 |
 |
| w/MAGNUS OLSFELT |
| Dawn/The Metal Web!: With The Crown having completed its latest release with Possessed 13, how does the band continue to progress with each release while still maintaining "The Crown" signature style? Magnus Olsfelt: Well we have never really tried to stick with one style actually, we have always tried to progress and I guess that the "signature style" comes from us, our sound together as a band. Dawn/The Metal Web!: How does it feel to have Johan Linstrand back fronting the band adding once again to the original line-up? Magnus Olsfelt: It feels very good. As we have been playing together for such a long time he has such a natural feeling for our music. Especially with us going back to our roots on this album. I think Johan is one of the best death metal vocalists ever. Dawn/The Metal Web!: What do you feel accounts for the bands longevity and appeal besides being gifted musicians? Magnus Olsfelt: We were friends before we started the band. And this is still our first band, so we kind of learned to play together as a band in the rehearsal room. This feels like a very special thing for us. Dawn/The Metal Web!: What is the meaning behind the album title Possessed 13? Magnus Olsfelt: The meaning is that we have been kind of possessed by this for 13 years now, an anniversary to ourselves. Dawn/The Metal Web!: Visually with the cover art and lyrically what concept is the band exploring on Possessed 13? The album seems to border a story line theme. Magnus Olsfelt: Well we went for a very cinematic vibe on the cover, like an old horror-movie poster. And also the 13 songs are divided into 3 parts or chapters; "initiation”, "exaltation" & "annihilation", almost like a book or a theatre-play or something. It makes it feel more complete and also makes it easier to get into the album as a whole. Lyric-wise the first part, Initiation, is about confrontations with death, to get into the right mood. The second part, Exaltation, is more of a spiritual nature, to elevate the soul. And the 3rd and final part, Annihilation, is about letting it all go. Dawn/The Metal Web!: When writing for Possessed 13, where did the inspiration stem from and how did the album come to be when being composed? Magnus Olsfelt: Well I had this idea about doing the ultimate “The Crown” album, kind of like a sum-up of our career until now. So that was a huge inspiration, getting back to our roots and trying to celebrate ourselves, using all those tricks we’ve learned to love. I used a lot of really, really old riffs that never was recorded but also never forgotten, and put them into new songs, changed it around, mixed it with new stuff etc. So the whole writing process of this album was just very enjoyable and fun. We write the songs separately and then when we are rehearsing everyone can come up with their ideas. The co-operations are just me stealing Markos riffs and putting them into my songs. (Laughs) Dawn/The Metal Web!: What was the influence behind the two instrumentals In Memoriam and Dream Bloody Hell? Magnus Olsfelt: We’ve always liked instrumentals but somehow we’ve never done them before. I think that they add a lot of atmosphere and feeling and also break up the album nicely. Dream Bloody Hell is more of a classic horror vibe and In Memoriam is more epic and emotional. They leave room for your own thoughts and feelings. Dawn/The Metal Web!: Can you tell us about the bonus material that was added to Possessed 13 as well as why those specific tracks were chosen as opposed to others? Magnus Olsfelt: It is 13 previously unreleased tracks from our vaults. It is our first studio recording Last Rite from 1992, both our complete demo tapes; Forever Heaven Gone from 1993 and Forget the Light from 1994. A cover of the old Swedish band Bathory's Burnin' Leather recorded by us in 1999 and a self-produced pre-production demo of the song Rebel Angel from 1998-1999. All re-mastered. We wanted to release all our old stuff and this is pretty much it. It is very suitable because it unfolds our history and some riffs and parts can actually be found on the Possessed 13 album. Dawn/The Metal Web!: The production on this album was amazing. Were there any particular goals before recording that made this album what it is and did the recording process itself run smoothly? Magnus Olsfelt: Thank you, we aimed for a hard, heavy, honest and in-your-face production with a lot of balls. I am glad you like it. The recording process was very smooth and highly enjoyable. We had rehearsed a lot and done our homework, plus we were "on our mother’s street" so to say, with this album being more basic and straightforward and not that hysterically fast and complicated. And the engineer Patric J. Steen was just lots of laughs, very good at making us feel good. Plus we were doing a lot of the recordings just by ourselves. But they do have a great studio there at “Fredman's” and they sure know how to mix an album. Dawn/The Metal Web!: What tracks do you favor off the album? Magnus Olsfelt: I really have to be so boring and won’t pick out a certain song. Because I think that each and every song on this album has its place and purpose. That’s what makes this album feel so good. We may have made single songs that are better than on this album, but we’ve never made an album sound this complete. Dawn/The Metal Web!: Singer "Tomas Lindberg" (ex-At the Gates) fronted the band back in 2001. After only a short time, Tomas and the band parted ways mutually. What lead to this decision especially with the band having a few shows left to follow the US tour? Magnus Olsfelt: We found out that we didn’t really trust him. So therefore he couldn’t be a member of the band anymore. Dawn/The Metal Web!: Speaking of touring, The Crown kicked off a European tour this past November. How does your European fan base differ from that of the US? Magnus Olsfelt: I don’t know if they differ so much, maybe we have more fans in Europe that are into our first 2 albums than in the US, because they haven’t really been released there. But other than that it’s not that different. But I’ve noticed that Americans are very social and want to talk and hang out, while the Europeans maybe want an autograph and take a picture. Dawn/The Metal Web!: In over ten years time of playing, I'm sure The Crown has experienced quite a bit whether it be on stage or on the road. Have there ever been talks as to maybe compiling some of these experiences into a DVD for your fans and if so, when? Magnus Olsfelt: That’s a very good idea, I want to do a thing like "Cliff 'em All" or something like that, with a lot of different live clips and shit. But we haven’t really decided on the matter yet. We’ll see what happens. Dawn/The Metal Web!: I ask every band that I interview this question. While on tour, do you have any good or bad tour stories that you would care to share with your fans? Magnus Olsfelt: When we did our last US tour in 2002 with Darkest Hour we did a show in Richmond together with Jesuseater and Municipal Waste. We were afterwards invited to the birthday party of one of the dudes in Municipal Waste. And it was the greatest party I’ve ever been to! It was sick. Everything was smashed up; people were throwing things around, chanting. The sofa was thrown out of the window and set on fire and finally the only light in the apartment that wasn’t smashed to pieces was the one inside the fridge, until someone dived into it. I ended up with a bleeding nose. But it was all done in such a good thrashing mood. So we were all just laughing about it . "Live to thrash, thrash to live, born to party!" Dawn/The Metal Web!: Magnus, thanks for your time in interviewing with me. As I stated earlier on, you’re all gifted musicians and that gift can be heard on Possessed 13. Loved the album! With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!? Magnus Olsfelt: Thank you very much for the interview and your support! We really, really want to tour the states again. We love it there! OFFICIAL SITE “THE CROWN”: http://www.thecrownonline.com HOME |
 |
 |
 |
 |