by Kenneth Morton

Darkane has returned with a mighty vengeance, unleasing their first album of metallic thrashers entitled Demonic Art. The first effort to feature new vocalist Jens Broman, the band is currently on tour here in the States in support of their latest and greatest release. Here is a recent email interview we conducted with founding member Christofer Malmström…

How does the new CD Demonic Art compare to your previous releases?
There is of course the new vocalist Jens Broman who contributed with a new vocal sound. He has a very strong voice and can sing a little higher pitched vocal lines than Andreas could. Then, on Layers of Lies, Peter and I have wrote songs together while Klas wrote his songs alone. This time all of us wrote songs alone. The new album has a little more Bay Area styles and less Gothenburg style. And of course I think that the newest album is our best so far. ;-)

Is there any story or concept behind the lyrics to Demonic Art?
There are no special concepts. Peter, Jens and I have written the lyrics on this album. The lyrics are about anything. Execution 44 for example is about people living in concentration camps during Word War II, and Wrath Connection is about two people seing each others crimes inside thier heads, inspired by a book by Dean R Koontz. Demonic Art, the title song of the album is a continuation on a song we had on our previous album Layers of Lies called Organic Canvas. That song was about an "artist" whose work was made of human flesh. This time he is imprisoned and the song is about the thoughts he has while waiting to get out and continue his demonic art.

Tell me about the new vocalist Jens Broman – what is his background and how did he become involved with Darkane?
Jens joined us pretty immediately after Andreas quit in August 2007. We all knew him well before since he is from our hometown, and we knew what he was capable of doing so there was really no hesitation from our side, and not from Jens side either when he accepted to take the role as front man of Darkane. He also sings in Klas' other band The Defaced, so we had heard him sing in that band too. He is also the singer in Constructdead from Stockholm.

Will Jens Broman continue to work with The Defaced? How about a tour with both Darkane and The Defaced on the same bill?
He still sings in The Defaced but they haven´t done much lately since all members have other bands to focus on right now. A tour with Darkane and The Defaced would be cool, but nothing is planned so far.

What are your memories of your US debut at the Milwaukee Metalfest?
I have a very good memory of that, mainly because it was Darkane’s US debut, but also because I have a pretty good memory. It took place one month before the 9/11 tragedy. We flew in to Chicago and were welcomed by a brutal thunderstorm. The day after we played in front of a very good crowd at the Eagles Auditorium in Milwaukee. I thought before the show that we really could feel the expectations from the crowd. The day after we had a great party and the mood was very good in Darkane. There might be some footage from that trip on the bonus material of our upcoming live DVD called Layers of Live (due to release when the record companies are ready). ;-)

Have you been scaring anyone lately by walking around in plastic? Would you want to do a photo shoot like that again?
No, that’s been done already. It was fun, and we had a great time walking around the streets of Stockholm, but there’s no reason to do it again.

Are any members of Darkane still employed as school teachers? What do they teach?
Peter teaches math and Klas teaches English at the moment.

Being from Sweden (where Abba rules supreme), how excited were you to see Mamma Mia The Movie and what did you think of it?
That’s a really weird question. No I was not excited at all to be honest, but I saw it together with my wife and she enjoyed it very much. It wasn’t my kind of movie, but I am however a very big fan of ABBA’s music.

Are you involved with any other bands currently outside of Darkane?
No, I released my solo album Non-Human Level a couple of years ago, but at the moment I want to focus 100% on Darkane. Peter recently joined Pestilence and will do some touring with them, and he also did the drums for the latest Old Man’s Child album.

Did you ever think that Darkane would make it past ten years and still be going strong? What do you think has kept Darkane going for over a decade?
My hopes were that we would stick around for a long time. We are having a lot of fun doing what we do, and we get to see a lot on tours etc. The negative aspect is that we always lose a lot of money, especially on tours.

Do you still keep in touch with former vocalist Andreas Sydow, and why did he leave the band?
Yes, we are still very good friends and especially his and my wife spends a lot of time together. Andreas worked a lot besides being in Darkane. When he realized that he couldn’t put as much effort into the band as the rest of the members he decided to step aside so we could find a vocalist that could put more time into the band.

When you listen to your debut Rusted Angel, what do you think of it now?
I am very proud of it. I think my solos could have been much better, but I had a pretty bad guitar back then. When I got a much better guitar before the Insanity recording, it started to sound better I think. Rusted Angel is a cool album and many people seem to think that it’s our best, but I think Layers of Lies and Demonic Art are much more interesting and has more nuance to it.

Any messages for Darkane fans here in the Los Angeles area?

Come see us in the beginning of March, and if this is published too late. You missed three good shows in Bakersfield, San Marcos and Los Angeles. Why????????????? Also, check out Demonic Art. It’s actually pretty good, and the US version comes with a bonus DVD to kill for. =)

Darkane links

Darkane on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Darkane!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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