Dismember
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Unlike their countrymates and one-time sonic reference Entombed, Stockholm, Sweden’s Dismember have stayed the death metal course, carving out a legacy that is as bullet-proof as the metallic shield that has fortified the band since the late 80’s. And contrary to public opinion, there has yet to be a slip-up in the Dismember catalog - Massive Killing Capacity owns, as does Death Metal and even some of their newer works like The God That Never Was.
Characterized by the buzz-saw riffs and once-vaunted “Stockholm Sound,” Dismember have had to play runner-up to Entombed to the better part of its career, only to make a pass when Same Difference rolled around and Dismember kept chugging (quite literally) with Death Metal and 2000’s Hate Campaign. These two albums have set the benchmark for all Dismember albums to come, creating the band’s now trademark volley between primal Swedish death metal and sweet, Maiden-inspired melodic death.
2008 brings Dismember’s 8th studio album simply titled, Dismember and it’s everything we’ve come to expect from the band – feral, swarming, with that buzz-saw guitar tone and galloping Maiden melodies. Highlighted by storming numbers like “Europa Burns,” “The Hills Have Eyes,” and “Combat Fatigue,” Dismember shows a band with no tread on its wheels, still capable of killing ‘em when they have to.
Much was to be discussed with lead guitarist and co-founding member David Blomqvist. Of topic was the departure of longtime drummer Fred Estby, the aforementioned Massive Killing Capacity (which, as you guessed occupies a soft spot in this journo’s heart), and the new album. A sarcastic, funny dude, Blomqvist called yours truly and the very un-metal hour of 6:30 AM EST to BS.
Blistering.com: First off, how is life without Fred?
David:Well, from a songwriting standpoint, it’s not that big of a difference. We miss him more from a standpoint that he was a good friend to have in the band. The process for the new album was still pretty smooth. I think Fred was ready to move on. He has a family, three kids and he can’t tour all the time and we understand that, even if some of us don’t have kids. There’s lots of people who think there is some type of animosity between us and Fred, but that’s not the case.
Blistering.com: How is new drummer Thomas Daun working out?
David: He’s been amazing so far. We met him through Martin (Persson, guitars), who has a lot of contacts in the scene. We didn’t know anything about him until we saw him play. After we did the first show with him, we were like, “Who the fuck is that?” He’s almost 10 years younger than Matti, so it’s cool to have someone that young playing with us.
Blistering.com: You’ve had your share of interesting album titles through the years - Death Metal to Where the Ironcrosses Grow, so why the self-titled album this time out?
David: Uh, I think it was Matti’s (Karki, vocals) idea. I asked what the title was going to be and he said it wasn’t going to have a title and I was like, “Ok.” (laughs).
Blistering.com: It sounds more of the same classic Dismember.
David: For me, I just wanted to go with the same, old-school vibe we’ve had for years. I still write old, recycled riffs that some people say sound like Autopsy, which is fine – I couldn’t care less.
Blistering.com: The material that really stands out for me is the melodic stuff on “Under A Bloodred Sky” and “Tide of Blood.”
David: Some of the melodies I write are either very old, or very Maiden-esque. Honestly, I wanted to have these type of things on the very first album, but everyone was like “No, no!” I love those Steve Harris gallops.
Blistering.com: At this point, how hard is it to choose a setlist?
David: We play about seven or eight songs from the new album. There’s a few that might not work, so we’ll see. We don’t want the crowd to just stand there and stare when we’re playing these songs.
Blistering.com: How have the live dates been so far? I know you just got back from Germany…
David: Ah, the German tour was more the usual stuff with diehard fans. We toured with Destruction and we played stuff from the first album and some other cool stuff like “Fleshless,” and “Reborn In Blasphemy” and “Skinfather.”
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