VOMITORY
VOMITORY “Heads Up Or Heads Off!”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Any long time follower of the Good Doctor knows of my love for classic Swedish death metal. Along with traditional NWOBHM, it’s my favorite subgenre of metal. And when you talk about the purveyors of the glorious Swedish chainsaw sound, you have to talk about VOMITORY!
These retching rogues have been there almost from the beginning with iconic bludgeoning albums like “Revelation Nausea” and “Blood Rapture” leading the way. They liked it fast and raw, without a lot of the melody that lingered around the works of DISMEMBER or ENTOMBED. But like so many bands, they got burned out and broke up in 2013. But the urge to kill never goes away for true murder machines like VOMITORY and they are back in 2023 with new album “All Heads Are Gonna Roll”, which sees them just as vicious and relentless as ever.
Drummer Tobias Gustafsson has been there since the beginning. It was quite the honor to chat with the guy whose brutal drums drive the VOMITORY sound. He was pretty laid back for a guy that thrives on mayhem, as you shall now discover...
WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Greetings and hails to VOMITORY! “All Heads Are Gonna Roll” is the first from you in quite a while. Was your approach to recording the album pretty intense or was it pretty relaxed?
TOBIAS GUSTAFSSON: The writing process for "All Heads Are Gonna Roll" was kinda relaxed, for a change. For the first time since our debut album ("Raped in their own Blood" 1996) we actually had all music and lyrics finished before we started the recording process.But the recording itself was intense, as we had to have a strict recording schedule because of our deadline to get the album out on the set release date.
WC:The band already has a great legacy in death metal. Did you feel you had anything to prove with the new album?
TG: No. But we still wanted to prove, not least to ourselves, that VOMITORY still is a force to be reckoned with. As always, we aimed at making the best album possible, but I think that this time we somehow put that extra little effort into it. And it certainly paid off.
WC: Are the songs on the new album fairly new or have they been on your mind for a long time? Did they need a lot of re-writes or were they pretty instant?
TG: All the songs on the new album are new, although some riffs and parts can be dated some years back. For instance, the beginning of the title track, like the two first riffs, I wrote that part some years ago but didn't make a full song of it until we decided to make a new VOMITORY album. The way we write songs is quite thorough, so almost all songs are pretty instant. There are maybe a few tiny changes in a couple of songs, but nothing that changed the overall feeling of the song.
WC: The new stuff is fast and catchy. I detect a lot of inspiration from crust punk and D-beat. Was there more influence from those bands than usual?
TG: We've always had that kind of influence in our sound. Ever since the early days. I wouldn't say that there was more influence from those bands than usual, but maybe that they come through in our music more clearly this time around. Especially in the song "Raped, Strangled, Sodomized, Dead".
WC: Speaking of which, what are some of your favorite bands in those genres?
TG: DRILLER KILLER, EXTREME NOISE TERROR and WOLFBRIGADE are some of them. And obviously early NAPALM DEATH!
WC: It seems the lyrics on “All Heads…” are just straight horror and gore. Or is there something more going on beneath the surface with the lyrics?
TG: Nothing more. Just straight horror and gore. The way it should be, haha.
WC: What movies and books inspired songs on the new album?
TG: Erik Rundqvist (bass/vocals) is the sole writer of all the lyrics on our new album. I'm not sure if I want to fully know what's going on in his head when he's writing lyrics, haha. But I'm sure he has drawn inspiration from movies, TV-series and books for the lyrics, I just don't know any in particular. Well, maybe for the war-oriented lyrics, I would say that the series "Band of Brothers" could very well be a source of inspiration. He's a big fan of that series, just like myself. He also got some ideas from true-crime TV-shows. The title and content for "Raped, Strangled, Sodomized, Dead" comes from that for sure.
WC: Do the same things motivate VOMITORY in 2023 as in the earliest days? Or has your mind-set changed when it comes to the band?
TG: The most fundamental thing that keeps motivating us is the same now as back in the earliest days - to have a good time playing fast and brutal music together. But in the earliest days we didn't have big ambitions. Releasing an album was something beyond our dreams at the time. But after some years and we had achieved that after all, our mindset evolved and we aimed for new goals. That's the most natural thing for any band that is working its way up, I think. Also, playing live is something that has always motivated us during all the years. Playing live in front of an excited and enthusiastic crowd is the ultimate reward for all the hard work and countless hours of rehearsals we put into this. Nowadays, and especially since we "came back" with a new album and all, we want to have a more professional approach to it all. Not only because it is the most logical step forward, but also because we HAVE to do that to even be able to have the band at all - to be able to combine it with our personal lives, families etc.
WC: The crushing sound of Swedish death metal seems to be inspiring a whole new generation of bands. Did you ever think that it would last so long and stay so strong?
TG: I don't think I ever believed that death metal would ever disappear, but I never thought that it would be so alive and well and as relevant as it actually still is today, over 30 years later. And I am of course very happy about this. Death metal has cemented its place in music, and is getting its well-deserved recognition.
WC: The internet has spread music in ways that couldn’t be thought of when VOMITORY started. Were things more “real” in the days of paper zines and tape trading? Music is a much more disposable commodity these days.
TG: I totally agree with you that music these days is much more disposable. And it's a damn shame. But the digitalization of music was inevitable, and it completely changed the way we consume music today. In the pre-internet age, music was much more precious and "exclusive". Since music was so much more difficult to get back then compared to now, I think we valued music a lot more then than we do nowadays. So from that perspective one could say that things maybe were more "real". Growing up with vinyl records and tapes as the only media to own music, I kinda feel sorry for the kids of today that will never experience that devout feeling you had when you came home from the record store with one or a few of albums that you carefully had picked, opened them up, put the vinyl on the record player, looked at every little detail on the cover artwork and the inner sleeve while listening to the music over and over again. It was truly a special feeling. But while I still miss that time, the music that I listen to today is 95% from streaming, haha. It's awesome of course. You discover so much music that you probably wouldn't have if you only had access to radio, vinyl and tapes like in the 80's.
WC: Do you keep up with newer death metal bands? Any from Sweden that you can recommend?
TG: I'm not actively keeping track of or searching for new bands, but when I do come across something that I like, I often get surprised, hopeful and a little excited (depending on how good they are, haha). Two great "new" Swedish bands are CAMOSUS and WARFECT WARFECT is thrash though, but super intense and a killer band. But both of them have been around for more than ten years, so I don't think they could really be considered "new". But those are the newest I can think of that I like, haha.
WC: I see you are booked for Maryland Deathfest in 2024. Any chance of playing other gigs in the US? I know that maniacs in Chicago and Milwaukee would love to see the band!
TG: We would absolutely love to do a long US tour, because we have never ever toured the US. We've only played there once (!) in our career, which was at Maryland Deathfest in 2007. So it's safe to say that we are super excited to play there again next year! At the moment I don't know if we will do any more shows in connection with MDF next year. If not, we will definitely work to make some US shows happen later in 2024.
WC: Any plans or ideas for an album after “All Heads Are Gonna Roll”?
TG: Yes. When we decided in July 2021 to get back together as a band "for real" and to make a new album, we also agreed that this album was not going to be just a one-off. We want to continue writing, recording, releasing albums and playing live for many years to come.
WC: If you could have dinner with any 3 people from history, who would they be?
TG: Lemmy, Rik Mayall and Marilyn Monroe. That would be very nice company for dinner.
WC: What was the craziest gig VOMITORY has ever played?
TG: One of the craziest gigs we ever played was in 2005 at a festival called S-Hammer Metal Fest in Italy. The festival was at a football (soccer) field. ENTOMBED was headlining and VOMITORYwas co-headlining. It was hot as hell that day and while we were hanging around the field mid-day, the promoters asked us if we wanted to have our required rider beverages already. Since it was so damn hot we said yes, so we just could have some beers to quench the thirst. But it didn't stop with "just some beers". We drank it all - beers and a bottle of vodka. So when it was time to go on stage for our show, we were all hammered. And if that wasn't enough, the weekend before, our guitarist Urban had pinched a nerve in his right hand, so he kept dropping his guitar pick like four times per song, and with no spare pick easy at hand haha. I had asked for two bass drums for our show, since I used two single pedals. All other bands used a double pedal for the drum kit. I sure got two bass drums - in two different sizes! So when I played double bass it sounded "bop-bip-bop-bip-bop-bip..." and it fucked up my performance even more. Being drunk wasn't enough apparently haha. The show was a disaster, but the crowd seemed to like it anyway. Some weeks after this show our long-time guitarist Ulf Dalegren quit the band. And after this show we collectively decided to never ever be drunk on stage again. Lesson learned!
WC: Any final words for the VOMITeers?
TG: Thank you, every single one who supported us over the years, and for giving us such a warm welcome back with our new album "All Heads Are Gonna Roll"! You rule!
