WITCHCRAFT – True Legends

Eternal Terror scribe Peter Loftus met up with Witchcraft bassist Ola Hendriksson to get the lowdown on fourth album ‘Legend’ (due to hit the stores this month) and find out all the latest from the Swedish retro-rockers.

What news from Witchcraft?

News is that we’ve got three new members and a new album coming out on Sep 21st on Nuclear Blast!

Tell us about the album. You must be delighted with the way it turned out…

I sure am! It is by far the best album I have ever been a part of.

Seems to me that the overall sound is a bit more aggressive than that of The Alchemist. Do you agree? Was this intentional?

We had a vision that we wanted it to sound more heavy. That was the main thing we wanted to change from earlier and then we let Jens Bogren, (producer) work his magic.  

Do you go into the studio with a pretty clear picture of how you want things to turn out or do you allow things to happen organically?

You always have a picture but that all changes pretty quickly once you start recording, at least for me. I feel that if the spirit of Witchcraft is clearly heard in the songs we’ve reached our goal!

Witchcraft have always made a point of using analogue rather than digital recording techniques. I would imagine that, judging by the amazing sound of your albums, this isn’t something we’ll see change in the future…

I must admit that we have strayed a bit from that path before and even now so I can’t promise you anything. Even though I love the analogue sound, my opinion is that as long the music sounds good, that it is enough for me!

How does the song writing process work in the band?

On this album it was mainly Magnus’s ideas together with my input and then we perfected the songs together in the rehearsal studio together with the band. It took us a year and a half.

Was there a specific lyrical concept behind the album that you can tell us about?

I can’t tell you anything about that and I know Magnus won’t either. We will put the lyrics on our homepage when the album is released! You can read and interpret them in any way you feel!

How do you think your abilities have developed up to and over the production of Legend?

I try to develop musically all the time and I think Magnus’s vocals are better than ever. The new guys are professionals and their knowledge is amazing. Together we have developed especially in the song writing process where we use the two guitars more now.

Do you all have day jobs or is music your full time occupation?

I work, teaching kids that want to start a band how to rock. Almost like "School of Rock" but better. It’s a job that gives me the freedom to work with my bands as well. Some of the other band members have jobs at the moment.

Outside the field of music, what things influence you most as artists?

I read a lot. The best books for inspiration these last years have been "House Of Leaves" by Mark Z Danielewski and I also enjoy the work of Swedish horror author John Ajvide. I watch a lot of movies as well – at least 5 or 6 a week!    

What has been your favourite gig of the past year (as either artist or punter)?

Of course the first gig since 2009 with Witchcraft on Metallsvenskan in our hometown of Örebro this summer.
It felt so good to finally be back!

What are your plans for touring the new album?

We have plans to tour Europe, USA and the rest of the world in 2013. This fall we will tour Scandinavia, (Sweden, Norway , Finland and Denmark ). Hope to see you there!.

What next for Witchcraft?

Now we are rehearsing and planning for our live show. We want to do something extra this time and it takes some planning. Then after the album is released we will start touring.

http://www.witchcrafthome.com/