Something expendable was all I craved
Kategori: Allmänt
Hey Folks!
As you surely have not missed, there are two 20-second sound previews up from the two new songs included on the highly anticipated EP, NIGHTMARELAND. They can be injected right into your earpussies by clickelyclicking here:
The Unguided TV Nightmareland Preview
We ran into little to non problems recording the two songs at The Abyss together with our old friend, Jonas Kjellgren! I was traveling from the east coast on the first studio day to get myself to Pärlby. My two brothers in arms, Roger and Roland, and our uncle Robert headed out from the west coast a day early to get a good night sleep before the first day of recording. However, when I woke up in Stockholm on the 11th of February, a violent blizzard defiled our lands. I saw this as a very definite sign. A gaze out from the window could have very well been the same motive as the Nightmareland cover artwork, excluding the bluish ghouls. I fired up the engines on my trusty war vehicle, Volvo S40, and made my way to Pärlby with the impressive speed of 10km/h in the snowstorm. Let me sum up the whole weekend for you!
The Unguided - Nightmareland or Stockholm? YOU DECIDE!
Studio Day I:
I woke up at my girlfriend’s place in Stockholm, and realized by a look out from the window this drive would very much be a suicide ride. But there was nothing getting in my way and Pärlby that day. Not even a thousand miles of snow. I was supposed to be in the studio around midday. This was not going to happen, so I called Roger to report my slight time delay. He was a little surprised by the fact, and revealed to me they were already done with the drums, and he has started full on with rhythm guitars.
Shredding!
I shoveled out my vehicle buried in the snow, packed all necessary supplies together along with my woman into the vessel. Without doubt I needed a co-pilot, and an extra pair of eyes for this mission since the road visibility was nonexistent. Our journey to the heart of Sweden began.
10km/h
Many hours later, and even more spins on the Faithful Darkness album In Shadows Lies Utopia, we reached our destination in Pärlby. Now there was just one path between the studio and us. I kind of misjudged the whole snow depth issue on this particular path and accelerated right into huge pile of loose snow, burying the car without any chance of getting it unstuck. Roland offered his helping hand, and made his way out to the vehicle with a shovel. We all soon realized that we were probably better off waiting for spring than the chance to get this vehicle out from the vicious, wintry death grip.
Shoveling...
This demoralization only lasted for so long because I soon happily found out the guys were almost finished with the rhythm guitars, and were going to head right into the leads. At this point, we could already see that we were to finish all string bending on the first day, including the bass, excluding solos—which we wanted to save for after we were done with the vocals. Jonas was also an hour early the first day, which is a bit surprising; this however took a time toll on the other two days where he showed up two hours late. So it all was equalized in the end! By the end of the day we were indeed finished with all guitars and bass, and could begin with vocals the next day in good consciousness.
First Day success calls for devil horns!
Dinner this evening was made up by Swedish homely fare in the form of pasta and meatballs cooked by the A-(food)Team, consisting of my girlfriend and myself. We also celebrated the first day with some fine Springbank CV whiskey brought from Roland’s own collection at home. He’s housing 106 bottles (!!!) of single malt whiskeys in this very impressive collection. We also signed a couple of items sent to us by fans.
Evening Delight
After dinner, Roger installed his Playstation 3 on Jonas’s studio equipment, where everyone sat around the screen to get a huge portion of after midnight fear in the shape of Dead Space II.
Nightfear
Studio Day II:
When Jonas eventually showed up we started the day with reamping guitars to get a meatier sound to track vocals to. After that was done, I commenced vocal tracking for the songs in my usual fashion—the same way Roland, Jonas, and I have worked during throughout the years. No need to change a winning concept! Also, since guitarists get to choose their favorite guitars and amp head when they record, I saw the same window of opportunity as a vocalist. I chose my own Shure SM7B to record my vocals along with an Emperical Lab Distressor, which is the same setup I used for Eden Fire and We Rule The Night.
Distressor action
I also took a great deal of notes of how Jonas configured the sound, Eqs, and certain plug-ins in order to try out his craftsmanship back home in my own studio. It was a very educational experience! I nailed the two songs pretty effective, and gave way to Roland, so he could start with the clean vocals.
Configuration
Roland used the same RØDE condenser microphone as he used for Love and other Disasters. We finished all the clean vocals with harmonies, along with the vocals for Green Eyed Demon during day two. I like the idea of having different microphones on our voices since that will result in a more different clang and vibe on the vocal mix. Also, separate microphones work in different ways for different vocalists. Roland’s voice sure is beneficial going through the clear sound of a condenser microphone, while I feel my voice (and screaming vocals overall) benefits from a dynamic microphone, especially the SM7, which picks up a lot of detailed mouth action seeing its biggest using area is a radio spokes microphone.
Roland, the human synthesizer
After the vocal recording experience on the first song, Jonas could foresee everything was not quite set in stone when it came to the vocals. We had a lot of rough ideas that had yet to be tested. This, he thought, was awfully time consuming and suggested that we sit down with the other song the next night to make everything more definitive. This was a good idea obviously, since we didn’t end up wasting valuable recording time.
We also got to hear bits and pieces of PAIN’s new record, which Peter Tägtgren was busy mixing during our stay. It sounds BRUTAL as hell! It’s very varied and dynamic. I’m really looking forward to that release after what I’ve heard in the studio. I have always been a PAIN and Hypocrisy fan.
PAINfull month
Also, our good friend Peter Johansson honored us with his visit on the evening of the second recording day. He brought supplies in terms of booze, and other necessities. A 20-year matured Lagavulin whiskey kept the minus 20-degree weather outside at bay. Dinner was once again pasta. This time around we also were spoiled with the luxury of an oven-baked chicken. Peter Tägtgren took the dinner opportunity to speak about the ghostly inhabitants of Pärlby before he wandered off to his house nearby the studio.
Welcomed guest and ghosts
Drunk on whiskey Roland and I sat down in a creative environment to stake out the melodies on Pathfinder. We used my iPhone to record the ideas, and by the time we were off to bed we were very satisfied with the result. Hearing the recording the morning after gave us a good laugh but the fact stood fixed. The ideas were really good! Thank you Lagavulin ;)
Studio Day III:
I celebrated pretty hard the second day, seeing my work in the studio was done. Little did I know that we were to change a lot of parts in Pathfinder during the night, so I had to revisit a lot of screaming parts. I also had to fit everything together with the new composed melodies. While my headache was wearing off, Roland and Jonas tracked the clean vocal melodies we came up with the night before. And after that I made the necessary adjustments to the screams.
Headache...
I left some holes for Roland’s clean vocals in the verses on Pathfinder. But we all felt it was a bit unwarranted to slap in clean vocals in the verses just for the sake of getting clean vocals in there. So, we left the job to Peter Tägtgren, where he filled the vocal holes with his Hypocrisy death metal screams as a guest appearance. It sounded mighty brutal! Also, seeing that I’ve been a huge fan of Peter’s work as far as I can remember, that was a little dream of my own coming true. I got to have a scream race with that legendary man, and the result is face melting!
Jonas was so thrilled he showed us his cameltoe
Roger was spending most of the day doing the final adjustments to the keyboards. And after vocal recording, Roland was busy nailing the solos. There’s an extensive solo in Pathfinder, while in Green Eyed Demon there’s a more compressed short one.
Synthesizing
The last note of the solo was finished the third and final day of the recording. The only thing left for us to do was to look forward to the seven-hour drive back to Falkenberg. And that concludes this very successful weekend!
NIGHTMARELAND EP recording DONE!!!
We all did a lot of filming in the studio, which will be released shortly after the songs are available for you! Release day with a pre-order option will be up and running soon. Let all of us try to get pressure on that first week and blow that chart a new one! And show everyone that good metal music is where it’s at! If someone managed to miss out on THE UNGUIDED TV Tattoo & Pre-production Special, you can find it right here:
The Unguided TV Tattoo & Pre-production Special
THE UNGUIDED have also signed a deal with the Swedish record label DESPOTZ RECORDS. The plans are that the NIGHTMARELAND EP will be released worldwide in a very exclusive physical edition, including some extra goodies, as well as digitally through iTunes. We have been very picky when it comes to signing onto anything, and Despotz managed to win our trust without any penalty points what so ever. We are heading into this alliance with great eagerness. We are strongly looking forward to seeing what they can do with this particular release, and a possible future collaboration. Read more here.
The premiere gig for THE UNGUIDED at Getaway Rock Festival in Gävle / Sweden has been set to 7th July. Be sure to join the event on Facebook if you are attending here.
Also, the event of my own stage premiere in Helsingborg / Sweden on the 25th of February with Faithful Darkness can be found here, an event that is closing in swiftly.
Leah Eropkin has been generous once again in providing the fans and us with some brilliant art. Here are some THE UNGUIDED treats and wallpapers (1920x1080, 1152x864 and 1280x960) for you guys:
tuwallpaper.zip (262kb)
Some new stuff I bought:
New shizzle
1. Compressor: A dbx Professional product 266XL Compressor/Gate bought from Jonas Kjellgren.
2. Plug-in: Massey CT4 software compressor, Jonas used this in the studio and it impressed me. It was also cheap!
3. New CDs: Bought the best of Iced Earth two CD album “The Blessed and the Damned” also I bought the Blind Guardian Live album, which somehow strangely was missing in my collection.
I’m also heading into my friend’s studio, Mikael Sällström (who often worked as a sound engineer for Sonic during my time in the band), Sällström Audio to record my vocals on a Faithful Darkness song called Hate injection. The mixing date, however, is not decided at this point.
Also, as a side note, if you have questions for the FAQ please DON’T mail me on my Facebook Fan page. Mail me at [email protected], so I get a systematic structure on it.
FAQ XI:
It’s not really a FAQ is it? It’s more of a IAAQ (I answer all questions) type of deal.. But whatever!
Q: Seeing you are an electrician and all, I thought maybe you can fix my lamp? I live in Värmland so it’s not really that far of a drive. If you have time of course?
A: Sure! I’ll do that; I can also fix your mom at the same time seeing it was a while now.
MILF
Q: Since you guys won't be doing any far away or extensive touring, what'll you be doing? I know promoting and stuff. But will that mean you'll be releasing a lot music more often or are you still going to do one every year or so?
A: I guess THE UNGUIDED will be more of a studio project with a few live shows here and there. When we’re done with the recording of NIGHTMARELAND EP we will immediately start the pre-production for the LP. We are aiming to record that after the summer and we already have songs for an entire album. Also, Roger just recently got the same recording interface as me. We are sorting that out for Roland as well. That will make everything very efficient, in terms of file sharing and transfers over internet. Basically, we never have to move and see each other at all! Hehe. I think releasing more than two albums a year is pretty unrealistic, but an EP with unique songs and then an LP once per year is certainly doable!
Q: Will you be with Faithful Darkness as a fulltime vocalist, or is it just temporary till they find someone else?
A: I’m their fulltime vocalist, and I’m very permanent. Much like a parasite! Even if they find someone else, I will still show up to rehearsals and stand on stage for live gigs and stuff. We also have started pre-production for our upcoming album.
Permanent
Q: Has Spinefarm given you any offers? Then all my favorite bands would be signed to them :)
A: No offers from Spinefarm, where’s the Finnish love?!
Q: I noticed on your blog that you wrote that you never made a side band because in sonic it was forbiden. Well, how come roger can be part of your band, and he is still in sonic too?
A: A vague memory tells me that I did answer this question before. And seeing that I’m such a nice guy, I’ll walk you through this again. The policy towards side projects in Sonic has been revised, that’s why Roger can multitask in such an awesome manner as he does.
Roger style
Q: what was your workout routine that you did to get a six pack like in the Fallen Angels picture with your shirt off? It looks so awesome! Also, what supplement did you take (if any) and what kind of food did you eat and not eat in your diet?
A: MAN! That’s nothing; look at the picture under! Hehe. Nah, I think during those years I had a very strict pasta and meat diet. Not much protein as far as I remember, so it was clearly not optimal. Once again, I’ve changed my diet. I now have a very strict cottage cheese, egg, tuna & pasta diet. No supplements what so ever. I didn’t dig the soya protein that much but it was a good try. Now I try to skip supplements and just eat food with a lot of protein, and carbs before gym/cardio.
Abbs action!
Q: In your last blog entry you said The Unguided is playing at Getaway Rock Festival. You have plans on recording that gig for, maybe, a DVD or something like that?
A: Loving the idea! If that will make people too lazy to show up for the gig I won’t confirm that just yet, though, hehe.
Q: Can you give me a serious answer of screaming vocals since in your FAQ you didn't really answer me. ;)
A: Seriously, I don’t know what type of scream I do, and I don’t care. I just do it. And if there’s scientific research to label screaming vocals from someone with way too much spare time, I’m sure there must be some kind of meaningless, in-depth Wikipedia description to it as well. And surely it’s not that hard to figure it out from there? Fry, Growl, Braveheart yells, cup of care!? Does it have any significant function in the world at all to label a scream? NO! Let’s focus on what’s important on this planet, like if there will be a Starwars VII, for example. NOW THAT’S LIFE DEPENDING!
A New Generation
Q: Last year with sonic @ download '10 did you actually get round to watching any performances? Because I know the bands have some sort of back stage thing going on, just curious as to what it is back there?
A: I watched FFDP, HIM, Volbeat, 30 Seconds To Mars, Megadeth, Rise against the machine, and god knows all. 30 Seconds To Mars had the most impact on me! I’ve heard so much stuff about how they sound like rubbish live but seriously that show blew me away ten times over. Jared is such a one-man show, and it was not hard to understand why that man is both a rock star and a movie star. Backstage of at Donington? I found nothing special as far as I remember. Miles and miles of naked woman, and unlimited supplies of booze—nothing out of the ordinary. Met Tony Iommi, which was cool if something!
Richmeister & Toni Iommi
Q: For the misunderstanding about the lyrical purpose of "RiNL": I don't play WoW, or I did like until I was lvl 50, then I got way too bored of it. Then I read on YouTube that it had connections to WoW and asked a friend of me too look at the lyrics and tell me it was correct. He thought so because of the words you pointed out in an earlier blog as well as "dots", as I understand it that's like.. Something you can use if you are mage (I think) to spot (or more exactly DOT) your enemies.
A: Lvl 50? Tell me, why am I even wasting my time on a n00b!? ;) I now understand where you are coming from with the DOT thingy, should have made that connection firsthand, I guess. Hehe. DOT = Damage over time. My fearsome class has a DOT called rupture. It makes people bleed till death. I like it!
Rupture
Q: The video for "Contradiction," almost every Sonic Syndicate video has been highly promoted and stuff, but not "Contradiction," why? BlankTV is in fact the only one who has posted it (besides other users ripping it) on YouTube. There was never an announcement from the band nor Nuclear Blast about its release.. please clarify!
A: “Contradiction” was never officially released, and I don’t know if that BlankTV release is legitimate, or if that’s some kind of sneaky piracy. Contradiction was supposed to be released after Power Shift. However, seeing that Roland gave his verdict to the band that he was leaving shortly after Power Shift was released, neither the label nor the band thought were would be much sense in pushing a song with the old singer. Certainly not when that particular song was very much Roland-oriented. Excuse me, JUST Roland, more correctly.
Q: The video for "Soulstone Splinter," could you tell me the story behind it? Producer etc.
A: The video for “Soulstone Splinter” from the Black Lotus demo was shot in Falkenberg by Niklas Henrikczon, who Robin’s half-brother. The performance shots where done in a corridor next to our old rehearsal room. The girl scenes were shot in my old apartment. The plot in the video, from how I remember, is something in the lines of this: The sister of the dude in the video goes into a downward spiral, and kills herself from an overdose. He mourns for her, and decides to commit suicide to meet her again in the afterlife. Happy ending!
Q: As I've understood it was "Jailbreak" the one and only single from Eden Fire (if that's even true). How come you made a video for "Soulstone Splinter," which spawned from a demo, and not from "Jailbreak," which is the lead single for your full-length album?
A: The video for “Soulstone Splinter” was done two years before Eden Fire was even released. If it didn’t occur to you the “Soulstone Splinter” video song is not exactly the recording you will find on Eden Fire. It was the demo version of the song.
Q: I've found on the internet artwork covers of the singles "Jack of Diamonds", "My Escape", "Burn This City", "Revolution, Baby!", "Turn It Up!" and "My Own Life". Was there ever made artwork for the singles "Denied", "Jailbreak", "Enclave", "Power Shift" and "Contradiction"? If so, I'd really love take a look on them.
A: Not as far as I remember.
Q: Nathan keeps saying that We Rule the Night is the THIRD Sonic Syndicate album, why does he exclude Eden Fire? Could it have something to do with the fact that Internet rumors has it that Eden Fire is more or less considered an compilation album as it only almost features re-recorded tracks from the Fallen Angels-Era, which makes Only Inhuman the debut. What do you have to say about this?
A: For some reason there was an ongoing hatred for Eden Fire in the band. I would go as far as to say that certain individuals who were ashamed of the effort actually. Some joined the band after Eden Fire which explains their lack of emotional attachment to the effort. I don’t see Eden Fire as a compilation album, seeing that the first three tracks were exclusively written and recorded for the album. Even if it did go a bit under the radar for obvious reasons in terms of availability and was an underground concept, I see it as the debut. I’m also very proud of Eden Fire. I think it’s a great piece of history.
Eden fire
Q: In Psychic suicide during the last chorus it sounds like Roland is saying “alone again in broken dreams of my”, but when I looked at the lyrics in the booklet it stayed the same, so can you clear this up with me?
A: Correct, that was something we came up with in the studio to give the last chorus a bit of variation. Lyrically, it was never registered I assume. Trust your instincts, son!
Q: I didn’t like the video for Jack of Diamonds, it changed so much from your previous videos with all the girls dancing, how do you feel about it?
A: Really? The first video for “Soulstone Splinter” had dancing girls in it as well. So, it was more like we were going back to our roots in a way, hehe. I guess it is a bit random but I like it. Got good energy to it, and there’s a good message connected to the lyrics even if it’s not that obvious.
Q: You should try to record your album release show for a special edition CD like you did with only inhuman.
A: If there is to be an album release show that’s something we will consider for all you cheap asses that can’t get yourself on a plane to Sweden! Hehe
Q: I'll ask a little more serious question. How do you start songs, like do you start with the instruments then go to vocals or vice versa or what?
A: Usually Roger have a full song that I can write lyrics and vocals out from.
Q: Could the titles from your blogs, maybe..... And just maybe, form the lyrics of an upcoming single?
A: No, they are quotes from various bands I listen to at the time I write the blogs.
Q: Have you ever heard of the game Heroes of Newerth (HoN)? and would you ever consider playing it?
A: Never heard of it. Is it as fun as Tetris? Then I’ll give it a go!
Tetris?
Q: I wanted to ask if you had any tips for high screaming? I’ve recently started trying to scream and I can kind of get low death metallic growls to low-medium screams but I can’t sustain them for more than 5 seconds or so. Would really appreciate it!
A: Unfortunately I have to direct you to this blog entry where I touched the subject of screaming here. There’s no time for me to do a deep dive in my technique as of now.
Q: I’ve always been interested in women feet and I wonder have you seen Karin’s feet. Does she have nice feet?
A: Psychiatric ward that way ->
Approaching Women
Q: Will you be attending Metaltown this year? As a band or as a visitor, either is fine!
A: Not with THE UNGUIDED, seeing the Getaway summer show is exclusive. I didn’t get any offers for Faithful Darkness, yet but that would not be impossible. I’ll definitely be there as a visitor if I can find that in my schedule.
Q: In situations where brute force is necessary, have you ever used your growling skills as a tool to intimidate your enemies?
A: Yes, plenty of times. It have the same effect as Medusa’s gaze. You really think chiselers made those perfectly shaped human sculptures in your safe little village? THINK AGAIN!
Lets Go Get Stoned
Q: I’m loving the old Soulstone Splinter, Zion must fall -has incredible intro- and all the ones never heard :D like betrayer of the code :-D any reason why they never made it to Eden fire? Spent all day listening too them an I prefer them over the Eden fire versions that maybe due too much over play though ;-) so two days till the studio :D I wish you guys the best of luck
A: That’s interesting. I think the Extinction demo songs have a bit more of a warm feel to them compared to the Eden Fire versions, which have a bit more of a surgical style to the sound spectrum. I feel that a lot of the times with demo versions. They always have a certain warmth and atmosphere to them, even if it’s a shitty recording. Fall From Heaven songs were never recorded since we thought we developed a lot as song writers by the time we did Eden Fire. We didn’t think they were really up there with the rest of the songs, in terms of quality. I’d love to revisit them, and make a re-recording of the songs now, though. I’ll see what I can do.
Q: This may be a stupid question, but I looked around the all-knowing interwebz, but it seems that its wisdom isn't as endless as we all may think. I was wondering what your (and the other member's of SS') middle names are. Though I thought about it, and since Nathan is English, and he's the only one that has his full name on Wikipedia and Sonic Syndicate's site, it led me to think that maybe the Swedish don't use middle names? Anyway, that would be a fun little piece of information to know!
A: Richard Andreas Sjunnesson, Roger Hans Sjunnesson, Karin Margareta Axelsson, John Per Emil Bengtsson, and Robin Jörgen Sjunnesson.
Q: Now about "Westcostian-glass-shard-gargle-fry-growl". How much have your screaming skills have influenced your voice. Like speaking and else? It's like I would love to learn scream like that but yeah don't want to mess my voice really:)
A: Nothing, as far as I can hear, or have experienced. I’ve tried to be observant, and even tried to find artifacts from that in other vocalist’s voices that I’ve come across throughout the years. Vocalists that I knew have used their screaming vocals heavily in long periods of time. But I’ve never heard anything odd that would indicate damaged vocal chords, or such. If any, the screaming voice seam to change over the years as the chords get more used to the technique. Also, screaming vocalists develop more stable vestibular folds to handle the abuse, which is in my theory, the reason. I mean when I first started with screaming vocals it took a lot of effort to summon the noise. Nowadays it’s not any harder for me to do that than to use my normal spoken voice. That fact points out that something has changed in my throat, and it’s really apparent if you listen to the old Fallen Angels demos compared to, let’s say, the recent Nightmareland clips, which are the latest recording I’ve done.
Screaming
Q: Also: Do you have any tips for a newbie-vocalist? What did you do when you first started singing/screaming/growling?
A: Once again, I have to direct you to this blog entry. There are more bits and pieces you can find in the FAQs about the matter, just read on.
Q: I just wanted to ask is The Unguided still your "main band" or something like that? I mean are you focusing mostly on The Unguided or is Faithful Darkness going to slow down plans of The Unguided? I'd love to hear The Unguided as soon as possible, but still I want that you guys do everything as well as possible. I love old SS tracks like Jack of Diamonds, Power Shift, Jailbreak etc. etc. and I'd like to hear something like that or maybe even better masterpieces. ;) I support you and whole The Unguided with all my heart!
A: I don’t consider any my “main band.” I will spend equal amounts of time on both. That goes for everything I work on. One will not undermine the other. Whichever one requires my attention the most at the time is what I will dedicate my time to. Also, keep in mind that the THE UNGUIDED revolves around Roger, Roland, and me working together. They certainly don’t have all the time available in the world, and I can’t work more on it other than with the material I’m provided with. So, having another band is not the only problem in terms of stealing the focus from THE UNGUIDED project. TU is indeed a hobby project, and we want to keep it at a fun, motivating level for everyone in it.
Motivating
Q: I'm a new singer of a rock/metal band from France. For the moment, I do clean vocals but I would like learn how to scream.. The indications from YouTube guys don't work (and my english is bad..) So I would like know if you can teach me some advice about the screaming vocals. I know that you can be busy, but I really need some help, you're the best scream of this fuckin' world. *-*
A: I’m sorry to say I have to direct you to this blog entry. That’s all I can do at this point.
Q: What kind of computer do you have?
A: Motherboard: ABIT IN9 32X-MAX WiFi, nForce-680i SLI, Socket-775,ATX,2xGbLAN,DDR2,2xPCI-Ex16
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.67GHz Socket LGA775, 8MB, BOXED m/fan
Memory: Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 4096MB CL5, Kit w/two matched CM2X2048-6400 Dimm's and Crucial DDR2 PC6400 4096MB CL5, Kit m/two DDR2 PC6400 2048MB CL5
Graphic card: EVGA GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB GDDR3, PCI-Express, 2xDVI/Tv-Out/HDCP, 384bit
HDD: Western Digital Raptor 150GB SATA 16MB 10000RPM and 331024 Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM
Q: What has happened Robin ESP guitar has the famous logo?
A: After he got Gibson sponsorship I guess he placed the blue LTD guitar at home or something. The Famous logo is a giant sticker by the way so it’s not “FAMOUS STARS AND STRAPS” custom made or something if that’s what you believed.
Q: Will THE unguided someday visit the Americas? Wait for the answers?
A: It’s unlikely. But let’s not close that door entirely. The right offer would uproot us, of course.
...In America
Q: Will you do gigs with THE UNGUIDED in Sörmland / Eskilstuna / Örebro?
A: Offer? We are not booking anything ourselves. Your best chance is to contact someone that actually book bands and make them contact us with an offer.
Q: I Wonder if there is any chance that you can play in a little town in Norway, with around 11,000 in population. It's a rare opportunity for us to see stars like you. Please, take this under consideration!
A: Same answer as above.
Q: When will the new songs come out? Maybe you can send something? I promise it will stay here!
A: Yeah sure! If you tell me what makes you so extraordinarily unique from the other thousands and thousands of patiently awaiting fans.
No excuse
Q: I've been reading your blog for the past 2 months and I've noted that whenever someone asks you a question about screaming vocals you answered seriously a few times, but besides that you tended to just joke around and such (not saying that's a bad thing lol). But I have a question to ask you, how do you perform the long high screams without your voice faltering. I've been screaming/singing clean vocals for about a year and a half now, but I can only do the long high screams that last about 6-10 seconds 2-3 times before they don't really have the same crisp clean sound anymore. I can still high scream verses perfectly fine, but for some reason the long ones I can't pull off after this point. Do you think it's just I need to practice a bit more? Or change my technique? Any kind of input would help and thank you.
A: The blog entry over here is all I can offer as of now. I joke around when I get asked questions that I’ve already answered countless amounts of times. And for obvious reasons, it bothers me a great deal. The simple fact as to why I get the same questions over and over again is because people probably haven’t even bothered to read this blog through. In turn, that gives me no debenture at all to answer the question in a serious manner.
Q: Please tell me you are going to be the lyricist for Faithful Darkness.
A: Some of the pre-production songs we have for the upcoming FD album already have vocal arrangements and lyrics. I will, however, clean those up in my own manner but keep them close to the original idea, of course. There are also other members that are writing some lyrics for songs currently. But the majority of songs don’t have lyrics, or vocal arrangements as of now. I will see to this myself when I get available time. In order to not infiltrate too much on my vision for The Unguided, I will take help from Leah Eropkin with the lyric writing for Faithful Darkness. She has a huge archive of lyrical ideas/poems that she wrote over the years, which she provided me with. And from that, I will start to compile them into the Faithful Darkness songs. I love her style of writing, and I’m positive her dark content will be a perfect match with the vibe of our songs. To answer your question, I will not write everything, no. But I will overlook everything. The lyrics will have to go through me before they end up on anything. And that’s one hell of a delicate word filter. I can assure you that.
Lyricist
Q: If you have joined a new band, how will that affect the Unguided? Cause surely you’re going to have to put in the Unguided gigs, album creation etc around your work with darkness falls? And if so how does Roland feel about this?
A: My work with “Darkness Falls” will NOT undermine my work with THE UNGUIDED, as said before. Rather, I don’t get handed enough work in THE UNGUIDED. So, I have to put my creativity elsewhere, or I will literally explode. What you are missing here is that Roger is occupied in Sonic Syndicate. And Roland has a huge amount of responsibility at work and with his family. I miss the concept of having a rehearsing band, and I get just that in Faithful Darkness. And yeah, our ONE gig in THE UNGUIDED will obviously be very affected by the fact I’ve joined another band as well. As to what Roland feels about this? Well, you’d have to ask because I can’t speak for him, [email protected]. To be fair, how is that particular question even legitimate at ALL? It’s like having me question his family. Ridiculous.
Q: Also when it comes to song writing, is it you or Roland that takes charge of it? Or both? Is it you writing it with Roland adding in the odd verse or so?
A: Roger writes the song. From there, I write the lyrics and vocal arrangements. Then Roland and I sit down, process, and finalize it, especially vocal melodies. That’s how it usually works.
Q: Do you really write all the lyrics? I love them!
A: No, I lied. Dorothy Fields writes them. Can you ever forgive me?
Trulie
Q: Is it coincidence that they barely show you on the making of we rule the night or is it all part of this cool conspiracy? :P
A: Definitely! Or, the simple fact that most of the time I’m standing behind the camera and filming shit because
everyone else is too lazy to pick up a camera. That could be one bearing ground as well. I also do the editing of the videos. Why would I want to expose myself doing idiotic stuff when I can make others look bad instead?
Q: Anyway, (if) and when are you and The Unguided coming to Boston, MA cuz I wanna go to that show!
A: Yeah... about that.. What was the question again?
Q: I noticed I reached the rank of grunt on the Army of the Unguided forum. Can you tell me the criteria for reaching each rank.
A: Let me see. AHH! A sticky announcement here on the forum called very cunningly “forum ranks”… Grunt, you say? Meaning, you have successfully done 250 posts on the forum? Congratulations! Next rank is Sergeant, 250 posts to go. Let the spam begin!
Covenant Grunt
Q: I'd also like to know why someone with no posts is a Lt. General.
A: Possibly because he did something highly honorable. I assume tattooing THE UNGUIDED crest would up you a couple of ranks, for example.
Lieutenant General
Q: I know you've said you would be open to doing guest vocals (through internet, email, etc) in past Q&A's, but would Roland be available to do the same? What about him doing guest guitar solos?
A: -> [email protected]
Q: I have a question about the way you title songs, I notice that in a huge portion of your lyrics from 'Only Inhuman' and 'L&OD' contain the titles for other songs, is that like your gimmick? Old skool Synidcate had the best lyrics I’ve ever seen or heard ever, it inspired me to learn how to scream and growl, and syndicate inspired me to learn guitar and bass, so thanks a lot!!
A: I always loved to maintain an ongoing red thread throughout everything I do. So you could say that’s something that is a trademark you’ll find in my songs. Remember, whether it’s Sonic Syndicate or The Unguided, it is still the same lyrical vision I have. The same red thread running through Sonic Syndicate will indeed highlight the The Unguided’s material as well.
Q: Is there a limited edition or Tour edition of the Eden Fire album?
A: No.
Q: When will you release Nightmareland?
A: I don’t know. We will release NIGHTMARELAND when it’s time, however.
Q: Are you going to play at any festivals beside the getaway? If yes, do you already know at which? XD
A: I don’t think we will this summer.
Q: How do you paint your hair?
A: I dye my hair at a local hairdresser.
Q: I just wanted to ask you a weird question and hopefully it'll go on your blog =p whats up? =D
A: I want my few seconds of reading your meaningless question back... Send me an invoice with the time spilled!
Stolen time
Q: Just wondering... what could you tell me of the band Inhale? (One of Roland’s former bands). As he isn't as quick in the answering part as you, I decided to see if you knew anything before I asked him. :)
A: I have very limited information of the band Inhale. We talked about it briefly in the studio when he mentioned old songs had found their way to YouTube. From how I understand it, it’s the band that evolved to be Dodge. The also sang in Swedish.
Q: Where do you buy your accessories? Necklaces, rings, bracelets etc.?
A: Most of the stuff I bought at Klockmaster in Sweden. The rings got handed down from my uncle as a gift; he was the ring bearer before me.
Q: I was wondering if you listen to the bands called "Mygrain" and "Cradle of Filth" and was just wondering now that use plan on having guest vocals would it be possible for either of these singers appearing on your new album?
A: Never heard of Mygrain but I’m a huge Cradle of Filth fan. Actually Dani was a big source of inspiration for me in my years as a screaming vocalist padowan. I often practiced to the song Cthulhu Dawn. The album Midian had a huge impact on my musical journey. I’d love to have a guest vocal song with Dani. That would be an honor, as a matter of fact!
Dani
Q: Wow, since you left the Sonic the web has been really fucked up. First, you guys removed the discography-section (why), then the merchandise (now you get thrown to nuclear blast) and now finally the whole site is down, wtf.. When THE UNGUIDED homepage is up and running, which goodies will it feature? Discography with detailed information would be REALLY nice.
A: I think the same things would have happened even if I stayed in the band, so it has little to do with me leaving. Discography on THE UNGUIDED site, including what? One EP? Of course we’ll try to keep stuff as detailed as possible. As you have grown to know, I’m not really the guy who tries to cut the information short. The website, however. is still on the horizon. We’ll see what happens with that. I’d love to launch one together with the EP release, however.
Q: Any news for us concerning the music video with Patric?
A: Not yet, but I have other news about an upcoming music video, which I want to share in an upcoming blog! The plan is to do videos for both songs.
Q: Not too long before February is coming to its closing, will you guys delay the single again until March/April?
A: Yes ;)
Sowwy... :,(
Q: Do you have anything at all to tell us about the new album? Any titles, lyrics... something? Will both Pathfinder and Green Eyed Demon be on it, or will the Nightmareland EP become the same as Burn This City were one comes to the album, and the other is never heard of (besides live performance) again?
A: There’s not much I can give away about the album at this point. I guess you have to get your opinion about what will happen on the album from the two songs on NIGHTMARELAND. Whether the EP songs will be included on the album, or not, is not determined at this point. How I view it, however, is that the songs that have been recorded now are very much finished in every way. So, I rather spend time on recording brand new songs for the LP. That will make the EP a bit more exclusive and desirable as well for hardcore fans since it includes exclusive content. And we care a lot for our hardcore fans. Whatever is good for them, is good for us!
Q: If SS were to release another single (and music video), what do you think they'll do? Mimic your screamed parts with Nathan or Christoffer? Cause as you've already made one for My Own Life, there's no song that you can't be heard on left on WRtN! Hah, will laugh my ass of if they actually mimic you.. Eyes Set to Kill did that once as the one who recorded the album was only meant to record the album, then leave again.. haha, it was really bad because I knew it, video was cool though.
A: I doubt there will be more videos than the existing three for WRTN. If any, they will probably do Miles Apart, though. In that song my voice is hardly audible anyway, so Christoffer could sit back and eat pie, or something.
Enjoy Christoffer!
Q: Why did you chose Jailbreak, Denied, Jack of Diamonds, Burn This City and Revolution, Baby as the lead singles for each their respective album? Any particular reason you chose THOSE songs?
A: Jailbreak is self self-explanatory isn’t it? For me it stands out a lot on the album, and is clearly the single. It was never THE SINGLE in legitimate terms but it was treated as that for sure. The same deal happened with Denied. It stands out a lot, and is very accessible. It has a flawless vibe to it. It was picked by the band, label, and management to work as the single. The same story happened with Jack of Diamonds. Everyone in the band did not favor it, though. I think some people thought Fallout would have worked better as the first single to a certain extent, seeing that it didn’t open with screaming. However, I’m glad we didn’t do that since I think JoD is perfect, and the chorus is way better. BTC—I don’t know, this is where I started to lose my interest. I guess, however, RIN wasn’t really single material seeing that it was the heaviest song we ever wrote basically. The single somewhat had to be accessible and that’s what BTC was. Don’t even ask about Revolution, Baby!, aids songs with zero single potential. Heart of Eve or We Rule the Night are where it’s at! As a matter of fact, I think if We Rule the Night would have been the first single people wouldn’t have been as upset as they were because that song bridges the gap between old sonic and new sonic more tastefully.
Q: My friend and I were wondering if The Unguided maybe would consider going to CopenHell in Copenhagen. That would be awesome!
A: Offer? Bacon rinds and cheap beer will only take you so far through! Actually, I’m playing Denmark with Faithful Darkness the 25th February, or, well, Helsingborg. It’s still basically Denmark though, since everything under Falkenberg is considered spare-Danes!
Q: I noticed that with each album you guys added 1 more ballad. Eden fire: 0, Only inhuman: 1, Love and other disasters: 2, We rule the night: 3. Was this done on purpose or just a strange coincidence???
A: Never thought of that but that’s one strange coincidence. It pretty much sums the whole story up doesn’t it? We’ll do 4 ballads on THE UNGUIDED LP just to follow the pattern, and we’ll prove the fact that ballads involving screaming are where it’s at!
....
Q: How have things been going lately for you? Any stress? Or are you having fun with your new band? Have any shows with them yet? If so, how does it feel to be back on stage and with a different band?
A: I eat stress to breakfast, and shit fun in the afternoon! Stress only motivated me more, though. There’s no such thing as harmful stress in my world. Love the dudes in the new band, and the music touches the metal monster in me in a pleasant way. The first show is this month, so ask me again in March! But I know already at this point it will be fun as hell. I don’t think standing on stage with a different band will affect me at all. I feel much appreciated in their midst, and that alone makes me more motivated than anything done with Sonic as of late.
Q: Can addition to play guitar in THE UNGUIDED?
A: We already have two guitarists. Roger & Roland. They will play guitars live as well. We are not looking to do an Iron Maiden, and add a third member just for the sake of it.
