Tyrannosatan Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We are a tyrannic power trio based on Devil's Island in Gothenburg, Sweden and we play howling heavy metal! The band consists of me (G.G. Nattsvart) on guitars and vocals, my best friend Isfall on thunder bass and vocals, and drummer Pestgam of Tyranex fame. On the album "Katakombernas Kakofoni" the drums are played by Slirhammer, but he left the band shortly after it was recorded. It's hard to describe the music, you have to listen for yourself, but I suppose it's a mix of heavy, speed, black, thrash and ancient death metal... everything old school and metal really, drenched in evil reverb.

2.In February you had released your first full length, musically how does it differ from your previous demo?

Oh, a lot. For starters, Isfall have acquired about 10 extra bass distortion pedals. On the demo it's just one guitar, one bass with very weak sound, one drumkit and that's it. For the album we entered a proper studio (the Black Path Studio in Goatenburg) and used many different kinds of instruments to create a more sinister atmosphere. Song-writing wise I'm not so sure what has changed, as we didn't think a lot on the song structures or even rehearse them very much either for the demo or the album. We play 100% from the heart so the songs sometimes spontaneously change themselves mid-song, but that's fine. The album ended up sounding super weird, in a totally good way! Often I'm sick and tired of an album I made by the time it is released, but KATAKOMBERNAS KAKOFONI is actually really cool to listen to for me as well.

3.This is also your first release in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

We have mostly been busy with our other bands and felt no rush to get going with Tyrannosatan. But when the world got totally hysteric during the so called pandemic, all of us suddenly had way more time on our hands when everything else got cancelled. This felt like the perfect time to become extra creative and productive, so we fired up the band again. I actually recorded 3 albums with 3 different bands during the pandemic!

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

It's a mix of Tolkien, Lovecraft & other early 20th century horror writers, nature, and winter, all mixed up and dumped into a fantasy realm of my own making called SVARTHEIM. The lyrics concern the hardhsips of life and the brutality of death in this harsh world. It's a world filled with dark magick and cold winter landscapes, a world where evil is always lurking around the next corner, always just out of sight. There are also the seeds of some cosmological themes planted there that will likely be explored further on the next album. It's all sung in Swedish because it feels more archaic and because it is easier for me to express my emotions in my mother tongue, obviously.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tyrannosatan'?

The concept for Tyrannosatan has been growing in my mind for a decade already before we even had a single rehearsal, and it all began with the band name. As heavy metal teenagers back in my home town of Växjö, Småland we weren't allowed to go into the bar so instead we spent many cold, dark, and lonely nights drinking folköl and listening to heavy metal in the forest or some parking lot. During this period, me and some friends tried to come up with the most evil sounding band name ever, and I think we succeeded: TYRANNOSATAN.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover?

It is a gatefold-sized painting made by the very talented artist Skadvaldur who has done great work for many cool bands. I think it was our old drummer Slirhammer who discovered his works. Skadvaldur got pretty much free hands with it, we basically told him to envision the Catacombs from the album's title and just paint whatever that represented to him.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We want our stage performance to be gigantic and majestic, meaning that we don't really play any shows just for the fun of it (even if it is a lot of fun too). This means that we so far have only played a grand total of three live concerts ever. The most successful one was the release party of Katakombernas Kakofoni, which we planned for a full year and spent thousands of euros on material for stage props and clothing.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Not any concrete at this moment, no. As you have probably already guessed, it has to be the right opportunity in order to be worth all the effort. We are still waiting for that next opportunity to arise. When it does, however, we have a great amount of plans ready to be set into action. So far we have only played in Sweden and Denmark, but we would love to bring our tyrannic metal to other shores as well.

9.Currently the band is signed to 'Jawbreaker Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Certainly, this is my own record label and I'm very passionate about it. It started out as a hobby in 2014 but I have been trying to do it a bit more professionally since the summer of 2022. In the beginning, I did mostly tapes but since this year I'm also releasing LP records, and starting in 2023 I will also expand into CDs. I'm mainly focused (even fanatic, really) on bands playing old school sounding metal from the heart, plus a few gems by 80s Swedish heavy metal bands: Mindless Sinner, Neptune, Rising, and Onyx. From a business perspective, perhaps it wasn't very intelligent to release my own band on my own label, but I don't care about any fame or money and this way I was sure to have full control of the end product which was very important to me.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and thrash metal?

I don't think many people have heard the album or even seen our logo. It's crazy how many great underground bands that pop up all the time, and we certainly haven't done much to promote ourselves. But I am confident that more and more fans will discover our music in the decades to come. It might sound a bit pompous, but the chords that you play on an album will ring on through eternity, even after when we are dead and gone. That's pretty cool to think about. Given enough time, all great music eventually reaches the right ears.

11.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Me and Isfall are both busy with Armory. Actually we recorded Armory's latest album "Mercurion" in the same studio as "Katakombernas Kakofoni", just one or two weeks apart! It was a very hectic time, but it was during the famine times so there was not much else going on anyway. Pestgam plays in Tyranex as well, and they have just started up again with a Gothenburg-based lineup, sounding better than ever!

12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I know we will change a lot but I don't know exactly how it will sound. We will continue to experiment and don't give a fuck about what other people think. The only thing I know for sure is that it will always be True Underground Metal, we will never sell out or start playing gay hipster music like some bands do all of a sudden!

13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I mainly listen to US Speed Metal like Helstar and Savage Grace, and of course classic heavy metal like Maiden and Saxon. My favourite band for all eternity is Judas fucking Priest.

14.How would you describe your views on Satanism and occultism?

I'm not superstitious and neither do I practice any dark arts. As a lyricist I am inspired by it though, many of the characters populating my me(n)tal fantasy realm are all kinds of occultists, devil worshippers, or just plain evil. While I don't perform any rituals or such myself, I think I know what these people are after, and I believe it is the same thing that we are looking for when we are playing our music. I bet that most or all religions, especially when performed in combination with psychedelic drugs, are at their original core just different aspects or expressions of the same concept. To transcend the normal, everyday limitations of body and mind and grasp for something bigger. If the mood is right when we rehearse, and especially when playing live, I very much exit my physical body and step aside to let some other (subconscious) power take control. Sometimes when I step off the stage I can only remember a few seconds from the concert (not only from all the beer, I promise) so the live concert becomes like a ritual itself.

15.before we wrap up this interview do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview and for helping spreading the word. The underground is alive!

• www.tyrannosatan.se
• Bandcamp
• Metal Archives