Suffering from manflu, it does exist by the way, I was scrolling through social media as you do and I came across a youtube live performance from a band called Disrupted. I listened to their take on Swedish death metal and was pleasantly surprised by them. This led me to delve deeper and I discovered that they are signed to a mutual friend Raul from Momento Mori records and that their major influences are Grave and Entombed with a healthy dose of D-beat going on. Formed in 2012 with Mikael and Thomas and now confirmed as a four piece containing drummer Daniel (once of Katatonia) and Tommy on bass, the band are in the middle of recording their second album again through Momento Mori. This seemed like the right time to get in touch with the band and Mikael was only too pleased to answer my questions.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Hello and thank you for showing interest in us! We are four guys all coming from the same county located deep in the middle of the dark, Swedish forests.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
Disrupted was formed in 2012. Me and Thomas were playing together in another band back then but decided to change the style of music we played. We basically tuned down the guitars even more and plugged in the Boss HM-2 pedal and here we are.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
To be honest, we are quite far from unique. The style of music we play is already well known and has been around since the late 80’s. We are not trying to experiment in any way, we just want to deliver quality Swedish death metal songs with bone crushing guitar tone and with a touch of satanic putrefaction.
Disrupted released their debut album Morbid Death in 2015 through Raul and Momento Mori Records. How did it feel to put all your blood sweat and tears into an album and get it out there?
Releasing an album is one of the worst and best experiences you can have. While in the studio we were sometimes at the point where we thought everything would turn out sounding like garbage. That’s one of the not-so-good effects of hearing the same songs over and over again for days. In the end, though, when we got the final master of the album we were very proud of what we had achieved. Holding a physical copy of your band’s debut LP in your hands is a special thing for sure.
You are currently recording for your second album? What can you tell us about it and how would you say the sound is compared to that of your debut album?
Right now we are still in the final stages of the song writing process for our sophomore release. Personally I think we simply have better sounding songs and hopefully the biggest difference will be a much better production. Thomas has perfected the HM-2 sound after several years of tweaking and we have found a producer who is a master of his art when it comes to mix and mastering.
Where will the album be recorded and where will it be mastered? Are you using the same team or trying something different with this album?
We will most definitely record the entire album in Ludvika, where we recorded both the EP Heavy Death and our debut LP. It’s convenient for us since we have our rehearsal space literally 10 meters from the studio and both Thomas and Tommy are living there.
We’ll definitely use the same team this time as well, both for artwork and mix/mastering. We get along well and we haven’t had any kind of conflict whatsoever.
What are the lyrical themes of the songs for the new album? Is there a main lyricist in the band?
Gore, death, misery, devil worship and anti-religion. We’re not giving too much thought to the lyrics, but when you play this kind of music it’s just natural, at least for me, to have these kinds of themes. As the vocalist of the band I write most of the lyrics myself. It’s so much easier to come up with vocal patterns and sentences that fit the music when I’m the one writing them.
How often is the band able to get together and rehearse in the studio? Where do you get together and record?
Up until now we have only been together rehearsing maybe 2-3 times before each gig. Our intention is to rehearse the new songs a bit more before hitting the studio, just to make sure that we all know the songs well to make the recording process as quick and smooth as possible. As I mentioned earlier we have the studio and our rehearsal space in very close proximity to each other so it doesn’t get much better.
How are the songs constructed in the studio? Are there the main songwriters of songs that take care of everything or is Disrupted a band where all contribute to the songs?
Since we live in the year of 2018 it’s now possible to sit at home with your guitar and computer and basically write a complete album. Thomas writes about 90% of the music and he does it just like this. He records a demo track with guitar, bass and some basic drum patterns using a drum machine, then he sends it over to me and we decide together if it’s a good or a bad song. I then use the demo track to write lyrics and song patterns and Daniel(drums) listens to the basic drum tracks and then puts his twist on it to make it sound alive so to speak.
Back when I lived in Ludvika as well, me and Thomas sat together and wrote some of the older songs. But all the new material is created at home.
Recently you have became a four piece band and having different musical influences within the band, is there sometimes a lot of negotiating in the studio or do you feel you are writing the music you want to for the band?
We’re absolutely on the same track, all four of us. The best thing is that none of us are deadly serious about the band, we just want to go out and play death metal and have a few beers in between. I think that’s part of a successful line-up when you don’t get these tensions from people who take both themselves and the band as a whole too seriously.
How hard has it been to juggle the touring side of things with the everyday jobs? Do you have plans to go on bigger tours and further afield in 2019?
We haven’t done any touring so far unfortunately, just a few occasional gigs. Hopefully we’ll get some more gigs booked in 2019, but as it looks right now it won’t be a problem to keep up with our jobs and private lives.
So what are the plans for the year ahead in 2019?
First and foremost, we aim to get the new album recorded, mixed/mastered and released. Apart from that we’d like to get out and do more shows than our current average of around 2 gigs per year.
How hard is it for a metal band like Disrupted to survive in the current climate where bands have to tour non-stop and sell merchandise in order to bring money back into the band?
If we want things to happen it requires loads of work and personal economical investments to keep it up. I don’t even want to know how much money we’ve invested without getting any significant amount of profit. It’s easy to say that we’re not doing this to earn money, but at some level you need to get to at least break even to be able to continue with new albums and merch and all of that stuff. We were lucky enough to strike a deal with both Raul of Memento Mori and Jonas of Bifrost Records who both paid to press the CDs and vinyls for Morbid Death. All of the other expenses were covered by me and Thomas personally.
Being from Ludvika, are there any other bands from your local scene that you would recommend?
The music scene in the Dalarna county, which Ludvika is a part of, is packed with loads of talented bands and musicians. To name a few: Omnizide, Letters from the Colony, Interment, Volturyon and Antarktis.
A fun question to end this interview. If you were a DJ and were allowed to bring 5 CDs to the party, what would they be?
Questions like these are always the hardest. But right now I would bring:
- Obliteration – Cenotaph Obscure
- Leviathan – Scar Sighted
- Rotten Sound – Cursed
- Ljå – Til Avsky for Livet
- The Knife – Deep Cuts (Perfect to play when people get tired of nonstop metal music)
Any last message for our readers here at Moshville Times?
Once again, big thanks for showing interest in us and our music. It really means a lot for us. Keep ing the underground scene by buying albums, merch and attend the gigs. And most importantly, drink beer while doing all this to keep yourself hydrated.
Hail death!
Disrupted: facebook | bigcartel
