Spreading the Vampire disease

interview with vampire the death metal band

Sweden for years had a long standing metal tradition. Even many people think of Europe even it wasn't my type of metal but with due respect they did help put Sweden on the metal map. At one time Deep Purple recorded 'Smoke On The Water' in Sweden. The Swedish metal scene really blew up when Entombed and Dismember reared their ugly heads. Yes most of my favorite bands now these days are Swedish. Another band who's waving Swedish flag of hate is Vampire. Influenced by the first wave of American and European metal. Vampire plays blackened death metal metal with an old school. They even earned Fenriz's vote of confidence. With the help of Century Media Records they released their self titled debut which reminds me of  the old cold days of Dissection. I like to thank guitarist Black String for educating us on the black arts of Swedish metal. 

Good evening from Texas. How's things in your neck of the graveyard?
Good evening Texas! Right now we are preparing for two upcoming shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg, so we're all fine, thanks.

First, can you give the readers little history of the band?
Our singer Hand of Doom talked me into forming a band in 2011 and so we did. The band came to be known as Vampire sometime in 2012. At that time Command had joined on bass and the four songs we had made ended up on our debut demo and 7"EP which sold out in no time. Later we brought in Ratwing on drums, as well as two different session guitarists for live performances.

What were your main influences far as music goes?
When it comes to musical influences I would like to mention the first waves of American and European death/black metal and the second wave of Scandinavian black metal.

I like your album alot in.some ways it remind of older Dissection?
Good to hear. I agree there are a few Dissection influences on the album, some of them are even pretty obvious. I've been listening to them for many years and they remain one of my favourite bands.

Your self titled album been out for almost a month in the States. You know how well the album is doing in the U.S.?
Actually we don't have a clue at this point, but we hope sales are going well in the US. We have read many good reviews of the album from over there and hope to reach out to as many metal maniacs as possible.

Has the band been active in the touring front in support of the album?
There are no tour plans as of now, but we will see what comes up. We have received more or less attractive offers but the timing wasn't that good for us since the album wasn't even released when those tours were going to happen.

When comes to songwriting, what are your main sources of inspiration?
We draw inspiration from most things we hear and see, I guess. Actually I've never really understood or elaborated upon the difference between inspiration and influences. I guess an influence can lead to inspiration, or maybe the other way around. In the end it doesn't really matter as long as we don't produce crap music.

How did the band get hooked up with Century Media?
We did a gig at the Live Evil festival in London last autumn. Apparently our set was appreciated by Century Media's staff who were in the audience. At the time we were more or less indirectly in touch with Century Media, so we let them know that they could send us an offer if they wanted, which they did.

Were there any other labels that express interest in Vampire?
Yea, a lot of labels did, actually.

The leading factors that led to the decision to go with Century Media?
Century Media gave us a serious and dedicated impression and they gave us an offer which was better than the other deals we had negotiated at the time. Century Media is also a long-running label in the metal scene and isn't likely to go bankrupt anytime soon.

Are you pleased with the job they're doing as far as support and promoting the band?
Yes, we don't have any complaints.

Are there plans for the band coming to the States? At least as a support band?
No plans, but there are ideas at least. If there are any serious promotors, just get in touch.

You opinion of the Scandinavian metal scene? There's been a lot of good talent coming out especially from Sweden?
It's been alive and healthy for a long time. One can always complain that there is a certain herd mentality going on in Scandinavia since the "scene" consists of about five or ten important underground bands at the time being (I am not referring to bands with At the Gates' fame here) and approximately the same amount of wiseguys around spread over Sweden and Norway. But on a positive note, there are many competent musicians over here with feeling for quality music and that's what I really value.

Well I like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Do you have any last words for the fans?
Thanks a lot for an interesting interview and keep spreading the Vampire disease...