Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: Along with your new release "Misanthropic Generation", Disfear has also found a new home in the label Relapse Records.  What essential factor lead to the decision of Disfear signing to Relapse, especially when there have been so many label problems and changes in the past? Great choice I may add. Relapse have always been the type of label to work for their artists.

Björn Pettersson: Relapse Records has always released really cool music and has a good reputation in the underground scene, which was one of the main factors in signing with them. We have our freedom to release vinyls and 7" at smaller labels and that fits us perfectly. I did some trading with Matt and Bill in the early '90´s and knew that they are cool people to work with, so decision wasn’t hard. Today I wish we had signed to Relapse years ago but that’s history now. Of course we’ve had some quite hard discussions about things but I guess it’s always like that. (Laughs) We have finally found our home and this is the “end-station” for the band. If Relapse still wants us for another album of course.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: I noticed that on a couple tracks "Rat Race" and "Dead End Lives"  there were additional guitarists who contributed in the lead aspect of the tracks.  What was the reasoning behind this added contribution particularly since you are the lead guitarist of the band?  

Björn Pettersson: Oswald and Mange are two really good friends of ours who play in a rock band called The Peepshows. They are really into what we’re doing and are both excellent guitar players. To be honest, they fucking kick my ass badly (Laughs) Actually, they live in Örebro where we recorded the album and after a few beers we agreed they had to appear on the album. I think the result is cool and I wouldn’t, for sure had done it better.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: Your last release was six years ago with "Everyday Slaughter".  Can you bring us up to date with what’s been going on since then with Disfear and why it took some time to follow-up with another release, this being your current "Misanthropic Generation"?

Björn Pettersson: Well, things did´nt really happen the way we wanted it to happen. Yeah, sure we did some touring and it was a  good response of the album but things just felt a bit wrong. After some discussions with Hervé at Osmose, everybody thought the best thing was if we left the label. But I must point out there was and there are no hard feelings between us. Anyway, we were supposed to sign to Swedish War Music. We recorded a couple of demo tracks at Sunlight Studios, think it was in the end of ´99, and we were pleased with the result. Everything was set to go but then all the problems started. Studio times were cancelled, things started to change with Swedish War Music, we were supposed to record at Dug Out with Daniel Bergstrand but it got cancelled and so on. It  was really close that we decided to split-up but after some discussions we thought that it would be stupid to throw away all new songs. I mean the album has been ready to record for almost 4 years. Finally things started to fall together and I can just say that today we´re really happy we took the right decision.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: Is it true that "Misanthropic Generation" was prepared 4 years in advance before recording first took place and if so, why?

Björn Pettersson: Yes, it’s true. As I said, there were just so many problems with labels and so on and that made everything so delayed. Actually, some of the songs were made with the old line-up right after the release of the "Everyday Slaughter" album so I guess they are kind of old right now. You know like, the title of "26 Years of Nothing" was written when Tomas was 26, today he is 32. We had some discussions if we had to change the title but we all felt it was better to let it be.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: Speaking of "Misanthropic Generation", it’s been stated by the band that "mankind is the plague and that our generation is the most misanthropic ever" when asked of the significance behind the title and lyrics. With that said why do you feel this way and what mind frame was the band in when writing?  I mean that’s a pretty strong statement! (Laughs)

Björn Pettersson: Guess Tomas is the right person to answer this question so I pass it to him.

Tomas Lindberg: This is how I/we feel every morning after having just a glance of the global headline news. It is quite inevitable that we mankind 9 will destroy the earth is just a short matter of time, and the ones that are "elected" to rule our earth and its resources for us have only one thing in their heads, money and power. I see no way out of this situation, but I will surely fight the inevitable as long as possible. Materialism is the biggest evil of all and it will surely drag us down soon, I don’t think it’s such strong words, “mankind is a plague” when you take it all in. I certainly have love for people and some of them actually give me hope and strength and hope to face another day, but in general this is where we stand.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: With "Misanthropic Generation" the band made the decision to record at a different studio "Soundlab". What made the band choose to go with a different studio when most previous releases were done at "Sunlight", a studio throughout the years Disfear had seemed comfortable with?

Björn Pettersson: Actually, we had booked time in Sunlight Studios, but Tomas was working with a "big" production that got far over time. I think he cancelled our time twice or three times before taking the step to find a new studio for the recording. There was some plans to record with Daniel Bergstrand at Dugout, but there was problems with times as well. Finally long time friend Mieszko asked if we would want to try his studio and we did. Today I´m really, really happy that all the problems made us end up in Soundlab. We are very satisfied with the sound and the mastering at Polar made it complete.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: When recording for "Misanthropic Generation" you brought in Mieszko Talaryzk (Nasum) to assist in the recording sessions. Can you tell us about the studio experience and what you feel Mieszko brought to the album that otherwise it might not have had?

Björn Pettersson: It wasn’t really that we brought Mieszko in to assist during the recordings since it’s his studio and he knows best what to do with his stuff. We did a lot of the recording ourselves, but he made sure the sound was made the way we wanted it. I think his ideas and our own thoughts about the recording made it the way it turned out in the end. He has an excellent ear and can hear things we don’t, luckily. (Laughs) He insisted to tune down and that’s of course a big part in the production. We are very happy with the whole thing and will record there next time as well.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: If you had to choose, what track or tracks do you feel showcase Disfear the best off "Misanthropic Generation"? One of my favorites was the first track "Powerload". It is so energetic and tightly put together.

 Björn Pettersson: Don’t know really. There are a couple of songs I enjoy a lot playing live. "Powerload" is one of those songs, together with the title track. "Rat Race" is also good doing live. I think its important songs that work out live, that’s where the right feeling should be. I’m looking forward to start working on some new stuff, there are some ideas but we have no whole songs ready yet.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: The album was dedicated in the memory of your first singer "Henrik Andersson" who unfortunately died of an overdose not to long ago. How long was Henrik a member in the band and what made you decide to have this particular album as a remembrance?

Björn Pettersson: Henrik was one of the founder members of Ant-Bofors, which was our name before changing to Disfear in late 1991. He was a really cool dude and he brought me into a lot of brutal music in the late 1980´s. We were hanging out and talked about forming a band back in 1988, but the band wasn’t formed until early 1989. Sadly he was put to jail for an arson attack at a McDonalds restaurant and started with heavy drugs in prison. They say it’s some kind of rehab to be put in jail but obviously that’s just fucking bullshit. When he came out he was a full-time drug addict and it just didn’t work out so he had to leave the band in late 1991. We had contact during the years until he passed away a couple of years ago and he will always be a part of the band.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: There's also a couple tracks that didn't make the album.  When will these tracks become available for the fans?  I know there has been discussion about these tracks resurfacing on vinyl for release.

Björn Pettersson: They are available right now actually. We recorded two covers at the same time we recorded the album. Both are covers of old Swedish bands. One of them has ended up on the "Powerload" 7", released by Throne Records (www.thronerecords.com) in Spain, together with the song "Powerload" off of the album and an unreleased track called "The Age of Conflict". On this 7" there’s a song called "Med en Hälsning Från Helvetet" by an awesome band called Bombanfall. The other one  will end up on the vinyl version of "Misanthropic Generation" which is released by Feral Ward.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: December 3rd embarked the "Close-Up Made Me Do It" tour in Sweden.  Has there been any discussion of US tour dates in the near future?

Björn Pettersson: Yeah, I’m terrorizing Gordon at Relapse about a US tour but so far, nothing’s set. I really hope we can manage to get to the states during 2004 for a full tour. We just have to look into the right thing to do. We’re all into it, so I guess we just have to make it.

Dawn/TheMetalWeb!: Björn, I'd like to thank you for the interview and to say that the new release is an album that I can't get enough of and makes me crave more from Disfear.  With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!? 

Björn Pettersson: Thank you very much Dawn for those kind words and for showing interest in Disfear. Please check out our official site or http://www.relapse.com for further information. Thanks again! Cheers.

OFFICIAL SITE “DISFEAR”: http://www.disfear.com


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