Sweden’s ANTICHRIST are a breath of fresh air, in the recent revival of thrash in Europe and around the world, a lot of bands cropped up, some following the Bay Area Scene and some the German style of old. ANTICHRIST essentially wears their dirty filthy influences on their sleeves, staying away from trends and concentrating their music on the dark, rawer side of speed and thrash. They have been a name in the underground for quite a few years now, two previous demos behind them and now a full album release on High Roller Records, ANTICHRIST are ready for world domination, and an upcoming appearance in London will surely win then some more devotees
MTUK: I have seen lots of notable band members wearing your t shirts, my friends in Germany particularly recommended your music to me during the demo tape stages, how did you form and what is your “mission”, you’re musical vision?
We formed between the years 2005 and 2007 due to our mutual appreciation of heavy metal.
We liked the same bands and some of us were already playing in bands together and some of us were in other bands. On the first demo we were missing a bass player so Gabbe had to play both guitar and bass. However, for the second demo called “Put to Death”, we found our bass player Gobbe lying in a ditch with vomit on his Iron Maiden t-shirt. He joined the band and we have been the same members since then. Our musical vision is clear but hard to explain. Anyway, we all share the same goals and we have the same ideas about what the band should be. If you listen to our demos and our upcoming record, that soon will be out on High Roller Records, you will probably understand what it’s all about. Our mission is to plant the sinister seed of the Antichrist in the real heavy metal scene that exists today.
MTUK: How did High Roller Records get to sign the band? Did they witness live shows or demo recordings?
We gave a few demos to our friends in Hellish Crossfire, who gave a copy to Melle (Home Taping Cruelties), who later gave it to Steffen of High Roller Records. At least that’s how we think we came in contact with High Roller. We also met Steffen at the first year of Muskelrock were we performed our first gig ever. So they have both heard the demos and seen us live.
We can’t remember exactly all the details but something like that.
MTUK: Congratulations on ‘Forbidden World’, it has been worth the wait, how has it been received outside of these walls in the press and by the fans?
Thank you but we haven’t heard very much at all since it hasn’t been released yet. Not many people have heard it yet. But our friends and so on who have heard it have told us they like it. Expect a raw, speeding thrash metal album.
MTUK: Why did you change the band logo and what is the concept for ‘Forbidden World’s’ artwork?
The first logo works very well on the demos but for this one we wanted something that would work in the painting that Kriss made for us. We wanted him to incorporate the logo into the painting and he made it look fucking killer. Some people don’t like the cover for the album because they do not understand it but we don’t really care since we are ridiculously satisfied with it. It is completely possessed with the spirit of ancient madness.
It’s hard to describe the concept of the record since it is diverse and obscure. There is not one specific idea but the name and the artwork reflects the record and our ideas about what Antichrist should be.

MTUK: Did you write the ‘Forbidden World’ songs during the recording process, or were they older songs that were recorded especially for this release?
We started to write the record after we released “Put to Death” and we had written everything except some details before we entered the studio. All songs were written specifically for this record except ‘Sign of the Beast’ and ‘Torment in Hell’ which we took from the demo tapes. Almost the entire record was written in a small cabin in the dark woods where we live. It helps very much to feel inspired when writing music.
MTUK: ‘Torment in Hell’ and ‘Sign of the Beast’ appear on ‘Forbidden World’, what made you choose to record these songs for the full album in favour of the other 2 demo’s worth of songs? Do they have any special meaning to ANTICHRIST?
We decided to have one song from each demo appear on the album and these were the ones we chose. They fit together with the rest of the album. A song like “Put to Death” would also fit but we chose the other two instead. The ones we chose do not have any deeper meaning to the band than any other song. We all like different compositions from the demos but we could agree on “Sign of the Beast” and “Torment in Hell”.
MTUK: how do you feel about being added to the Live Evil festival line up in London in October?
Great! It is going to be a total massacre. There are many good bands and many friends that we will meet again.
MTUK: are there any other bands that you are excited to see, apart from Witchgrave of course!?
Yes of course there are many band we look forward to witness! Jaguar, Morbus Chron, In Solitude, Black Magic, Deathammer, Nekromantheon, Occulta, Elixir and so on. It will kill and crush.
MTUK: do you have any preconceptions about the UK live music scene; we would welcome your thoughts!?
No man, we have never been on a show in the UK. But hopefully you are crazy maniacs. We are really looking forward to go to London.
MTUK: do you have any other touring plans that coincide with this release and other band commitments?
Not any plans for tours at the moment but we would like to do something like that if we get the chance. We have some gigs planned for the fall and winter of 2011. You can check out www.milititaofdeath.com for more details and info.
MTUK: What equipment set up do you use for live shows?
Normally we use whatever the venue supplies us with. We always bring our guitars, bass, cymbals and so on but we usually drive a small car so we cannot bring amplifiers and entire drum kits all the time. The guitars are old Ibanez from the 80’s of course, the amps are Red Bear and Marshall, the drum kit is Tama with mixed cymbals and the rest is unknown to us at this time. We are no technique freaks. We are too busy with writing and playing heavy metal so we usually don’t care as long as it sounds dirty and evil.
MTUK: Finally, the Swedish scene is “usually” associated with a resurgence of old school death metal and recently thrash, out of the two genres, which do you think would better represent the feelings, fans and influences of the Swedish scene? Or to put it a different way, do you think it all compliments each other?
We have not heard of any thrash wave really... Death metal is far more popular here and that is the way it has always been. But on the other hand all those death metal maniacs usually worship at the altar of old legends such as Slayer, Sodom, Possessed and so on. So maybe Antichrist can work as a compliment to the death metal scene and maybe we can offer something different than what people are used to hear. Just the other day we played a show with Nominon, Morbus Chron, Degial and Miasmal and that worked out fucking great!
Thank you so much for your time, I shall see you at Live Evil in London in October!
Thank you Paul. We will see you there for sure.
Interviewed by Paul Maddison
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