LH: Hello there! For the benefit of anyone who hasn’t heard of Enemy Is Us, could you start by giving a brief introduction to the band.

Lawrence: Well, it started out as just a fun project in 2003, and it wasn't meant to go far. It was just a few friends who got together to play metal and drink beer. But the first songs turned out so good that we felt they needed to be recorded. Suddenly we had become a real band, without really being aware of it. Fans started turning up, gigs were offered. And after we put a few of the demo tracks on the internet, a record deal fell in our lap. After that we decided to take the band more seriously and things just kind of snowballed after that.

LH: Having just released your second album, how do you think it compares to your debut “I’ve seen the enemy…and the enemy is us”?

Lawrence: The big difference is that on the debut we recorded the first 11 songs we wrote as a band, but this time we took our time and only let the best material make it to the album. Everybody in the band is really good at what they do and we've only gotten tighter and better over the years. So this album was easier to make because we were well prepared, but at the same time it's harder because you're more critical. Making a first album you're just happy you're finally making an album, that's it basically. But from the 2nd album on you're always going to worry that you have to top the last album.

LH: From what I’ve gathered, you were still under contract with Rising Realm when you recorded ‘Venomized’, who went into liquidation and thus the album ended up being a self financed record. Could you elaborate a bit on what happened here?

Lawrence: We had booked the studio and by the time we finally started recording the financial issues still weren’t solved. We couldn’t even get in touch with the label and we wondered what the hell had happened. That’s when we’d had enough; we emailed the label manager and said we wanted off the label. It then turned out the label had gone bankrupt and a few weeks later we finally got an answer confirming the bankruptcy and our request to get out of the contract. We we’re actually relieved because RR had turned out to be a completely rubbish label. We decided to finance the recordings ourselves and to look for a new label after the album was finished.

LH: The album was engineered by Daniel Bergstrand, who is known for working with other big names in the melodeath genre. What was it like working with him, and how was the recording process? It sounds as though Lawrence also had quite an active role in the production of the record, so I imagine this also made the process run a little smoother.

Lawrence: We have been close friends with Daniel for a long time and I even used to work with him around ‘98-99, so we already knew each other really well. Since we were financing the recording ourselves we only used Daniels help and studio to record the drums and rhythm guitars. We were supposed to do the whole album there but the drums took so long to record that we had to continue elsewhere, also a reason to why we today have a new drummer. I took care of the production and all the logistical things surrounding the album and started by recording bass and lead/extra guitars in my home studio. We then used another studio to record the vocals and then finally I finished the mix and the mastering in my home studio Great Scot! Audio. It meant moving around a lot, but I knew what kind of sound I wanted to achieve so it really wasn’t a big deal. It did however take some time to get it completed. But I’m really happy with the end result.

LH: I imagine with you already having your second album ready to put out, you would have had quite a bit of label interest. How did you come to sign with Bastardized and Tribunal Records?

Lawrence: Those were the labels that seemed the coolest and the most honest. We decided to go with two labels instead of one because since we owned the recordings we could offer a license of the album instead of signing a regular multiple-record deal, and both labels are great in their respective territories but not so much in each others. We had some label interest, true, even some bigger labels, but we wanted the album out before the summer and Tribunal and Bastardized could offer that.

LH: I’m aware that your bassist has been in quite a number of bands, and is currently also in writing mode with his other band F.K.U. Are any of the other members in other bands, and does this ever lead to any conflicts?

Lawrence: A few of us have other bands and so far there are no conflicts, sometimes we have to cancel a rehearsal because someone has to do a gig with some other band but nothing more than that, really. EIU is everyone’s top priority so there’s not really a problem there.

LH: Do you have any plans to tour outside of Sweden following the release of this album?

Lawrence: Right now we’re just playing gigs here and there, some summer festivals, but there’s talk of getting out on the road on a European tour in the autumn. The label and booking agency are looking into things and hopefully we can hit the road soon. That will actually be the first time on a real tour and the first time outside Sweden, up until now we’ve only played single shows.

You’ve previously played a few shows with Swedish bands including Carnal Forge and The Duskfall, whose fans I’d imagine you would go down very well with. Are there any gigs that stand out as particularly great, or ones that have been especially disastrous?

Lawrence: We’ve done some shows with those bands, yes. Some gigs have been great and some not so great, but I think the really memorable shows are still ahead of us. We haven’t played that much yet but hope to experience some of both real soon.

LH: I read on your MySpace that you recently played a gig in Stockholm that you held in conjunction with Nuclear Blast Records as a listening party for the new Testament album. How did this come about, and are you at all influenced by the band?

Lawrence: That’s actually not as big of a deal as it sounds, the venue where we played organizes pre-listenings for NB albums and that night it just happened (luckily) that it was Testaments new album, which is a great album by the way. Sure, we’re influenced by them, we’re influenced by everything we grew up listening to and so bay area thrash is of course an influence for us.

LH: Your music is likely to appeal to fans of other Swedish bands such as The Haunted, Dark Tranquillity, etc. Do you think that being surrounded by melodic death metal bands in your country has helped to shape your sound, and do you think being from a country so closely associated with this style is an advantage to you?

Lawrence: Absolutely, we would say our main influences are Swedish death metal from old school bands like Entombed to newer stuff like At The Gates. We’re not going to try and be something we’re not, and since we’re Swedish the melodic stuff runs in our veins I guess. The sound we have just came naturally and being in the environment we are with all those great bands surrounding it must have had an impact on how we perceive metal.

LH: The lyrics to ‘Show Me Them Horns’ come across as being about metal fans and how we are outcast from society, and about rising up against all of the prejudices a lot of us face. It’s a bit of an anthem in that sense. Do you come up against a lot of those sort of attitudes, and has there been any particular event or occurrence that inspired this song?

Lawrence: You’re absolutely right there. It’s meant to be a metal anthem and I’m sure a lot of people can relate to the lyrics. I personally haven’t had a hard time growing up as a metalhead, but I know many have. People can look down on you for having long hair and wearing black, and the point of the song is that it’s their loss because there’s so much unity and comradery in metal, more so than in any other genre. That’s why I wrote that song, simply as a salute to the metal community. And as we all know the salute is raising the horns.

LH: Reading through the lyrics, there seems to be quite a lot of personal anger, and generally a positive vibe about standing tall against the enemy. Would you say that’s fairly accurate, or am I way off the mark?

Lawrence: Right again, there’s so much shit to deal with in everyday life that gets you fired up to write angry lyrics and one of our main topics is standing up to authority, to always question your leaders and to stop being, to quote Meshuggah, “docile servant dogs”. Some people really need to open their eyes to what is happening around them and do something instead of sitting in the couch getting fat watching some reality TV-show. Mainstream news media is a personal topic of hate for me, I simply won’t accept the fact that the front page in the newspaper is about some reality-TV/model is getting new breast implants and then about 20 pages in you can read about 5000 more people killed in Burma. It’s actually really disgusting what humanity has become.

LH: To me they seem the sort of lyrics that are easy for anyone to attach their own meanings to. Is this something you’d hope people are able to do, rather than having a definite message that you want the listener to grasp?

Lawrence: You want to get the point across without being too obvious because then you’re just preaching and might as well form a punk band. But yeah, leaving a lot open for interpretation is something that’s really good because the listener can paint their own picture of what’s happening within the lyrics.

LH: That’s all the questions I’ve got for you so thanks for the interview! Feel free to leave a final message for our readers!

Lawrence: All I really wanna say is listen to the album, online or wherever. If you’re into the whole “Swedish metal”-thing and think bands like In Flames and Soilwork sound too mainstream you might like what we’re doing. Hope to see you all on the road soon!

For more on the band check out www.bastardizedrecordings.de
www.enemyisus.com

Interviewed by Luci Herbert

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