Hi this is Jay reporting from Bogota, Colombia Today I’m lucky enough to be talking with Helvetestromb.. fast and furious Black Metal from Sweden
Hi guys, and thanks for taking the time to talk to our readers… Tell us about the band, when/where/why was the band formed?? Who is in the current lineup?
Helvetestromb is a power trio from Stockholm, Sweden. We are Jesper ‘Desecrator’ on vocals & bass, Tom ‘Hellwind’ on guitar & vocals, and Sebastian ‘Plaguegrinder’ on drums & vocals. The band’s origins go back to 2010, but we found our stride and current iteration in 2016. In the beginning we were called ‘Skoll’ and had a second, founding guitarist. Our idea at the beginning was to make music that fused black metal with the high energy of hardcore punk/crust. Black metal that you could bang your head, pump a fist, and mosh to. We were not impressed with the trajectory that modern black metal went in, and wanted to do something different.
Run us through your discography and let our readers know where they can buy copies.
Our first demos and EP, as Skoll, were quite sloppy affairs and all self-released. They are not available at the moment. Our first EP, released on cassette, was called Helvetestromb and we took this as our new name when it was time to release our first album (other bands were called Skoll). Our first full length ‘Demonic Excrements Cursed With Life.’ was released in 2017 by WormHole Death records. We went to Italy to record the album - at that point in time we had become more thrash oriented and it can be heard on the first record. It can be bought from Aural Music and available at Shadow Kingdoms records webpage. Our next release was another self-released EP, called ‘Massive Urban Assault’. It contained reworkings of demo material, the Helvetestromb EP and a bonus cover of Black Sabbath’s classic ‘All the Dead’.This is available on cassette if you contact the band. The second album, ‘Assault from the Hell’, was recorded in Studio Sunlight by legend Tomas Skogsberg. The first record was quite controlled and this second album was a response to that - more ugly, raw and faster. It is like a mix of black metal, grindcore and thrash. This album got a recent release by Noise Terror Cult and is available to buy from there or from the band.
What is the writing process when planning a new record?
All three of us write songs and all three of us are influenced by different sounds. We don’t always have a holistic goal of what the next album will be like - but more so what we want to achieve with the songs that we have. For our first album, we took our best songs that had not been on any demo or EP. Those happened to be more thrashy as me (Sebastian) and Tom was mostly influenced by that sound when writing those songs. We strive to write the best riffs possible to serve the goal of the songs and work to make the songs stand on their own first, and in the context of the album second. Since all three band members write music and lyrics individually as well as arrangements and productions together this serves to form the unique “Helvetestromb sound” that can be quite schizophrenic and chaotic at times. But this way of working is the natural process for us. We push ourselves all the time - as writers and performers.
Your latest promo EP is about to be released (May 17 th ).. and I have heard a new album will soon follow… run us through it track by track.. when/where was it recorded?
Our upcoming album ‘Apocalyptic Fires’ was again recorded by Tomas Skogsberg in Studio Sunlight. He did a fantastic job on our second album, catching the rawness and letting things be unhinged. We wanted to return to that but with a set of songs more rooted in the black metal sound. The promo EP showcases the three opening tracks from this album. The full album has eleven tracks and is quite far reaching in its influences. 1. Pools of Prophecy, (on the promo EP). (Tom) I became interested in ancient Mayan culture, and so learnt about the temple city of Chichen Itza and its sacred cenotes, and how sacrifices were carried out by throwing victims into the pools from high above. I envisioned how it could have felt for one of the sacrifices, and because the dark, dread filled mood it created in me I decided to give the lyrics to a black metal track I had already gotten half way with. The text and sound married very well. It's one of my best songs.
2. I Return to the Satanic Presence, (on the promo EP). (Tom) I like songs and riffs with melodies that I can grasp and immerse myself in. That's why I took a musical swing to the more folk-oriented side of black metal on this song. It still has the raw hell-fuel at the start and certainly in the end, so it became a nice journey for the listener. I gave the others the possibility to write the lyrics, which Sebbe did excellently because he caught the feeling of Satan-induced metaphysical journey to the beyond that we talked about when thinking about what this track is - what feeling it gave us.
3. Death Storming, (on the promo EP). (Sebastian) Much like Tom, I like songs that take you on a journey. The idea for this song was to let the riffs take the lead and structure the song from them. A labyrinth of guitars. Most of it is thrash metal (Slayer influences in the chorus, some Power Trp for the solo and a lot of Holy Terror for the verses) and with added second-wave tremolo black metal for the middle part. The song is about war and the aftermath of war.
4. Slaves of Tjernobylon. (Jesper) Lyricly this song is sequel to the song Abyssal Terminator that concludes our second album Assault from the Hell and is contributing to the lore that Helvetestromb had been building on for many years. It is a description of the Earth torn apart by hellish invaders who, after the destruction of the planet, continued on the satanic odyssey further out in the universe. The shatters of humanity left behind are doomed to live amongst the mutated creatures and cross breed beasts that prey upon them. Musically this song is meant to be a full course meal, combining fast moving riff with the crushing war-riff of the verse. In my opinion melodic riffs (if used at all) need to be put up against something raw and primitive. Too much “sugar” is never a good thing… The end is what it is, metal.
5. Total NecroArmageddon (Sebastian) A simple song. A heavy intro with some odd meter and then full on assault. This is the polar opposite of a song like Death Storming. Few riffs, few ideas but a lot of energy. The goal was to ground the album in some brain dead brutality. The song continues the lyrical theme of death, zombies and nuclear wastelands found on other songs on the album.
6. Muscolo Satanas (Tom) Portuguese is cool because the black metal scene in Brazil is cool as fuck. During a drunk jam I came up with what we usually call "idiot riffs”, which are common for Helvetestromb throughout our history, which can be heard in songs like Hell's Assault, Sifting Excrements, Bog ov Eternal Stench and so on. Because of the idiocy and drunkenness, I came up with an extremely high class text about a super ripped Satan who goes on a killing spree and then celebrates destruction of Christian clergy. We had many laughs, and the Musculo Satanas was born. (Sebastian) We had a Brazilian friend of mine, Fabbe (guitarist of Idiot Ikon) translate our text into Portuguese to have it as authentic as possible - we did not change the title however.
7. The Jackhammer (Tom) My lyrically most serious text I've ever done, because it's about personal matters about a time in my life that was extremely tortuous. It's hinted at what it is about, but it's for the listener to figure out the meaning of the text. Musically I wanted to create oppressive, hard riffs to go with it, and so the song came into existence.
8. Nekrotik Mass (Tom) I had the first riff, and it took half a year of trying different things to finally arrive at the rest of the song, but it landed extremely well in the end. Nekrotik Mass takes place in the Helvetestromb universe and takes few references from the Christian Book of Revelation (the crazy text about the End Times) and of course from the all time best computer games Doom 1 & 2. I like how dark and foreboding the thrash riffs sound and how it ramps up to the total craziness of the last part of the song.
9. Crushed Beneath That Hideous Face (Sebastian) Probably the most complex song on the album - riff wise. Tons of tremolo riffs piled upon each other. My demo of the song was over seven minutes long but I knew I had to trim it down. There are a lot of influences from melodic black metal bands like Taake (early), Sacramentum, Mörk Gryning and others. We added a Von/War inspired bridge towards the end of the track and got some blast beats in the song. The lyrics are among my most blasphemous ones - describing the death of God, the archangels and the burning of heaven. It is basically At War With Satan, or, The Golden Walls of Heaven - but with more esoteric sensibilities.
10. Conclave (Jesper) Maybe the most experimental song of the album. Many influences come together, the first riff being my interpretation of a prog-rock riff made in black metal, followed by the maze-like black thrash riff that heeds more to an early teutonic scene, to the more primitive and slow riff later, Blasphemy style. Though second wave riffing is also represented, It was important for me not to bog down in genres, that is not the way to create interesting music. Better to strive to interpret influences, from metal or what not, to the style of music you want to create. Lyrically this song raises the question why religions can be so hostile towards each other while so united in their values about life.
11. Chapel of Stilled Voices (Sebastian) Another simple song. I wanted to write something that had a riff you could get right off the bat. Going old-school but raising the tempo. The ending is it’s own thing, slow and melodic. Somehow the guitars sound like a choir in the ending part - we don’t know if Thomas did anything to them or if it is all in the chords. The outro is something that we have not done before and it closes the album in a good way.
What equipment do you use when playing/recording?
Ibanez bass guitar with fuzz. Jackson guitar with a metal zone and an EQ pedal. Drums and cymbals are odd sets. We are not a gear band - to be able to play efficiently is the only goal. In the beginning we didn't care much about the equipment and we still keep it fairly simple. It took us eight years to add a double kick (after our first album) because we didn’t have a real need for them. In the studio we can add whatever the producers have available to get a certain sound we are after at that moment.
Have you played live as a band? How was it?
We have played a fair bit locally in Stockholm and in Sweden. We try to conjure as much energy as possible when playing live and to connect with the audience. A lot of bands are doing capes, candles and ritualistic theatrics to bring something extra to their shows. We are not one of those bands. We want people to bang their heads and cause a riot. It's a heavy metal show, not a blackened mass.
What’s it like as a BM band in Sweden now?’ What difficulties/benefits have you had?
Sweden has a great BM scene that is overshadowed by those of our neighbors in Norway. At least that was true in the past. Our biggest challenge has always been to be accepted as part of the BM scene. People tend to have a narrow minded opinion about what black metal bands should sound and dress like. What we sound like has been hard for people to label - are we punk? Black metal? Death metal? The truth is that we mix a little of everything, and that can be a tough sell when wanting to find bands to play with. The first wave sound seems to be the next trend here in Sweden, but since we are not entirely in that genre, we are still the odd one out. Our biggest strength is our long term presence in the metal scene here in sweden. We have seen trends and the bands come and go. We know devotion to music and metal makes the difference and is the foundation of a good and lasting band.
I know Sweden is famous for its BM scene, but what’s the extreme music scene like there now? Recommend some new local bands for our readers to check out…
Today there is a great divide between the big bands and the rest of the scene. BM has lost a lot of its danger over the years and as the scene grew it also solidified into a particular sound and style. We are outsiders to that sound and that has been a hindrance over the years. People might not consider us black enough to be part of the scene - that is fine - but we think a lot of people are missing out on music that sits between genres and sounds. There is also the problem with capitalism in the bigger cities like Stockholm and Gothenburg which forces out the underground scene by simply demanding too much money for gigs and places. This creates an imbalance in the scene where you get a few well known bands such as Watain and Dark Funeral filling big halls, and then there’s a huge leap of void until you get to the real underground BM-scene which are hundreds of good bands playing at suburban bars and obscure cellars. In a way this is true as it is underground, but the leap from there to the top is almost insurmountable. We have played and met many great bands. To name a few; Revenge Prevails, Xorsist. Tyranex.
What are your plans for Helvetestromb for the future?
Our focus at the moment is the new album and after that comes a new round of writing material.
Do you have any other projects?
We have in the past but at the moment Helvetestromb is our only focus.
If you could play with any musician, live or dead, who would it be and why?
(Sebbe) Tough question. I think we would gravitate towards someone from outside the metal scene. Someone who could add something unexpected to our sound. Maybe a full choir or a rapper. Just to witness the fallout. Diamanda Galas would be cool too. (Tom) I'd wanted to record a song with the legendary Per Yngve Ohlin. We’re from the same town, so it would've been great to talk about lyrics, music and get drunk at the cliffs of Berga. (Jesper) Vinny Appice. Rock steady and knows not to overdo things.
What are your top 5 albums of all time and why?
The three of us would select very different albums from one another, but as a group we would like to highlight the following five:
● Venom - Welcome to Hell. Excellent songs, perfectly rough production. A good time. ● Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales. Black metal in its infancy. Great songs and atmosphere. Not yet bogged down by their ambition.
● Anatomi 71 - Mot nya höjder…, A perfect hardcore album to start any party. Headbangle riffs.
● Sarcofago - I.N.R.I. Great riffs, crappy production, awesome drumming and some of the best harsh vocals ever recorded. A perfect album.
● Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith. A classic heavy metal record. What has not been said yet? It is great.
Would you like to add anything for our readers??
Stay metal. Support your local bands, and listen to something that you wouldn’t usually listen to once in a while. Search the underground. There is a wide world of music out there and sometimes there is gold amongst all the garbage. Tack and AVE 666 Helvetestromb contacts https://helvetestromb.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/helvetestromb/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX-bFGyozW1OwABEe22spVg Masters Of Kaos Prod. https://theblackwitch056.wixsite.com/mastersofkaos/shop https://mastersofkaos.bandcamp.com/album/helvetestromb-sweden-promo-ep-2024 https://www.facebook.com/people/Masters-Of-Kaos-Productions/100083264766354/ https://www.instagram.com/mastersofkaosrecords/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ5mrPBaMgDuGn71cyYWpbw
