Mammoth Storm | facebook | bandcamp |
By: Jamie Jones
Mammoth Storm might not be a name familiar to UK fans of hard riffing doom metal just yet, but with their debut album Fornjot gathering excited notices from many an in-the-know publication (this one included) they’re one you’ll want to get acquainted with. Jamie Jones got in touch with bassist/vocalist Daniel Arvidsson to ask him to introduce the band and to talk to him about mythological inspiration and why it is that Sweden keeps on producing such fine metal bands.
(((o))): First of all congratulations on the release of Fornjot! Some metal fans will know you from Draconian, but may not be familiar with Emil and Christer. Can you give us a bit of background on you guys and how the band came together?
Daniel: Thank you very much Jamie!
Well the 3 of us have been friends for a long time, living in the same very small town in Sweden called Säffle, and in 2012 we decided we wanted to start something together in a genre we all are big fans of, stoner doom.
In the beginning we had a sound which was more pure stoner, but we soon realized that we didn’t want to sound like the typical Electric Wizard, Sleep or whatever, rip-off band. We wanted to add all our influences and create something that was more our own sound. I now think I can say we have done that.
(((o))): Can you explain for us who Fornjot is? Is Norse mythology a big influence for you?
Daniel: Fornjot is a giant king in old Norse Mythology. Not so much has been written about him though, but he was King of Finland, Kvenland and Gotland. Fornjot is also the name of one of Saturn’s moons. So it can interpreted in two ways, both ways which can have a meaning for people, much like ourselves.
I wouldn’t say that Norse mythology is a big influence. But yes, it is a big part of our heritage here in Scandinavia. And I can only speak for myself, but of course it has always been an interest for me to read about this mythology, and all other mythology as well for that matter. But the Norse mythology is always a bit closer to my heart and such a fascinating mythology. On later albums it will surely involve more of this.
(((o))): I love how massive the record sounds. For our gearhead readers can you tell us what you use to get such a huge sound?
Daniel: Well, that’s a secret ain’t it!?
No but for the sound we have to thank our engineer/producer Johan Ericsson a lot (he’s also in Draconian). He understood very well what we were looking for and helped us create this massive sound as we wanted it. We tried many different amps and pedals to find the right sound. Most of the guitars are plugged into Orange amps (of course). That together with a great fuzz like Rat or Big Muff can do wonders for your sound. Together with a very low tuning.
(((o))): You’re now on Napalm records, which is also the home of Draconian. What is it about Napalm that made you sign with them again?
Daniel: Well at first I think it was the enthusiasm of Sebastian from Napalm Records. He really liked our stuff and really wanted to put out an album with us.
And since I’ve been on Napalm for some years now with Draconian I know it’s a great label and the distribution is awesome. And I have never had any problems with them so far so for me it wasn’t much to consider and I think we all feel the same within the band.
(((o))): For as long as I’ve been listening to stoner/doom/metal Sweden has always been a hotbed of talent. What do you think it is it about the place that inspires heavy music?
Daniel: Good question actually! Sweden has always been big when it comes to produce worldwide music, not only in metal, but for all genres. I think even the metal tradition comes from this as well.
I think the climate we have up here, especially during the dark winter months has a big impact on this. From late October until March/April it can be very harsh to live up here. There is so much darkness and dreadful weather and this gets to your head after a while, and I guess it encourages people to make dark and heavy music. The mind is always your biggest inspiration of course.
(((o))): Are you friends with any of the other bands in Sweden?
Daniel: Yeah of course we know some other bands. Monolord from Gothenburg for instance are a bunch of really good friends of ours. I’m more or less childhood friends with Thomas Jäger (guitar/vocals) and we have played in bands together before when we used to live in the same town and we’re still very good friends.
(((o))): Who do you consider your peers?
Daniel: Actually that’s a very difficult thing to say because I can´t really name any bands which have the sound like we do. I mean, you can hear influences from all kinds of genres and bands within the songs, but to name an actual band we sound like is very difficult for me.
I’m sure other people has better ideas about it than me.
(((o))): Lastly will we be seeing you guys in the UK any time soon?
Daniel: Well, we haven’t got anything scheduled over there at the moment. But I truly hope we’ll be able very soon because we are very keen to come over there and do some gigs.
Right now we are settling down a bit after our recent tour together with Ahab and High Fighter in Europe, but soon we will start working on getting out there and play again and UK is on top of the list!
