INTERVIEW: David Nilsson – Feral

The Swedish contribution to the death metal lexicon is well documented. From the genre-defining works of GRAVE, ENTOMBED and DISMEMBER to the modern heavyweights of AMON AMARTH and AT THE GATES, Swedish death metal has always been at the forefront of the genre. But while the Swedish death metal scene has more than its share of legendary, top-tier acts, the underground is as strong as ever. Hailing from the north of the country, FERAL have been making waves for just over a decade with two strong LPs – Dragged To The Altar and Where Dead Dreams Dwell – and a handful of misc releases. The end of 2018 sees the Swedes return with their third full length – Flesh For Funerals Eternal. We caught up with vocalist David Nilsson about the new record, his approach to writing lyrics, and the modern Swedish death metal scene. 

Hey David, thanks for taking the time to talk today. With the release of Flesh For Funerals Eternal swiftly approaching, how are things in the FERAL camp?

David: Hi, and thanks to you as well! Things are really hectic right now, both with the press part of the upcoming album but also because we are preparing for our upcoming release party that we are hosting in our hometown. Add on top of that the regular stress that comes along with the holidays and everyday life. But things are great! I like being busy.

How has the critical and fan response to Flesh For Funerals Eternal been so far?

David: It’s been fantastic so far! I’ve noticed that magazines and ‘zines that has reviewed our material in the past has given us higher scores than ever before, and the few fans that have had the chance to hear the album already in one way or another have really loved it. It’s all looking very promising to say the least!

Lyrically, what stories did you want to tell with this record?

David: It’s all kind of horror based of course and I think that fits our concept well. Some songs are just somewhat of my own “ghost stories” so to say, and those are usually my favourite as they are naturally closest to my heart. Songs like Vaults Of Undead Horror or Dormant Disease for example. But there is also stuff based on history or mythology in tracks like Accursed and Stygian Void, one dealing with the burning of the Templar grand master Jaques de Molay, as told in the book series The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon and the other is me imagining the river Styx and what would happen if you fell of the ferry into the river and never reached the other side. Other than that there is of course stuff inspired by H.P. Lovecraft as well as stuff based in conspiracy theories and secret societies.

What’s your process for creating the lyrics of a FERAL album? Do you work on an overarching concept, or is each song its own self-contained format?

David: They are all their own stories, but I’d say that those that are out of my own mind all take place “in the same universe” so to say. But there is rarely anything that connects one song to another, and it might also be bridging between songs on different albums. In most cases I get a single sentence or phrase stuck in my head, preferably this is once the music is already written, but in some cases it happen already before an actual song exists. I then build the lyrics around that, whether it is something I feel might work as a chorus or just a couple of loose words that I want to incorporate in a verse or something. Sometimes the actual narrative of the lyrics isn’t really nailed down until almost half of the lyrics is already written. In other cases I get inspired by literature or something else that I’ve read, like the above mentioned book series. But even in those cases it usually works the same, with me getting a single strand of words stuck in my head and then building around that.

Do you have any stories and concepts you’ve yet to touch on that you are wanting to write about for the next FERAL album?

David: Yeah, actually! I already have a couple of lyrics (and music!) written for the next album. I have lately been more interested in doing stuff inspired by literature and history, but I don’t want to be overly specific in it in my writing. More like that if you’ve read the same thing as me, or is familiar with the material you will know what it is about, otherwise it will just a cool concept. Stuff like Tolkien’s Silmarillion or stuff inspired by Robert E. Howard’s stories about Conan the Barbarian, which might sound like some heavy, or even power metal concepts, but I assure you that I won’t be singing about any dragons or swords any time soon! I was also recommended a great historical book by a close friend detailing the life and works of executioners in Sweden during the 18-hundreds which for sure will make its way into future FERAL songs. It’s really some crazy stuff!

What live plans do FERAL have for 2019? Can we hope to see you in the UK next year?

David: We have nothing nailed down at the moment, but we for sure hope that the new album will open a couple of new doors for us. Speaking of the UK I’d say it’s one of the more likely destinations next year since we actually met up with an UK based promoter after our recent show in Gothenburg, which seemed quite interested in bringing us over. We’re keeping our fingers crossed! The best thing you can do is tell your promoters and festivals to bring us over, it helps us a lot!

As a Swedish band, FERAL are often lumped in with Dismember, Grave and Unleashed, but there is a lot of early speed metal and black metal in your sound. Was the intention always to mix speed and black metal with the classic Swedish sound, or did it come fairly naturally?

David: First of all: thanks! It’s great to hear some other comparisons for a change. Well, it’s intentional in the way that we want to write what comes natural to us. We’re all huge fans of Swedish death metal at this point, but when we started off we were not very familiar with the Swedish scene. And I guess we all carry our old influences with us: Me being a fan of classic heavy metal and German thrash- and speed metal, Viktor is a big fan of prog rock, Markus being into some punk and hardcore, Roger has his roots in black metal and Sebastian is a fan of more technical death. When all those influences are put through our writing process and comes out the other side as a FERAL song I think (and hope) a lot of them shines through if you are perceptive enough. I think it’s those small things that you have to bring along with you in order to not just become a rip-off or copycat. I mean, GRAVE is one of my favourite bands and I collect their stuff meticulously, but so is SAVANTAGE and SODOM, or even HIGH ON FIRE, and I might be as inspired to write a death metal song by listening to them. And if you think about it, your favourite death metal bands were probably not inspired by other death metal bands of the same era, but stuff they grew up listening to.

Though Sweden has a long history in death metal, the main scenes were in Gothenburg and Stockholm. Is there much of a metal scene in Skellefteå, or elsewhere in Northern Sweden?

David: Well, not really at the moment. Of course there has always been bands, but I wouldn’t say the scene was every really big, at least not on a national level. But I guess that makes sense considering there are way fewer people living up here than in the cities you mentioned that are known for their scenes. Things aren’t looking that bright for the future of the scene up here either as I probably couldn’t mention a new metal band from our hometown with a gun to my head. But there really aren’t any good venues to play up here and I think the interest in the younger generation might have shifted and a lot them don’t have the drive in them to start recording proper demos and spreading them. Before our time though there were bands like VINTERSORG and TOTALT JÄVLA MÖRKER from our hometown that managed to make a name of themselves, and if you take neighbouring Umeå into consideration there’s been a slew of bands from there, like MESHUGGAH and NAGLFAR to mention a few.

The Swedish death metal scene is often dominated by the big names that helped form the genre. Are there any more underground bands in Sweden you feel deserve more attention?

David: For sure! Bands like our label mates in CRAWL are really killing it, also there is a band from Gothenburg called CREEPING FLESH that’s got some cool stuff going on, and they’re actually working on their debut album right now. The black metal outfit MALAKHIM from Umeå put out a killer demo last year, and I believe they are working on their first album as well. I did some guest vocals for the crust maniacs in DRÅP for their latest album as well, that’s some really intense stuff! Of the old guard I’d say that NOMINON and RUNEMAGICK never really got the attention they deserved either.

And in the worldwide underground death metal scene, what bands are you particularly impressed by?

David: I’d have to mention our friends in REVEL IN FLESH, they seem to be really skyrocketing right now and I wish them all the best! VAINAJA from Finland has put out two really goddamned heavy albums that everyone that’s into death/doom should check out as well. PYRE from Russia I really hope are coming out with something new soon as I loved Human Hecatomb in 2014. I’ve just recently stumbled upon NOCTURNAL HOLLOW from Venezuela also, and think they sound really promising so I will have to make a deeper dive into their discography.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to talk today. Before you go, do you have any parting messages for Distorted Sound Magazine’s readers?

David: Thanks a bunch for some cool questions mate! I hope our plans will come in fruition and that we will be able to return to UK sooner than later, hope to see you all then!

Flesh For Funerals Eternal is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records. 

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