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Former Dismember guitarist Robert Sennebäck have recently resurfaced in Souldevourer, a brand new band formed by him, Necrophobic drummer Joakim Sterner and Grave guitarist Ola Lindgren. The music is said to be old school death metal as it was played back in the late 80's. That of course woke my curiosity and I mailed some questions to Robert which he quickly replied to. Unfortunately most of the answers weren't quite as elaborate as I had hoped for.
What have you been doing since you left Dismember?
I've been working as a Cisco Networking Instructor and just taken care of my family.
How did the idea of forming Souldevourer come around?
It was just a feeling that grew in me, a lust to play again. I picked up the guitar again, found old tapes with unused material I've written in the past and that started me to think about starting up a band again.
What made you name the band after an old Dismember song?
We wanted a name that could describe the attitude, music and sound of the band in just one word. It also had to sound raw. It was not just that it was an old Dismember song, even though it has a connection to me.
Could you provide some hints of how Souldevourer sound?
Like this genre sounded from the beginning, raw, unpolished and with a lot of attitude.
I read in the press-release that your material consists of both new and old. The old material is this something that dates back to the Dismember days or even earlier?
It dates back to the Dismember days, yes. It's stuff that weren't used, or written shortly after my departure from Dismember.
Is the material solely written by you or have Ola and Joakim also contributed?
At this point, there is only material written by me. For the moment we will work on that material to complete the tracks for our first release.
How did you hook up with Ola and Joakim?
Joakim and I have been friends since the early days, both as musicians and also lately more personal friends. I called him up and told him about my idea to start up again and asked if he would like to test playing the material I had. He did, and afterwards we sort of formed this band. Later on, we attended a Morbid Angel show and met Ola. He asked me what I was doing for the moment and I told him about the band and he said he was interested to be part of the band.
You decided to not release any demos officially. Could you elaborate on the reasons for not doing so?
We didn't want to do the whole thing with demos and stuff once more. I mean, going into a studio is both costly and time consuming. We felt that we needed a serious offer before we record anything.
Have you gotten any label offers at this point?
Yes, but we haven't signed to any label yet. We'll sign when the best offer comes.
Do you plan on playing live at some point or are you just going to keep Souldevourer as a studio-band?
Just to make one thing clear. Souldevourer is not a project or anything like that. Of course we plan on playing live, there's no question about that. But when and where, I don't know at this point.
People might initially think of Souldevourer as yet another "all-star" death metal band. What do you think sets you apart from for instance Bloodbath and God Among Insects?
I don't know the reason that started the bands you mention, but for us it isn't that complicated. All my friends happen to be in already well known bands. A star or not, I didn't want to play with people I didn't know.
What do you see as the biggest difference between death metal nowadays and death metal as it was played in 1989?
It is way overproduced nowadays and a lot of bands lack the spirit you need to get the true feeling in the music.
You can't say Swedish old school death metal without also mentioning Sunlight Studio since it was the studio that helped define the Swedish sound back in the day. Is this a studio you have considered using again?
We haven't discussed that yet, but it isn't far-off. If we chose Sunlight, then the reason for that will be Tomas. He's a great guy and we all know him from before.
Which old school death metal albums are essential to you?
That depends on the mood I'm in at the moment, but for me it's the first Entombed album Left Hand Path.
Anything you wish to add to conclude this interview?
Death will strike again!
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