Interview with Tobias Gustafsson, drummer of the great Swedish Death Metal band VOMITORY

- Conducted by Kunal N. Choksi

Diabolical Conquest (Kunal): Hails Tobias! What's going on? Which celebrity are you banging of late?

Vomitory (Tobias): Hails! Well, there have been quite a lot of them lately. And just recently I had a threesome with Whoopi Goldberg and Leif Edling.


DC: Must be noisy. Many Vomitory fans including me regard your debut album ‘Raped in their Own Blood' as one of the best if not the best Vomitory release. What makes your debut so special? Do you believe that the magic of the first album cannot be recreated?

V: Many fans like it because it's obviously a very raw, honest and somewhat naïve album. Personally I don't think it's the best album we've done, but I sure still like it a lot, just because of its rawness and overall “no-bullshit” feeling. The album has a lot of charm so to speak. But my guess why a lot of people think the debut is our best release, is just because of that - it's our debut, and people think debut's are the most “true” releases. Debut albums shows how bands originally sounded like and a lot of people, especially metal fans, are often quite conservative and prefer the way their favorite bands sounded in the early years. But I'm no exception myself, hell no. I prefer the early stuff from, for example Sodom, Napalm Death, Motörhead, Bolt Thrower, Slayer, Entombed and Grave, rather than their more recent albums. I don't believe that the “magic” - as you call it - of our first album could be recreated, just because we were young and inexperienced as a band, as individual musicians and also just basically as people. Time has changed all that. Our music has evolved and so have our musical references. And of course I think it has turned to the better ‘cause we have released several albums after “Raped” that kicks its ass big time. Not least our new album, “Carnage Euphoria”.

DC: You are probably partial towards your newer albums but still which is your favorite Vomitory album and why? Is there any Vomitory release that you aren't very proud of or wish you had written or recorded some of it differently?

V: I am honestly very proud of all Vomitory albums. I love them all in one way or another. Of course, there are always things on every album that you, a while afterwards, think you could have done differently or slightly better. But I don't have any real regrets really. It would have been cool though, to have had a proper recording budget and a proper studio for our debut album “Raped In Their Own Blood”, but then again - a lot of the rawness and the feeling of that album would have been lost. I am obviously partial towards our newer albums, as my favorite Vomitory album now is the newest one, “Carnage Euphoria”. But I also hold “Blood Rapture” (2002) as one of our best albums.

DC: Six full length studio albums and still Vomitory show no signs of selling out. If anything, it's the opposite – the music is rawer, meaner and faster than before. Can you explain this strange phenomenon? What drugs are you on lately?

V: I don't think it's a strange phenomenon, but just a natural development. We just keep writing our death metal the way we like it, and this is how it turns out in the end. I believe that a lot of it has of course to do with experience. The band has existed for twenty years and we know our shit by now, haha. Shame on us if we didn't!

DC: Since ‘Blood Rapture' I believe Vomitory have introduced Bolt Thrower influences in their music, not forcibly but in a manner suiting the style of Vomitory. How do you think this has helped the sound of the band?

V: I don't know if it has helped our sound, but Bolt Thrower is/was a great band that is an all-time favorite band in Vomitory. So it would be strange if there wasn't any BT influences in our music at all. I think those Bolt Thrower inspired parts blend perfectly with our fast stuff that makes the combination a bit original.

DC: With close to two decades of existence, have thoughts of quitting ever entered your mind? Bolt Thrower said “We'd stop recording when we felt we'd written the ultimate Bolt Thrower album.” And that they felt was ‘Those Once Loyal'. After ‘Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize', which was easily your best album in years, I was afraid you might not record anything after that.

V: Well, honestly it has struck our minds a couple of times over the years. First time was actually just after we had released our debut album in the end of 1996/beginning of 1997, when we lost two band members almost at the same time (Ronnie - vocals and Thomas - bass). The remaining three of us definitely wanted to go on, but it proved difficult to find suitable new members. So as time went by, we began thinking more and more of maybe disband Vomitory. Luckily we found new members and "the rest is history", haha. Also, during 2005 just before Ulf decided to leave the band, was a really bad period in the band. None of us had any ideas or motivation to do anything so the thought of calling it quits felt really appealing at that point. But then lots of stuff happened in the band. All the negativity turned positive and soon we were back on track again, stronger than ever. I think too that "Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize" is the best Vomitory album in a long time, but instead of thinking that we would never be able to top it, we got inspired to actually do that. And I honestly believe we have with our new album "Carnage Euphoria".

DC: How did the departure of the long time Vomitory guitarist Ulf Daligren affect the band? What instructions did you have to give to the new guitarist? How did you explain the Vomitory sound to him? What kind of sketches did you have to use for that purpose?

V: Of course it was a devastating message to get from Ulf when he decided to leave Vomitory. We had been together in the band for so many years, built up the band together and experienced a lot during those years together. So it was tough to hear that from him, but most definitely even tougher for him to come to this conclusion in the end. But instead of being totally devastated about it - well, of course we were that at first - we later looked upon the situation as an opportunity to do something really good for the band instead. That Ulf left the band was such a major thing for the band, so it really woke us up and kinda put us before an ultimatum - should we just call it quits or should we keep going and get even stronger than before? You know the outcome of that. Two names instantly came to my mind when Ulf told me he was going to quit - Lord K Philipson and Peter Östlund. We knew Peter since years before. He's played in different local bands, we have mutual friends and we used to hang out in the same rock club, so we knew pretty damn well that he was a great guy and a killer guitarist. So when we asked him to join us, we didn't need to introduce him to Vomitory - he knew all along what we're about. And we never needed to do any audition with him either. We knew from the start that he was our guy. Lord K Philipson was contacted first regarding a temporary replacement though. When Ulf left, we had a short UK/Ireland tour planned as well as three shows during a weekend in The Netherlands that we could not bail out on. We didn't want that either, 'cause we were really keen on doing those shows. When I talked to K on the phone, telling him that we needed a temporary replacement because Ulf had just quit, I didn't even have the chance to finish the sentence, before K bursted out -"Tobias, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND???!!! OF COURSE I'M IN!!!!". You know, we're his favorite band, haha.

DC: ‘Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize' was also the heaviest and rawest Vomitory album in years. Do you attribute that to the change of the recording studio? Will the new one be recorded at the same studio then? Have you made out with anyone in that studio?

V: I think that changing studio and producer was a good move for us, and obviously that played a big role in how that album turned out in the end, production-wise. During the writing process of "Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize" we started talking about changing studio and producer to renew ourselves and our sound. Since we don't experiment especially much or break new musical ground, we think that this was the way to go. And it obviously was! "Carnage Euphoria" is recorded at Leon Music Studios outside Karlstad in Sweden together with studio owner/engineer/producer Rikard Löfgren, just like our predecessor. And the only two I've made out with in Rikard's studio, are his dogs.

DC: Tsk. What can you tell us about your new album? When is it going to be released? How different will it be from previous Vomitory releases, your last one in particular?

V: The release date is set to May 8th (Europe only, so far). I think the new album is even more diverse than the previous one and particularly than the older releases. There are more heavy- and mid-tempo parts integrated in the fast songs which makes the whole impression of the album more interesting. But the true Vomitory parts are of course all there - the blasts, the D-beats etc, but you will also hear some almost melodic hooks that will grab your attention even more. The production is also cleaner than earlier and also more - how should I say - "organic" and natural in a way. The whole sound image is a lot wider and warmer than it was on "TBS". I am especially satisfied with how the drums sound on "Carnage Euphoria"! We didn't use any sampled drum sounds this time around, but only my miked drum kit just the way it sounds. And it sounds fan-fucken-tastic! It sounds like... drums! And not like poorly programmed drums or a type-writer, which unfortunately is the case in many of today's metal productions. Lyrically, we don't offer anything groundbreaking. So everything is just as normal there, haha. Brutal, sick and violent lyrics just as usual. The lyrics to the last song on the album though - "Great Deceiver" - is rooted more in reality than the others. It's inspired by the insane acts that took place in Amstetten in Austria, that recently got brought to the surface. And the opening track - "The Carnage Rages On" - is a lyric that I wrote as a celebration to our 20 year achievement in death metal. Lots of well-known death metal references in that one, haha.

DC: Do you agree Vomitory are underrated outside Sweden or Europe? It's probably because you don't tour that much. So why don't you tour outside Europe? Is there a threat to your/other Vomitory members' lives that prevents the band from venturing outside of Europe? Do you believe the world is flat and that if you go beyond Europe you will fall into endless space?

V: Yes, I actually agree that Vomitory is underrated, especially outside Europe. We've got a pretty good fanbase here in Europe, but it could always be better, you know. Even here in Sweden. But in Sweden, people are so sensitive for the trends and are scared shitless to miss the latest bandwagon. If brutal Swedish death metal with the old vibes would be the next big thing here in Sweden, we'd be riding first class! Our fanbase would naturally grow if we toured more, but it's difficult to have a good balance between having a normal job and touring as much as possible, without having the band as your only income. And taking the step to actually make the band your only income, feels too big for us. At least now. We'd love to tour outside Europe, but it's like a vicious circle. If we don't sell more albums outside Europe, a tour would not make sense or be financially bearable. But on the other hand, the preeminent way to promote a band and to sell more albums is to be on tour! It's difficult. But also, we're really afraid to fall off the edge of the world too if we go too far from Sweden!

DC: In your limited and no doubt familiar experiences touring the same European countries, have there been any tours that were exceptionally memorable. Can you tell us about the reasons (good or bad) that made them memorable? I bet a tour to India would be memorable, mostly because you will find me moshing with an elephant in the crowd.

V: There are a couple of tours that are more memorable than others. Like the first "real" European tour we did. That was in 2000 as support to Cannibal Corpse. That tour later went into the No Mercy festivals, featuring (beside us and Cannibal) Deicide, Immortal, Vader, Hate Eternal, Dark Funeral and Marduk. That was quite an experience for us! The Cannibal guys took really good care of us on the road and we are eternally grateful that we got the opportunity to do that tour with them. Another great tour to remember is the European tour we did in 2002 together with Amon Amarth and a bunch of other bands. Financially, that tour was a disaster and the turn-outs at the shows were pretty poor as well. But we had such a great time together on the road. It was like being on a one-month vacation with our best friends! Another tour that I remember clearly, but for totally different reasons, is the X-mass Festival tour in Europe in 2001. I got food poisoned in Belgium and had severe diarrhoea for a week! That's not exactly what you wish for while being on tour, I can assure you hahaha! Seeing you in the moshpit on the back on an elephant wouldn't go unnoticed either, hahaha!

DC: Vomitory have been with Metal Blade for several years and released four albums with them and recently even extended another four album deal. Obviously they have been treating you well, even though they don't allow you to tour outside Europe. What kind of dirty favours do they do for the band? Tell me honestly, do they have any say in the direction the band should take? Do they at least sigh heavily when you release a heavier album?

V: We've been with Metal Blade since 2000, and last year we signed a new deal for another four albums. But that was with Metal Blade Europe only. We will try to find another label to work with in the US, since we didn't feel we get any feedback from MB US. Metal Blade Europe has always been awesome to us and they allow us to tour anywhere. They're not a booking agency, you know. And honestly, Metal Blade have never ever said anything about what direction our music or the band as a whole should take. They totally leave that to us. But they are always very honest in their opinions about our music and the things we do - good or bad. And I think that's the way it should work between a band and their record label. We have a mutual confidence and a very good relation with MB Europe that we cherish.

DC: How difficult is it to push the envelope while maintaining the trademark Vomitory sound? On one hand you don't want to alienate your fans with uncharacteristic progression and on the other hand you don't want to keep repeating yourself lest your fans get bored, broke and harbour thoughts of betrayal.

V: You're absolutely right. It's difficult, but it's fun as it keeps challenging us to write better and more innovative, within the Vomitory boundaries that is. One thing that I mentioned earlier that we did to renew ourselves, was to change studio and work with a new producer. A small change for us to do that had a pretty big impact on the final result in the end. The addition of Peter Östlund to the band a couple of years ago, was another thing that opened up some new musical doors for us that weren't quite possible before. So there are things we've done to stay true to our sound without repeating ourselves too much I guess.

DC: Indeed. In such a restrictive situation, surely the band members must want to play a different style of music. Tell us about the involvements of Vomitory members in other bands and which of those bands you think completely suck.

V: Sure, it would be great to play something else than death metal in another band, but as my life looks now, there simply is not time for that. I'd love to play something heavier and slower than Vomitory that relies more to the 'groove' and 'drive' of the drums, rather than the speed and intensity. That's why it's very stupid of me to play in another death metal band beside Vomitory, haha! I also play drums in Torture Division, a death metal band quite close to the Vomitory sound, which also features Lord K Philipson on guitar and Jörgen Sandström on vocals and bass. We release our music for free download at our website, www.torturedivision.net, and we kick major ass. Seriously.

Peter also plays in another band called The Law, which he was in even before he joined Vomitory. The Law plays old school bay area thrash and has an album out called "Distorted anthems from the suburbs". Check them out at www.myspace.com/thelawswe. They kick major ass. Seriously!

DC: It is quite obvious that you are a gay lover of Lord K. Philipson and both of you can't stay away from each other. You guys have even formed a band, Torture Division, just so you two can spend more time together under the pretext of creating new music. What do you have to say in your defence?

V: You totally got me there... Nah, but seriously, to take it from the beginning, K and I used to run into each other at shows and such, some 6 years back. But it wasn't until K took a serious listen to Vomitory that he started to harass me with saying that we needed to start a band together. He just loved my way of playing death metal drums and I knew he is an awesome guitarist and musician (and an awesome guy too) so we said like, "let's do it when the time is right". Shortly after that, apparently the time was "right" 'cause K had this idea to start a band with me, Elofsson and a vocalist. We asked Emperor Magus Caligula of Dark Funeral, who's an old friend of K's, if he was up for the task and of course he was. That band was called God Among Insects. The plan with that band from the beginning was to record one album and do one live show and then call it quits. But after that only album ("World Wide Death") and "one and only" show, we all got so excited to continue with this side-project so we did a few more shows here in Sweden, recorded another album, "Zombienomicon", did even more shows before we decided to disband God Among Insects, early last year. The magic and the fun with this band had slightly faded so we thought it was to time to call it quits. But K and I always got along so well together, not only as friends and drinking buddies but certainly as musicians. During the two years in God Among Insects we discovered that we work and complement each other incredibly good on the musical level. So even if we disbanded God Among Insects, there was no chance in hell that we were going to stop playing together! That's why we started TORTURE DIVISION. Before we even asked Jörgen Sandström to join us, K and I had already decided the line-up for this 'Army Of Three' that is Torture Division. He had no other choice than to join us, haha. K is one of my best friends and we always have a great time when we meet. So to sum it up, I have nothing to say for my defense, haha!

DC: Vomitory's music is not old school nor is it cutting-edge, technical or brutal. Yet it is very much relevant and death metal fans are almost always completely satisfied with a Vomitory release. What do you think makes it click?

V: I think it's because people simply have really bad taste in music, and don't have a clue what real death metal should sound like. Or something like that. Taxi?!

DC: Tell us about the song-writing process. What guidelines do the members have to follow while writing a Vomitory song?

V: I write most of the music in Vomitory, like 80%. Peter writes the rest. Lyrically we work more all together. There is no natural or obvious lyricist in this band who writes all our lyrics, so we do our best together to complete those. I always write alone and finish a full song with arrangements and all before I play it to the other guys. If someone has any ideas of possible changes or simply dislikes something in the song, we work it out together in the end. Among the most important guidelines that I have when I write music is that the song must never lose the intensity, drive or flow. For example, a song that starts very fast and intense can never slow down in tempo or intensity at an early stage of the song. That has to come later in the song, if necessary at all. Also, every song needs to have a red thread throughout it, sort of like a musical theme. A song that consists of one hundred different riffs, bunched together always suck.

DC: Since you guys don't tour outside Europe, what kind of jobs do the band members have I wonder?

V: I work at a sign factory, Urban works at a laundry, Peter is an electrician and Erik works at a building suppliers. And we do that because we want to afford to live decent lives.

DC: Right. Pardon me if I'm wrong (after all I live in an old well in India shared by frogs and turtles), but I think Vomitory have always had a pretty clean image. How boring. Have you thought about doing something about it?

V: We're from Sweden. We are clean people. We care for our personal hygiene. Metal or not - at least I don't want to look like a bum more than I do naturally. It's not metal being dirty. It's just stupid and... dirty! So sorry, dirty Indian, you have to stick with a "clean" Vomitory for some time more.

DC: What is it that makes Sweden such a prominent death metal producing country? I've heard that when babies in Sweden cry, they are given guitars not toys. So it is only natural for them to be unable to differentiate between the two when they grow up.

V: Not only are babies given guitars (V and Explorer models only) when they cry. All parents also sing Bathory songs (only from the three first albums) to them when they put them to sleep. While growing up during the basic school years, Swedish kids have a lot of good possibilities to play with music and try different instruments and so on. The school and the society encourages young people to get involved with music, sports, art or whatever they're interested in. It's good to be active with something, to have a creative hobby, instead of just hanging around. During the teenage years the community also often offer rehearsal rooms to young bands, free of charge. I guess that's where it started for most of the successful Swedish death metal bands of today - including Vomitory.

DC: Do you believe in the ideology that those who play melodic death metal music are gay and should be slapped till their useless balls drop off? 

V: Not all of those who play melodic "death metal" are gay, but most are. But what's really contradictive here is the term "death metal". In my world - and that's the true world - real death metal ain't melodic! So the correct term for that kind of music in my world - and that's the true world - would be "melodic gay metal".

DC: Apart from metal and Lord K. Philipson, which other activities are you fond of? What makes you happy?

V: Music, drums and drumming in general makes me happy. My daughter, of course, makes me really happy. I don't have time for much else in my life beside my work, my family and my band(s). K Philipson makes me happy. All the time. What a great guy!

DC: Yah, yah. Hey what happened to Fadeless Records? Guess they faded huh?

V: Yup, they faded haha. The guy, Wilko, who ran Fadeless records later went to Relapse records Europe to work there for a couple of years. But nowadays he's working for Century Media. We actually ran into Wilko accidentally a few weeks ago at the airport in Milano. We had just done a couple of shows in Italy and he had been to a friend's birthday party. He's a great guy and it was nice to see him again.

DC: Are you and Urban brothers? Who beat up whom as a kid?

V: Yes, we're brothers. Urban is four years older than me. He beat me up when we were kids but I beat him up nowadays, haha!

DC: And… that just about does it. Thanks a ton Tobias! I am sure your new album will slay all.

V: Thank you Kunal for those interesting questions. Now I'm fucken exhausted! Yeah yeah, the new album will slay and all. Check our website and myspace blah blah blah... new merchandise blah blah blah.... summer festivals blah blah blah... European tour with Malevolent Creation in September blah blah blah... Now fuck off.