going into the future


Dinner

¨
Cloud city


Carbocide time


It's fun to fly <3


Evalutating our saftey and belch options while...


...spreading love

In Finland, safe and sound, we had already prepared ourselves to hurry to the bus connection into Helsinki by intentionally traveling light without luggage. That’s what professionals do! What you can’t fit in your carry-on, is simply not worth bringing. And damn it was hot! When we made our way out of the plane it didn’t feel like Scandinavia at all, more like coming to Greece or any other closer-to-the-equator-than-Sweden country. We had received some guidelines how to handle the bus connection but this was still somewhat confusing, so we had to improvise and trust the force. We found ourselves on a vessel to Turku. After a few minutes, we realized our fatal error, and swiftly changed buses. Finally, the journey into Helsinki began.


Safe landing in future world


Not a single cloud as far as the eye can see in "Greece"!


Some more love just to be sure


Waiting for the bus in hangar 22


This machine went "matkakortin tiedot" on our asses


"Turku sounds about right... right!?"


That's more like it!

As cool kids always do, we camped the backseats of the bus. And we were awfully loud and annoying, in a usual Scandinavian tourist fashion way. This lasted for the whole duration of the ride, until we hit the square of the Helsinki train station. Our hosts were stationary at Bar Bäkkäri together with a lot of other festival guests as the Fridays festival day was already over. Our hosts over the weekend were Flo from NoiseArt Records (Trusty old German friend which used to be our promoter on Nuclear Blast, even featured in a few SonicTV, if memory serves) and his girlfriend, Pirre. They had compassionately offered us a roof over our heads during our stay in Winland.


Utelizing the deadly iPhone + Garmin pathfinder system


Successfully reaching the right checkpoint


Ella scouting out Finlands answer to Trafalga Square

When we descended on the after party at Bar Bäkkeri, Flo and Pirre had built up an artillery of Vodka Cranberry for the occasion. We only saw one way out of this, and that was to drink us through the situation. And first rule of staying alive in Finland is: DON’T enter any drinking competition with the Finns, it will came out fatal and NEVER in favor to your own side. Ella found herself a finger lazor and pewpewed whatever she saw fit a blue lazer death, which was basically everything and everyone at the location. Some hours into this madness, an alarm started sounding. I asked Flo what it was all about, and he shrugged it off like it was standard procedure. 5 minutes later, the staff emptied the entire building because of a fire alarm, and the fire department was patiently waiting outside with a fire truck. 15 minutes later we could re-enter the building as it was a (laser related?) false alarm and could finish our Vodka Cranberry drinks in the line of Finnish customs, of course. This was the first bar I ever saw with a skateboard park build in. That should be standard if anything, at bars all around the world!


Flo & Pirre


So... where do we start?


We still mean business


Stagedive


It is obvious that this cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force...


...but by our skills with the fingerlazors


"Rich: Is that the fire alarm?"
"Flo: ...What? Nah, that's nothing."


We didn't start the fire...


FLO STARTED THE FIRE!!!


And it's on again!


Compulsory subject <3


Pewpew mouth


Good initiative

Much later we decided to stagger home to their place as we were becoming both too drunk and too tired to withhold any rules of manner. We walked to their apartment via the local kebab place. We made our women handle the administration of the food supply, while we manhandled the business talk outside. Unfortunately, some annoying high/drunk/retarded guy was pestering us, and Flo’s brilliant plan to evade him was to explain we were gay lovers. Yes, peculiar was my first thought, but whatever works!? Another Finnish custom, I believe. And yeah it did work, he basically RAN away when Flo asked if he wanted to join us to the apartment… Well, in their flat, we devoured the kebab feast as a pack of hungry Rancors. And then got ourselves a few hours of sleep before it was time for the big event, which was the actual reason why we were there. Before we all passed out in their apartment, we listened to a bit of Skull fist. KILLER, as Flo himself, would have described it.


Perculiar Ale glasses, they almost look like shoes

 
Kebab and pyttipannu


"Honey, I swear the flight tickets said Finland"


The supporting pillar of the flat


Devoured kebab, rancorian style


"Yawn"

Finland / Tuska Open Air / Blind Guardian Day II (23/7):
Pirre was working on the festival, so she left early in a stealthy fashion. Some hours later we all woke up, still drunk out of our minds, and I could foresee one hell of a headache coming my way in a collision course, if I didn’t do something radical. We hurried down to the nearest store, and bought liquid breakfast in the shape of two Karhu. And then we grabbed a cab to the festival.

'
Breakfast


Washed my hair with some s(h)amp(o)o

Pirre had sorted VIP passes for Ella and me as a surprise—very sweet of her! And once we cashed them out, we joined the spectacle at the EMP band signing outpost where we were welcomed with drinks from friendly people we met from last night. We also bumped into Jukka, who I haven’t seen since the 2009 Finnish Metal Expo. Time flies!


EMP outpost


The hospitalty was compelling


Beer triplets and all


Nightwish in da house

The weather was a bit unstable but according to the forecast it would be good for the gig in the evening, which was basically the only thing out of interest for me anyway. The band playing at our arrival was Epica. As that is not really my cup of Vodka Cranberry, we decided to hunt down some food instead. We bought fried rice, chicken and.. poo? Didn’t really matter what it was, we we’re both starving! Later on we got a glimpse of Moonsorrow before we headed back to the EMP tent and the signing session of Blind Guardian.


Unstable weather


Epica


Massive structure


Moonsorrow


And some more beer


Rice, chicken and... poo


Delicious

This is where I transformed, and mentally became 15 years younger, feeling like a little girl meeting Backstreet Boys, or any other of their meaningless idols. Fact is; Blind Guardian does not consist of meaningless idols, they were living Gods of this earth, which I haven’t had the opportunity to see since September 6th 2002 in Gothenburg. It surpassed my wildest dream to experience the whole event like this. When they were done with signing (which indeed felt never-ending) Hansi walked up to me, called me by name and grabbed my hand. He even remembered our very limited mail conversations, where I was looking to feature him as a guest singer on the The Unguided album. I was star struck beyond recognition, and kept my words short (to not make a complete fool out of myself) and just about was able to fight back my happy tears. Ella snapped a couple of photos with Hansi and me before they were heading to their transport back to the backstage area. I saluted the rest of the band with a steady handshake, and then they were gone. That was that. It’s peculiar how a short happening like that can outrank a lifetime of events. And I consider my life, in particular, very eventful compared to the average Joe’s life. I recalled how many people I’ve met during my own career that have cried out of happiness by meeting my own worthless ass, and suddenly I could for once, in my own existence, experience the same force. One of the best days in my life, and by far the best birthday present I ever got. I will remember it until the day I die. Thank you Ella, for being as awesome as you are. Thanks Flo, Pirre, and the folks at EMP Finland for making this happen. Eternally grateful!


Signing of the blind


(No need for words here)

When I managed to collect myself a bit, we went to see our own countrymen in Katatonia, realizing later on that we didn’t have cash to buy merchandise, and they sure didn’t take VISA. We headed out of the festival to find ourselves a cash machine. We got some urban sightseeing action simultaneously, since it was quite a walk. Back on the festival, we bought Blind Guardian merchandise. I bought myself a hoddie. Ella got herself a t-shirt (Which she mutilated later on to make it more fashionable.) We watched some Wintersun before we made a sitting ovation by the big stage where the changeover to Blind Guardian was taking place.¨


Katatonia


Desired merchendise


Urban sighteeing


Dog parking


Longest word in the world


Wintersun


Sacred times indeed


Line-check


Time stands still before the show

The gig was remarkable, stunning, extraordinary, (put random superlative here)!!! Best show I’ve seen in my entire life. Only gig that could compete of all the shows I’ve witness in my time on earth, would be their Gothenburg show back in 2002 from the “Night at the Opera” tour (which was last time I saw them if anyone didn’t get that.) This was, however, equally breathtaking!  They played 10 songs, to be exact, and here’s the setlist:

1. Sacred Worlds
2. Welcome to Dying
3. Nightfall
4. Time Stands Still (at the iron Hill)
5. Turn the page
6. Valhalla
7. Tanelorn (into the Void)
8. Wheel of Time
9. The Bard’s song – In the Forest
10. Mirror, Mirror


Blind Guardian


Blind Guardian


Blind Guardian


Blind Guardian


Blind Guardian


Blind Guardian


Blind Guardian


immortalizing

If there’s anything to say about the set list at all, is that I could have wished for something from “Imaginations from the other side” or “Night at the Opera” instead of “Turn the Page.” But I’m sure they had their reasons for leaving them out, which I’m in no position to question at all. You simply don’t question Gods. Gods question you!  This magnificent show will stay in my heart forever, and Hansi does have the best voice in the world, both on record and live. PERIOD. Hope to see you again soon and I’ll make sure it won’t be a decade in between till next time.


Gods of the earth

After the amazing Blind Guardian gig, we went to get a glimpse of Ghost. I saw some photos of them from Getaway Rock Festival and looked like they had a cool live show going. I figured I’d make sure not to miss them here. And indeed, really good stuff! Visually, it was awesome. I think I kind of liked them audio-wise, as well. I’ll need to listen to it a bit more.


Ghost

Then we went back to the EMP holdout. This was where I could sit down and explain to everyone how unearthly awesome the Guardian show was, while they were supplying us with more drinks, and not paying too much attention. Hehe. Our last few endeavors on Tuska were to watch some Devin Townsend, which was the headliner of the day before we hurried to the VIP area while they were still serving food. Early curfew of the festival, a bit strange but I guess it have to do with the centrality of the location and bars want to get their share of the crowd after curfew.


"BG was awesome Flo, AWESOME!"


Played!


Weekend's mission: Accomplished


Drivebying the mainstage on our way to the VIP bar 


Devin Townsend


Dinner time!

Upon the consumption of the food, we summoned a cab with the rest of the EMP gang, so we could head back to Bar Bäkkäri when they closed down the festival area. After a few drinks there, however, this day was starting to get a bit too long for my taste. I’m getting old and shit. And with close to no sleep the night before, I decided to call it like a quisling. Ella and I threaded back to Flo and Pirre’s apartment alone to get some well-deserved sleep.


Cab to Bar Bäkkäri

Finland / Tuska Open Air / Blind Guardian Day III (24/7):
For spending the night on an air mattress, I had a considerably good night of sleep and didn’t feel quite so hung-over that day. I didn’t even wake up when our hosts made their late night entrance. Now it was our time to return the favor and not wake them up when we made our way back to the train station square. We left the apartment as silently as two ninja assassins, and then tried to kick some life into my GPS for the right coordinates. The more worrying thing would be to find the right bus back to the airport without any guidance from our hosts.

None of the above matters were any problems, however, because the force smiled at us this day as well.  We’re as urban smart as two pigeons (pigeon sith lords of course). We walked straight to the correct square, and the right bus was already waiting for us there. It was just as beautiful as an oasis in Sahara. Easy as pie! What was even easier was the internet check-in at the airport. Basically, we could just flip off the ENDLESS line of people waiting to check-in, and just dance through security to enjoy breakfast in the airport longe on the other side.


Sith lords on the right transportation


Clone security


Made it through


Reward: Breakfast and...


Ooze


Farewell Moomins


Our ride home

While on the plane back, we both feel asleep like two siamese twins attached at the head. I’m pretty confident I dreamt about dragons, bards, and wizards those 40,000 feet up in the air. I was coming home to Sweden with memories of a very pleasant weekend in Finland, and above all, a fulfilled childhood dream.


Right plane


Dreamland; 40,000 feet up in the air

Speaking about fans and their fanship, let’s stay on topic, as I’ll introduce you to some fine examples of dedicated fans to The Unguided:

First out is David Rieche from Germany; with his incredible sense of art he created this masterful piece:


Roger's a lefty

Then we have a photomontage from our homeland buddy, Jesper Pettersson, who has done a Zelda themed piece of The Unguided. As all of us in TU have done our fair share of keyfinding in Zelda back in the days. This was a very honorable contribution! Our only question is; who is actually Zelda out of us in the triforce? The plot thickens!


The Unguided Force

Here’s a picture from Kim Renström, also from Sweden, who has been at every TU gig up to date. Yes, all two of them(!!!). With his trigger-happy-camera-finger, he also supplied you guys with a lot of YouTube live footage as well as live photographs. He’s a proud owner of the full collection of TU merchandise. You guys should follow his excellent lead:


Full TU collection 

Next up is the TU fan, Lorena! She has dedicated a wall of hers to The Unguided crest, and this made us very proud, indeed. Must have been very time consuming, and she deserves all the credit she can get.


Writing on the walls

Martin Suffa is one of the 616, and also the owner of two custom-made TU Flip-Flops. This footwear is something I suggest everyone has in their summery beach bag. I myself am inseparable from mine.  They are far from as nice as these through. Good job!


Beach boy 2011

Petra Karlsson has tattooed the solar symbols from Eden Fire and Nightmareland. From how I understand it, this tattoo has been decorating her skin for quite some time but she has not decided to bring it up until now. Very convenient timing, indeed, as she instantly got rewarded with an @the-unguided.com mail address!


Tripple solar symbol

Johannes Graßmann, from Germany, has done a sketch of a TU photo session picture. Really skillfully done! I look proper pissed, just the way I like it.


"I will eat your heart out"

Tibor Rota Kasza, from Hungary, has done another really beautiful sketch of Roland and me. I got all green eyed with jealousy since your art skills are amazing. Nicely executed!

Twoforce

So, there you have a little wall of fame for our fans. I thought it was appropriate since I spent the whole Tuska weekend being the biggest fan boy ever, and you just know how much I love to level with you, and how much I respect you in your fanship.



Another recent happening was the Faithful Darkness gig at Malmöfestivalen 29/7. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to rehearse at all for this BUT it was nonetheless an amazing gig with a kick-ass crowd. Then again, only unprofessional bad bands rehearse anyway.


Faithful Darkness, Photo by: Kim Renström


Faithful Darkness, Photo by: Kim Renström


Faithful Darkness, Photo by: Kim Renström


Faithful Darkness, Photo by: Kim Renström

Here’s the set list from the show:
1. Stay Awake
2. Black Mirror’s Reflection (new)
3. Stand as One (new)
4. Bound to Illusions
5. Remember this Fight (new)
6. Another Pain (new)
7. Hate Injection
8. Blessing of Ignorance (new)


Girlfriend perspective


Dedicated fans

In total, that includes 5 songs from the upcoming album Black Mirror’s Reflection and it was brutal to ventilate the new, strong material live. The album is getting together as we speak, more news about it in coming blogs. Here’s an interview in Swedish by Johan in connection to the gig. The show was a bit of a hit and run deal for me, since I had to get back to my nightshift. So, I’m sorry that I couldn’t come out and mingle with the fans, but I’ll make sure to make up for it next gig where I’ll perform naked!


Making oneself less ugly


Couscous; the dish so tasty they had to name it twice


Drummers and their everlasting work


A stunning improvement


Representin'

So, what else? I finally sold my Xbox 360 AND PSP. Now I’m rich, and will spend all the money on WoW action figures. I put out my second computer now, as well. So, buy it here! Hehe. Ella also cut my hair recently. I pointed to a picture of Henric Carlsson and said I want to be as beautiful as him: “MAKE IT HAPPEN!” And she did. She’s a very good barber. I don’t understand how she’s pursuing her lawyer dream over a barber career when she’s THAT good with an electric shaver. I also saw the last Harry Potter, and will base all my further lyrics around the movie.


Harry have a nice haircut too! Haven´t seen the movie? here you go.

Before the Q&A, let’s point and laugh some shall we?


Umadbro?

Q: I would like to know will you make like Nordic Countries tour including: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. I think it would be reasonable because you are Swedish band so it would be tour on neighbor countries only. And if you will come to Finland could you come to Seinäjoki Rytmikorjaamo because every band that comes to Finland to play a gig always comes to Helsinki that is 5 hour drive from where I live and the gigs are always k-18 and I’m only 16 years old so I cant go to see those bands. And another question is that will you make full length album with 7-10 songs in it cause that live performance that you made in that festival had already 5 songs if I’m right I’m not sure.
A: Tell me; are you some kind of booking agent? There is no tour planned, and if we play in Finland, we’re most likely to play in Helsinki. Why? Because that’s what bands do! It’s solely a convenience question. Of course it’s all depended on what offer we might get. Everything is possible. It’s just a matter of enough money and/or promotion to make it worth our while. If we got a great offer from a venue in Seinäjoki Rytmikorjaamo (How am I even going to be able to pronounce that from stage?) we would go there instantly, of course. We are already currently recording the full-length album, and we have 7 songs out of 11 ready.


Seinäjoki Rytmikorjaamo

Q: After reading that you probably won't be able to perform any of the old SS material I was wondering if you are planning on creating a song with a message comparable to Jailbreak. Jailbreak helped me a lot in the past years and still is my number one played song on last.fm. From lots of comments on different platforms (myspace, youtube, last.fm, ...) I've seen that there are many people who especially liked this song and listened to it a lot to just shout out their feelings about a lost love. For me not only great lines like "and when two rivers run together..." 
or "I can't reach my mind..." but also the fast and heavy type of the song was what made it perfect. You could just turn the volume up and scream all the pain and sadness away. I sure hope for another song for the heartbroken (and not some kind of slow ballad please ^^)! Keep up the awesome, awesome work, I can't describe how much I love the new songs!
A: Why should I write lyrics about broken hearts when I’m simply not heartbroken? I want to write lyrics about relevant matters in my life. And regarding my love life, I haven’t been happier. Now I want to write songs about vampires, dungeons & dragons and hello-kitty. That’s ALWAYS topical! Hehe. 


Hell-o Kitty

Q: hi rich...are you still in sonic syndicate?...I haven't saw you last time on tour in Milan...so...anyway great work with the unguided, what about the drummer?, sounds like john!
A: Are you for real? Read this. 


...

Q: My favorite song from you and Roland has always been My Escape but I don't think you guys performed it at all. Can't find any fancams or anything like that, is there any chance of you guys maybe performing this song in the future? I'd love to have a live audio rip of it.
A: Because of this. We won’t be able to play Sonic Syndicate songs. And even if we were, we would never look into playing ballads.

Q: Who will be doing the artwork for the album upcoming? What will be the name of this album? When can we expect this album? Or is it too soon for the latter two Q’s?
A: Kuang Hong has already done the artwork for the upcoming album, and the name is yet to be announced. Hopefully, we can expect it this winter.


.the.colossus. by Kuang Hong

Q: Hey rich. I bought my betrayer package but it has not arrived to Denmark yet kind of weird :S do u know why? :D
A: [email protected], I think a lot of people missed the fact it would be shipped out week 27/28 when they pre-ordered it. Read what you buy, damn it! Hehe.

Q: Will there be any making-of video for The Unguided or Faithful Darkness with the coming albums?
A: Nothing planned. And as we record both during different sessions it would be weird to start with the behind scene recording now. For the TU album, we have fours song left to record instrumentally, vocals for seven songs, and then it’s done. For the Faithful Darkness, we’re done with the drum and bass, and they are recording guitars as we speak. Clean vocals are close at hand, and then I’ll put my vocals on it.

Q: As I would really like to hear/see The Unguided at some festivals in Germany, I just got the idea to ask some of them if they'd "invite" you to play there. Just like Wacken, WFF, Summerbreeze, Rockharz and so on. So, is THE UNGUIDED in general able to come to Germany for some festivals? ;)
A: If you get any of those festivals for us, I can guarantee you that we’ll be very available.


TU on Wacken 2012? YES PLEASE!

Q: Was watching some YouTube clips and found this clip. personally I think Nathan can’t do the song justice, but Christoffer does really good job with it! He should have done it alone. My question is, what do you think about the performance? And why did they all of a sudden decided to play a Eden Fire song? A: I think it sounds confusing with bad vocal separation and clean vocals; I like Christoffer’s performance though. And I’ve touched this matter before here.

Q: There seems to be quite a lot of confusion as how to pronounce your name. Solution? Post a YouTube video of you saying your full name three times, Accent and all. Please? :D
A: I'll do a soundclip, when I find some time.

Q: I’m just curious as to whether or not you are planning on coming back to the US on vacation like you did when you went to New York City. You seemed to enjoy yourself there, at least from what the pictures showed anyway haha. I wish I could’ve made my way to NYC to possibly meet you because lets face it; you’re a god among musicians, at least in my book. If you do decide to visit here again, you can bet I’m going to make any effort to make it there hopefully you can find the time soon!
A: Nothing planned, but of course I’d love to come back to the US on vacation. Next time, however, I’m possibly looking into going to the west coast, though.


"I'll be back"

Q: We need an army of the unguided t-shirt. Something that you get only if you’re a member. It should include name and rank. That would be so awesome!
A: Free stuff rulez! We’ll see what we come up with for the coming designs. We don’t have the economy in the band to do it free, however.

Q: Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is Henric your official bassist now? A real member so to speak?
A: He’s our official live member. But I think we all see both John and Henric as perma-members as of now.

Q: Is it true that all the girls in Sweden are very hot? If so, moving to Sweden!!:D
A: ALL girls from Sweden are far from hot. I just happened to obtain a very unique specimen.