Being a relatively new band can you please give a summary of how the band was
formed and what sort of goals you wanted to achieve with Murderplan? Will this
be a full blown “band” with live performances and touring?By Bradley Smith
Being a relatively new band can you please give a summary of how the band was
formed and what sort of goals you wanted to achieve with Murderplan? Will this
be a full blown “band” with live performances and touring?
Pål Callmer: Me and Arnold Lindberg has played together in various bands since –96. Most recently in Deathening, with Kalle Johansson (ex. Embraced) on vocals. Fredrik and I met in –02, but it wasn’t until four years later we decided to make music together. It was a very inspired and creative workflow from the start and it didn’t take long until we had a good pre-production. Then Arnold joined in and the result is “Let’s Roll”. Making the album was the only goal we had at first, so now we are waiting to see what happens after the release.
We’ll see what the fans have to say. If enough people like this album we’ll have to create one more. I know for my part how frustrating it is when a band you like stop making music. I’d have to say the same when it comes to live performances and touring. If there is a audience big enough, we have to consider it, sure, but we’re not rehearsing at the moment.
Your debut album, Let’s Roll, has just been released on Ascent Records. Can you tell a little about it and your thought process during its creation? What does Let’s Roll embody for Murderplan? How did you come up with the title?
PC: I've always wanted to make an album with a vocal style less "growly", so to speak, so when Fredrik asked me to write together with him I didn't hesitate a second. It turned out his voice is perfectly suited for the music we make. It sounds sharp and articulate and supports the content of his excellent lyrics. It blends with the guitar and bass work in very nice way.
The title is taken from the line by G W Bush ending the intro of Rainbow Snowflakes which are the first track of the album. The title for me summarizes the smug attitude of the world’s largest democracy when invading, crushing, stealing and brainwashing yet another country.
You state that lyrically the goals of Murderplan are to comment on world political and social events. What events in particular are you interested in and why? Do you view Murderplan as a vessel for social commentary?
Fredrik Söderlund: Yes I suppose you could say that, it’s like any other band a channel for expression, not only musically but naturally also lyrically. Surely there is plenty of space for people who actually speak about something that relates to anything outside their own lives and wants. The last seven years have marked an insane increase of selfishness and greed and we are now at cartoon like levels of ignorance and ego centrism. I think it’s the responsibility of any citizen of the world to speak out against it and to take a clear stand when it comes to us slaughtering other peoples in the name of empire building. Journalism has failed us and as always prior to revolutionary change there is only the artist screaming from the roof tops. Sure we may be wrong on many issues, some statements may be radical and we may not have answers of what comes next, but surely we are right when we say that things must change.
There was a time when Swedish death metal ruled the underground scene and it was a nice contrast to the Florida death metal scene. What made the Swedish scene so magical and set it apart from other death metal styles? Do you see it regaining some ground within the underground community? What are some of the old “gods” that you think should be hailed from the Swedish scene?
PC: There is no doubt, that people living in a country where you have constant, forty-five degrees, ice-cold rain in your face at least eight months of the year, is more likely to rule the death scene than some tanned potheads from Florida. Seriously, I don’t know why, but when the genre started to spread for real in the early 90:s, all the good bands, as I see it, was either Swedish or English. Mostly from Sweden actually. Back then I listened to all the death bands I could get hold of, but when I look back almost 20 years later, I realize that the death metal that still is good and timeless is mostly from over here. When it comes to oldies my personal pick of Swedes is At the Gates and Dismember.
One thing I always loved about the Swedish scene was there were so many different bands that sounded unique and had a high level of quality. Some of those bands unfortunately were overlooked because of the size of the scene. What do you think were some of the hidden gems that most people overlooked? I know some of the ones that made a large impact on me were Obscure Infinity, Utumno and Gorement.
PC: I can’t really remember all the band names. My early years of death metal was filled with not only the big Swedish bands, but also Necrony, Furbowl, Nirvana 2002, Eucharist. Some of them had a little success, but they aren’t around I guess. I don’t know if these mentioned were overlooked, it could be other reasons they disappeared. Some of the members of these bands are playing in new(er) bands, doing great music. What most people overlook is usually the early albums and demos, where you can sense the beginning of something that could be real good. Usually if I find a new band I never heard of I try to listen to their records in the right order if I can, to see the development.
As you have stated on your myspace page, the western world is intimately bound to America. How do you view the current state of American affairs within this context and how will its possible demise affect Western civilization?
FS: Demise of any civilization comes from within, there is a very simple equation that every population lives under: -When the price of submission becomes higher than the price of revolution, the people will revolt.
Now I sincerely hope that things can be turned around before they reach that breaking point. If the opulent realize they are starting to take things too far we may see a rollback to a more moderate form of oppression that our populations can accept. But at this point it seems that they people who are in control have lost all sense of proportions and consider anyone below them in the food chain to be merely cattle. At this rate we will reach the magical breaking point fairly soon, and despite the desperate measures of merging the EU even tighter and imposing rigorous electronic surveillance it will not be possible to prevent. The revolution in Romania is a great example of the population simply going out in the streets one day and removing the dictatorship. Sure Romania still has problems, but their level of freedom is radically different today than it was under socialism.
Neoconservatives have a pretty self-righteous and extreme world view. What do
you think of that philosophy and how can we counteract it? How has this
philosophy affected 3rd world societies?
FS: We have seen for a long time how trade organisations and international banking associations have tried to politically and economically destroy any nation who attempts to stand outside them. The wave of ultra internationalism has been pushed forward mainly by oil interests and international banking institutions for their own purposes. The neoconservatives themselves are mainly liberals turned conservatives, picture if you will a socialist who turns to the philosophy “Might is right” and you have more or less your average neoconservative. Many of them are linked to oil and banking and have worked very hard to achieve the level of interdependence we see among nations today. When each nation is linked to each other by export / import trade and regulations the effective control of the nations themselves is transferred from the elected body in each nation to the trade organisations. This effectively means that democracy in all nations is destroyed in the same way that unions are destroyed by companies providing slave labour unbound by union treaties. What we are seeing is a transfer of public power into the hands of private interests, it’s a clever idea but will end up costing at least a billion lives before its reversed. Luckily these people don´t seem to have souls to worry about.
Obviously based on your lyrics, politics is a subject that holds an interest for you. Do you follow American politics and what do you think of the upcoming American election? Will anything change or are we in for me of the same?
FS: No, nothing will change, there are two choices, neither of them will be working for American interests and there will be more death and destruction, they even promise that in their campaigns.
There is of course the relationship between Murderplan and Puissance. Can you explain what the link is? What is currently going on for Puissance and how do you separate the creative experiences/output between the two?
FS: The ideals behind both bands are similar, not least because the author of lyrics is the same, I see little or no need to separate the creative output, there is a lot to say and we try to say it ass effectively as possible. The bands are musically so different that there is absolutely no risk of them ever conflicting with each other.
What is THE Murderplan? How will it fix the problems that we face in western civilization?
PC: The Murderplan is not the cure – it’s the means of the wealthy to obtain and preserve world domination.
FS: The Murderplan can be said to be the plan implemented by the ruling class to divide, conquer and lead. Unfortunately they have become too arrogant in the last years and things are probably starting to come apart.
What are your future plans for Murderplan? Any other recordings coming along? What about any of the other musical projects Murderplan’s members are involved with?
PC: As I said; If people like it…then… Regarding other projects, me and Arnold have just mixed the first album of Deathening, which is somewhat more groove based death metal. Fast and brutal but also slow and beautiful, with excellent brutalities spit-out by Kalle.