What can I say in my little introduction for this Meshuggah interview? Not much, because I’m just a little man compared to a band that by many is treated as one of the most influential groups in metal. I can only be grateful to live in times that I can listen to their music, see them in concerts and have fun phone conversations with them as if we were best friends. I don’t remember laughing so hard and so many times on the phone... ever... and this is the first time I ever spoke to the guy! Marten Hagstrom (guitar) was great, he was funny and entertaining... like his band. If you’ve never heard them I don’t know how the hell you found your way to this site...

Chris


How did idea of “Rare Trax” come to life?

Basically, it was an idea from our boss Markus Tiger at Nuclear Blast in Germany. We come back from touring after the “Chaosphere” album, we went on the European tour and went to tour with the Slayer in States and what basically happened was we had to decide what to release next. We though we would like to start working on the new album right away but that wouldn’t be finished soon enough for Nuclear Blast, so they suggested we put together a rare tracks album and we said OK, why not and that’s what we did.

What did you guys do over those three years since your last regular studio album?

The first year, actually almost year and a half was just touring and then we were supposed to finish the “Rare Trax” in just six months but we had some problems with CD-ROM staff as video footage and we also had a bit of a trouble putting together all those master tapes, finding them and putting them over to digital for mastering. So, that’s why it took so much time.

The promo letter says that in ’96 you, Jans K. and Tomas had some free studio time and you thought of doing something but didn’t know what and result is 'Don’t Speak' and 'By Emptyness Abducted' which were never meant to be released. How often do you have free time and do something like that and do you still have some songs on future rare tracks?

Not often. [laughs] I would say that pretty much was the only time. What happened back then was that Fredrik (Thordendal) was doing his solo album and that’s why we had a lot of time on our hands and we were just messing around for fun in the studio where Jens (Kidman) was working back then at that time. However, I know that Jens has some stuff that he’s recorded by himself and I have some stuff that I’ve recorded by myself when we were just messing around but it’s not like regular Meshuggah stuff. You know, for fun...

Are you saying more stuff for future “Rare Trax”?

[laughs] I hope we won’t have to release another “Rare Trax”. I guess in a couple of years we’ll have a few songs that will be laying around but 'Don’t Speak' and ‘By Emptyness Abducted’ are pretty Meshuggah like songs, the stuff that we have written since then and haven’t been included isn’t that much Meshuggah style.

It had to be quite a party since you even recorded ‘War’ for Fredrik’s 30th birthday... How did that happen?

Oh yeah, it was quite a party. [laughs] Actually we recorded an entire album with six or seven songs but every song had like a very different style. We had a ‘War’ song which is near death metal or whatever grind-core metal and we had a couple of soft songs... what we wanted to do was to make an album where all the lyrics were really downgrading towards Fredrik [laughs] ... we had a lot of fun doing it.

‘New Millennium...’ is going to be one of my all time favorite videos, it’s simply hilarious... who came up with this idea?

Thanks. Actually I can’t remember cause that idea come up when we were in the tour bus on the Slayer tour and we had a day off cause we had to cancel the show and we were just riding. We had a 10 hour drive or something like that so pretty much we were stuck in the bus and Gustav Hielm, our bass player, he had this cam-coder with him and I don’t know who come up with that idea but we were talking about how really hilarious would it be if we could make a video riding the bus, playing air-guitars and just making fools out of ourselves. [laughs] We recorded this just for our own sake it wasn’t meant to be released...

Based on ‘New Millennium...’ and ‘Tour and Studio Clips’ video it seems like you guy had a really good time during the US tour with Slayer... tell me something unusual that happened during that tour.

Oh man, what didn’t happen. You know, the weird thing is that you always remember the bad things about the tour or something like that cause it sort of sticks to your mind but one thing that was really great about this tour was when we met up with Fear Factory, I think it was somewhere in Main, the tours met up so it was like a multi-band deal. We had a party on Fear Factory bus and that night was really great cause everybody was just partying. I was like six bands just had a blast. That was a really fun thing. Another thing that was really really great was in San Francisco cause Exodus, Testament and Machine Head come around and we had a great party after the show. It was so cool... us, Slayer and all those bands... we had a blast.

A lot of bands either listen to your music or dream of playing with you. Who would you like to play with?

One band that was great playing with obviously was Slayer. We grow up on this, personally I listened to a lot of Slayer when I was young so going on the road with them was like a child's dream. We would really really like to go on tour with Strapping Young Lad cause the stuff Devin Townsend has been putting out I think it’s really cool. That would be really fun to play with live. Also, of course all of our young heroes we ever had we would like to go out on the road with, like Testament and bands like that...

Outside of the band, do you guys hang out together or each one of you lives your separate lives?

Well it all depends on the time of the year... Oh, we hang out a lot but we live in different parts of the city so it’s not always as easy to just swing by each other. When we are on the road or when we are working together we see so much of each other that when we have a holiday we’ll leave town on our separate things just to chill out but we all hang out and we all have parties together cause we’ve been friends for so long. I know Tomas (Haake) since I was 6 I think and we were friend before anything else, you know. And this same is between Jens and Fredrik. We have great friends base in our band before anything else. It comes before the music.

Have you ever bit the crap out of the members of another band?

[laughs all the time till the next question] No, we haven’t. I don’t think we ever felt like it either. We’ve come along with all the bands we’ve met. We’ve never been in any great fight, not among ourselves and not with the other bands.

What’s your favorite alcohol?

Right now... Beer.

Who’s the craziest and most unpredictable member of Meshuggah?

I would say that we all are but it depends on when you’re asking. I mean Fredrik is pretty unpredictable sometimes but I would say that we all have our moments. [laughs] If it’s something I learned during all those years it’s very hard to predict what anyone in this band will do and I can’t even predict what I’m gonna do myself [laughs] It’s pretty hard...[laughs]

Do you realize that you guys are probably the most unpredictable band in a whole world?

Thanks, I take it as a complement. I mean I never though of us as being the most unpredictable band but we always do whatever comes into our minds. It doesn’t matter how silly, strange, weird or whatever it is. We only consider one thing and that is ‘do we like what we’re doing, are we having fun?’ If we come up with an idea that we thing is good we go with it and I think that’s what keeps it interesting for us being in a band.

Is anyone of you involved in any side projects right now?

Not at the moment. Right now we are not doing any side projects that I know of. Jans has been writing some stuff on his own and I’ve been writing some stuff on my own and I know that Frederick has a couple of thing lying around but nothing serious. Nothing that is a band or even going to be an album.

When can we expect new studio release? Do you have any songs written yet?

We have stuff written but not that much but we have all the lyrics and we have a couple of great cover ideas so I would say if we’re lucky and everything goes the way we want it to we’ll be able to release it in like early 2002, first half of 2002.

Any plans to promote this CD with a tour?

No, not at the moment. It might happen that we would but I’m not sure. You never know, we might swing over to the States for a week or do a couple of shows here in Europe but the way we see it, it’s a way better to our fans to get a real album real soon and then we’ll tour on that one really extensively instead. Cause if we go on tour now and tour this “Rare Trax” album I think that it would take too long for us to complete a new album.

I guess that would be all, it was a pleasure to talk to you. Any last words?

Thanks a lot man it was great. It was nice talking to you too. As for the last words; come check us out next time we are around and buy all our shit so we can get rich anytime soon. [laughs]

Yoth Iria's new album "Blazing Inferno" has received a great reception so far, also when you check the reviews for it on our site. I had the great pleasure talking to the mind behind the band, legendary Jim Mutilator who is deeply rooted in the Greek black metal scene since the late 80s. Not only Yoth Iria but also his works with Rotting Christ and his connections in the scene were topic of our chat we had via Zoom. Dive deep into Jim Mutilators' world and enjoy reading!

Michael

Hi Jim, I hope all is fine with you?

Yes, all is fine, thank you!

Your new Yoth Iria album "Blazing Inferno" was out this November. Of course I already heard it several times and have my own opinion about it but what would you personally say is the main difference to "As The Flame Withers"?

I think that I had in mind to make something different to "As The Flame Withers". In my opinion this was a good album but I wanted to create something which is a little bit more different just not to copy "As The Flame Withers" musical direction. I tried with my guitarist to create something more melodic but also still more aggressive. I think that maybe "Blazing Inferno" is not as complicated as "As The Flame Withers" and it has more short tracks and not so many riffs. I think we gave more attention to melody to keep the true black metal spirit into it without so many complicated tempo changes in the tracks. I think it's a good continuation because it's a Yoth Iria album but not a copy of its predecessor. Another big difference is the change of the vocalist. "He" is the new vocalist and replaces The Magus.

I like the super epic melodies that weren't to find in such amount on "As The Flame Withers". Did you want to create a catchier album this time?

Yes, exactly, you are right. I had in mind something catchier, something to be straight to the ears of the fans. I do music for my fans, for my soul but for sure the people will judge if that's a good album or not.

If I got it right, there is a story between the battle of demons and angels that you tell on "Blazing Inferno". Did you want to set some sort of theater play to music?

I don't think there is a battle of angels and demons. In my own belief I don't believe that there are out there some demons and angels that fight each other. Those are energies that have particular meanings in our lives. I think most spiritual and I think that the main subject in our album is that Gabriel and Yoth Iria destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. So the meaning is that an angel and a demon join forces and destroy and anomaly. Those were cities with sin, where fathers raped their daughters and so on and Yoth Iria was the gift of Lucifer to Gabriel to destroy them faster. It's more hypothetic like a subject I wanted to work around. The main meaning of the album is that you don't have to fear anything because life on Earth is too short. If you avoid the main reason for fear you will be invincible. In my opinion inner fear of people is the main reason for most of the bad things. Don't forget that if someone lives in fear it's easier to be like a slave. This is the meaning of the album: metal, magic, freedom.

Did the classic Greek drama play a role in composing the songs or arranging them on the album? I often feel like you are building up a lot of tension in the progress of the songs and which is falling down slightly towards the end.

I really like this question because even nowadays Greece is a poor country with a glorious past. Living in Greece has a big influence on our conscience. I agree that the ancient Greek drama and not only this but also ancient Greek philosophy and the civilization has a big effect in my way of thinking and on the way I build my art. I have respect for other countries and the people there, we all live in the same universe. But everywhere in Greece, there are ancient monuments and this ancient atmosphere and I think you can't avoid this ancient inspiration, especially in us that are occupied with this kind of music because in my opinion it's a different kind of music because we are a different kind of people.

Haha, that's funny because Sakis from Rotting Christ told me almost the same in our latest interview with all the ancient monuments and so on. Listening to a song like "Mornings Of The One Thousand Golds" makes me instantly smile because it reminds me so much of "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers". How much Rotting Christ DNA is still in Yoth Iria?

I don't want to think that I'm talking with a big ego but in my career so far I think that the best album we ever made, me and Sakis, was "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers". It's the way I realized music, the kind of structures. Of course I never think that I try to copy "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers" but now I can say that unconsciously I think that the musical standards of the album always hit on me (laughs). Of course you are the ones to judge how the music is sounding to your ears, I am not the one to judge my music but I think that some riffs in "Mornings Of The One Thousand Golds" after listening to it several times sound like "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers" but nothing of that happened on purpose (laughs).

You have the same God or Demon on the cover, only that he isn't that majestic and crowned this time but destructive and fiery. Do you also want to tell a story with the covers?

From the beginning I have decided that all Yoth Iria albums, and I hope we will release a lot of more albums (laughs), will have the same demon, Yoth Iria. Of course you know that the first I mentioned Yoth Iria was in Rotting Christ on the track "Fourth Knight Of Revelation" on "Thy Mighty Contract". "Yoth Iria – Unholy Master; Yoth Iria – Prince Of Fire". It was like my personal guardian angel demon and this time it's a destructive one because he is destroying Sodom and Gomorrah and if you check, you can see archangel Gabriel behind him. We have a great artist from India, Harshanand Singh, working also for Ubisoft, the famous label making games for the kids. If you remember, the band started with our EP "Under His Sway" with him like in a throne. On "As The Flame Withers" he was just staring at a universe and now was the time for destruction. Be sure, the next album will be like the rainbow after the storm!

Since the debut album a lot of things have changed – you have a completely new band and with Edged Circle also a new label. What happened that this all had to change?

To be honest, the band is my personal vision. I had in mind to create a band which is totally on my own just with a singer. But what happened? After releasing "As The Flame Withers" suddenly and totally unexpected I had so many proposals for live shows. I like playing live because in my opinion black metal has to be in touch with the fans because we're going to spread the words of black metal. I felt obligated to create a full band. I changed some members but from the first day we started playing live shows I have the same line-up. The guys joined the band a few months after the release of "As The Flame Withers" and I have to make clear that The Magus joined me for the recording of the first album and it was clear for us that he wasn’t available for live shows and his time was really limited because he runs a lot of jobs. From the beginning I had in mind that if I want to play live shows I would need a live singer and of course a guitarist, a drummer et cetera.

Yeah, I remember that The Magus told me about that. But apart from this, you also changed the label and Stian who runs Edged Circle told me how excited he was to have you in his roster now.

Yes, the debut album was on Pagan Records and it was the famous Nergal of Behemoth that suggested us to release the debut on that label. I'm really satisfied with the job they did, it was for one album and we received a very good suggestion from Stian and so we are here with our new album. We have a contract for one album and I am very satisfied with Edge Circle Productions because they are really supportive to us and really spend money for supporting us.

"We Call Upon The Elements" is the first video from the new album. Are there some more planned to release?

We are planning two more tracks from the album. One track will be the title track "Blazing Inferno".

"The Wanderer" was a single you also released this year and which is originally an old Emperor song that too close to the original. Is this your bow to the old Scandinavian black metal scene? How much influence did they have on you?

This track was for a compilation "A Tribute To Emperor" but for me this old thing is a lot more deeper. I had a lot of strong relationships with a lot of Norwegian artists. From the late 80s it was Jon Metalion, if you remember him from Slayer Magazine, who connected me around 86/87 with Euronymous.  Although we never met because he was very young back then we were in contact, also on a weekly basis, talking to him on the phone. We wrote a lot of letters to each other and he was the one who gave me a lot of other Norwegian guys' addresses and in the early 90s I was in contact with the whole Norwegian scene. I was a very good friend to Fenriz, Varg, with the guys from Enslaved and Dissection from Sweden or Immortal – the list is very long. With Rotting Christ in our very early days we had received a big support from Euronymous and the other Norwegian guys. For me in my mind, I always have a big respect for them even now some of them are rock stars. In my mind they are all like brothers and beck in the 90s they were brave guys that made a really big revolution for black metal with burning churches. Of course I don't tell people to burn churches, not now with my 53 years, but I have a big respect for them because they weren't afraid to fight a war for black metal. They burnt churches, went to jail and what was really terrible for me that a friend killed another great friend. Not because of death, everybody of us will die, maybe now or in a few years, this doesn't matter. The bad thing is that Euronymous was an iconic black metal artist and a leader in my opinion, I think that thousands of people out there would agree with me. Varg also was a great musician but it happened. There were a lot of things that didn't happen because of Euronymous' death. If you know Rotting Christ was in contact with Deathlike Silence for "Thy Mighty Contract" and we were ready to release a split with Burzum. Of course nothing happened. I made this Emperor track with lyrics as a very small tribute to all these legendary guys up in the north.

What are the upcoming plans for Yoth Iria in late 24/25?

We will start a tour in late February, about two weeks in Europe, some days in Brazil, we have some shows and festivals in January, probably there will be some shows in Greece in December and we are talking with our agency for a bigger tour in September 25.

The last words belong to you!

Thank you very much for your support and kind words. Hello to all the people that will read this interview and I hope I will meet a lot of you at the upcoming shows!