Tomas Lindberg: The Mastermind Behind AT THE GATES And THE LURKING FEAR Has An Exclusive Interview With Jump Metal

Interview: Oscar Paz-soldán/ Nessa EJ

We had an exclusive talk with Tomas Lindberg, the excellent and powerful voice of Swedish metal, who tells us some details about his new project: The Lurking Fear. He also mentions some interesting facts about the Darkthrone's logo, his experience through death metal, punk and more.

1) There’s a lot of expectation of the debut album "The Lurking Fear" what can you tell us about it?

Well, it’s five veterans of the Swedish scene eager to bring back some of the true essence of death metal into today but not for the sake of being old school, but trying to combine little differences into something new and exciting for 2017.

2) How was the idea?

Basically we discussed mutual reference points…Try to see, you know, in which direction to take the project? In which influences we were going to lean on and which parts of this influence could combined in a new and exciting way. As I said before, find balance between being a what you call a pure death metal band to being a retro death metal band, because there's been a lot of those around now and the scene is kinda overwhelmed doing that and I think, for us, we wanted to not only look back, we also wanted to look forward. 

3) This is about the other project you have with the drummer Adrian Erlandsson. How did you get to the point to really understand each other when playing together during the last 27 years?

Well, we go way back and we're both very creative individuals. I know exactly what he's going to come up with - almost! When I present an idea to him he's a very good listener, a very good arranger when it comes to drums. Very easy person to work with, very easy to catch on and learn a song...a very determined drummer. And he's also one of the most hardest hitting drummers I've ever played with.

4) Tell me Tomas, how would you describe your experience with Lockup? Do you have any good memories?

Yeah, of course! We're still friends, and very much friends of the band. I was at their show in Gothenburg, I did a little guest appearance. Kevin, the new singer, was a old friend of mine since the mid 90s as well, when he was in Brutal Truth. It was just a schedule thing that needed more time for a singer... you know, At The Gates had just came out at that point and there were a lot of logistic issues. So we're still friends and I look forward to seeing them again very soon.

5) After transitioning through death metal, grindcore, punk and more, would you be eager to try other genres?

Well you have to know what you're good at. I tried to be part of other projects in different styles before as well, like some  industrial and some electronic stuff and so on. I know where my heart is and I know what I am good at. If I wanted to touch something else I'd rather try to bring that into the extreme metal genre... like what part of another sound could be incorporated in death metal but still work and how could it develop that music without loosing the essence of death metal. That's how I feel sometimes. I listen to so much different music but you can always be influenced by other stuff without loosing the initial idea of your music style.

6) For the ones who don't know, what inspired you to make the legendary Darkthrone's logo? What's the history behind it all?

Basically, I had a fanzine back in the late 80s, like 87 to 89, both of us were tape printers, it was me an Johann, who played in The Great Deceiver with me later. So we tried to log with different international people and Johann was tape printer with Fenris Gylve and I just happen to scribble one time when I was in the phone and Johann saw it and sent it to Fenris, so he started using it I guess!

7) What is it that you like best about being a teacher? Do you ever feel it takes over the time needed to compose or to go on tours?

The best thing about that is to have an steady income with a job that I actually enjoy when I'm not on tour. It's a good thing and gives some stability into my life. So far my students and my bosses have been understanding. Now with The Lurking Fear, At The Gates new record next year, there's gonna be less time for the teaching thing, maybe I'll have to take some time off.

Tomas Lindberg se somete a las preguntas de "Jump Metal 666"

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