Swedish Heavy Rock band Besvärjelsen are set to release their second full length studio album entitled Atlas on May 27th. The band’s drummer Erik Bäckwall took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about the band’s upcoming album, the progress within the band since their debut album, the music scene over in Sweden, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: The band’s sophomore album Atlas is set to be released May 27th via Magnetic Eye Records, what can you tell fans about the upcoming album?
Bäckwall: I think It’s a diverse heavy record that we are very happy with! It’s a heavy, doomy, emotional, slow, fast, intense and quite charming album :).
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being the band’s second full length album?
Bäckwall: Well, we started writing a bit for the album in the spring of 2020 but it took a while for us to find the time to focus. So we were trying some bits and pieces occasionally but then the pandemic broke out which forced us to write separately instead. So we ended up writing at home and sharing ideas online instead. We had tried a little bit on our last EP Frost, but not on this scale. At one point we had something like 25 song skeletons on our drive. But we managed to narrow it down to about 15 songs that we made some better demos of before selecting 11 to record.
MER: How would you compare Atlas to the band’s first album Vallmo?
Bäckwall: I think this is a sort of natural step for us musically with the Frost EP in between. I think you can connect the dots between all three releases. I would say that the new songs are a bit more efficient and dynamic. But then we have worked a lot more with the songs compared to when we did Vallmo.
MER: The band has released two singles off the album entitled “Digerliden” and “Clouds,” what kind of feedback have you been able to receive?
Bäckwall: The feedback has been awesome actually, a lot of people seem to dig it and we have performed the songs live a couple of times now which went down well.
MER: Do you feel like those two songs give fans an idea on what to expect from the full album?
Bäckwall: Yeah, in the way that the two songs don’t sound the same. I think that the album’s strength is that the songs are very diverse. But the mood of the songs are what holds it together, it’s not a happy record haha.
MER: What are some of the band’s plans following the album release?
Bäckwall: Hopefully to play a lot more shows!
MER: How is the music scene over in Sweden?
Bäckwall: Overall it’s a good scene I think if we´re talking about rock music.
MER: Is there anywhere that you hope to play live that you haven’t yet?
Bäckwall: We would love to play everywhere. We mainly have been doing gigs in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland so far, so we need to get out more.
MER: Ideally who would you hope to tour with? (Headline or support.)
Bäckwall: Though question, it would be cool to tour with someone bigger who has a bit different audience. But can’t think of any specific artist or band, there are so many we would like to tour with.
MER: For anyone unfamiliar with the band, what are some songs you would suggest for a new fan to check out and why?
Bäckwall: Hmm. I would start with the latest singles, then maybe “All things break” from the Frost EP and “Return To No Return” from Vallmo. I think those songs paint a pretty good picture of what we do :).
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