Swedish viking heroes Amon Amarth are back with a new album titled “Berserker” which sees the band push forward with their signature melodic death metal sound into new territories. The veterans show no signs of slowing down and are aiming to “crack the skies” so to speak with an even bigger future ahead of them. Their newest member of the band Joake Wallgren makes his recording debut on the new album and after seeing him live at Download Festival Australia last year, things seem to be going as smooth as it can ever be for a new recruit. We talk to the drummer himself to find out what it has been like to be a part of Amon Amarth and how his presence was felt on the new songs.
Andrew: So hows things with you and the rest of the guys in the band at the moment?
Jocke: We’re good! You caught me here in my daily drum practice so I’m a bit sweaty but I’m alright, the other guys are, I don’t know, at home probably.
Andrew: Getting ready for the release of the new album “Berserker”! I know it’s probably a bit early, or maybe it’s not, but have you been getting much feedback from the media or critics so far.
Jocke: Yeah a lot! Shitloads of good criticism from the media, from the fans it’s been I would say 98 or 99 percent good and the rest not so good but everyone has the right to their opinion so I’m fine with that.
Andrew: Sure and I mean Amon Amarth has always strived, especially in the last 10 years at least in my view, to go for the evolution of the band and push it forward and I guess you’ve really pushed the envelope on this new album.
Jocke: Yeah especially with the new production and the new heavy metal oriented songs, so yeah I totally agree.
Andrew: And obviously this is the first album that you have recorded with the band so how did it all go with you and the guys?
Jocke: It’s been good! We’re very good friends by now, we know each other very well. They welcome me with open arms so that was real nice and in the studio everything works out really well as well, so there are actually no complaints at all from my side.
Andrew: Oh good to hear. So with the first album now out of the way I guess you’ll be looking forward to getting out on the road and taking these songs on tour. I’ve heard the album, I love it as it’s signature Amon Amarth but do you feel at this stage already that there are certain songs that might play out better live than others?
Jocke: Yeah there are a few, like four or five set songs that we’re going to play. But you never know, maybe the fan reaction is way different than we thought and we might have to step up our game and play those songs instead. But we will see what the numbers will tell us and then we will adapt our setlist from there.
Andrew: When you are actually sitting down and recording these songs, do you envision how they would play out live? Do you think about the live aspect at all or do you think strictly for how it will sound for the recording of the album?
Jocke: When I recorded the drums I could pretty much see myself on stage playing that song instead of sitting in the studio and I think that also reflects on the album somehow with the way I play and my energy on the album. But when we wrote the songs, then when we recorded the songs, we didn’t think too much about the live perspective of the songs. Of course some parts are better live than on the album, more heavier and headbang friendly but also some breaks. We don’t really think if it’s going to be a headbang part or a ‘Hey hey’ part, it’s just going to be, whatever we write will be and the audience will adapt after it and that’s really cool to see in the future, what’s going to be the ‘Hey hey’ part or the singalong part or other parts.
Andrew: Maybe you are too close to the songs at this stage but do you have any particular favorites that have come out of the new album at all?
Jocke: Yeah, first of all I think all the songs are really good, all the songs have their own hook to it. But if I were to choose three songs I would probably say the first one is “When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails”, that’s really cool and then I think “Wings Of Eagles” and “Into The Dark”, those are my three favorite ones.
Andrew: Yeah “When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails” is one of my favorites as well but I also like the lead single you put out, “Raven’s Flight”. I feel that was one of the strongest songs on the album and I imagine maybe that one would go out very well live to the crowds.
Jocke: Yeah I think so too, especially with the breakdowns and the small drum solo I have [laughs]. It’s going to be very interesting to see what the audience has to say about that song live.
Read the review of “Berserker’
Andrew: We look forward to it! We caught you in Australia last year when you guys played the Download Festival so not to take away too much from the album but how was your experience playing in Australia for the first time with the band?
Jocke: It was good! Great weather, great response from the fans. Other than that, I wouldn’t say another festival but it was my first show and festival in Australia so that’s a memory for life.
Andrew: Yeahy definitely and as you mentioned before, everything seems to be going well with you in the band now so I guess the fans must be embracing you as well because you have a certain style that is your own signature style that people are starting to recognise.
Jocke: Yeah I heard that as well, for me it’s just me playing drums but people will say you can immediately hear it’s me or someone else playing. But I just bow my head and hats off to those who can recognise, that’s very cool to see. I didn’t think of myself as a signature drummer but yeah, hats off to the fans.
Andrew: Good to see! So when you sat and recorded these new songs for the album and obviously it was your first time recording with the band, how did you approach it? I mean had you been familiar with a lot of stuff that Amon Amarth had done previously? Were you tapped into their certain style that they sort of go into recording songs at all?
Jocke: Well first of all I had been a fan of the band since maybe 2002 or 2003 or something like that so I pretty much know what the band is all about, music wise of course. Then when we started with the songs back and forth for this “Berserker” album, I kind of knew what would go there drum wise but the guys came with suggestions like, ‘Try it like this’ and then I tried it like that and it worked out. So we threw a ball back and forth to get the best result of course.
Andrew: Was it an easy process for you or was it difficult?
Jocke: Both. Pretty much everything you can hear on the album is my idea but some parts are made by Olavi [Mikkonen, guitars], not played but made and also Johan [Hegg, vocalist] has his own style the way he wants the drums. For example in the song “Shield Wall” you can hear that there is this kick drums in the beginning that actually accelerates and the underlying thought there was to have like a motorcycle [noise], so that was his idea and it turned out the way it did which was pretty cool as well.
Andrew: Well I’m glad everything is working out well and working with those guys and touring with them as well, what are they like on the road? I would like to know the dynamic between those guys and how they play off of each other, what it’s been like for you personally as someone who has come from the outside?
Jocke: It’s cool, short answer [laughs]. In the beginning it was really weird because I didn’t know what to do during the day and the guys have different interests about what to do when we’re waiting for the show. So some people go shopping, Olavi goes to the gym and maybe Johan Hegg goes visiting a brewery or jut shopping or sightseeing or whatever. In the beginning I didn’t know what to do so I just followed the guys but now I’m more comfortable in my position here so now I do whatever I want and it feels good. And now we just meet up for dinner and then there’s the show so it feels good to have known the guys in a different way, I didn’t spend much time with them before we started touring for the Jomsviking touring cycle because I didn’t know them. But I got to know them on tour and now off tour so it’s really cool.
Andrew: And what about yourself then, what do you like to do in your spare time? When you’re not playing music in the band, what’s your other passions or hobbies?
Jocke: Well of course I like to spend time with my girlfriend, my family and friends. But besides that I like to do car detailing, paint correction and waxing and all that and then I go to the gym which is nice and taking care of the house pretty much. And also practice…practice, practice, practice!
Andrew: Yeah definitely practice, that’s a big thing with drummers. I know a lot of drummers here in Australia and they are always tapping on things and stuff like that. How did you get into drums in the first place? Who are your biggest influences?
Jocke: Well how I got in drums was maybe not interesting but pretty funny because I left 9th grade here in Sweden, two weeks before the school graduation I had a friend in my class and he said, ‘Jocke, you are a latino guy, you have rhythm right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah sure’. Then he said, ‘Cool then you can play drums for me when I perform this song’. I was like, ‘Yeah sure I can learn how to play’. Then I learned basic 4×4 beats to play a song in two weeks and then I was hooked. My main influences has been like a lot of drummers where you discover this kind of music and then you know these drummers and then you discover some other kind of music and then you know those drummers. But I would say Joey Jordison was my first one, from Slipknot and then Dan Zimmerman from Gamma Ray, I like Alex Holzwarth from Rhapsody and Felix Bohnke from Edguy, those were my first big influences.
Andrew: Sounds like you were very much into the fast, power metal and thrash metal type stuff then.
Jocke: Yeah I’m a big power metal fan. Even now those are still my favorite ones and also Jorg Michael from Stratovarius who is really good too.
Andrew: Awesome well as I said we saw you in Australia last year so we are hoping to catch you in Australia again and possibly hear some of these new songs. Are there any talks of you guys coming our way again in the near future?
Jocke: I didn’t see anything on the planning schedule yet but I know we always have Australia and New Zealand in mind so hopefully we will get there pretty soon.
Andrew: Well congratulations on the new album, welcome to Amon Amarth and hopefully everything goes well for the rest of the year. Thanks for your time, really appreciated.
Jocke: No worries, thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure.
