Entombed is a name synonymous with the extreme world of metal, a band that has a huge legacy that many dream to aspire to. Despite the legal battles over the name, the band continued on as Entombed A.D. and released “Back To The Front” in 2014. In what only seems like a short time however, the band are back with another new album titled “Dead Dawn” which comes out February 26th so we asked frontman LG how these new songs came together and what changed in that time.
Andrew: How was your holidays for Christmas and New Year’s?
LG: It was good despite the Lemmy thing. I just went to my Mom’s and had a good dinner and spent some time with her and keeping out of the cold [laughs].
Andrew: What are your thoughts on Lemmy passing away? Obviously a big loss in the metal world so what are your thoughts on that?
LG: Yeah, the reactions came like one week after and then you got really depressed. All our friends, we got together and as many others, we drank some whiskey and tried to remember the good things about him. But you would think back in the times when you were touring with him and Lemmy coming into your backstage room after the shows and wanting to go find a local pub like in Germany and play pool and pinball and stuff. A great man, tragic but that’s the way of life and you try to remember all the good things that he left behind and that’s a lot! [laughs].
Andrew: Yeah absolutely, a huge loss definitely.
LG: And I’m really happy that I went to see their show in Stockholm because somehow, everybody knew that it was going to be the last time around. There was a lot of people there and it was a good show, we carry him with us.
Andrew: Absolutely! His music and his spirit lives on for sure. Just moving on to your own band Entombed A.D., you have a new album coming “Dead Dawn”. I’ve had a quick listen, I haven’t had too much time to go through the whole thing properly but I’ve listened to it.
LG: Oh same as me [laughs].
Andrew: [laughs] Well it sounds fantastic from what I hear so what can you tell me about how this album came together?
LG: The first thing that people say to us is, ‘Oh 2 years, that’s really soon for you guys’, after putting out the last album where it’s only been 2 years. And we’re like, yeah this is the way it was suppose to be, not waiting 7 years between albums. That was ridiculous so we definitely don’t want to get back to that situation again. But actually right after we released “Back To The Front”, we actually started doing the songs for “Dead Dawn” almost immediately because we knew if we just go on tour and don’t start work immediately, it’s going to be 6 years or 5 years again. So these 18 months we just took care of time, like for example sitting in the tour bus making new riffs and just maximise the time and take advantage of the time that you really don’t do anything [laughs]. So at soundchecks we would jam new riffs and stuff like that so we knew it would take time, 18 months but now when it’s all finished and done, it’s only been 2 years and people are happy that we are finally doing what we are suppose to do. New music and go on tour, it feels really good.
Andrew: Just coming off the last album “Back To The Front”, was there anything this time around that you wanted to do differently or change or was it pretty much the same as far as the process was concerned?
LG: Yeah it is basically the same but as I said, we used time properly and we were really productive getting our minds into it. When we came back from touring and stuff, we compiled a lot of stuff to see what we had and then we were in the studio 24/7 putting it all together. So we were really prepared when we finally entered the studio, I don’t really remember that much from the studio time because it went so fast. You can dwell on a song for 3 years and in the end you go back to the original idea and that’s what we learned, first impressions last so we go just for the gut feeling. It sounds good at the time, we record it, release it before you change your mind [laughs]. And that’s the interesting thing when you said you only had a couple of spins or just 1 spin, same with me. I waited. When we recorded it, I didn’t listen to it until I got it, mastered and mixed into my iPhone. And that was last week!
Andrew: Oh right! From an artists perspective and because you are the creator of these songs, your perspective would be different from someone like me or to a fan or whatever. So how do you view these songs compared to the other songs?
LG: When I got them back, my first reaction was the sound and how we kept it up to date but still had that old school vibe in there. I guess the studios are getting better [laughs]. We basically recorded it as we always do and put the heavy metal pedal on full and go for it but still try to do some songs with heavy, doomy influences. I would say this album is a little bit more aggressive and raw than “Back To The Front” and maybe some of the older albums as well definitely.
Andrew: Yeah it’s funny you mention that it sounds more raw because when I did hear these songs, it does have a very raw sound to it. Was that something you were intentionally trying to go for when you recorded it?
LG: Yeah we worked with a producer called Jacob Hellner and he’s a co-worker there and he previously worked with Rammstein which is a whole other thing! But he knew exactly Entombed’s history and everything and when he mixed it, it was exactly what we wanted. So it was really a relief in a way also to work with the songs, record them and then hand it over to them and it came back excellent.
Andrew: How do you think these songs will play out live? I noticed that you are about to go on tour at the end of the month.
LG: Yes, yes, yes!
Andrew: [laughs]
LG: Looking forward to that and it’s cool that this tour is before the release so we can put in 1 or 2 new songs into the live set and see how we handle them and see how the reaction’s going to be so that’s going to be interesting. Next week we are going to get together, we are flying in the second guitarist as well, a Brazilian guy named Guillerme (Miranda) that has been playing with us on a lot of shows last year. So he will be joining us on second guitar so we can play the songs the right way.
Andrew: You’re touring with the mighty Behemoth who are a fantastic band, we saw them here last year. Have you guys done a tour with them before?
LG: No only played festivals. I was talking to Nergal and the guys about 4 years ago and they were like, ‘we have to tour sometime’, and it’s not until now that we finally get together and, let’s do this. And from then on it went really fast and they put 2 weeks together and it’s going to be 2 hellish weeks, in a good way! And we’re sharing a bus with Abbath and Inquisition as well [laughs].
Andrew: [laughs] Abbath were just here just recently too.
LG: OK cool! He’s a crazy guy! [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah! Speaking of touring in Australia, will there be any chance of you guys coming down here on this tour cycle?
LG: The plans were to come down in February but something went wrong, we didn’t have time or we didn’t find the right promoter but we’ll definitely find a spot to get down there. I mean this time of year would be excellent because of the heat [laughs].
Andrew: You don’t mind the heat?
LG: Hell no! As much as I don’t mind the cold weather, I like extremes so for me it’s great. But we’ll definitely look upon it and as soon as we find somebody who wants to take us over there, we’ll be there and then afterwards just take a week off and just drink beer and relax!
Andrew: [laughs] Exactly! We would love to have you in Australia and hopefully that can happen. Congratulations on the new album, it sounds great from what I have heard.
LG: Thank you sir!
Catch Entombed A.D. on tour in Europe with Behemoth, Abbath and Inquisition, tour details can be found at HERE.
