by Kenneth Morton

IRRBLOSS is Black Metal from the city does that metal music best – we are referring to Gothenburg of course. Don’t expect any In Flames/Dark Tran sound alike here, as Irrbloss has much more in common with the most underground of Scandinavian acts. We spoke with the lead vocalist (also named Irrbloss) to find out more about the work of recorded art known as Bloodline…

What is the current music scene like in Gothenburg and what was it like growing up as a metal fan there?
Hehe, the music scene in Gothenburg nowadays?? Hmm.... It’s too much of those "Gothenburg Metal" bands. Far too many In Flames sound-alikes. I don’t like them and I guess they don’t like me either hehe. I support young bands wanting to reach some sort of fame and so on but they all sound alike in my ears.

What does the name Irrbloss mean and why did you choose this moniker for yourself and the band?
Irrbloss is a small guy with a lantern deceiving people in the forest. It’s from old Swedish folk stories. The name is my old name from the band Hvergelmer. I have been called Irrbloss for quiet some time now. Still I think the name represent our band pretty well because of the story behind it. It is very much Nordic and so are our music.

Is there any story or concept behind the Bloodline CD title?
Bloodline has not got any particular story. Every song is a new story. Our next album Den Dimhöljda världen väntar that we are working on right now will be in all Swedish and has got many great stories throughout most of the Album.

Where did you get the ideas for some of your lyrics? Please cite a few specific songs and what they are about.
I wanted to write about Swedish stories like in As We Lived is a song about our former gods here in the north. Also the song Heresy is about when the Christians started their missions up in the north and getting more influence in our former pagan way of life.

Tell me about your previous band Hvergelmer and what made you decide to reunite with them. Would Irrbloss and Hvergelmer ever want to do show together?
Hvergelmer is the band we started a long time ago but back then it was called "Minionslayer". It was also in this band I started to use the name "Irrbloss". We decided that we should reunite because we had a great time doing this and we have matured a lot more since last time. Do some new songs and just kick out the jam hehe. If the bands get booked at the same gig of course we do a show together and they get a double dose of "Irrbloss" but as it looks now we don’t have any gigs together. We are still just two members doing everything, so if we get booked with Hvergelmer we would need to find some session members.

You recently added a new bass player to the band. What happened to the other one and where did you find the new member?
The old bass player got kicked from the band because lack of interest and heart for the band. The finding of our new bass player is not that good story. Frid had contact with him and he just came for a tryout and we kept him.

How did you wind up on the Twilight-Vertrieb Record label?
Twilight really liked our demo Hymns and wanted to make something of it. We got some shameful offers before we found Twilight but now we are happy to have such a great label supporting us.

What is a live Irrbloss show like for those of us who have yet to see you play?
Hehe, It is unbe-fucking-leivable haha. I would say it is fucking power towards the whole show. Give us a few beers and we go on the whole night haha.

What CD would someone be really surprised to find in your music collection?
Haha, I would say Hello Nasty with Beastie Boys, Fat Of The Land with Prodigy or that first Gorillaz album.

What was it like playing the Ragnarök 6 Fest with so many great bands? Did you get to meet and hang out with any of the bigger bands?
Ragnarök was really great, the most fun gig we done this far and yes we got to meet all of the bands. I really like Týr myself so I was great meeting them and drink with them and I also listen to Månegarm very much and to meet fellow country men that I listen to were very awesome. The bassist Pierre from Månegarm just made the design of our t-shirt and is at this point working on the design of our next album so you could say it was great meeting new people and making new friends.

What is your all time favorite beer to drink and why?
I have two all time favorites. First it is Kilkenny, that is a really great Irish Ale and the second one is Heineken because it is a great beer and it is the only good bottled beer on our local pub "Rockbaren."

What’s up next for Irrbloss?
At this point we are working on our next album Den Dimhöljda världen väntar (translated; The misty world awaits) and after the summer we hope to get some booking for next years festivals. We have some local shows as well.

Any messages for metal fans here in the Los Angeles area?
Hello Yanks. Check us out if you haven’t heard us if you have, I just wanna say it is awesome that our music has crossed the Atlantic finding you ears. I hope that we soon can come visit you guys but until that keep on rocking and support the Scandinavian Metal scene. Cheers / Irrbloss

IRRBLOSS links

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

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