UNLEASHED – Interview with Anders Schultz (drummer)

UNLEASHED is considered one of the “big four” of Swedish Death Metal. However, from almost 30 years the expansion of Vikings has probably spread throughout the world. Soon, the Swedish Vikings will attack again! And their weapons are still mighty and crushing!

You will soon release your 13th album (if I counted correctly). Do you believe in superstitions, black cat, thirteen, etc.?

Damn, 13th already haha! But no, I don’t believe in such things at all.

“The Hunt for White Christ” is in turn the fourth album continuing story line of the world of Odalheim and Midgard warriors. This story was written by vocalist and bassist Johnny Hedlund. Will this album show us the ending of this story?

As this as you say is written by Johnny. I’m maybe not the best to answer this….

But I know for a fact that there is plenty more to come still…

From left to right: Anders Schultz (drums), Fredrik Folkare (guitars), Johnny Hedlund (bass, vocals), Tomas Olsson (guitars) – Photo by Jens Ryden

These 11 tracks are a real storm of the powerful Swedish Death Metal. UNLEASHED never took prisoners, never compromised. It’s just that someone loves this music or hates it… If you could to indicate uniqueness of the album, what would it be?

It’s true as you say, and that is also good to hear. I’d say the uniqueness would be as on every album we do… taking our style and our craft to new levels each time. It may be in the details sometimes but the goal is to make something instantly recognizable but at the same time new and with a difference.

As part of the promotion of the album, we can already watch lyric-video for songs “Lead Us Into War” and “The Hunt For White Christ”. Why did these singles go to the first fire?

Well that’s hard to say really haha… it was a hard choice. Basically we feel that the album is very strong all the way through… but somethings gotta go first.

Why did you go from Nuclear Blast (after all these years) to Napalam Records?

We are very happy with the years with NB and we part as good friends. But the contract was over and we just decided to try something new basically.

What is the matter with the concerts? Where will we be able to see you this year?

We have quite a few things already lined up for next year as well as finishing up this year with shows in Canada, Chile, Brazil and Germany, etc.

You will celebrate 30 years for next year. Are you preparing something special for fans in this connection?

Yeah… 30 years is a crazy number haha… it’s hard to get my head around it actually!

But yeah we will try to do some special things for an anniversary next year. What that will be I cannot reveal at this time tho…

Well, all we have to do that is wait patiently… How is it possible that since 1995 you have maintained a permanent band’s line-up?

That’s a tough question, and one we obviously get a lot. And I have no concrete answer to it really….

A lot of it may be because we’ve always had a common goal. There’s never been any misunderstandings or arguments about where the band is going and what to aim for.

And of course since a long time it’s like family, it’s in your blood.

Maybe at now let’s have a quick look back… Your first album “Where No Life Dwells” from 1991 put me on my knees… How do you look at this album today?

It’s one of my favorite albums as well. Not neccessarily our best, I think we’ve done better ones musically. But since it’s the first one, and it started this whole beast that Unleashed has become… it holds a special place for me of course.

I had this album on a tape. I bought it in the early 90’s. At that time most albums in Poland were from a pirate edition, but thanks to that I heard about a band like UNLEASHED… At present, piracy has undergone a digital evolution. What do you think about this situation?

Yeah that’s a tough question as well. There will always be piracy. Sometimes it can actually be good to spread the word about a band, like you said. Especially in places where it’s hard to find properly for different reason. But of course, too much will hurt bands. There is a lot of hard work behind an album and if nobody is willing to pay for music anymore the music scene will suffer.

How do you perceive the current Death Metal scene (in the world) and its fans? Do you listen to something contemporary?

Well it’s going strong I’d say. Maybe even stronger than ever. I try to keep up and listen to newer things but it’s hard sometimes. And I don’t know what is considered contemporary…. Any band who still plays no matter when they started I’d think.

But some newer bands I like are Konkeror and Nocturnal Graves for instance… even if they’ve been around since early 2000’s haha… I don’t know if that’s new maybe…

From left to right: Tomas Olsson (guitars), Johnny Hedlund (bass, vocals), Fredrik Folkare (guitars), Anders Schultz (drums) – Photo by Jens Ryden

And old Death Metal bands? When I asked Paul Speckmann (MASTER) about various old Death Metal bands, including UNLEASHED, he did not show enthusiasm…

Well everyone has their own opinions. I’d say a lot of the old guard are going stronger than ever!

In our case we get a lot of people saying the new albums are as good or even better than the early ones. And there is also regrowth with younger kids getting exposed to the old bands, both early and new albums. And you have bands like Immolation, Incantation, Autopsy still putting out brilliant new music.

So personally, I beg to differ. But hey, maybe I’m just not an old grumpy bastard yet haha…

Many thanks for the interview! It’s time to start hunting!!! …

Thanks a lot! It is indeed….

http://www.unleashed.se/odalheim

https://pl-pl.facebook.com/unleashed/

Home: Parczew (Poland). Interests / Hobbies: music, musical journalism, oriental studies, anthropology, psychology, medicine, sociology. Favourite music genres: first of all the all genres of Metal, Hardcore and Progressive Rock as well as Gothic, Ambient, Classical Music, Ethnic Music, Sacred Music, Choral Music, Soundtracks, New Age Music, Folk Music i sometimes Jazz, Electro, Experimental or Alternative Music... He co-founded magazine & webzine Born To Die'zine as Gnom.
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