• Enemy Awake is a Swedish Death Metal band that have recently released their second album, and today we have an interview with them about their new release. How are you doing?
Ivan: It feels awesome. We are very glad to finally have dropped the new record.
Rebecca: It's an incredible feeling. Ivan has released music before, but this is my official debut as singer and it's wonderful to be able to do so with an album that I feel so much for. We are both very proud of the outcome.
• Great to hear. What inspired the band’s name?
Ivan: 2017 was a particularly rough year for me, and also for my ex- singer, so we thought that the name Enemy Awake represented quite well how we both felt at the time.
• Which are the main influences of the band?
Ivan: Classic Swedish death metal, including bands such as Entombed, Dismember, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy etc.
Rebecca: As a vocalist I'm taking inspiration from the best within the extreme metal genres, like Angela Gossow, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Sabina Classen, Chuck Schuldiner and Peter Tägtgren. For higher, raspier and more "black metal" screams I've studied vocalists such as Shagrath and Jon Nödtveidt.
• What made the band play this particular style?
Ivan: We combine many different elements to achieve our distinct sound; the classic Swedish death metal tune with the Boss HM-2 pedal, melodic riffs but also some groove. We take inspiration from heavy metal, blues, thrash, death and black metal. We like to have some variation.
Rebecca: I very much enjoy experimenting with my voice and adapting it to several different musical styles. Mixing highs and lows gives more contrast, and the music we play gives me the opportunity to do that, and also try new things and become a better, more versatile singer.
• Do you have any live concerts planned?
Ivan: Not at the moment. We are currently waiting, like most of us, for the pandemic to blow over.
• In which country or city would you love to play live and why?
Ivan: The entire world! But it would be awesome to play the larger festivals as well, like Wacken,. Sweden Rock, Hellfest, Rock fest Barcelona etc.
Rebecca: The sky is the limit! But I suppose that the northern hemisphere is the first step, including playing Gefle Metal, Sweden Rock and the likes. Russia has an awesome metal scene as well, so I would love to perform there some time.
• How do you think you have evolved musically since the first album?
Ivan: I feel like the band has matured and we are both more productive and inspired than ever.
Rebecca: Since joining the band I feel like I've definitely been able to incorporate my ideas in the project and use both my voice and my lyrics to shape the sound and overall feeling of Enemy Awake. I think we have both evolved a lot as musicians/artists during the making of the new record.
• How has the line-up change affected the musical direction of the band?
Ivan: Ever since Rebecca joined the band everything has moved so quickly. She's just so talented and creative, the perfect bandmate!
Rebecca: Our musical partnership has been incredible. We get along really well and share a musical vision, which has allowed us to move forward very fast and produce lots of music without ever really clashing. The biggest difference is obviously the vocals, but the music on this record is also quite a bit heavier than on The Enemy.
• How was the writing process like for this album?
Ivan: I wrote the music and had some ideas for what some of the songs could be about. We communicated via e-mails, and Rebecca wrote the lyrics. It's almost like we can sometimes read each others minds.
• What are your lyrics mostly based on and what inspired the album’s title?
Ivan: We try to create songs with good storytelling, important happenings or about things we have experienced ourselves.
Rebecca: I see the lyrics as a form of poetry and take a lot of pride in the stories we tell through our music. Lyrically, it's mostly reflections on the dark side of humanity, whether it be a scary story about pure evil, cannibalism and depravity, such as "The Vampire" or a bleak commentary on mankind's greed and insatiable lust for power and eternal life ("Cryonation"). The title track "Fallen World" speaks for itself and basically refers to the fall of man and pretty much sums up the misanthropic spirit of the album.
• What does the album cover represent?
Ivan: Me and Rebecca after the pandemic is over and we're on our way to out first concert (laughs).
Rebecca: We thought the dystopian image would go really well with the overall theme of the album. It's a world going down in flames, just like the lyrics warn will happen if we keep going in this direction, and the cartoon-ish caricature versions of us was a really nice touch.
• Are there any future plans besides this new release at the moment?
Ivan: We are currently working on new songs for the next EP/LP. We have almost six songs ready, and we will also be doing a podcast.
• Thanks for the interview, is there anything else you would like to add?Ivan: Thank you so much for the support, and if you wonder anything or want us to join you for another interview feel free to contact us again.
Varg The Mighty
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