KS: Hi and thank you very much! We have been in contact with various labels before Massacre Records, and Earache Records was one of them. Massacre Records contacted us after a tip about us from Maurice Swinkels of Legion of The Damned and since both Decadence and Massacre Records shared the same view on our cooperation and Decadence goals we decided that it would be the best choice for us. Decadence currently shares cooperation with 3 labels (Massacre Records included).

LH: You set up your own record label, HTI Records, to put out your own records before you signed to Massacre. Obviously many bands in this day and age release their own records with no help from a label, and without even setting up their own label themselves as such. Do you feel having your own label opened any doors that simply wouldn’t have been there just putting out “self-financed” albums as an “unsigned” band?

KS: Yes, I definitely think so. After having released our demo and first two albums independently I realized that to be able to reach out more we needed some kind of heavier support. So, just before “3rd Stage of Decay” was released for the first time (it has been released in three editions) in 2006 then I started the work with HTI Records. Due to that, ”3rd Stage of Decay” could be released and classified as a real album and it (and the band itself) also gained the exposure it needed to reach out to other labels and more people. HTI Records licenses Decadence’s music to other labels and is our support in everything.

LH: Do you intend to go a step further with HTI records and sign up some other acts? Maybe nurturing up and coming thrash bands in your home country?

KS: The possibility and idea exists to extend HTI Records in the future to help out more bands the same way it has helped Decadence.

LH: I understand that you also take care of the management of the band, so you must have a good head for business and some understanding of the industry. Is it important for you to remain in charge of this side of things, or would you ever see a need to relinquish some of your control of the business aspect to running the band so that you can move forward?

KS: First of all I don’t see the management part of my work with Decadence as something that hinders me to move forward. If Decadence moves forward, then so do it – it’s all interconnected. Decadence is something I’ve worked with from such an early age and I want the best for it in all cases. That is also why I’ve always been the one in charge, especially in the business aspect of it. I will do as much as I can for Decadence and if it comes to a point when I know someone can do it better then I wouldn’t mind handing the more burdened work for me.

LH: Okay, boring question, but one I haven’t seen answered anywhere. I was wondering how you came up with the name Decadence?

KS: Don’t worry about it, the name Decadence was inspired from a band I first intended to work with that was called Dekapitera. When that project never got going I decided to jump off. Then I found a nameless band, came to audition, joined them and later named it Decadence. That is the band that has evolved to what we are now. The themes of our songs and titles are all evolving around Decadence.

LH: You’re album ‘Third Stage Of Decay’ has just been released on Massacre Records, although what newcomers to the band maybe don’t realise is that there are three versions of the album floating about. What were the reasons for re-releasing the album, as opposed to simply ploughing on with your fourth album and having that as your Massacre debut?

KS: Indeed, there are 3 version of “3rd Stage of Decay” – limited, Japanese and worldwide. The 1st limited edition was released in 2006 by HTI Records. In 2007 we joined forces with Spiritual Beast who distribute the 2nd Japanese edition through Universal and finally, in 2008 Massacre Records decided to give this album a chance for worldwide distribution. So, the 3rd edition was unleashed upon mankind in August ’08 by Massacre Records and we decided to put on rush on it due to the fact that Decadence is already in the studio recording our next (4th) full-length album. It was actually Massacre Records’ idea to give “3rd Stage of Decay” its ultimate go and we all agreed that it could be a good idea while waiting for our next release.

LH: Chris Astley of Xentrix sang on a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the album, which is really cool. I was wondering how this came about.

KS: As a big Thrash Metal fan I’ve appreciated Chris Astley and his band Xentrix for a very long time and it was a great experience to be able to do this duet with him. Stan from Xentrix helped out with his vocal recording as well. It was simply an idea that crossed my mind and after having contacted him and fortunately he was also excited about the idea.

LH: I know you are already a good way through work on your next album. What stage are you at with this and when are we likely to see a release date?

KS: Yes, we are in the studio now, the drum recording and bass recording is done and the rhythm guitar wall and is almost complete. We actually planned to have this next coming album released this fall of ’08 but since the unexpected re-release of “3rd Stage of Decay” appeared, we decided to postpone the next coming album at least a couple of months. The exact release date is in Massacre Records hands now. We do however apologize for this to our old fans that have been waiting since 2006 now (and are used to fast releases from us!) but we will make sure that it will be worth the wait!

LH: Where are you recording the album and who is producing it?

KS: Kenneth Lantz (1st guitar) in Decadence is our studio tech and he produces and mixes all our work. We record it partially (drums and vocals) in the studio West Wood Music in Sweden and partially (guitars and bass) in our own studio.

LH: What kinds of things inspire you lyrically? Would you say that there are any particular themes that you like to talk about in your songs, and that it’s important to have some sort of message to put forward in your music?

KS: It is a general theme evolving around the words of Decadence. Most of the lyrics are about the concept of Decadence itself and how it can be interpreted and they mostly reflect this by subjects like personal struggles, suffering, depression and anger as well as through different kinds of analogies. I think they are an important aspect of the band. We like to see all the elements in our work fulfilling a special purpose. The words are inspired by various happenings and even dreams and nightmares. Sometimes the lyrics can even be inspired by quotes from writers. The lyrics and general theme could work as a guide and as a way to view the world, oneself and various situations through different perspectives.

LH: You’ve had a bit of a revolving door line up over the years, with bands members coming and going. How confident are you feeling that this line up is the right one? Can you foresee any more changes in the line up?

KS: Now we have grown to be more than just band members, we’re like a family and that’s a connection that we never felt in previous line-ups. I think it’s important for Decadence fans to know this, it is not the way it was before, this is what is Decadence as it should be and should have always been.

LH: Obviously thrash metal is a huge influence on your sound. I also mentioned in my review that you have quite a “Swedish” sound that could appeal to fans of melodic death metal. Do you think this is hard to avoid with you being from the country that gave birth to the melo-death genre?

KS: I read your review and I was very pleased by it by the way, thank you. I don’t think it’s about avoidance of melodic influences due to the fact that we are Swedish though. An influence is something you get naturally, not forcefully just because you live in a certain area. At least this is what we feel and the melodic touch to our music is something we found ourselves in after beginning to play this music with modifications and new touch to the Thrash that we love.

LH: I understand it was the Bay Area thrash movement that really got you into metal, and has remained your favourite style of music ever since. What is it that really makes thrash so appealing to you over other styles of metal?

KS: That is very true, Thrash has always been my main influence and inspiration in music, both as a listener and a composer. I can speak for Kenneth Lantz here as well as we are the main song writers in Decadence and both of us are great Bay Area Thrash fans. Thrash is speedy and fast yet is usually consisting of quite technical elements. The vocals are catchy and the lyrics are easily recognized due to the clean but raspy and sharp vocals. Thrash does not only have to involve the intensity of speed but can also be done as ballads and this is also one of the things that inspire me, Thrash is not limited but it has rarely been played with and extended. I guess all these things are something we do with Decadence, experimenting with speed, rhythms, sharp vocals and technicality.

LH: I was reading somewhere that you were sick of hearing all of the Angela Gossow comparisons, which I imagine gets quite tiring, because all that comparison is based on is that more often than not, the reviewer cannot think of any other extreme female vocalists.

KS: I have actually quoted your review in some other interviews when a comparison question popped up and I will do it now as well: “Angela Gossow comparisons will come thick and fast (she’s a girl and she growls, duh), so I’ll avoid stating the goddamned obvious here and tread around such a statement”. I agree with that, instead of comparing girls to girls one should compare music to music instead. At least for Decadence, the music is our main priority. Actually, for us, the fact that Decadence has a female singer is the least important thing in our work.

LH: I believe you’ve been singing since the age of 12, and it was mostly singers like James Hetfield and Chuck Schuldiner that gave you inspiration. With it being predominantly male fronted bands that inspired you do you think you found it more difficult to develop your vocal style than you would have had you had a strong female role model?

KS: Definitely not! In any situation in my life I’ve always wanted a strong goal to reach and I’m not afraid of facing challenges. Indeed, I started doing this kind of singing when I was 12 years old, with James Hetfield and Chuck Schuldiner above all as inspirations, so having male inspirations was great, for me at least. I found it challenging to learn different kinds of male singing and it was and still is fun for me. I constantly want to develop my vocals and I to hear as many different styles of Metal vocals as possible to create my own voice. I still experiment today to come up with different pitches or styles and I really enjoy that and discovering new, inspiring bands!

LH: I’m pretty sure if I had started growling at 12 years old my parents would have been terrified! Was rebellion ever a factor that drove you to this style of music and did your parents attempt to coax you away from metal?

KS: Haha well, I guess mine were quite shocked too when they heard it for the first time on one of Decadence shows. Although, my parents are my best friends and they have always supported me in everything I do. They saw my Metal interest in a positive way and they learnt to accept and even like what we do. They are actually there on all our shows in Sweden!

LH: There seems to often be quite a sexist attitude in metal, and there’s often a tendency for women in bands to be seen as a bit of a novelty. Do you feel that you have to work harder than the male vocalists in order to prove your weight as a musician and be taken seriously?

KS: I know this attitude exists but can’t really say that I felt any difference in how I was treated when founding the band, promoting our music, creating our music and being an artist in general. Maybe it’s just that I haven’t been thinking about comparing how I would have been treated if I was a man, I just ignore the gender issue totally and focus on the music and my passion in working with it. People’s opinions are theirs to have and I don’t mind it.

LH: To what extent would you say your love of metal impacts the way you live your life?

KS: I don’t only see Metal as music – it’s a lifestyle and a passion. Metal is my life and everything evolve around it. It’s the music I listen to and create, the clothes I wear, my long hair, the opinions I express, the decisions I make, the band I have, the way my life is shaped, the dreams I have, the goals that I want to reach and the person I am!

LH: When you first started, I know one of the things that really drove you was the lack of good thrash bands that were around, and you wanted to do something that went against all of the crap in the mainstream at the time. The past year or so thrash has really taken off with bands like Evile, Gama Bomb, Merciless Death, etc. etc. and it’s reached the point where there’s a certain amount of criticism that thrash has gotten trendy and now lots of kids are jumping on the bandwagon. I was wondering what are your thoughts on the new wave of thrash metal bands – are you happy to see it’s return or do you think it will never be as good as in the old days?

KS: Wow, I can see we’re definitely on the same page here, interesting statement and question. Well, first of all the “new wave”-label must be defined. For me there are two types of Thrash Metal bands that are marked as new wave nowadays. One example is the bands that were with us on the Earache Records compilation “Thrashing Like A Maniac” featuring bands such as Evile, Bonded By Blood and Municipal Waste that was released earlier this year and the other example are the Death/Thrash bands that are marked as new wave Thrash. As far as it goes to bands such as the ones on “Thrashing Like A Maniac” then I think it’s great to hear the old 80’s bay area revived but for me that’s still old school, and that is of course great! But to label something “new wave” is hard and I still haven’t been able to do that myself with any band today. When we talk about Metal in general I still think the “old” bands are the best and that the new bands still have time to contribute. We are kind of in a transition stage where some of the old bands go and new bands come. You are right about Decadence wanting to go against the stream and create new Thrash but that’s also it, there is a difference of doing what’s been done and doing something new. It’s like Darwin said “Those that refuse to change and cannot compete, will die out”. I guess that’s a good way to round it off.

LH: Do you have much of a thrash metal scene in Sweden, and to what extent would you say you’re a part of it?

KS: I wouldn’t say that there’s much of a Thrash scene around here, but I speak about Stockholm now since that is the place where we hang out. Speaking about Sweden in general is harder but overall it is Melodic Death dominated. So, being part of a Thrash scene here it’s hard to say. I guess it’s all Death around here, and we’re probably classified as that too with a little twist haha.

LH: Anyone who has visited your MySpace page will know that you have your very own doll! The strange thing is, from what I was reading, is that you had no idea that it was being done until the artist got in touch and showed you the design. What were your thoughts – I imagine you were quite flattered!

KS: Least to say! I was surfing around the net one day and I stumbled upon Miho’s (doll creator) MySpace page and I almost fell of my chair. I could immediately tell she was a Decadence fan, and then I saw that doll, actually action figure. I gave her my full support and after a while Kisakino had also joined in and started to make real miniature replicas of my clothing. Since the interest from other fans started to rise, this became a limited production and that’s how it all started. I made the website: http://metallickitty.decadence.se on the basis of Miho’s and Kisakino’s wishes and to make it official that this doll is now a part of our official merchandise and are being sold with a certificate of authenticity signed by me in person. Amazing stuff...

LH: And how have fans reacted? I can’t help but have an image in my head of the fan who sits there thinking it’s all a bit tacky (unless you’re Kiss!).

KS: At least I haven’t heard any negative reactions so far. I did however get a question in a French interview for Thrashocore asking this: “Some Japanese fans of Decadence have manufactured Metallic Kitty dolls, just like it has been done for Kiss before, but are you not a little bit afraid that this could add to the “female fronted band blablabla thing that we have been discussing?”. My answer to that was that when I see a doll inspired by an artist (in this case it happens to be myself) done by fans for fans, then I don’t see it as an addition to the female fronted band label at all. As a matter of fact I don’t see a reason for that connection at all. Some of the positive reactions mentioned that we must be the first underground band to have a doll. I haven’t seen it from that perspective before so seeing it that way then it can only be positive. As everything, there are always two sides of things.

LH: Do you have any plans to tour? It would be cool to see you play here in the UK!

Coming for some shows in the UK would really be great! Right now however we want to focus 150% on the studio and our new album but the plan is to head out on the road as soon as our next coming album is complete.

LH: That’s all the questions I’ve got for you. Thanks for your time, and feel free to add some final words here.

KS: Thank you Luci for the interesting questions and the readers of Metal Team UK as well for sharing this interview with me. I can end it by saying something that I say quite often to myself: If there’s a will, there’s a way.

For more on the band check out www.myspace.com/decadenceswe
www.decadence.se

Interviewed by Luci Herbert

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