Bloodbath - Interview - White Room Reviews

Als het om keiharde platen die aan het eind van het jaar hoog scoren gaat, kan men niet om Survival Of The Sickest van Bloodbath heen. Vier jaar na The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn lieten de heren op de nieuwe langspeler zonder enige twijfel horen waarom zij toch wel dé supergroep in de death metal zijn. Om die reden had White Room Reviews een interview met Bloodbath.

Het interview met Bloodbath gaat natuurlijk over die plaat, maar ook onder andere over de samenwerking met de zanger en de Zweedse verkiezingen. Gitarist Anders Nyström, ook bekend van Katatonia, is degene die de antwoorden heeft gegeven.

Het interview

WRR: ‘Survival Of The Sickest is just released and took four years from The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn. The world wasn’t standing still in those years. In which way did it affect Bloodbath and/or the writing/recording process?‘

AN: ‘Well, I guess the pandemic enabled us to come up with a new album a bit quicker. Looking back, we’ve had a of four+ year gap between most of our albums even when the world was still functioning normally, so it turned out to be a good move for us to spend the lockdown writing and recording. We even hade time to shop around for a new album deal and sign to a new label that got us right back into action when the world’s pause button was released.‘

Influences and more

WRR: ‘The death metal is as powerful as we could expect from you. What are the influences to become this heavy, this raw, this pure death metal?‘

AN: ‘We dived into a lot of old school American influences for this one, with the target specifically aiming for the Florida scene. I think the thrash influences are also more apparent and the sound and the imagery just walks hand in hand with that. We laughed around about putting a declaration on this album for the customs labeled as ”American death metal exported from Sweden”, but that’s exactly what it is, executed by a couple of Swedes (and one Englishman) who celebrate their midlife crisis by reveling in their teenage nostalgia.‘

WRR: ‘Mister Holmes is not living around the corner. How do you team up with him in this process?‘
AN: ‘Thanks to the internet we make it work by chat software and file transfers, not the most ideal, nor social or organic way for a band to operate, but with the distance and the restrictions, you’d be a fool to ignore those possibilities.‘

Elections and future

WRR: ‘In Sweden there is a lot about the elections. Is this something that is bothering you or are politics and music two different worlds for you?‘
AN: ‘Obviously, they co-exist in all our lives, but Bloodbath serves as an air pocket in this fucked up world where we can just max out the entertainment value. Death metal by invitation only ha-ha! A gated community where we set the rules, only to have a good time.‘

WRR: ‘What are the plans for Bloodbath now Survival of The Sickest is released?‘
AN: ‘From here on now, it’s all about booking live shows and hitting those stages around the world!‘