Beneath The Frozen Soil INTERVIEW

BEYOND THE FROZEN SOIL

Can you start first with introducing yourself and your band?
Hell(O))) Devilry magazine, great to make your acquaintance.
Swift introduction: Beneath The Frozern Soil is a four piece, raw blackened doom metal band from Gothenburg Sweden.
Longer introduction:
We started out 2004 in Kalmar on the southeast cost of Sweden as a duo consisting of me (Linus Pilebrand) and ex-lead singer Buster Sporrong as an electrified way of getting out bottle up emotions, hate, anger, depression...
Selfmedication through low rumbling noise if you will.
Over time things evolved, we added a permanent drummer (Olof Holgersson) and recorded a demo that got the attention of Totalrust Music's boss Gad.
We relocated to Gothenburg, released a split with Negative Reaction through Totalrust Music, Buster left the band in order to spend time with his fianceè and their newborn son.
He was replace by Göran Nilsson and Svante Enefalk joined up on bass.
Now we..re set to release a split with Evoken via I Hate-records in august and in September Totalrust Music will release our fullength album.
We will hit the road together with Profetus and marche funebre in september for a two week long tour to promote the releases.

You are another band from Sweden.The scene there is getting bigger and bigger,don’t you think?

Yeah there are alot of realy good bands from Sweden, and they just keep om comin...
I guess it's the whole "gothenburg/stockholm" sound you know...
Unfortunately there aren't that many doom metal bands here, but then again wich country has?
Sure we have the doom metal kings Candlemass who more or less started the whole thing, but people should check out Kongh, Ocean Chief, Runemagik/The Funeral Orchestra and our totalrust labelmater Pyramido form some more low and slow music from the jewel of Scandinavia.

Your band is a doom metal-lover. Do you think that doom music is way too depressed these days?

I don't know if I would say that it's too depressed these days, I would more say that there are a bit to many bands out there acting like emos.. complaining about what not and writing depressed lyrics just for the sake of having lyrics about depression without ever having experienced real depression themselves.
Our basic concept is to invoke emotion, both musically and lyrically. A way to channel the mindset of a given moment, be it real or not. In this we strive to step away from the most common clichés of doom. For example the romanticizing of depression, grief and loss. We rather portray it as one of the uglier sides of being human.
We're a band where 3 out of 4 memebers have lost their fathers to sickness, were our ex-singer tried to commit suicide and som of us have had our fare share of encounters with selfmutilation.
So we know what depression, loss and mourning brings, and it ain't nothing good.



As.. a young band,what are your main targets?More live shows?Bigger label?

You are spot on there, the goal is do as many shows as possible, push things forward.
Cause what's the point with writing music if you..re not willing to show it to people?
We're going to record a new fullength this winter/early spring and look for a suitable label for it, well see what will come out of it.

You said that the main concept of the music is to invoce emotion.What kind of emotion you want to invoke in us?

I think the answear to question nr 3 more or less gives you the answear you need.
We have an understanding in the band that the music should sound like a rusty bulldozer sinking in mud topped with a little stream of hope, if we reach that goal then vi know that it will be a great song.
I don't if this makes any sence, but this is the best answear you are going to get.


What do you think about life in general and the modern society?

Ofcourse I'm glad that I live in a modern day sociaty where you don't have the same struggles as say, someone living in the 18 century had.
Where food and housing is more or less taken for granted and we have a funtioning healtcare.
But at the same time I feal that we as "modern people" have lost a connection to life and the earth we walk upon.
This is something that I think have crept upon us as we have aspired and struggled to reach a higer standard of living, techonological achievements and expansion of our urbanisation.
We're not that gounded anymore, wich is a pity.
Just look at how we treat this planet...

Can you reveal the secret of the sentence: “Fast is light,heavy is slow” ;) Something with doom metal?

It most definitely has to do with doom metal, cause fast music never sounds heavy and earthshattering, it might sound agressive and hateful, but heavy it is not.
When I think of something heavy I don't envision a ferrari speeding away on the freeway, I think of above mentioned rusty bulldozer sinking in mud, big, slow and heavy.
Hence, fast is light, heavy is slow.

Do you get inspiration from some movies?

In some ways, I think that eveyrbody who holds Twin Peaks, Dr Strangelove and The Seventh Seal as their favorite series/movies can't avoid picking up inspiration from them in one way or another.
I know that I do.

Are you depressed a lot?

Without giving away to much of my self or anybody else in BTFS, I believe that anybody who ever has been struck with depression and/or grief always carries that with them.
And it is up to that person to deal with it in their own way,
and try to get out as safe and sound as possible on the other end of it.
But since people are people, some take antidepressants, some do drugs, some drink, some mutilate themselves, some commit suicide, some write books, some write music.


Wish something to DEVILRY Magazine and your fans.
I personaly wish you all the best, achieve the goals you set up for yourself and never, ever backdown.
Always walk proud and tall with your eyes lifted, never let sociaty get you down.

Stay low and slow.

/Linus Pilebrand
Beneath The Frozen Soil