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Being
from Sweden, Enforcer must be used to this cold weather – I sat down
on a freezing cold night in Manchester to find out how their biggest UK
tour to date is coming along...
MM:
Hi, how’s the tour going so far?
EN: It’s been very good so far. We’ve got to play lots of
big shows in front of a different audience which is always great because
we get to spread our message to different people.
MM:
What is the Enforcer message?
EN: To let people know that this music is still alive because
it’s become a minor genre of late.
MM:
Did you have a show recently in London that was moved due to Airbourne
having to cancel?
EN: We only found out it was cancelled the night before. It
was pretty good, we were able to sell a lot of merchandise which has
helped to keep us afloat.
MM:
How’s the response been to Diamonds
since it was released earlier this year?
EN: It’s been very good. I wasn’t really sure what to
expect to be honest but I think it’s done better than (previous album)
Into the Night. We’ve heard lots of good things about it but all
the matters in the end is that we’re satisfied with it because this is
our music that we’ve put out there and in that sense, we’re very
happy with it.
MM:
Into the Night had a few older
songs that had been re-recorded from a few years before. Does Diamonds have any older songs that have been around for a while or
is it all new stuff?
EN: It’s all brand new stuff. Some riffs have been around
for a while but the songs are basically brand new. We created the whole
album in a short period of time. We rehearsed very intensely for a
couple of months and the whole thing ended up going by very fast.
MM:
What’s life like now on Earache as opposed to a smaller label? Did you
notice a sudden change?
EN: Yeah, especially when we’ve come over to the UK. The
press is better, we’ve got bigger shows and with it being a
European-based label they can work harder for us over here compared to
the first album being released on an American label with no base in
Europe and hardly any press for that matter.
MM:
When ‘Mistress of Hell’ was included on the Heavy
Metal Killers compilation, did you think then that it was going to
improve your status in the UK and make more people aware of the band?
EN: Not really, no. I thought about it more afterwards to be
honest and began to realise what a good thing it was but on the other
hand that CD put a label on us that we’re a ‘New Wave of Traditional
Heavy Metal’ band which I don’t like to be honest. I don’t know
where it comes from. I see our music as being very exclusive and I
can’t see any other band in the world that does the same thing as us.
Sometimes you get a stamp on your forehead but you’ve just got to roll
with it.
MM:
Do you find the UK a special place to come and tour given that many of
your major influences were British?
EN: Yeah, it feels very good to be here. The audiences
don’t differ too much nowadays across Europe. We haven’t done that
many shows here – we’ve only played a few cities before this tour so
we’ll see what happens after tonight I guess!
I really like it here, I can really relate to the UK as for me
personally, I find it very much like Sweden. It’s more like Sweden
than any other country in Europe I think.
MM:
When you did a UK tour with Cauldron, it seems like the tour was plagued
by vehicle breakdowns and Slayer stealing your crowds? (On more than one
occasion, Slayer were playing in the same city on the same night)
EN: Ha-ha, yes it does seem
that way. We had two flat tyres on the way to Manchester but we would
have made it in time but the promoter cancelled the show without really
giving us chance to make it. It was unlucky that Leeds and Birmingham
were on the same night as Slayer but in Birmingham we ended up playing
after Slayer had finished so we had a pretty good audience that night!
MM:
Obviously we mentioned Maiden and Priest earlier, who were the other big
bands for you when you were starting out?
EN: Basically the whole NWOBHM scene really. Venom and
Exciter were two major influences as well.
MM:
Tell us about playing Hole in the Sky festival in Norway. Given that
it’s heavily weighted towards the Black Metal scene, did you ever feel
out of place?
EN:
No, we listen to very extreme music so it was natural for us in that
sense and I think we’re an extreme metal band in many ways and
hopefully the audience sees us in the same way that we see ourselves.
The crowd reaction was great actually so I think the people that were
watching us really got it.
MM:
What were the early days in Sweden like? Was it hard getting booked if
you weren’t a death metal band?
EN: We played a lot of small shows in clubs but recently
we’ve had trouble getting booked in Sweden but only there it seems
which is strange. The interest seems a little bit weak at the moment. I
guess not that many people there listen to that kind of music but
there’s a lot of competition because the people that do are all
forming bands and there’s a lot of bands coming out of Sweden right
now.
MM:
What are the plans for Enforcer in 2011?
EN: We’re going to tour as much as possible and maybe
record another album but at the moment touring comes first. And in the
summer we hope to play as many festivals as possible.
MM:
Ok thanks guys and good luck for the show tonight.
EN:
Thank you, enjoy it.
Interview
by: Adam Grindrod
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