Dismember "The God That Never Was" (Candlelight)
By Brian Anderson
Monday. May 22, 1:38 AM
An interview with drummer Fred Estby.

Tobias Christiansson is the new bassist. Did he play on The God That Never Was?

No. He actually entered the band before the album was really finished, but we started to rehearse with him when we were mixing.

So who played bass on the album?

It was (guitarists) David and Martin. Both of them shared the bass duties.

You write the majority of the music, but did the writing process change much with the departure of (former bassist) Richard Cabeza?

David and I do most of the music. (The writing process changed) a little bit, because Richard is a talented songwriter who does a lot of cool things that some of us would never think of. So in that case you miss his part: he would suddenly have an amazing song or part that you can hook onto. But on the other hand, we are really productive these days, so it does not get in the way of awesome material.

Richard moved to Dallas, TX. What is he doing there?

He is living with his wife and they have a son now. They also just bought a house and he works with a chef in the kitchen of a really exclusive restaurant.

The God That Never Was has the sound of early Dismember. What made you return to it?

I think we’ve always had that sound in our veins, but of course we also wanted the production to be clear so that you can hear everything while staying raw.

“Phantoms (of the Oath)” is an instrumental. How was it born?

David wrote that song. He had all these parts… and what he had in mind, he felt didn’t need vocals on such a melodic song, so he wanted to keep it as an instrumental but still have it in the middle of the album.

All of the classic Swedish death metal albums were recorded at Sunlight Studio. Is that place still around?

Not at the same location. What I heard is that (producer) Tomas Skogsberg, who owns it, moved it to the countryside. It is still running, but I don’t know to what extent. I haven’t seen many albums being recorded or produced there recently, so I don’t know what its current sonic identity is.

Is that where the classic crunch that has become so synonymous with Swedish death metal came from?

(The crunch) actually came from Entombed before they became Entombed. They where called Nihilist, and almost out of accident (the crunch was developed) because, at the time, we weren’t that old and did not have a clue about what material to use for making a good guitar sound or what amps were really good. We knew Marshall, but we didn’t know what pickups to use on a guitar for a really raw sound. There weren’t many engineers or people around who really understood what we wanted to have for the production. So you had to find your own ways. Nihilist almost stumbled over this guitar sound because their guitar player at the time bought this heavy metal distortion box that nobody owned, and suddenly they had a very special guitar sound that everybody thought was so extreme. So that is how it started. Eventually they got it more developed, to the point where bands went into Sunlight Studio and could get it down perfectly.

I really love that you guys have continued to stick with the same crunch!

We decided quite early that this is the sound that we are going to keep and that this sound really fits the songs that we are making.

On Live Blasphemies, (vocalist) Matti Karki introduces you as the “Elvis of Esingen.” Where did that name come from?

My first musical experience was the King, Elvis Presley, and I use to live on a little island here in the middle of Stockholm called Esingen. When we would have parties, we would get real drunk and put on an old Elvis album. Matti was making nick names for everybody in the band for when we would go somewhere where people were not that familiar with us, so he just wanted to have a twist to the introduction. That’s his sense of humor.

Matti lost the lyrics to “Pieces” years ago. Has he figured out what they are yet?

We actually started to play that song again not too long ago. He listened to the recording and actually made out what he was saying, because he and I collaborated on the lyrics and we were able to figure them out.

Do you play any other material off of Pieces?

We played “I Wish You Hell” for a couple of shows when we kicked off the European tour in February, so perhaps we will play it in the States when we come over.

That’s a great lead-in to my next question: are there any plans for a U.S. tour in support of The God That Never Was?

Yes, absolutely! First, we are going to play the Maryland Death Fest on the 28th of May, and then we are heading to the East Coast in September. In December, we are going to the West Coast. Hope to see everyone at the gigs!
www.dismember.se
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com

Brian Anderson

Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.