Richard Sjunnesson

Բարեւ Ձեզ

For whoever missed out on the exclusive opportunity to get the “I’m one of the 616” t-shirt and still want to look sexy and represent during the summer. We have printed new The Unguided threads!

ORDER “THE UNGUIDED – NIGHTMARELAND [ UNISEX T-SHIRT]” HERE!!!

To keep you all integrated like the fearsome unit you actually are; Gustavo Sazes based the “new” design on the “I’m one of the 616” shirt. This was intentionally made to make you look minimalistic standing next to each other. And of course to prevent people from suffering epileptic attacks, hence the unfortunate Teletubbies-rainbow-effect. On this shirt design there’s only a front print. This was done to, once again, spoil the 616 army and to underline how much better they are than anyone else in the world, hehe. Some people, however, have experienced problems with the quality of the “I’m one of the 616” shirt. So, we have decided to revisit the t-shirt brand as well as to print this one in 5-colors whilst the “I’m one of the 616” is 3-color print. The new design just wouldn’t look good at all with a 3-color print.


NEW The Unguided shirt

If you are looking to buy both the shirt and the “Nightmareland” EP, you can do that for a better price here.

FAN CONTEST:
It was a cutthroat face-off with dedicated fans from all over the world participating in the photo contest showdown. It was an epic battle for the unknown awards, and their very own @the-unguided.com E-mail address, “Centurion” rank on the fan-forum and a signed jewel case of “Nightmareland”.

the photo contest showdown

THE CENTURIONS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!!!:
Once the dust settled and the righteous but merciless (and very unguided) jury pronounced their verdict (with a little help from you guys on Facebook, thank you!) three agents stood tall and could claim their rewards:

Centurion number one - Matti Hänninen:

Agent 418, hailing from Finland. In addition to the standard rewards, he also got rewarded with the prestigious task to come up with a lyrical theme for a The Unguided song. This song will be featured on the upcoming album. It could be any book, movie, story that he preferred (I, however, restricted it to NON-Twilight related subjects, since I would actually have to kill myself if that was the case). Agent 418 carefully selected a page from the Norwegian comic strip, Nemi, by Lise Myhre for me to base a song’s lyrical content on. The particular page treats death from “The Grim Reapers” perspective in a very interesting way! I’m eagerly looking forward to write anything out from his chosen subject.

Centurion number two - Tomi Pursiainen:

Double Agent 604/173 Yes this hero owns not only one, but two Nightmareland EPs! He is also from Finland. In addition to the standard awards being rewarded, he will get a sneak listening to a song from the upcoming album before anyone else in the world gets to know it’s even recorded(!).

Centurion number three - Melanie Gehrmann:

Agent 306, hails from Holland. With her amazing creativity, she will be awarded with a 30min long Skype chat with us in The Unguided, in addition to the standard awards. In the chat, we will address important questions like whether or not we can reconstruct our planet to the Death Star. Be sure to not miss her upcoming action-adventure game here.

CONGRATULATIONS!

There will be more The Unguided contests in upcoming blogs for anyone that still desires a @the-unguided.com mail and whatnot.

And dad, good try but better luck next time… Besides you already hear the songs and get all the stuff in advance anyway!


Daddy didn't win the contest, nor does he have any beer left in his glass :,(

Once again, one of our own countrymen has made us very proud by tormenting himself under the needle in the service of the unguided army. Swedish agent 485, Andreas Axelsson has inked out the unguided crest on his leg in usual fashion. Nicely done!


Andreas, Champion of the Unguided Army

Just recently we had a little amateur photoshoot for The Unguided in my apartment. The demand for high quality photos of the band has been left unsaturated until now. Since we rarely ever have time to meet up all the three of us, or to travel to suitable locations to take professional ones, we manhandled the problem ourselves. Roland brought his trusty system camera and we called in our biggest fan (our dad) as photographer. Then I spent countless hours in Photoshop CS5 trying to make us look good! Here’s some of the outcome:


Photografer: Torbjörn Sjunnesson


Photografer: Torbjörn Sjunnesson


Photografer: Torbjörn Sjunnesson


The Unguided Single-Shots


Blue Eyed Fiend


Red Eyed Friend


Green Eyed Demon


Dual Guitar Heroes

Also, Roland and I slapped together a WiMP playlist a while ago if anyone missed that. The playlist consists of our favorite tracks of all time, or songs that have had been meaningful to us in our musical career. You can check out the result here.

If you are a The Unguided fan hailing from Sweden Mr.nZANE himself has done a special t-shirt / hoddie for you to underline the alliance between The Unguided and nZANE clothing & tattoos once again! Check it out here and represent!

nZANE Unguided hoddie

What’s new in the silent, and very secret Faithful Darkness camp then? We are still doing pre-production for the upcoming album, which name we have not decided upon yet. What’s decided, however, is that Jonas Kjellgren will record parts of the album and mix / master the whole effort. I’m very excited over that fact, and I’m sure it will come out amazingly good. We will start to record the drums for the album on the 20^th of June. Other news is that the song “Hate Injection,” which was recorded to showcase my vocals with the band is now available on iTunes. I hope it will find its way onto Spotify eventually as well. Faithful Darkness – Hate Injection can be found on iTunes HERE or CD Baby HERE if you prefer that.

What DID find its way onto Spotify, however, is the Swedish band Hollowcall and the song “Snowstorm,” which featured my guest vocals. Check it out here.

For whoever missed Rogers Crank it up blog, there’s a new (Swedish) entry that can be found here. Where he’s subjecting his recent vacation in Barcelona.


Unguided bro in Spain

I’ve been getting myself some nightlife action in Stockholm lately as well. I celebrated Easter at Medusa Bar (Where we partly recorded the “Turn it up” video for Sonic Syndicate).


Drunk on Zeronoff


Subway into Stockholm city, most worrying indeed


At Medusa spreading the love <3


Alarming friends

Also had an awesome time at Pub Anchor with newfound Stockholm friends, most fun evening I’ve had for ages!


Prelude to a magical evening


Good fun!


At location, consuming lactose grenades


Hanging out with friends


Passion


Overall: Eight easy steps on how to maintain a peacefull relationship


And above all -- Too keep your girlfriend happy

Other than this, there’s just pre-productions going on from every direction really, some secret The Unguided stuff going on which is as of yet confidential. I’m selling of my Xbox 360 since I’m not able to give it the time it deserves! If you are interested check this site here. Also, my friend, Smeten, sent in some pictures with The Unguided bike and himself in action. Bravo!


The Unguided bike and Smeten in action

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q&A XVI:
Send your questions to: [email protected], send DUMB questions to: [email protected]

Q: Compare and contrast yourself with Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth, your highness.
A: Hard to compare because we sound nothing like each other. I think his highs are golden, while his lows occur a bit smeary to me. I assume that’s one similarity though, we both sound better doing high screams. To be honest, I’ve never heard anyone like him, so I can’t really cross-reference us. Then again, I’ve never really heard anyone that sounds very similar to me either.


Dani Filth

Q: Do you still have problems with persons illegally distributing The Unguided EP music? And what do you make of that yokel who claimed that he was helping in the marketing of your music . . . by giving it away for free?
A:  I still patrol YouTube for illegal distribution of The Unguided’s music daily. Whatever mudskipper my all-seeing eye fails to discover, scouts in my service bring to my immediate attention. I assume you are talking about “BuddhaEMS”? Well, when being exposed to people like that I’m not surprised there’s war in the world really. If I met him, I probably would have performed that homemade Mortal Kombat fatality that I described for you a couple of blogs ago on that very individual.

Q: Why will the jewel case of Nightmareland not be available at the local grocery store? Can't music stores purchase them wholesale? And can you recommend a way for an islander like myself, half-way across the world, to get it without my parents finding out?
A: They will only be distributed through Despotz web shop or sold at gigs hosted by the band, so we can control income and invest the money into what’s most beneficial for The Unguided. Send an e-mail to me, and maybe we can solve this without your parents finding out. I love plotting against parents!

Q: I want a detailed explanation of what "616" means. From the origin of the song, etc. Did that person make it through the night?
A: Unfortunately, yes. The song is about the strange sensation of manipulating and hurting people that have feelings invested in you, and actually care about your meaningless existence in this world. I assume you should preferably reward them for developing such emotions but in many cases that’s not what happens. I guess it’s very conscience related, or lack of conscience, rather. If I got the chance to go back and do things differently, there are people that I would never expose myself to. The only thing I ever brought them was pain and misery. Check the FAQ of this blog for further definition of the number and piece it together!


"This is The Unguided!"

Q: Did someone really die in Soulstone Splinter? :(
A: The lyrics are based on someone that died, yes. A close friend’s father, to be more exact. I was the shoulder she often grieved on. I observed the injustice tearing in her, and wrote a song about it. Seeing it’s a very sensitive subject, I decided to write a fictional story instead of encasing the real scenario in the text. The Fallen Angels demo “Black Lotus” was dedicated to the memory of her tragic loss.

Q: I assume that “The Unguided” won’t take up touring, given Roland’s' opinion on the matter - but is there anything that we (the fans) or you (the rockstars!) could do to raise awareness of your legendary band here in sunny, upside-down Australia?
A: Brand all the Kangaroos with The Unguided symbol and train all Tasmanian devils to hand out “Nightmareland” flyers! And stop forcing helpless animals over the brink of extinction. R.I.P Thylcines :,(


Miss you :,(

Q: Where about would a 'The Unguided' (logo) tattoo look best, do you think?
A: Forehead.

Q: Did you ever write poetry for girls?
A: No. Well it’s a definition question I guess. Lyrics are a sort of poetry but I never wrote lyrics to certain individual’s either but I wrote it about individuals and situations. I never handed a self-written text to a person and addressed that it was lyrics written for just that person. Some of them however found out and when records were available. Most of them were flattered and some agitated depending on whatever the lyric was about. Others got flattered and took credit of content in my lyrics that wasn’t even about them, but that’s another story, hehe. I guess the honesty in my lyrics is either very complementary or frightening for people that are subjected in them.

Q: Just found your Xbox live gamertag in your blog and added you. I also saw that you were interested in Gears of War 3. The beta is out right now (April 17th - May 15th) but you need a beta key code to get in. If you don't have one I still have a spare key code that I think still works if you'd like to try it. I'd be honored to play the beta with you if you have some spare time :p
A: I’d love to do that, but I’m so extremely busy right now with everything in my life, so I’m actually selling off my trusty Xbox 360. It’s a bit heart shattering I know…


I'll miss you too :,(

Q: If I were to email mailto:[email protected] who would be answering me?
A: Either me or Emil. I use [email protected], so I can categorize things and get a better overview. I also use it to send out e-mail to the web team.

Q: Would it be possible to get an autograph from you, Roger, and Roland? I was unfortunately too late to get one of those exclusive packages with the poster and shirt and such.
A: There will be more in the future, don’t you worry. Keep a look out!

Q: How often do you update your blog (mainly the Q and A section).  Like roughly what would you say? Once a week/month?
A: I’d love to do it once a week and that’s what I will always aim for, definitely not more than that. But as of late, there has been so many other things that have been a higher priority than the blog to take care of, so it’s rather the latter.

Q: Would you be able to give me your workout plan? Like exercises, rep/set#, stuff like that because whatever you're doing seems to be working well and I would like the same results.  I don't take protein or any supplements like that but I have a really good diet as is.
A: I’ll write this down and see if I can do something with it in an upcoming blog with exact exercises and rep/set# and how I split it up over days etc. I’m not on any supplements either anyway and just try to go for a good healthy diet high on protein.


Strong

Q: Well since u denied my question on Facebook (which I knew u were going to but eh w/es) are u going to let your hair grow or are you going to do them short like always? :O imo u looked awesome with the wrtn-time hair some people would say u look scene, but hey we all live only 1 time? :O
A: There are as many people having opinions on WRTN as there were people having opinions about my haircut (or lack of haircut rather) during the time, hehe. It was like: “KARIN, WHY DID YOU CUT YOUR HAIR!?” and “RICHARD, WHY DON’T YOU CUT YOUR HAIR?!” everyday which was kind of entertaining. I’m very tempted to shave my head again now that summer time is approaching, since it’s such a convenient (well lazy) hairstyle with no maintenance work. We’ll see! I was thinking of doing the first The Unguided video with hair, however. Whether or not I get bored before that is hard to say!

Q: Since I’m active at the fan forums of TU and it's annoying to hear everyone saying that u growl I’ve searched it on YouTube/people/vocalists that what kind of technique u are doing and I’ve got them here all so we can stop this nonsense with everybody thinking you´re a growler from a Deathcoreband will u actually are a screamer from a modernmelodeathmetalband. 

Growling/Grunting/screaming for 'normal' people that are too lazy to hear the difference:
the EERRRR = low
the OHHHH = Mid – low
the AHHHH = Mid – High
the YEAHHHH = High
As we all know Richard u just LOVE to do a high! :D I would love if you post this on your blog so that the misunderstanding is over.
A: Thanks for determining what I’m actually am! I feel very… categorized. I fail to understand what’s so important with this entire putting-things-in-a-box monger. Does everything REALLY have to be defined, and what’s the purpose of defining it? What’s wrong with listening to your heart and FEELING what’s good and bad out from your own perspective? Please enlighten me. 

Q: and what i was wondering was also that, what do u think about deathcorebands? e.g. : Chelsea grin - Lifeless and
Whitechapel - Breeding Violence
since you never said stuff about that on your blog I was wondering.
A: I’m can’t say any of them is my cup of cola-zero but I’m sure I could learn to appreciate it if I listen to it more. I enjoyed Whitechapel more than the others though.

Q: Since the WRTN era soilwork fans have slammed Sonic Syndicate saying they rip off Soilwork eg, Nathan's vocal style is similar to Björn Strid and that Nathan has copied his looks, also Atreyu fan’s are saying that the guitar work in burn this city has ripped of Atreyu's song Right side of the bed, What's your view on this? Because from Eden Fire – Love and Other Disasters, Sonic Syndicate had their own unique style.
A: I can’t say whether Nathan has intentionally ripped Björn’s vocal style or whatever. I think he’s somewhat influenced of him but how deep that influence goes; I’m really the wrong person to ask. Copied his looks? That’s ridiculous. Then whose look did Björn copy? Vin Diesel, Rob Halford!? Come on! Ride side of the bed and Burn This City? Well, they are probably both just constructed out from recycled Bon Jovi riffs anyway. Like everything else in modern music, wouldn’t want to have it any other way! 


Vin Diesel

Q: Where can I get a poster of you and Roland, I have looked everywhere and cant seem to find one will the unguided print one at all?
A: If we print any poster with band members, it will definitely be the three of us and not just Roland and me. As of now, there’s nothing done yet. To be fair, we just recently snapped our first promo pictures. 

Q: When will the first album debut?:)
A: When it’s ready.

Q: Will you come to Hungary? xD I heard that, Sonic Syndicate played in Hungary three times, but I was too young to visit your concert, and I think, now I'm so old to go :D
A: If we do, will we get dobos cake and strudels? If the answer is no, we’re not coming!

Q: Will “The Unguided” do a tour after the release? At least in Scandinavia?
A: Possible Scandinavia. We’ll see. Not a tour though, weekend gigs, if anything.

Q: I Goggled lyrics for "Inherit the Earth", but all I found was lyrics messed up with "Light From the Abandoned Croft". Could you please post lyrics for "Inherit the Earth" to me/to blog?
A: I’d love to, if I only were able to decipher them. I’ve only got bits and pieces from that song and not complete lyrics because I can’t hear what the fuck I’m on about. Then rewritten lyrics to the remake of “Inherit the Earth” however, will be available with the album.


Inherit the Earth

Q: By the way, who played guitar at the Enclave song?
A: The guitarists? More precisely Roger and Robin. 

Q: Why are not Love and other disasters on Spotify? All the other albums are there. A: It was there when Spotify first released. How I understand it is that Nuclear Blast removed it because it was still selling well. And I guess they just forgot to put it back up, seeing WRTN and everything is there now.

Q: If/when you play Pathfinder live at Getaway Rock, will Peter Tägtgren with you guys? Will any more TU merch, like hats etc, be available any time soon? The nZANE merchandise preview pictures are pretty small, so I can’t really see what the text is, what is it? Have you ever thought of working with Christian Älvestam?
A: Peter will probably not perform with us on Pathfinder at Getaway, I don’t even know if he’s attending the festival. Doubt it, since Pain is not playing there as far as I know. Jonas Kjellgren will play with Scar Symmetry, however, so maybe we can snatch him as a sound engineer. About Christian, I can’t say I have. I’ve seen a lot of fans (you?) that would like to see that happen though, so I’m not ruling it out by any means.


Jonas Kjellgren

Q: Richard, you've ever thought about doing a show in Brazil? It would be an honor to receive The Unguided here.
A: Are we talking about that small city in Indiana, US, or that HUGE ASS country in South America? Well doesn’t really matter since the answer is: “Not likely,” in both cases, unfortunately.

Q: The Unguided go to Spain?
A: That seems like an awfully long walk, don’t you think?

Q: How long time does it take to write lyrics for a song? Do you start off with writing a text and then adjust the guitar-riffs e.g. or the other way around?
A: Sometimes it can take a couple of hours, sometimes I spend weeks to adjust and tweak the lyrics. It’s all very dependent on how inspired I am. I always piece them into fully composed songs and do the vocal arrangements, rhythm and rough melodies at the same time as I write the lyrics. I’m very used to writing lyrics to *.midi tracks with already composed guitars, keyboards and scratch drums. I’ve done that for about ten years now. But now days I get home recorded instrumental songs from Roger to write the lyrics out from, they are way closer to the final musical result sound wise. This is appreciated, of course. Also, it sounds better to record screams to distorted guitars than a *.midi track for pre-production.

Q: Where can I buy The Unguided stickers? Your friend had it on his MX. I would like to get my hands on something like that to put on my own car.
A: He manufactured them himself out from our symbol and logo.


Sticker

Q. I saw you don't like Justin Bieber nor Rebecca Black, so I'm wondering why (XD) and I'm sending you links to the songs for you to listen them again. Songs are brutal (literally)! Check them out!:
Justin Bieber - Baby

Rebecca Black - Friday
A: After listening to the links, I’m not really sure why I don’t like them. Guess I have to revise that. I remember them being more… homoerotic somehow.


Which seat?

Q: When will you guys record the rest of the album? :D I’m dying to hear more and to see you guys live!!!
A: It’s funny you ask! We already started…

Q: Could you give me some quick tips on screaming? I really want to say to others that I learned to scream from you!
A: There are some guidelines in this FAQ here and here, and that’s all I can offer at this point. And I think it has been discussed at other points in the blog, so please examine the other FAQs and Q&As.

Q: "This sounds like a good idea! So now, where do we find anyone that can scream?" See if any fans live around you or if any of your friends can scream at an amateur level, or not at all, (I'd volunteer but I'm way over in the US -.-), and use them to help demonstrate what the screams should and should not sound like by teaching them as you are recording the video. Have the person you're teaching practice between videos to show how the viewers should be improving (release videos bi-weekly or monthly maybe?).
A: This is not bad at all! I mean, people could send in home recorded videos of them sounding like dying animals, I can give my constructive opinion on the noise. And humiliate them publicly. I like that!


Sound like animals

Q: Unrelated but would you consider featuring Christian Älvestam (Solution .45/Miseration) or Björn Strid (Soilwork) in a future song or two? Personally I think it'd be ridiculously sick to hear either of their voices with yours.
A: Déjà-vu! Both would be interesting to be featured in The Unguided. We’ll see what we have time with for the album and how it will work out functionality wise.

Q: Hope you're well and whatnot. I realise you're busy writing the album but I noticed that on the-unguided.com that John Bengtsson is listed for drum assistance. I assume that the two of you are still close? And will he be working on the album with you, and playing live?
A: We are still in good relation yes; we have contact almost on a daily basis, more or less. He helped out with the “Nightmareland” songs as he has been rightfully credited for on the website and on the EP. What role he will have in The Unguided remains unanswered for now.

Q: Where can I get my hands on the Sonic Syndicate songs: ”My Soul in Black”, ”Mission: Undertaker” and ”Freeman?"
A: My Soul in Black was only featured on the JAPAN press of Only Inhuman. It can be found here.
Mission: Undertaker was featured on both the AMAZON edition and JAPAN press of Love and other Disasters, so I’m pretty confident you can find it here. If you want to play it REAL safe however, you should go for this. Freeman remains unreleased. It can only be found on YouTube as far as I know. It was never printed at all.

Q: Hi rich! I'm creating a ps3 theme. The unguided is the theme's name, I wonder if you have some photos for backgrounds. Any photo you like to be as a background, send to my the-unguided account. When it will be finished and tested in my ps3, I will upload and share with everyone who wants it.
A: Use the artwork for Nightmareland. I’m sure it will look amazing in your unguided PS3 theme!

Q: Hey Rich, which website(s) do you get the pictures for your blog from? I need more! The pictures are very funny and match what you are saying, and I need to know where to get more like them.
A: Google.com


He invented

Q: On Facebook you said that the competition will end on 30.4 at 23:59, but in fact Emil posted at 17:05 that the winners are already decided?
A: Emil fucked up, hehe. I guess he misunderstood my phone call.

Q: Just thought of this question when listening to Plans are for people. I know you are not religious, but you have never bashed on religion before. Plans are for people sounds to me like an atheist anthem. With lines like "from my point of view there is not kingdom in the clouds," and "You keep preaching the words you receive (receive from the maker) but what if god is not the sender?" it seems like you are bashing religion. You also say, "Don’t want to wake up when your put to sleep" which I interpret as calling followers of god mindless drones. I have no problem with this rhetoric; I’m just wondering what caused you to attack religion, seeing as though you have never done this in the past.
A: Let me see… I entitled an album “Eden Fire,” I wrote songs named; “Zion Must Fall,” I have a lyric line going, “ANNIHILATION BENEATH THE BANNER OF HELL,” and I’ve stated several times before in this blog that I’m neutral towards religion (well leaning somewhat in favor to the dark side, hehe). Here’s a direct quote: “I’m very neutral toward religions--an atheist, if you will.” (From this FAQ) Looks like someone didn’t do his homework? Hehe. I’ve written songs about my atheistic views. Plans are for People, however, is not one of them. It’s about a relationship, and the friction I was facing in the band before my leave. The lyric line is: “Don’t want to wake, what you put to sleep.” And it was not about followers of God being mindless drones (even if they are :P). It’s about a state of mind in myself, rather. She masked my bad sides with the good ones. And the not so good ones, I didn’t want to surface them because it would (and did) hurt her. So, in this song I didn’t attack religion, I was just very metaphoric. I assume by reading the text from the top to the bottom, I can’t really blame people for suggesting it is bashing religion, though.

Q: I was wondering what program u used to mix your songs?
A: Digidesign’s Pro Tools.


U knows it!

Q: This has been getting to me since I first listened to Nightmareland, in Green Eyed Demon where you scream "fall" in the first line of the beginning verse. It sounds very much like there is a high pitched, backing clean vocal right there that trails off behind your scream as the next verse hits in. Who could that be? Now I doubt it is Roland. But something tells me that it is you, if it is just not my ears deceiving me upon every listen ;D
A: If you are referring to the opening scream there’s a high pitched clean vocal track in the background of “Fall” by Roland. Your ears did not deceive you! Or, at least not this time, hehe. Anyone stating that he’s a midrange vocalist can go fuck themselves and it will be proven at many occasions on the album.

Q: Which voice technique (growl technique) use Roland and you? Examples: well, false chord, frey ... etc
A: The right one.

Q: Do you plan any remix contest? I would really like to remix one of your songs.
A: Interesting idea! Next contest is kind of already set. But the one after we could look into this! It would, however, limit the competition to very few people, which is a bit unfortunate.

Q: Just always wanted to know...Could you list top 5 your favourite songs from EF,OI & LAOD? I already know the answer about WRTN.
A: Eden Fire: Jailbreak, History Repeats Itself, Prelude to Extinction, Soulstone Splinter, and Crowned in Despair.
Only Inhuman: Double Agent 616, Aftermath, Flashback, Only Inhuman, and Blue Eyed Fiend
Love and other Disasters: Red Eyed Friend, Affliction, Encaged, Mission: Undertaker, and Ruin.

Q: We all know you're big and strong, but I've always been wondering how much do you bench press? ;DD
A: I do ~85kg x 10 repetitions, and do that in three sets during my bench press sessions. I don’t ever max it out, so I have no clue how much I can do. I’m under the impression that you can easily hurt yourself and muscle tissue if you do that.


Bench Press

Q: I’m a big fan who wonders if there’s any live gig planned for Sweden?
A: Getaway Rock Festival 7/7 Gävle – Sweden – Scandinavia – Europe – Earth – Universe.