Answered drummer Tobias Gustafsson, thank you!
Translated and questions prepared by Petra, thank you!
Many thanks for Martina Cooper and Lenka for realization this interview!
Hi Tobias! Greetings to Sweden! So, it looks like VOMITORY are back! Why did you decide to come back on the scene?
Well, we started to talk about it after our temporary reunion show in 2017. We were doing the special appearance at Summer Breeze festival in honor of the late Metal Blade label manager in Europe, Michael Trengert. He passed away in 2013, he was the label manager of Metal Blade for many years, and he also worked with the Summer Breeze festival. He was the one who signed VOMITORY back in the days, so we worked closely together during the years when he was with the Metal Blade. So, in 2017, when Summer Breeze was celebrating the 20th anniversary, they decided to do a special tribute stage for Michael in his memory. So they asked us if we could do one of the reunion show to honor of his memory. And of course, we said yes to that. I mean, we have never planned to reunite ever again. But then they proposed us this, to play on such special occasion, it was something that we felt we want to do to Michael honor, since he did so much for us, for the band. We were playing that show, and we enjoyed it a lot, so we started to talk a little bit about maybe doing something in 2019 to highlight the 30th anniversary. So we didn’t decide anything at that time, but last year in August or maybe it was earlier, we talked about doing this thing. It is just temporary thing for this year. So we agreed to do it because, yes, it sounded very good when we played at Summer Breeze, and you know we don’t plan to write or record any new music, just play live shows this year to have fun, you know.
After your last words, would you say, if is something new in the VOMITORY headquarters?
Well, not…. but yeah, the new is that we are actually continuing in the next year also, haha. The reunion was planned just for this year only, that was the initial plan. But actually, we got too many offers and too little time this year. We want to play at more places where we have never played before, and we are enjoying this lot more as we expected so we don’t see any reason to not continue for the next year. But we won’t play as many shows as we are doing this year. So that is the latest news in the VOMITORY camp.
Do you plan some new VOMITORY music as well? Preparing new record perhaps?
No, we are not planning any new music or a new record. As I said, this is a temporary reunion. But you know, you should never say never. Because when we split up in 2013, we officially said that we will never reunite ever again. But apparently, we did it, so I am not saying never, but no, there are no plans to write any new music.
So now you are touring for the 30th anniversary of the band and next year is just continuing of this anniversary tour, am I right?
Yeah, because the interest for VOMITORY is a lot bigger than we expected, from fans, from promoters of festivals, and shows. So we feel, we are very humble for that of course and now we get a chance to play at places we never played before. For example, in September we are going to South America for the first time, which is great.
This year I visited Netherlands Deathfest, where you performed, and I must say it was one of the best concerts of the festival! Did you enjoy the whole festival or you stayed there only for a day when you performed?
We went there one day before, so we arrived in the evening on Saturday. We had a very good party. We met a lot of friends, caught a few bands which were playing before us on Sunday. It is a very nice festival and also a very nice venue in Tilburg.
So you visited some shows there. Which one was the best?
I didn’t catch so many bands, but my favorites were PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT and UNLEASHED.
After VOMITORY disbanded back in 2013, you established the new band CUT UP. Are you going to continue also with CUT UP this year?
We continue with CUT UP as well. We have just started writing new music for our third album. I don’t know when it will be recorded or released, but it will definitely happen during the next year. So there is new stuff with CUT UP coming.
That’s great, we are looking forward.
Do you live in one city in Sweden? Is it easy for you to meet together, rehearse, and write new music? How do you compose new music material, together or separately?
We don’t live in the same city, but three of us are based pretty close together. The fourth one, Erik the vocalist lives like 45 hours…. Hours? 45 minutes, I mean, haha.
45 hours, it would be like below Rome, haha
45 minutes drive from where we have our rehearsal place, so it’s very easy for us to get together and rehearse and so on. Since we are not writing any new music nowadays, but when we did, we were composing separately, I would say. And then finish complete song/music presented to the other guys in the van, our rehearsal room. And then if there are any finishing touches have to be done, we did that together. And after that, the lyrics were written to the song mostly by Erik.
I know it could be exhausting, but could you try to say a few words about each record you have released until now? Some story behind it? Which one is the most important for you if it is ever possible to choose one?
Oooh, this is a boring question. Well, the most important album is probably the first album. That is probably the most important for every band, I guess. In many ways. I love all eight VOMITORY albums, you know for different reasons. And the all makes sense, I think.
The first one “Raped in their own Blood” was very relieving feeling to us to record and release that one. Not only just finally to have a debut album out, but also because the half of the material was old material – stuff that we have at our demo tapes previously released in some form. We have been playing those songs for a very long time, so it was good to finally record them and released them. And just get rid of them, haha. You know what I mean. To start over with new stuff after that. It was a very relieving feeling. And I also think that one can hear quite obvious development in our style from first to our second album.
Concerning the second one “Redemption”, I remember we didn’t have enough material, so everything was very stressful. Even when we were in the studio, we were actually considering making of mini-LP out of it. But then we wrote a couple more songs in the studio, and there was one cover song from GOD MACABRE, so we barely made it.
The third album “Revelation Nausea” is very important in the sense that I think the first of all it is the first one released on Metal Blade Records. We just got signed to them in 1999. It is also the first album as the four-piece band. Previously, we were five members. And the first one with Erik on vocals. It also presented the style that VOMITORY became to get mostly known for. That is where we cemented our style.
Fourth album “Blood Rupture” was very successful also. We did a few tours in early 2000. I remember especially on this album we did European tour for a month together with AMON AMARTH. It was not a very successful tour because we were struggling with ticket sales and money. But it was still a great tour because the audience was amazing and we also got some really good friends on that tour. That was the first time when VOMITORY and AMON AMARTH met and we still friends ever since, so it was a great experience.
Let’s see album number 5. “Primal Massacre” is a little bit overlooked I would say because we got an extremely great response from both albums, “Revelation Nausea” and “Blood Rupture”. I would say it was difficult to make a follow up, but yes, we received the review that it was good as the previous one, but still, it was… I mean, I listen to it nowadays and I really love that one. I think it is a killer. There is a lot of really nice songs. That was the last one featured with Ulf Dalegren, the guitarist. He left the band shortly after.
In 2006 Peter Östlund joined on guitar as a replacement of Ulf, and we wrote our sixth album “Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize” which I think is probably the most brutal one we ever did. Not only production but also artwork is incredibly nasty, I think. I love it for it. It is Peter’s first album with VOMITORY.
Our seventh album „Carnage Euphoria“ was released in 2009, which was also marked the 20th anniversary of the band. We did one European tour with MALEVOLENT CREATION that year, which was also a really nice experience, because we have some very good friends in that band, too. We had a great time for a month. The personal thing that “Carnage Euphoria” is one of my personal favorites for different reasons. I like the sound; I like the diversity of the songs and so on. It’s a nice one.
And the last one we did “Opus Mortis VIII” is also a really good album. I can’t think of any special about that one. Some funny stories or anything like that. It’s probably our most clean sounding album as for as production goes. At that time we liked it, nowadays when I look back and listen to it, I think it maybe turns around a little bit too clean. It should have been rougher and more brutal, but still, it sounds really good. And performances on that one are really really good, too.
Could you describe your relationship with your brother? You are together in one band for more than 25 years. A similar case is only Tardy's brothers from Obituary, haha. Is it sometimes difficult spent so much time together or you get along well with brother?
We get along really well. I mean, we were not only been in the same band for more than 25 years but in the same life for at least my 45 years, haha. I think it has never been a problem. Of course, in the early teens, he had his friends, and I had my friends. But the older we got then we started to play together, we more less got the same friends and hanged out with the same metal gang, if you want. It’s been very easy. Of course, sometimes you get more annoyed by your brother than by anyone else. Just because of certain things. I think the older we get, the easier it also gets. As I said, it’s never been hard, we are friends, more like good friends.
Nowadays, the return to the old school death metal is very popular. Every year the new bands playing old school are founded. Do you know some of those bands like Gravebomb, Gatecreeper, Tomb Mold, Crawl, etc.?? Do you monitor the new young bands or rather you listen to the great old stuff?
I try to listen to new stuff as everyone in a while. And try to keep up what’s going on in the scene, but at the end of the day, I prefer to listen to the great old stuff. That’s how I do it. I know these bands that you mentioned, Gravebomb and so on, Crawl from Sweden, they are actually pretty good. I think it is great the new bands are coming and relight the scene because you cannot have only these old bastards like VOMITORY and other bands. You have to have new blood as well to keep the scene alive. That’s great!
Do you have some personal favorites from these new bands?
To be honest, I haven’t listened enough to have any favorites, yet.
Do you still go to concerts and support bands?
Yes, I try to go as much as I can in the area where I live. There is a metal club here calls simply Metal Club. They have been doing this for twenty years, arranging the great concerts, you know, everything from the local metal bands to big bands like SATYRICON, they were also involved when MOTORHEAD was here. They bring a lot of great shows. And I try to support as much as I can.
What was the last album you have purchased?
That I purchased myself? It is probably the last AT THE GATES album “To Drink from the Night itself”. Yes, I think that’s the one.
What have you been listening recently? Give us some recommendation.
I’ve been listening to new MEMORIAM. I think it’s a huge step from the first album. I think this new one is really really good. Also, the new FIRESPAWN album is a killer. And I also listen to the last album from the SOEN, Swedish band. I don’t know much about the others, but the drummer is the previous drummer from OPETH. He is there in the band these days. I think that album is really really good. And I listen to IRON MAIDEN and MOTORHEAD, I do that all the time.
I am actually from Slovakia, but we are like brothers and sisters with Czech people. Do you have some friends from our metal scene? Do you have some favorite band from our countries?
Not many, but yes, I know a few people. You know I also play drums in NIFELHEIM since two years ago and nowadays, Blakosh is now the new guitarist of NIFELHEIM. So I know him. There is a couple more, but it is more acquaintances than you know. I met Dan of the TORTHARRY a couple of times. He’s a really nice guy, also Radim of SPASM. He is very nice. I saw the band a couple of times and of course the first you think that he is a lunatic, haha. Then I met him in person last month, and he introduced himself, and he is a super nice guy and….
And he is brewing very nice beer as well…
Yes, I heard the rumors, haha. I am looking forward to meeting him at Obscene Extreme.
Could you share with us some funny story from the tour, maybe from a concert in Slovakia or the Czech Republic?
I was thinking before the phone call, but I can’t recall anything special from either Slovakia or the Czech Republic.
And from another country?
There are always funny and stupid shits happening on tour, haha wherever you are. Like once, when we lost one of the wheels from our tour bus when we were driving on the French highway. It was in 2002 on tour with AMON AMARTH.
It sounds more dangerous than funny.
Yes, it was very dangerous, we were sitting on the back seats, and then one of the VOMITORY guys was screaming: „We are loosing the wheels“. And we were driving like about 90-100 km/h on the French highway, so we went to the front, to the driver and told him this, because he couldn't feel it. And then we started to break, we could feel that the bus was sagging on the left side because we lost one of the wheels on the left side. It was actually two wheels on the same side. Both wheels bounced on the other side of the road, where we were meeting cars, but luckily no cars were driving at that moment. It bounced over the road into the forest. It was very lucky that nobody got hurt because it could have been really a disaster if the tire had hit another car. We had to stop and got the replacement bus, so the tour continued.
At the end of the interview, let me ask you one philosophical question. What actually death metal means to you? Try to imagine that death metal would not exist. Which musical style would you prefer to play in such a case?
I don’t know, I'm not a solely, I'm not only dedicated to death metal, but I like different styles of metal and different styles of music. But, I think if death metal would not exist, then I would probably not miss it since I wouldn’t know about it, haha. Of course, obviously, it means a lot to me, because we have done death metal for some many years. It also gave me the possibility to get out of our hometown and play in other cities, then we began to play in other countries. If we had played some other genre of metal in Sweden at that time, we would not have gone that for, I think. Since it was underground, DIY kind of tours and shows. I’m very grateful for death metal. Of course, it means a lot to me, and I still love playing it, I still love watching death metal bands on stage. If I wouldn’t play death metal, I know I would play tradition heavy metal or old heavy hard rock, maybe thrash, I don’t know. Something likes that.
No classical music in the orchestra?
You never know. I actually did some other stuff way back. It is fun for a short period. I would get too bored; you know to wait for my single hit when I would suppose to do. I would play rock in some way.
Thank you very much for the interview. I wish you all the best. I am delighted that VOMITORY is back and I’m sure I'll catch your show on Gothoom. The last words are yours.
As you said, we are playing on Gothoom, on 19th July. And the day before at Symbolic I will also play with GOD MACABRE, which will be the first GOD MACABRE show in more than a year and a half. That’s going to be very interesting. I am looking forward to it.
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