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Spawn Of Possession - Dennis Röndum

25/04/14 || The Duff

Logo Of Possession

I am a tech death nerd, Spawn of Possession are my favourite full-on tech-death metal band – I think they are musical geniuses, all three of their records are absolute masterpieces and must-haves along with anything by Necrophagist, Anata, Death etc. so interviewing once drummer now current vocalist for the band was a bit of a dream. Sadly I forgot to ask a question about Par Olofsson’s artwork and their collaborations with the man but as you will see my form as well as Dennis’ goddamn attitude were a little bit off that day – we all hope you enjoy the interview as it is though and of course we thank Dennis for taking the time as you will also see.

Album Of Possession

GD: Tell us how supporting “Incurso” went – congratulations on that record.

Dennis: We did a ton of press and went on tour for Incurso. The album seemed to find its way around and a lot of media outlets got in touch. The collective reviews were overall great so it was quite a joy to promote the album.

Tell us how you go about the songwriting process.

Usually it starts with a riff, an idea or some basic humming. Then it begins to evolve and we build from that. Our writing style is pretty fundamental in the starting process. Then it grows and we treat it through a magnifying glass to let it fully bloom into the deformed thing it ultimately becomes. We twist and turn all the pieces until they are what we consider perfect and then start to put it all together and arrange it. No pre-set structures, it’s all done to find new vibes that excites us.

“Incurso” was less technical than “Noctambulant” to these ears; was this a conscious choice?

It’s never been decided how tech anything will be in Spawn. It depends on the mood for whoever writes in the band and what sounds best, works best for the song. Playing technical has blown up to such ridiculous proportions I think. I mean it’s all about practice, anyone can play high advances shit. Just sacrifice those five, ten years and you’re good to go. Writing good music on the other hand, that comes from talent.

Is Caspersen a full-time member now? Are you a full band with you in place as vocalist?

Of course Caspersen is a full-time member, why wouldn’t he be? The line up on Incurso is the absolute adulterated set of solid members in Spawn and we intend to keep it like that.

SOP

Your last tour if I’m not mistaken was aeons ago with two of the biggest tech death bands in the world namely Gorod and Obscura – how was it received, how were the crowds?

That tour was the best tour I’ve ever done. Those bands are amazing and so was the crowd. We got nothing but great response from the people that came out. I don’t think we had realized what the response would be as we had been away for so long. But we got pleasantly surprised because we sold out most of the venues and people got crazy when we stepped on stage.

When is the next tour?

There’s always offer flying around but everything has to work out for everybody. At this time there are no tours happening but we want to get out there and play and if the offer is right we’ll do it for sure.

You are friends with Visceral Bleeding – how is the new album of theirs shaping up; do they send you samples?

I never speak to those guys, as a matter of fact I don’t even know who’s in the line-up anymore. I met Tobbe about two years ago and he said he wanted to make another record, after that I haven’t heard a thing. I haven’t got any samples from them so I don’t know what’s up.

It’s already coming up to two years since the release of “Incurso” – can you tell us if there is a new record in the works?

Yeah it’s happening but it’s far from done at this point. There’s about two song set to go so far so it still needs a lot of work. But it’s slowly building up and it’s going to happen sooner or later. All in good time.

You had some tracks unused from the “Incurso” sessions; will they make an appearance on the new record or will you just go in from scratch?

We actually talked about that and yes that might happen. But it might need some polishing before we record it. It all depends on what the new material turns out to be. If the old stuff fits the record we’ll surely put it on the next album.

What are you thoughts on the disbanding of Anata and possibly indefinite hiatus of Necrophagist?

I honestly don’t have many thoughts on that since I didn’t really listen to those bands. I mean, I recognize they gained a following and were serious players but their departure didn’t really affect me. You know, people still go on about how great it would’ve been if Hendrix still would’ve been alive and how much more great music he would have made. That may have been the highly unlikely case, I mean what if his tank was empty and that was it. How fucking sad wouldn’t it had been to see him playing some shitty local bar trying to support some new album that no one liked, and everybody just wanted to hear voodoo child!? My point is, maybe those bands were done, thinking that what they had already put out is the best shit they could write. I totally respect bands that know when to quit. Too many fucking repetitive old timers are floating around these days anyway. .

What made you recruit Hanneman? I didn’t know he could only play with three fingers of his fretting hand, that is absurd the stuff he can play, but then can he still play the SoP riffs, or does he stick to solos alone for your band?

The only Hanneman I know of was a great guitar player in Slayer who died not too long ago. As far as I know he used all his fingers when he played.

…

(goddamnit)

SOP

“?”

Karlsson left the band after “Noctambulant” because his heart wasn’t in it, yet he guest-solos on “Incurso” would suggest he has lost none of his skill – is he eager to give SoP another go?

No Karlsson is in another place with his life now. He doesn’t have any aspirations to join Spawn again. Perhaps he would do a show or two if Chris was sick and if we bribed him but that’s about it. Karlsson is a very special breed that I’ve never seen before. I’d say he is as close to being an idiot savant as any normal person would ever be, without being a complete retard who can’t tie his own shoes. That guy picks up a guitar and he just knows, it’s very strange. Knows no theory, never talks about it, just fucking plays his head off. There are very few like that guy and it’s always a trip to hang out with him.

*You as well did not want to pursue SoP, yet you oversaw the drumming on the new record. Is this likely to affect the band’s plans in the future, its line-up or are you secure with the one you are currently working on

Jonas and I started this band a long time ago and the original though on our music has stayed the same all the time. Sure we like to bend the rules and mess with traditional ideas but our base ideas are to play brutal extreme music that gives us goose bumps. No more, no less.

SOP

Any future plans you’d like to share and final comments? Many thanks from all of us at GD.

No plans at the moment but to release another album. Join us at Facebook. Keep supporting brutal music. Thanks for the interview and the support!

/Dennis

Interviews