Masterful Magazine - Death Metal and Black Metal Magazine

Ruin 666

Wywiad przeprowadził - Wouter Roemers

Örebro, Sweden based death/thrash fiends Ruin delivered their second impressive promo in December last year, aptly titled "Promo 2006". This new promo marked a significant change in direction for the band, who now progressively adapts more death metal influences in their energetic thrash metal sound. While the promo was a short affair of just 3 cuts, the man behind the music isn't afraid to talk in depth about his creative outlet. Talking to us is Ruin guitarist/backing vocalist Anders Bertilsson - who since our last interview joined Coldworker and toured with Swedish melodic death metal institution Arch Enemy – who now has become more comfortable as spokesperson for Ruin. Hi Anders! Thanks for talking to us again. How's everything with the band?

Hey Wouter! Well, at the moment we're not too busy. I guess we'll start rehearsing a bit more serious since we have an upcoming gig as support to Vomitory in May. We're looking forward to that, and I guess we need to show some new material, so writing mode is coming up...

You've just released your second promo, "Demo 2006", how have the reactions been up till this point?

That's right, we managed to write three new songs in the year that passed since we released the first one, hehe! Actually, we haven't gotten too many reactions yet, since I've been a bit too lazy sending this demo out (barely even started yet, which is why it felt awesome to have you review it, thanks man!), but the few reviews we've gotten have been very good. So it feels like we're doing something right, but in today's competition... what can you do!? What you believe in, I guess.

This time around you recorded with ex-Nasum/Coldworker drummer Anders Jakobson. How did these sessions compare to the sessions you did previously for "Ruin the World"?

It was way better, since we recorded it in our rehearsal space, making the recording pretty relaxed. Anders helped us record drums, bass, and vocals. Then we once again asked our friend Johan Berglund (This Haven, Asphalt) to help us record the guitars, which he kindly and patiently did. Last time we recorded in the next town over, in a small studio, with a guy not into metal at all, so this was definitely a better situation on all counts.

Once again Dan Swanö at Unisound Studios was responsible for the mixing duties. I guess it was only logical to turn to him again, after the great work he did with your previous recordings?

Indeed, we were so blown away with the magic he performed on our first demo, so we asked him this time as well. Dan really kills, I don't know how he does it, but he sure does! It's great, since one feels completely confident that it's gonna turn out awesome, since he knows this style very well. And of course, having his name on the demo is a great thing, making people interested!

What differed about the creative process involved in your latest promo, "Demo 2006" and previous Ruin recording?

Hmm, I'd say that this time we were more focused, and sure about how we wanted the songs to sound. Other than that, I think it was quite similar, Daniel, Einar and I make the riffs/songs and Tobhias beats the living piss out of his drums. We consider ourselves very fortunate having a drummer of his calibre in the band, it's more or less the foundation. The songs wouldn't be what they are without the drumming.

Where was the album recorded, and are you satisfied with the sound? How long were you in the studio?

Well, in our rehearsal space, and in Johan Berglund's apartment, and it took maybe 10-12 hours total, so no Black Album here.

I am under the impression that this new promo is a lot more focussed, streamlined, aggressive and little more death metal oriented in terms of riffing and sheer intensity. Would you agree?

I think you're absolutely right, that sums it up perfectly! Looking back on the first demo, the songs might be a little less streamlined, and maybe a little less death metal. I don't know whether the increase of death metal was something intentional, or if it just came naturally. I think that Einar's vocal style on the new recording contributes to the death metal feeling a bit as well.

A thing I noticed is that you don't just blast ahead with 200 miles per hour like so many other bands, but instead you vary the pace and change direction quite often. What is it that makes a good song in your opinion?

Well, thank you very much! Because a lot of people have thought the opposite, which is fine, but I don't agree. People have complained about the songs lacking variation etc, but I think that they haven't understood what we're about. To me, a good song is all about making your stomach feel like you're in a racing car, accelerating like hell! I can't really say exactly what a good song should contain, but it should create some sort of feeling to the person listening to it. A good death/thrash song should make wanna go nuts!

The new promo sounds incredibly tight. About how much do you guys practice on average?

That's nice of you to say! We actually don't practice that much, we practiced once or twice a week for a couple of weeks before the recording, we had to finish the songs, and get them tight. Having Tobhias behind the drums is an important factor. He is incredibly tight, so it's just up to the rest of us to try to nail the songs as good as we can.

How long did the writing take for this promo?

A year, haha! Not a year of concentrated writing, but a year nonetheless, since we rehearse so seldom. All of us have other bands aside of Ruin, so sometimes there's scheduling conflicts and so on. I guess we'll see what happens, and to which level we'll be able to take Ruin. I myself feel that the songs deserve to at least be released as maybe an EP, or split cd with another band, that would be cool!

I especially like the extended solo section in the closing part of 'Tainted Soul'. Will you expand on that in the future?

I think we have to, in order to keep things interesting. I mean, that's variation to me... not having nu-metal/In Flames/10 minute instrumental/etc parts! That does not belong in our music, and if people wanna hear that; go somewhere else!

Have you been working on any new material lately? If so, what direction is the band's sound taking?

Unfortunately, no, but I think we'll start writing fairly soon, and you can expect us to stick to what we do (we don't know anything else, haha)!

Which bands have had a huge impact on your playing and writing?

There are a couple that needs to be mentioned here, and I guess that the ones who has had most impact on our music would be Slayer, Merciless, Vader, and old Sepultura. Those would probably be the most important bands, the ones to blame for Ruin's existence.

What do you think about the progress your band is making?

Well, there definitely seems to be an interest for what we're doing, so it would be awesome to be able to bring more music to anyone that might want to hear it. But since we're nothing else than a demo band yet, it's hard to say. I guess we'll have to start pushing the new demo as we did the old one.

When we spoke last year, you were just a young guitarist from Sweden. Now, you are in Coldworker, you have a debut album in stores through Relapse Records and toured with Swedish melodic death metal institution Arch Enemy. Seems you're in the big leagues now?

Things happened so fast that I probably haven't understood it myself yet. It really was 0-60 in 3 seconds! Needless to say, it feels fantastic, and I'm so grateful and proud to be a part of Coldworker! The "Close-Up Made Us Do It" tour which you referred to was probably the best experience ever for me, it was insanely awesome! I got really hooked, as soon as we got home, one wanted to leave again. It's fantastic to have been given the opportunity to release a CD, and to tour... I mean, that's why people play music, I guess. So, I'm really psyched about the future of Coldworker, and now that fellow Ruin guitarist Daniel Schröder is a part of Coldworker as well, I think we're in for a good time!

I read on your website that you only did 3 gigs during one year of the band's existence. How has the local scene been treating Ruin? Is there a decent club circuit for underground metal bands in Sweden?

We've been well-received at the last gigs we've done with Ruin, but there aren't too many places to play in our hometown. We haven't quite got material enough to try to get gigs in other cities. I do think that there's a decent club circuit for underground bands in Sweden, though. The only problem is that there are millions of bands, fighting for the slots. I guess the keyword is connections.

What can we expect from Ruin in the next twelve to eighteen months?

It feels quite stupid not to be able to answer that question, haha! Hopefully, more gigs, and if we're extremely lucky, some kind of release (don't hold me to that though). To put it simple: more death/thrash metal!

What are you doing outside of the band? Any interesting jobs, studies, hobbies?

Tobhias is probably the one that has the coolest job, he works for a local music store, the same one Dan Swanö works for. Einar works with dissecting electronical devices, sounds kinda cool, but I'm not sure how much he digs it. Daniel is "between two jobs", and I work part time at a grocery store, so unfortunately no exciting jobs like hitmen or so... No studies, at least not yet, who knows what the future holds though. As for hobbies: music, fishing, drinking beer and Captain Morgan, and playing video games would be the main ones for me.

Thanks a lot for your time, Anders. You're always a pleasure to interview. If there's anything else you want to say to conclude the interview, here's the space!

Thank you for the interview! Not that I have done a shitload of interviews in my days, but there's been a couple for Coldworker, and I must say that you're a pro when it comes to conducting interviews, mate! To anyone who reads this, you're welcome to check our website and our MySpace out: ruin666.com and myspace.com/ruin666 . Hopefully you'll hear more from us in a not too distant future! In the meantime, check our new demo out! Cheers!

Info/booking: ruin_metal@hotmail.com
Site: www.ruin666.com

Ruin 666

Wywiad przeprowadził - Wouter Roemers

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