TORTURE DIVISION (Sweden) Interview by
http://www.metalchroniques.fr
By Supercastor
Hello. I’m Supercastor from Metalchroniques. First thanks for taking time to answer those questions.
Hello, this is Tobias Gustafsson, drummer of Torture Division.
First of all, could you please describe Torture Division? How would you describe the band to metal heads who don’t know you?
Torture Division is an army of three, consisting of me on drums, Lord K Philipsson on guitar and Jörgen Sandström on bass and vocals. We are, or have been, active in bands like Vomitory, The Project Hate MCMXCIX, Vicious Art, Grave, Entombed etc. Our idea with this band, except for spreading superior death metal over the world, is to release demos (in trilogies, that combined becomes “an album”) that we give away for free over the internet. People are free to support us by donating a few dollars or Euros when they download our music, so we can keep going recording new material that we can give away. Or they can buy our merch. You know, it’s like a circle. We actually got offered a record deal before we even had recorded one single note. It would have been ridiculous to have gone with that offer just because we could. And we have got more offers after that too, which we of course turned down. Instead, we have continued to release our music this way, free of charge, with no labels involved. Although, Abyss Records has released our both demo trilogies as CD’s - “With Endless Wrath, We Bring Upon Thee, Our Infernal Torture” and just recently “Evighetens Dårar”. Go to
http://www.torturedivision.net to download our complete repertoire. For free!
Could you tell us more about your music? How would you categorize it?
Death fucking metal. No more. No less. Considering the background the members in the band have, and that we collectively have more than 60 years of experience in death metal, it shouldn’t come as a surprise what we sound like.
You released your “Evighetens Dårar” this year. Was it a long time project to get all three demos under one compilation?
Well, the first two demos in this trilogy (ED pt I & II) were recorded and released last year and the third one was done this year. The compilation CD, or “album” if you like, just got released, so yes it took some time for it to get out. But that doesn’t bother us one bit. We never plan further ahead than one demo release at the time. We do this band when we’re not busy with our other main bands, so it can take the time necessary. Halfway through the Evighetens Dårar demo trilogy, Abyss Records announced that they wanted to release this trilogy too as an album when the trilogy was complete, just like they did with the first trilogy. But we didn’t have the time until mid 2010 to do the third and last piece of Evighetens Dårar.
Could you explain the title of the compilation?
Evighetens Dårar is Swedish and translated into English it means “Fools of Eternity”. It’s about people who think that things last for eternity. You are a fool if you get into something or someone and blindly believe that it will last forever. That’s roughly what it’s about.
How did you write this album? What was the input of everyone?
The process is usually like this: K writes the music at his place and do rough demos that he then sends to me and Jörgen. If we have any suggestions on any changes, we work it out together. Then I start practicing the songs on the drums at my place and Jörgen writes the lyrics and rehearse the stuff at his place. We live in three different cities spread over mid-Sweden, so we don’t even get together in the same studio when we record our music. So to answer your question - yes, everyone have their input in the material, more or less.
Your songs seems to be written for live shows. Was it deliberate?
No, that’s nothing that we‘ve done intentionally. The songs were just written to be what they are: awesome death metal songs. And since they are, they all work fine to play live.
Some songs are very groovy when others are straight-in-your-face (for ex. The Axe Murderer and its 9 seconds). Do you feel it necessary for you to have both aspects on your album?
Not necessarily, but it’s nice to have a good blend with the ultra fast straightforward stuff and the heavier and groovy stuff. It’s simply the way we like it.
Your discography is rather unusual with only demos and best ofs/compilations. Can we expect a full-length at some point?
Well, I don’t know. A real full-length album is nothing we’re aiming for at the moment. We like this way of releasing our music, in digital demo trilogies. Sure, if we’d get a great offer, we’d probably do a “real” album. We could have made an album like the first thing we ever did, just because we could because of the background of the members in this band. But that didn’t feel right or fair in any way. We miss the old days when bands worked their way to find their sound and spread their name by doing demos first, and then get offered a deal and release an album. That’s the kind of spirit we want to capture with this band. And also, I believe that most record labels have outplayed their role within a few years, and the way we’re releasing music - with slight variations - is the future.
When you created the band and first contacted various labels, didn’t you fear that they were going to sign you more because of the band members than your music?
We never contacted any labels. They came to us. And that solely because of the band members.
What are the first feedbacks on “Evighetens Dårar”?
The feedback on Evighetens Dårar has been nothing but great. Sure, there are always some retarded reviewers who take themselves and our twisted kind of “humor”, if you like, too seriously. A few also seem not to listen properly to what they actually are reviewing. Some reviewers say that t”he guitar solos are great“. Point out one single fucking guitar solo in any of our songs and I’ll personally deliver a fucking cake to you, haha. What I really appreciate though, is that most reviewers see past the band’s line-up and actually listen to the music for what it is, and mostly the reviews are excellent. During the few years of Torture Division’s existence, we’ve managed to build quite a dedicated fan base, which supports us unconditionally. And of course, they love Evighetens Dårar.
Let’s speak about the production, which is from Dan Swano. How did you get in touch with him ?
Dan Swanö is an old friend of K’s and a death metal colleague that we’ve been acquainted with since many years. K and Jörgen has worked with Swanö earlier with The Project Hate, and since Swanö totally dig what we’re doing in Torture Division it came just naturally to work with him. The actual recording of our music is done by other people at different studios - Big Balls Productions in Karlstad (drums), A.R.T. Studios in Stockholm (vocals, bass) and The Dungeon in Örebro (guitars). When all that is done, it’s all handed over to Swanö for mixing and mastering.
Isn’t it difficult sometimes to cope with all the other members’ agendas (due to the fact that some members play in more than one band) ?
No, not at all. We do things with Torture Division when we have the time and are not busy with our main bands, so it’s actually pretty easy. It’s not like we have the pressure to achieve and deliver something within a certain time period, so we take things as they come. When we feel like it. Torture Division is for our own personal death metal pleasure and we plan our activities accordingly.
Do you personally read the reviews in the various supports? (Webzines, magazines and so on); did they influence the music you write?
Yes, it’s always nice to read reviews, no matter if they‘re good or bad. But it doesn’t influence our way of writing our music. Not in any way.
Do you plan some touring to show the world your music?
We will do a short trip to Finland to play a few shows in March next year, but part from that we don’t have any plans in regards of touring at the moment. Though, requests from outside Sweden are beginning to drop in, which is very nice. Hopefully we’ll be able to do at least a few festivals in continental Europe within a year or so.
Few questions to end this interview:
- How did you come to metal music? Which bands have inspired you?
Started to listen to Saxon, Accept and Iron Maiden when I was about 7-8 years old. Still love those bands. As I got older I discovered faster and more extreme bands like Slayer and Sodom and from there I soon discovered death metal. But I’ve never abandoned the good ol’ genuine hard rock and heavy metal. Still listen to that kind of music a lot.
- What’s the first metal album you bought? And the last one?
My first metal/hard rock album is “Creatures of the night” with Kiss. I didn’t buy that one myself though, it was a birthday present from my brother. I’m not sure which album I first bought myself, but might have been “The Force” with Onslaught.
- What are your best memories in concerts? And your worst?
My best concert memories are the show I did with Vomitory at Summer Breeze Open Air in Germany in 2009 and the show I did with Torture Division at Getaway Festival in Gävle, Sweden earlier this year. I have a lot of bad concert memories, they tend to stay in one’s memory better than the good ones haha. One of my worst is a show I did with Vomitory in 1997 in Bischofswerda in Germany. We were way too drunk to play decent that night and on top of that, the guy who operated the smoke machine on stage must have fallen asleep, ‘cause we couldn’t see shit during our entire set. I couldn’t even see my drum sticks when I played haha.
- Which bands do you listen to/are you fans of?
Too many bands to mention! But to name a few: Exhumed, Vader, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Rush, Black Sabbath and Slayer.
- What’s your favourite Torture Division’s song ?
“Invoking The Knifer”. Yeah, that’s definitely my favorite one. It kicks so much ass it’s ridiculous. It’s a live favorite but it’s sometimes difficult to play it. Not because it’s technically difficult - not at all - but it’s difficult to not get affected by the adrenaline rush and keep calm to be able to play drums properly at all. I’m dead serious about it.
- What is your favourite curse word?
Jävla dret! Roughly translated into English it means “fucking shit”. But there’s a twist to it since the word “dret” (shit) is dialectal, and sound harder and way cooler than the correct Swedish word “skit”.
- What sound or noise do you love?
The noise from the crowd when we enter the stage, a great sounding drum kit and the snoring from my daughter when she sleeps.
- What sound or noise do you hate?
Reggae.
- What profession other than professional musician would you like to do?
I would like to be a professional musician! I make my living at a sign factory, not from the music.
- If Heaven (or Hell) exists, what would you like to hear God (or Satan) say when you arrive there?
You did a great job down (or up) there, son. Now have a drink on me. Mi Casa su Casa!
- Is there a question you'd like to be asked?
“Do you want this suitcase full of cash?”
Something more to say for our readers?
Support Torture Division and our cause by spreading our music and our name. Also, buy some merch from our website so we can fund future recordings.
Thanks again for taken time to answer this interview!!
Review link:
http://www.metalchroniques.fr/guppy/art ... en&pg=5220
Torture Division links:
Official Website:
http://www.torturedivision.net/Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/torturedivisionswedenFacebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Torture-D ... 7566534436
Abyss Records links:
Online Label & Online Music Store:
http://www.officialabyssrecords.comMyspace:
http://www.myspace.com/abyssrecordsofficialFacebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abyss-Rec ... 3050232055
Other links:
To purchase TORTURE DIVISION - Evighetens Dårar DIGI CD or other TORTURE DIVISION merchandise go to:
http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/adv ... e+divisionTo preview a song go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Q5Zl2Q8HITo preview a song from TORTURE DIVISION's first album go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SIkZUsvT2A
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