The Swedish one-man project Kvaen by Jacob Björnfot (ex-The Duskfall) released one of my favorite albums, "The Funeral Pyre", in 2020. Harsh yet melodic black metal combined with a lot of traditional stuff makes an outstanding album that still find its way quite often into my stereo. I was pretty excited when I heard that Jacob is planning another album release for 2022 and the first single ('The Great Below') in December. I had the opportunity the hear some snippets of the album before I did the interview with him via Skype and have to say that I am looking very much forward to the release of the full-length which will also be titled "The Great Below". Concerning the interview, I was pretty surprised about the honest answers I got, and I have to state that it was a very nice chat. Thanks for taking the time, Jacob!

Michael

Hi Jacob, how are you doing? First of all, what does "Kvaen" mean?

The way that it's written, "Kvaen", is actually another word for "Kven" which are the people that lived here in the northern parts of Sweden during the Viking age. They're like the first people that ever lived here in the north and it's like they're my Viking ancestors. They were very good craftsmen, hunters and fishers, that's where the name comes from.

Last year you released your debut "The Funeral Pyre" and one of my personal highlights that year. How were the reactions towards this album?

Well, it was very weird because I didn't expect that it would be so hyped. It got really hyped up and draw attention from all over the world and the first vinyl pressing, which was a copy of 500, was sold out within a month. The CDs sold out quickly as well, these were 2000 copies, and this took maybe half a year. Then we did another pressing and this was also sold out within one or two months. So, there is obviously some kind of hype and I'm very grateful for that- that the people take the time to listen to my music and that they really feel something when they listen to it. It was kind of funny – a couple of months ago there was this inbox message on Instagram from a guy who suffers from serious bipolar disorder, and he told me that when he listens to Kvaen, it actually makes his life work. That is really scary but cool at the same time because with every album and with every song you release, you give a little bit of yourself to everyone in the world. That is always scary for me because integrity is something that is high in my priority list and it's hard to release something, to give it to everyone for access. But at the same time, it's an enormous relief because there's so much in here (points on his head; M.) that needs to get out. The only way for me to get it out is through words and music.

How would you describe your style of music?

I don't know. I don't like to put terms on my music, but it doesn't matter if people call it melodic black speed metal or some people say pagan Viking black metal and some people just say it's the third wave of black metal. For it's just metal or, if I had to put a term, I would call it melodic speed black metal with hints of pagan metal, but I hate to label my music.

What are your major influences for Kvaen? I guess that Dissection is a very big one…

Oh, that's hard for me to say because I listen to so much music. All the 70s rock bands from Toto to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd is also a huge inspiration, all the way to the AOR style and the death and black metal from the Swedish scene and of course Dissection is one of my favorite bands. I like Necrophobic also but there are many great bands I like. I just don't like talking about bands but rather I like to say what genres I like to pick my inspiration from. That goes all the way from jazz to AOR, spaghetti western and metal. The spectrum is very wide.

"The Funeral Pyre" was somewhat an album where the main topic was fire, at least I felt this way. Can you tell a little bit more about the lyrics?

The lyrics from this album are actually about three topics: blood, fire and death. I use a lot of metaphors like Satan and stuff like that, but the truth is that I don't really believe in that. I use these metaphors because he is the enemy of the world or the hater of mankind. So, it's not really about to serve Satan – okay in a certain way it is but more about how destroy this world every day that we actually once worshipped. That we are the last generation, and we serve Satan through destroying the world and that’s what he wants – to kill everyone. I use a lot of this stuff in the lyrics, but all is more or less based upon mythology where I live and how much I despise all forms of humanity because it just pisses me off every day. I just have to turn on the news and it ruins your fucking day (laughs). I stopped watching the news because it just pisses me off. It takes too much energy and I've learned to channel the energy and to write really aggressive music.

Yes, I have also the feeling that there is almost only bad news in the news these days and that it's still becoming worse.

We have a lot of these alternative medias in Sweden, which is really shitty because all of them are very conservative and right-winged idiots trying to make up lies or it's the extreme left and they're just fighting each other. It's total chaos all the time and it just sucks.

You already recorded a new album that will be released in March 2022. As far as I could hear listen to some snippets, it will be as melodic as the last album, though I think that there are some more epic Bathory and a little bit more black metal influence, too. Do you have a title for the album yet?

All the details will be out in December, the artwork and the title of the album including track list. (Here you can find the Bandcamp link with all the information about the album: https://kvaen.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-below ;M.).

So can you tell a little bit more about the style that we will find on the album? Is it just like on "The Funeral Pyre" or is it going to be more epic or whatever?

I think the word epic is a very good way of putting it. The thing with The Funeral Pyre was that all songs were written in different periods of my life. I was in a different state when I wrote the first song 'Yee Naaldlooshii' and when I wrote the last song, I was in a different place in my life. When I look back to it, it feels like a mishmash and somehow it works. Normally this doesn't work because when you're in different state of minds and different parts in your life and you try to listen back to the stuff, and you try to compensate what you've written before if often turns into shit. But somehow, I managed to do that but with this album I began to work right after The Funeral Pyre because I had so many ideas flowing and I started working on the next album just for fun. My goal was never actually to do a second album but to quit the band and something else because Kvaen was just another output for me to describe myself in my way and then do something else, maybe write a country album, I don't know. But I felt that Kvaen had so much more to give and so I decided to try a second album. I did a really good decision to not let this band go because this album is an absolute killer and I think a lot of people who liked the first album will this one, too. People who like Kvaen are not narrow-minded people who also listen to a lot of music because otherwise it is hard to grasp Kvaen ;because there are many different influences in it.

Will there also be a central topic on it?

Yes, the topic is suicide.

Oh, okay…. or maybe not….

I'm feeling very much better now, so it's okay. It's something I can talk openly about it. I was in a very bad state when I wrote the album. I lost track in my life and everything surrounding me but now when I listen to the album, I realize why I lost track. I was not in absence or anything, but everything was so black and dark. And now I got the point of it and actually figure thing out it just makes perfect sense. That's why the album will have a super dark tone and there is nothing positive about this album.

So, the lyrics are very personal and you somehow used the songwriting process as a therapy maybe?

Well, therapy is a very complicated word. But you can use it because it taught me to get rid of some demons, not all of them but a lot. I think music-wise some demons, but I think I got rid of the final details when I did the vocals. I don't know what happened but when I finished singing the song 'In Silence', which is probably the darkest song I've ever written in my life, everything just eased. I became numb for a moment and then I started feeling great. So…therapy, yeah sure. In some sense.

You had some guest musicians on "The Funeral Pyre". I know that Sebastian Ramstedt from Necrophobic will have a guest appearance again but are there some other guest musicians on the album, too?

Yes, Sebastian will appear on one of the songs, but I also have Mike Wead from King Diamond / Mercyful Fate, Mathias Lillmånns, the vocalist from Finntroll, Angus Norder, the singer from Witchery, I have a guy named Nepenthe Fridell who sings some spooky, ghostly stuff and one of my biggest idols and one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to guitar play, Jeff Loomis. It's very cool to have him on board and I feel very privileged and honored for that.

What are your expectations for the upcoming album and the next year?

I have zero expectations because I think it's better to go out with zero expectations than with high expectations because then you won't be disappointed. I am so proud of this album, and I would lie if I said that I don't care what people think about it because I will. But I also know that I think that this album will touch a lot of people harder than the previous album did. But I think that the responses will be pretty good. We will see, and we have live shows now where I have Frederik (Andersson; M.) who played for almost 20 years of his life in Amon Amarth the drums for the upcoming shows and I also have some friends who gonna help me out whenever they can. I am a good friend with Johan (Norman; M.) who played with Dissection and I recently spoke with him and asked if he could play the live guitar, so we'll see what the future will bring. I really take day by day and step by step because in these times you never know what's gonna happen.

So, you mentioned the live shows. Are the just planned for the Swedish people right now or do you have some plans to come to Europe, too?

It's only in Sweden now – I have been talking to some people who helped me out to get tours arranged in Central Europe. That is where I want to tour because the Scandinavian territory is very limited. The same bars, the same clubs and the same festivals and in Central Europe the options are much better.

Do you have any last words for our readers?

First of all, thank you for the interview and thanks for everyone who will be reading.

The ever-increasing leakage of goth/darkwave bands into a crowded and sometimes confined metal genre is always a welcome addition. The Wounded are one such ‘intrusion’ into the dark recesses and abyss of an individual mind and it is through their newest album “Monument”, they successfully probe and stimulate each cavity that a person may be hiding away from. Marco V.D Velde, co founder of The Wounded and responsible for the impressive emotion-conveying vocals pours open his comprehensive mind to my invading questions, providing a bounty of insight into The Wounded and how they tick...

Jack ‘Odel’


Thanks for answering me these questions about The Wounded. How did The Wounded come together? Did all the members of The Wounded share one unique musical vision that they needed to thrust upon the world or was it a more gradual thing when forming this band?

Andy and I started after playing in several bands and The Wounded at the end 1996. We wanted to play the music we liked ourselves and make a bit a combination of it all. After a while we discovered that I should be responsible for the music and the lyrics and the other guys more for the managing thing. Not for reason that the mighty Atomic Jedi described in a review on Metalbite, that we wanted to do something totally new. He was totally wrong (Atomic Jedi), and I don’t understand how people can talk that way about a band for which they don’t know anything about, a cheap shot if I may notice. We crafted the band for the love that we had for 80s music, the new wave, gothrock and the metal from the early days. Sometimes it’s hard to hear someone criticise your creativity, especially when I know that some of the songs were written on an emotional base like a death in a family. I know that it may make him laugh, but sometimes maybe a reporter should have more respect for the creativity, the time and work that is behind an album. But of course someone has the right of an opinion, but a good reporter should know that the best period of the band is almost never is on a debut album, and it is stupid to compare a band like us with albums of Anathema and The Cure at a time when they had a lot of money to spare on both instruments, the album and mixing it...

What music experience does each of the members of The Wounded possess? Did you guys do any professional training, past band experience...?

As musicians we don’t have training at all, I played in a few bands before The Wounded like some other members of the group. So we put all our experiences in the band. It is obvious that we are not the best musicians in the world, but that is not the main thing in The Wounded. It is about playing music with the heart.

“Monument”, is your newest album and the second to be released by Cold Blood Industries. How did The Wounded come by Cold Blood Industries, it seems to be a more metal oriented label than what may suit you guys...

Well there is more in the world then metal and so I think it's better for a label to sign also other bands then only metal bands, to maybe create a more open market for yourself. And of course there is still a lot of metal in our music, so it isn’t something from another planet for them (Cold Blood Industries). We had a few interesting deals from other labels but we signed up with Cold Blood Industries because they live quite near where we live so the communication is much better. It turned out that we became a bit more like friends after a while. Which was better for the communication also. The best reason is that Cold Blood works really hard for their bands and the main thing is that your not a number 16 band on the band list. We are seen as the guys from The Wounded. Of course Cold Blood also want to get better financial turnover, but the main thing is that they do it for a love of the music, until now that is all we need and so we there is more trust.

Speaking of “Monument”, are you happy with how the album turned out? I mean the production is beautiful, the mix of each instruments are all spot on and your vocals get their deserved recognition by sitting quite high in the production mix.

Yes, we had much more money, in my opinion the songs were much better and more mature and we had an open-ended period in the studio to record. I had much more time to record my vocals and I recorded my voice totally at night because I could get in song more then. And it is great to work in a professional studio now.

To someone new to the world of The Wounded, how would you describe yourselves and the new album “Monument”?

Emotional and bombastic music with a new wave gothic /rock, metal base. With autobiographical and psychological lyrics.

You feature a lot in metal publications, yet aren’t really metal. What is your perception on the whole metal scene? Does it phase you being slotted into a metal spectrum along with the Niles, the Soilworks and the Dimmu Borgirs, when The Wounded is clearly not a metal band?

But we were also not a non-metal band. You know I listen a lot to metal besides the other music? I have listened to metal from the time I was a kid. My first real metal album that I bought was “Scream Bloody Gore” from Death. I still like the Scandinavian bands like Entombed and the old Carnage, Carcass and Dismember. They really are the main reason that I started to tune my guitar a lot lower. The death metal gods Morbid Angel still rule. Also 16 Horsepower, Marillion and Placebo I like very much. It doesn’t matter to us really who likes us. For now were mentioned in metal zines, gothic zines and pop zines, so it is okay to get attention from so much different kinds of zines and people.

I was particularly impressed with “Monument” in how your vocals were definitely the detail in which you guys made of point of. It seems that the various keyboard/guitar/drum elements of “Monument” were all arranged to be perfect in harmony and create a suitable backdrop for you to give the lyrical message across.

We write our music before we write the song lines, so maybe that is an answer to your question. When I write the song lines I get in the character totally, so that is why this intense and deep way of singing gets in, I guess.

Is The Wounded in a general state of apprehension and negativity towards the world? On songs like ‘Red’ and ‘Chaos Spectacle’, you have a more than pessimistic view upon the world we all live in.

The lyrics are in a way always autobiographical. I see writing my music and words as a form of therapy. To write away my daily frustrations and fears. But it is not that I am depressed all the time. I see a lot of beauty still in this world, but it is hard to stay positive and live your days with hope. Who can be positive when two planes crash in two towers full of people just because some people believe something other different to others? And of course America isn’t free of terrible things done in history, but that goes for a lot of countries as well as America. Just to kill innocent people is so wrong and most of all scaring. ‘Chaos Spectacle’ was written a few days after 11 September, I think it opens up totally to what I felt at that time. Who can be positive when two countries threaten each other with nuclear weapons?

‘Garland’ features some interesting sound samples in the form of rifle and automatic weapon fire. What is the reason for this? I personally think it adds a very tasteful flair to an already accomplished song. Was it meant to hammer home the point you are making that nothing lasts forever and everything must come to an end?

‘Garland’ is a song that goes about war. It is from when I was a kid and also I am interested in war, especially WWII. Not so much the strategies, but more the mental side of warfare. I made even a study as a hobby out of it; and while interviewing older people I got a sense and an image of what they felt and what they experienced. Additionally I live directly at the German border and I got the chance to hear stories from both sides. The youth nowadays cannot imagine what went on during those days. To live each day in total fear. ‘Garland’ is about the last few thoughts of an individual who is in the middle of war. At the time he dies. I tried to imagine, based on the years of reading and talking, what it should do to me and what I would think. Of course I can only imagine but I must say that on 11 September I maybe got a glimpse of the fear and terror in those early days.

Is The Wounded a necessary part of your life and an avenue to express your obvious talents and abilities or more of a fun hobby or recreational activity from which you make a few cookies ($$) from?

If it was about money I think we should think of other more financial satisfying hobbies. Because for now we loose more money than we get. But it is the experience and the good discussions that I have with the fans about my lyrics and our music that we see as payment. Money cannot compared with the time that you stand playing in front of 300 people who dance on your music, sing with you the lyrics that you wrote in your bedroom and especially the times, when I even see people cry at our music. There is no bigger satisfaction then that, when someone says to you that your music helped him or her.

What happened to the harsh vocals from “The Art of Grief”? Why did you get rid of them? Was there a point in The Wounded that you guys felt they were not contributing towards the music of The Wounded anymore?

Well, it is simple, the new songs were not really asking for it anymore. But on the next album they may easily appear again. I see a lot in the harsh way of singing, but there is a lot of aggressive in it.

On the last page of the “Monument” booklet are printed the words ‘FAIL TO ME, AND BECOME UNDONE’. From reading this one can decipher a varying amount of meanings. Is this an open ended statement that people can perceive how they want to view it or does it have a special significance or message that you want to portray to your fans?

I wish not to explain everything I write, simply because I would like that the listener uses also his own imagination and interpretation. But as it may sound as a cheap answer I will try to explain, okay? ‘Black Heart’ is a song about becoming beware of your guilt and the things you have done bad in your live. I had a time when I was looking at my own life a lot, and discovered that I became scared for some of the things I did that were not too good. ‘Black Heart’ is about the time you become beware of that and totally dislike yourself for that. ‘Fail to me’ is the way you see your self doing the bad things, like fail to me is to fail to myself and so doing the things that I would not normally do, doing the things that totally disagree with the morals of your individuality. When you fail to yourself you betray yourself in a way. So you loose yourself from yourself and so you become nothing. So you become undone... It is not being put in the booklet as a message like “hey you, beware!” But, more as a line that the rest of the theme of the album is based on. Guilt, aware, fear, judgment, death.

Are you going to be doing or done much touring for “Monument”?

We play a lot nowadays, particularly in Holland and Belgium. We plan to do some in Germany, but for the future I don’t know anything yet, as there are plans for a European tour. But that also depends on the fans and on the clubs in other countries.

On the biographical sheet provided by Cold Blood Industries it says you were going to record a video of ‘Billet Doux’, did this go ahead? And if so how did it turn out?

Yeah the video-clip was broadcasted in a few different countries, but I do not know how much and where really. But it turned out to be great for us. A real video-clip , who doesn’t want that?

Thank you again for answering these few questions, Marco. I hope The Wounded remains to be successful in the future!

Hey, thank you for the attention and the time for this interview. I really appreciate it.