Hails my fellow metalheads. Here we are again and with some good news from our doomy friends The Gardnerz. After releasing the album 'The System of Nature' (2011), the mini album 'It All Fades' (2012) and the single 'Exiting Reality' (2013), the International doom/death metal monster is back with blends of boisterous and fatalistic metal. It seems that their up coming album - 'We Have Lost - A Fatalist Manifesto' - is taking shape.
If you want a little taste of what's to come just check (below) the drum recording video for the new album that the Swedish band posted on youtube, recorded at studio Armageddon Osijek Croatia. The new work sounds exciting. As expected, from what you can listen, the album displays a varied soundscape with some groovy rhythms. Wilhelm brings his Flamenco/Classical roots to the album and blends it with death riffs and slow tempos. As always The Gardnerz show how groundbreaking is their extreme music.
'We Have Lost - A Fatalist Manifesto' is slated for an early to mid 2015 release through Mechanix records from Sweden. The album will contain eight songs, plus an intro/ outro and as always a cover song.
The Gardnerz - 'We Have Lost -A Fatalist
Manifesto' Line up:
Johan Bergström - Vocals
Wilhelm Lindh - Guitar
Francisco Martín - Bass
Vedran Benčić - Drums
One melee with the words, ideas and its paradoxes... albuns that are news, the reviews at "HeavyHardMetalmania.net", always with its watermark, Pedro Ribeiro, with love for beer... sorry,music from an early age, he studied piano and singing from 7 to 14 years, then, devoted himself to the study of the guitar for 5 years. "The wisdom is found in the extremes, all extreme Metal here!"
Swedish Doom metal band THE GARDNERZ have parted ways with Abyss Records (USA). The band is currently offering their entire catalog for free download via Digmetalworld Records (or you can also go into the info section of the band’s Facebook page and there you’ll find the links).
Johan Bergström
THE GARDNERZ is also announcing its new singer, read below:
'We are extremely happy to announce that our new vocalist in chief is Johan Bergström from the mighty Splattered Mermaids and Havok (Sweden).
New singer Johan Bergström have commented: “Hey guys, this is a cool chance to get to see all of these fine Gardnerz all gathered in the same field for the first time (The field must look very good now with all the Gardnerz attending to it). I'm truly happy to get this opportunity to push myself in new directions and I am looking forward to what this experience has to offer. With more than nine years of playing Death Metal I look forward to this new challenge with a smile of a mad-man. See you guys in the future and stay well.”
THE GARDNERZ is now hard at work putting together a new album that will be called "We Have Lost: A Fatalist Manifesto" that will be put out through some soon to -be - unveiled - label later this year. The album will contain eight songs plus an intro/outro and as always a cover song.
Swedish, Death / Doom Metal band has issued the following statement
We are sad to announce that our singer, Niclas Ankarbranth, has decided to step down. Niclas cited lack of time has his reason to leave and we are sad to see him go but we feel that there is no point on dwelling too much on this issue as Niclas is still a good friend and there is now hard feelings what so ever.
We think Niclas wrote it very well himself in the statement he sent us:
"Yo dudes, hope all is well with you guys. Unfortunately this mail is not all of joy as I have some bad news for you. Last year was a year filled with stress in my life. I did not always do what was best for me and carried too much on my shoulders and that took its toll on me. And this is something I had to learn from so 2014 is a year I have a lot of things going on in my private life as well and this means I have to prioritize differently in my life.
So with sorrow in my heart I have to resign as the vocalist in the band.
I have already talked with Wilhelm about this matter and I tell you guys as I told him. I have a lot of respect for you all, not only as musicians but also as individuals so I want to be straight with you about this as I do not resign because of any musical differences or grudges against anything. I assure you, it's because I have to prioritize differently from this time forward." Niclas Ankarbranth.
So that leaves us with the vocalist spot open. We are looking for someone who:
1- Preferably lives in Sweden or any of the Nordic countries (Denmark/Finland/Norway). Not a deal breaker if you live elsewhere if you are willing to travel or/and can record at home.
2- Have vocalist experience, we are mainly looking for someone to growl. Clean vocals are appreciated but not required.
3- Have the time to write and arrange vocals for our next album that will be recorded this year.
4- Do not take himself too seriously, we are a easy going dudes, so no rock stars or truer than thou BS.
Swedish Doom metal band THE GARDNERZ have released "Exiting Reality" as a free download via Digmetalworld Records in North America, featuring two new songs of Doomy Goodness, like a cannon blast right in your face. You can download the free album at the following location.
"With this release we want to affirm our standing as the most interesting and versatile Doom/Death band around these days. When most bands play it safe, we try to go our own way and incorporate all kinds of twists and turns into our music.
We think this is our best sounding release and our most interesting work to date. This being our second release with this line up, we feel that we have really hit our stride and everyone know what to do to make the sweet music we call Deadly Doom.
Lyrically both songs are linked and therefore being Part one and two. Part one deals with an awakening, to see things for what they are, what impact your actions has on your surroundings and the once around you.
Part two is about the liberation from all that. A closure if you like. We feel certain that these two songs will leave you longing for more of our Epic Doom/Death Metal."
Wilhelm Lindh- Guitar
Vedran Benčić- Drums
Niclas Ankarbranth- Vocals
Francisco Martín- Bass
For more information about the band visit its official website or find them on Facebook.
Swedish Doom / Death Metal band The GARDNERZ have made available their new single "Exiting Reality" for free download at the following link. "Exiting Reality" features two all new tracks and was recorded at Funky Cat studios, Armageddon Studio and Natas Senip Studio.
The band had this to say about the single:
"With this release we want to affirm our standing as the most interesting and versatile doom/death band around these days. When most bands play it safe, we try to go our own way and incorporate all kinds of twists and turns into our music. I think this is our best sounding release and our most interesting work to date. This being our second release with this line up, I feel that we have really hit our stride and everyone knows what to do to make the sweet music we call deadly doom. Lyrically both songs are linked and therefore being Part one and two, Part one deals with an awakening. To see things for what they are, what impact your actions has on your surroundings and the ones around you. Part two is about the liberation from all that. A closure if you like. We feel certain that these two songs will leave you longing for more of our epic doom/death metal."
"The Gardnerz suffered a noticeable maturation not only of sound but of composition and production too. With all the instruments in harmony, an insane string performance by Wilhelm, a clear evolution of Francisco bass, a wider vocal technique of Niclas and a powerful drumming of Vedran, "Exiting Reality" will make you beg for more!" Pedro Ribeiro - HeavyHardMetalmania "It's much to take in because the music is so interesting and moody. It's not just the vocals, the whole music changes mood drastically yet somehow logically and keeps doing that without throwing us off... ...It's just two songs yet so much is contained within, like a mythological tale that has to be heard over and over again to be understood." Kunal Choksi - Transcending Obscurity
The GARDNERZ
Vocals: Niclas Ankarbranth Guitars: Wilhelm Lindh Bass: Francisco Martín Drums: Vedran Benčić
THE GARDNERZ is a doomy death metal band from the south of Sweden, the band was formed in the middle of 2008 by Wilhelm and in late 2008 Francisco joined the. A longtime friend of Francisco, drummer Juan Pablo was recruited and after a long time of searching for a vocalist Niclas stepped in to the picture. The Gardnerz inked a deal with Abyss Records in late 2010. The band's debut album, "The System Of Nature", was released as Digipack CD through Abyss Records, on LP through Mechanix Records and Digital Download through Digmetalworld in late 2011. Boosted by the tremendous response from the debut album the band started working on new material. In 2011 a new drummer, Vedran Bencic, was recruited, and just after a few months of rehearsing the new songs the band decided to record a mini album. The recording started in early 2012 and yielded the "It All Fades" Mini Album containing six doom and death filed tracks. Later the same year the band started working on what would become the "Exiting reality" single which was released on the 10th of June 2013 as a free download. The GARDNERZ latest release, "It All Fades" EP, was released in late 2012 on Abyss Records, "It All Fades" and other The GARDNERZ merchandise can be found at the following links:thegardnerzorofficialabyssrecords.
I was one
of the lucky guys who had the opportunity to meet Wilhelm Lindh, the man,
traveler, artist and musician, the one to whom I now have the pleasure to call
friend, the mind behind the band called The Gardnerz. Welcoming and hosting
Wilhelm here in Portugal during his holidays was a great experience in all
senses for HavyHardMetalmania. We shared culture, traditions and ideas and above
all we learned the simplicity of life through the eyes of a humble and darting
person ready to share his music and meaningful messages with the world. But
here I am talking of Wilhelm like he´s the only one in this project when this
isn´t the truth, in fact I also had a conversation with Francisco Martín
(bassist) alongside Wilhelm via skype and I could see that Francisco is also a
hard worker, an indispensable piece of the band that not only plays the bass as
well as actively participating in important decisions and giving ideas. Without
forgetting Vedran (drummer) and Niclas (vocalist) that unfortunately I haven´t
met yet this quartet motto should be: one for all and all for metal!
But let’s
talk of serious business… after the good debut release “The System Of Nature”
and the great second release “It All Fades” the band worked to liberate more
fucking tasty death/doom metal for you and the result is “Exiting Reality” a
two part single with a total of twelve minutes of head shattering metal. For me
this single is their best work till the date and also my favorite. The reader can find my words odd seeing that
it is very difficult for a single to surpass two albums but you can rely on my
words because “Exiting Reality” is a small but dynamic and detailed single
divided in “Exiting Realitypt.1” and “Exiting Realitypt.2” with lots of well
worked riffs, varied vocal techniques (specially the demonic voice in pt2.) ,
different rhythms and many of the same old good influences but this time around
with the consolidation of what can be called by their signature sound, those
creepy and slow doom notes intercalated with energetic and melodic death metal will
always project your mind to the name The Gardnerz.
The
decision of making a single was a bit risky but very clever at the same time,
if the outcome was less than good it would be short and savorless but the
result was the total opposite, it was excellent so the risk was compensated
with a brilliant composition of music. Like I said before they play the same
old shit (in the best way possible and using Wilhelm words) and the writing
process was the same as in the other albums, simple but filled with technique,
distorted and clean, with the same theme of lyrics (as you can guess by the
title), a blend of many influences but the thing here is that using the old method
in a divided single brought all the details of the band above making it easier
to listen and appreciate.
The
recording process was also divided, guitar and bass were recorded at Funky Cat
Studios, the drums were recorded at Armageddon Studio and the vocals were
recorded at Natas sinep. The work was mixed and mastered by Cristian Rodríguez
Lunecke at 15 Hz Studio. For me the worst possible scenario would be if the
recording was extremely perfect but this is not the case and as usual the
professionalism of raw and “unprofessional” recording took the band in the
right way to give to the listener the unmistakable Swedish crude sound. I also
need to praise the magnificent job of Cristian Rodríguez that in my opinion
gave to the work a special glow with the flawless mixing and mastering and I
really know what I am talking about cause I listened to the single even before
the mastering.
Despite the
division of “Exiting Reality” in two parts the continuity of the theme and
composition is evident and follows its natural order as if what you hear after
was really supposed to be heard. This is in fact is what makes all the
difference and separates this work from the good works to place it beside the
excellent shelf.
The
Gardnerz suffered a noticeable maturation not only of sound but of composition
and production too. With all the instruments in harmony, an insane string
performance by Wilhelm, a clear evolution of Francisco bass, a wider vocal
technique of Niclas and a powerful drumming of Vedran,
“Exiting Reality” will make you beg for more!
One melee with the words, ideas and its paradoxes... albuns that are news, the reviews at "HeavyHardMetalmania.net", always with its watermark, Pedro Ribeiro, with love for beer... sorry,music from an early age, he studied piano and singing from 7 to 14 years, then, devoted himself to the study of the guitar for 5 years. "The wisdom is found in the extremes, all extreme Metal here!"
The band adds: "With this release we want to affirm our standing as the most interesting and versatile doom/death band around these days. When most bands play it safe, we try to go our own way and incorporate all kinds of twists and turns into our music. I think this is our best sounding release and our most interesting work to date. This being our second release with this line up, I feel that we have really hit our stride and everyone know what to do to make the sweet music we call deadly doom. Lyrically both songs are linked and therefore being Part one and two, Part one deals with an awakening. To see things for what they are, what impact your actions has on your surroundings and the once around you. Part two. Is about the liberation from all that. A closure if you like. We feel certain that these two songs will leave you longing for more of our epic doom/death metal." DIGMETALWORLD Free Download thegardnerz.com | facebook.thegardnerz
As reported some time ago, this summer, The Gardnerz will release a 7" vinyl Exiting Reality via Abyss Records that will contain two songs, Exiting Reality pt.1 and pt.2. This time the cover art was made by All Things Rotten who did an awesome job.
Here are the teasers from which you can hear some parts of the songs and drum recording as well. Exiting Reality pt.1
In the beautiful lands of Southern Sweden where the cold of winter is felt and the white covers the branches of naked trees a dark force remains in its shelter and waits silently like a predator watches its prey until the opportune moment to release its claws against the ignorance of man.
In the middle of 2008 Landskrona gave birth to the hungry beast called THE GARDNERZ, a dommy death metal band formed by Wihelm Lindh (the man behind the guitar). With the desire to spread his own metal as blood running in his veins he initiated the demand for artists that could integrate shrewdly into the dark energy he intended to liberate and so in the late 2008 Francisco Martín (bass wielder) joined the loud force and that was how the first steps of the band started to leave a trace, with the debut album taking shape. A longtime friend of Francisco, Juan Pablo fitted well in the formation and was recruited to do the drums (currently he is no longer part of the band) and after a long time of searching for a vocalist Niclas Ankarbranth shattered voice stepped in to the picture.
This musical monster is very versatile and blends various components of death metal with a slower and brutal doom but they don´t fully fit that category taking their music even further to a more diversified path that makes them unique. With a slow and nasty sound of heavy metal full of distortion and catchy clean notes that compose sorrowful and gloomy melodies, they mix technique with simplicity to create a vast soundscape and fresh touch. Lyrically they deal with philosophical ideas and the strange ways of Man in life specially the hypocrisy, greed and creeds of human being, the fallacies of religion, consumerism and how insignificant events shapes a Man´s entire life.
THE GARDNERZ dark energy was finally unleashed… the debut album “The System of Nature” was mastered by Dan Swanö at his Unisound Studio and was released on the 20th of September 2011 on digipack CD through Abyss Records and is also available as gatefold LP by Mechanix Records and downloads through Digmetalworld.
For a debut album “System of Nature” was very well worked and presents us a bone breaker sound with technical, catchy and heavy riffs that sometimes gives place to a cleaner string experience that fills the music with sad and dark melodies. The songs of this album fit in the death/doom category but in my opinion there is a progressive sound present because they mutate their style so many times during this 12 track work (two of them are covers of the bands VULCANO and WINTER) that is hard to say that they are pure death with a gloomy flourish. The guitar offers many techniques and styles with slow, medium pace and fast rhythms, brutal heavy distortions and clean phrases, fast short solos, complex and strong riffs and simpler lines. The bass is easily audible notremaining beneath the other instruments and follows the music with splendor also having its moments of focus with simple solo lines but I think it adds nothing special or particular to the music. Niclas vocals are profound; he uses a heavy growl and a devilish voice that exudes exceptionally the messages of the songs. The drums are very powerful and create that brutal background with a slow rhythm that sometimes turns into a complex frenzy of death metal.
In general the album “System of Nature” was well conceived with songs that are pretty good but with others that fall into oblivion. The most positive factor in this work was that they created their own sound that automatically separated them from comparisons and gave them a highlight in the metal scene. In a way they have shown that they were capable of doing more and one year later they ended up impressing…
Tracklisting: 1. The Art of Suffering 0:00 2. Lady in the Grave 4:11 3. Your Final Solution 8:55 4. Born to Consume 14:14 5. Incident 19:08 6. Shift in Thought 23:46 7. Flaw in the Axiom 28:20 8. More or Less 34:24 9. Confusion 39:49 10. Maybe it's Time 45:19 BONUS TRACKS: 11. Bloody Vengeance (Vulcano cover) 50:50 12. Servants of the Warsmen (Winter cover) 54:54
Cover art done by Maggot master
The band recorded two new songs, Exiting Reality prt 1 and prt 2 for a single with the same name. This single will be released by Abyss Records in the 2013 summer as a 7 inch single. Guitars and bass was recorded at: Funky Cat studios. Drums were recorded at: Armageddon studio. Vocals were recorded at: Natas sinep. The single was mixed and mastered by Cristian Rodríguez Lunecke at 15Hz Studio.
Summary of a review about the band, full review can be read here by Pedro Ribeiro.
The Gardnerz` Wilhelm Lindh Interviewed; Exiting Reality Cover Art Revealed can be read here.
After the release of the debut the response of the metal community was very positive and the followers of the band started to grow. This of course was an extra boost to keep the band in the right direction and theTHE GARDNERZstarted working on new material to unleash their tremendous metal.
In 2011 a new drummer, Vedran Benčić, was recruited, and just after a few months of rehearsing the new songs the band decided to record a mini album. . The recording started in early 2012 and yielded the "It All Fades" mini album containing six doom and death filed tracks. Drums were recorded at Armageddon Studio, Osijek, Croatia. Guitars and bass at Funky Cat Studio in Landskrona, Sweden. Vocals at Ninja Studios in Malmö, Sweden. Mixed and Mastered by Cristian Rodríguez Lunecke at15Hz Studio Santiago, Chile.
The sound of the band hasn´t suffered many alterations with the mini album and somehow the idea of constructing a 36 minutes EP was clever because it brought a simple and small but amazing work with superb songs and in particular one of my favorite covers ofDarkthrone´s “Transsilvanian Hunger” to which they gave a special and unique touch, turning this song into a folky, beautiful and melancholic ballad with the orgasmic voice ofPaulina Strihavka. Definitely I cannot think of any better tribute to Norwegian black metal than this spectacular cover andTHE GARDNERZreally nailed it.
They remained in the dommy death metal scene reminding sometimes ofMy Dying Bridebut with their own sound and with compositions that evolved with a stronger character with catchier and heavier songs and a much savory progression with all the instruments in harmony. This time around the atmosphere was much more intense and being easier to capture the feelings that “It All Fades” transpires. At technical level they have shown that simplicity can also become complex with the use of simple doom phrases intercalated with clean melodies and a more technical death metal that not even once during the mini album gets boring. This was due primarily due to the maturation of the strings compositions that were outstanding with really dommy lines changing to catchy death metal lines especially in the song “Don´t look back”.
The vocals are also a strong reference in this album, they didn´t stick with huge and intense growls, instead they use a vast spectrum of styles singing with roaring intensity, clean vocals, and a more thrash type of singing (loud and clear with harshness) and as I said before there is also a strong guest vocalist, the inspiring voice ofPaulinathat gives a beautiful texture to the cover.
“It All Fades” has shown that after all there was still plenty to hear and to headbang to…
THE GARDNERZcultivated their sound with brilliance and I just really hope they continue to do works like this or even better. Hail toTHE GARDNERZ!
Cover by Daniel "Devilish" Johnsson Don't Look Back
A Horrible Disease
Transilvanian Hunger (Darkthrone Cover)
It All Fades
Melatonin
Erasing Bad Specimen
The band recorded two new songs, Exiting Reality prt 1 and prt 2 for a single with the same name. This single will be released by Abyss Records in the 2013 summer as a 7 inch single. Guitars and bass was recorded at: Funky Cat studios. Drums were recorded at: Armageddon studio. Vocals were recorded at: Natas sinep. The single was mixed and mastered by Cristian Rodríguez Lunecke at 15Hz Studio.
Cover art done by Maggot master
Summary of a review about the band, full review can be read here by Pedro Ribeiro.
The Gardnerz` Wilhelm Lindh Interviewed; Exiting Reality Cover Art Revealed can be read here.
Nuno Ribeiro - Obrigado por falar com HeavyHardMetalmania, para quem não conhece apresenta-nos os The Gardnerz. Quem são os seus integrantes, o que fazem na banda e aqueles pequenos detalhes/segredos que ninguém conhece.
Wilhelm Lindh - Olá meu amigo, não há
problema. Eu vou tentar escrever um pouco em Português, eu espero que tu vás
entender. Eu estou muito feliz que tu queiras falar comigo. Nós somos, eu, Wilhelm Lindh, guitarrista e compositor, Francisco Martín, ele toca baixo,
Niclas Ankarbranth o vocalista e Vedran Benčić o baterista. Todos os homens na banda gostam muito de gatos.
N.R. - Thanks for talking with HeavyHardMetalmania, for those unfamiliar with the band, present The Gardnerz. Who are your members, and what they do in the band and those little details / secrets that nobody knows.
W.L. - Hey my friend, no problem at all I'm just
happy that you want to take the time and talk with me. The band consists of me,
Wilhelm Lindh guitars and main composer, Francisco Martín bass player, Niclas
Ankarbranth vocals and Vedran Benčić on drums. Well what to say, I know we all
like cats! Every one in the band have at least one little ball of fluff. I'm
not one hundred % sure if Francisco still has a cat, but we still like him
anyway. I do know that he used to have many white cats when he was living in Chile.
Francisco also handles the layout for our albums and shirts and such. Niclas
does most of the lyrics, and Vedran is our web master.
N.R. - Bem, começando por "The System of Nature" lançado em 2011 uma das letras que me chamou mais a atenção foi "Born to Consume" fala-nos um pouco disso "We are born to consume..." A humanidade está no caminho errado?
W.L. - Sim, tens razão. A música é sobre o mal do ciclo do consumismo e produção. Nós estamos presos num ciclo sem fim.
N.R. - Well, starting with the debut album "The System of Nature" was released in 2011 one of the lyrics that caught my attention the most was "Born to Consume" tell us a little bit about that one... "We are born to consume ..." Humanity is on the wrong way?
W.L. -Yes, you are right, this song is about the evil circle of production and consumption. Inspired by the thinkers in the Frankfurt school. It is about how in order to cope with the increasing demands from our employers we need to consume more, or at least we are fooled into believing so. Think of it like this, you work your ass of and and to coupe with this you need a dream to keep you going. You are working really hard so you can save up for a new tv or what ever it is you desire. Then when you one day get the TV, you are content for a minute, then you start eying something ells, a new couch maybe, for your new TV. Then you must work even more. And the one who is really profiting from all this hard work, is the one you work for and the one you buy the things from, big business. As I see it, a lot of us are not working for our selfs because we are fooled into believing that we need so much junk, and because of that we are slaves to a society that is not based around compassion, but rather greed. Hence we are born into the hamster wheel of consumption.
N.R. -De facto todo o album, e como o próprio titulo indica é um alerta para a actual forma de vida, como é que tu vês o "sistema da natureza humana"?
W.L. - Mais uma vez, tu estás correcto, para mim, muitos problemas têm inicio na religião e no capitalismo.
N.R. - In fact the whole album, and as its title indicates is a warning to the current way of life, as you see the "system of human nature".
W.L. - You are right again, as I see it most of our problems today comes from religion and uncontrolled capitalism. I view humans as at their core a greedy animal, and I do not view this as something negative since this greed is what drives us forward. I know this might clash a bit with the answer to the previous question. But “foda-se” I'm only human, what I think is that this greed is good if it is kept in check.At the same time, I'm as strong champion of compassion and helping your fellow man. But for me this does not come from a religious point of view, it is from a humanistic point of view. I don't need any one to tell me to act like a decent human being, for me this should come naturally to everyone. If you need a priest to tell you to love your neighbor, well thats just ashame.
N.R. - A aceitação do público para o "The System Of Nature" foi muito boa e no ano seguinte aparece "It All Fades" porquê um EP? E porquê tudo desvanece?
W.L. - Gravar um álbum fica caro, e nós não temos muito dinheiro. As musicas são longas, então nós conseguimos quase um álbum.
N.R. - The public acceptance for the "The System Of Nature" was very good and the next year "It All Fades" appeared Why an EP? And why "It All Fades"?
W.L. - Well the honest truth is that it cost a shit load of money to record an album, and we are not rich people. And we don't make anything from our releases, ok we get some money through sales but if you put in contrast to the amount we spent on making the first album, its nothing. Our first album was made on the cheap and much of it was recorded by our selfs in our homes. Don't get me wrong I'm as happy as can be that our albums are put out and that people are enjoying them. The response of the public is what keeps me going, but I can't feed my cats or myself for that matter with happiness, unfortunately. And thats why we decided to do an ep. And when you think about it, our ep is as long or even longer then a lot of metal bands full length albums. And since what we make is fucking fantastic (at least I think so) we are a way better value.
The title and the song “ It all fades” is basically my view on the environment issue. I'm a strong believer in that our planet will survive the human race and that in time all traces of our existence will be erased. This does not mean that I think we should just go nuts with pollution, as with our fellow human beings I think we should try to be nice and helpful to our planet. But I do not believe in all the alarmists that claim that we are bringing the end of the world. And if this now were the case, I think our planet will heal it self and keep on spinning. Tellus have existed for such a long time, and gone through so many fazes, in the big scheme of things, us humans, are not even a footnote.
N.R. - O sentimento anti religioso refloresce e é notório neste EP!
Comenta a seguinte afirmação: "A crítica da religião liberta o homem da ilusão, de modo que pense, actue e configure a sua realidade como homem que perdeu as ilusões e reconquistou a razão, a fim de que ele gire em torno de si como seu verdadeiro sol."in Escritos de Juventude Karl Marx.
W.L. - Sim, é verdade!
Para mim, essa afirmacão é muito linda. Porque eu vejo a religião como um cancro no mundo. Tanto tempo tem sido desperdiçado com essa merda.
N.R. - The anti religious sentiment is flourishing and it is clear in this EP!
Comment the following statement: "The criticism of religion frees man of illusion, so think, act and defines his reality like a man who lost his illusions and regained his reason, so that it will rotate around each other as their true sun. in Escritos de Juventude Karl Marx (free translation).
W.L. - Oh yes, I think this statement is very beautiful, I view religion as a cancer on all of humanity. To much time has been wasted on that crap. I view religion as oppression and a sort of extortion. The rulers of old wanted their subjects to act in a certain way and then they invented the scary man in the sky. To me it is amazing that this old superstition is still around. I totally get that a peasant (I mean no disrespect to farmers) in the sixteen hundreds was totally blown away by entering a majestic church, and total awestruck by it's grace and power. Since I feel a certain sense of awe when I enter a beautiful church, I can only imagine how it would feel if you came from a small village and such. The idea of divine help, the total power of the church and so on. But today, come on, with all science has proven and all the advances our society has made. How can people still be lost in mystery when it clearly is not reality.
The title of our first album “ The system of nature” is borrowed from a book by the same name written by Baron de Holbach, a writer living in the age of enlightenment. It is a bit of hard read cause of its scientific nature, but it has so many good arguments and considering that it was written in a time when these kinds of ideas where very harmful to your health. I think it is a book that more people should read or at least read about.
For me there are so many arguments against religion that I can not understand that it is still around. I have never heard a valid argument for being religious, only arguments like “well people need to believe in something”, that kind of stuff drives me insane, since why then not believe in the flying spaghetti monster. At least no one has gone on a killing spree for your spaghettieness. I would have no real problem with religion if religious people would practice what they preach, I know its a bit of a cliché but for me that is a big deal. Most of the people that have mistreated me and misjudge me has been people with a dying man on a piece of wood around their necks. And those awful “what would Jesus do” arm bands, Well I don't think he would be an asshole to me just because we don't share the same beliefs and I happened to rock a sweet ass beard. I will leave this now cause I'm getting pissed off haha.
Pedro Ribeiro - Voltando um pouco atrás, fala-nos um pouco do processo da criacão da banda, como conheces-te a formacão dos The Gardnerz?
W.L. - Ok, agora eu vou escrever em Ingles, porque meu Português é uma merda, e eu estou cansado. Desculpa-me por isso, mas... foda-se.
P.R. - Going back a bit ago, talk about the process of creating the band, how did you met the rest of the band members.
W.L. - I started the band in the summer of 2008 as a solo project, I had been living in Florida for a while and I needed to get out some ideas. The original idea was to have a female friend of mine to do the vocals. But unfortunately that did not work out. So for a long time I was looking for another girl to sing, but after two years with no luck. I ended up using a guy, but that did not work out either. Then I met up with Francisco and he wanted to join the band and since he is the best bass player I have ever met, I let him join. Francisco knew both our former drummer Juan Pablo Donoso and our current singer Niclas Ankarbranth. And with this line-up we did our first album “ The system of nature”.
P.R. Why the name The Gardnerz?
W.L. - It is a mix of ideas of the pre-socratic philosopher Epicuros and some ideas by Nietzsche. But since writing it like “ The Gardeners” it think both looks pretentious and also yields about 10 million hits on google. So i decided to play around a bit with it. Loosing one “e” and then changing the s for the z. I like it, but I know a lot of people thinks it is stupid. But to quote Heath Ledger “ why so serious?”. I love metal but the constant stick up a lot of metal heads assez is a bit annoying. So thats why I wanted to play around with it a bit. I know we have lost people along the way, but que sera,sera. I would rather play for no one and be myself, then play for everyone and try being someone ells. ( I'm not sure if I got this quote entirely right, and I don't remember who said it). So I say worship the Z and be an individual. ( That is a nice little contradiction)
P.R. - Comment the following: The union of thoughts of each member must be in harmony so the final results can be positive!
W.L. -I totally agree with you, for me one of the most important parts is that I enjoy my fellow band members as persons. Every one has to pull in the same direction and want to do the same thing. If not the band will suffer a lot. I have been in bands where I just wanted to tell members to go and have intercourse with them selfs, and I don't want to be in that situation again. Since that is no fun and it drains all the enjoyment out of playing music. P.R. - What are the main influences of the band and how do they intercommunicate when you are playing? W.L. - Well the main idea when creating this band was to create a mix of old Katatonia and Bolt Thrower. Then after writing some songs I decided to add some more technical stuff as well. The other guys bring their influences and it all becomes a nice mix. When I get a new member in the band I explain my vision and if the person thinks it is ok, great and if not, then it is not meant to be. I have a clear vision of the band, and I don't want to deviate to much from that since I think we got a good thing going. Our own sound and so on. P.R. - Is it difficult to mantain the band in the same direction without letting it fall in pieces? Have you or some member of the band forget the reason of existence of The Gardnerz?
W.L. - No not really, as I said before I have a clear vision of what I want to do. And if a member feels that this is not what he /she wants to do, well then we part ways. I write all the music, but of course everyone comes with their suggestions. And sometimes some really cool stuff has happened when we take one of my ideas and change it around. When I write songs I always create demos with guitars and a drum machine and then I give them to the rest of the members and they tell me their ideas and so on. And then drummer Vedran creates his version of the drum parts. Niclas does most of the lyrics and all vocal parts, I give him total creative freedom. I guess I do to all the members but, the drums I program mainly so I have something to play to, because by now Vedran knows what I want in the drum department. For the bass I often show Francisco the riffs and he takes what I have done and changes it around to fit his style of playing and preferences. P.R. -What have you learned about union with your experience in other bands that can help you in The Gardnerz?
W.L. - Hehe well, I will never work with alcoholics again. And I will never work with mythomaniacs again. Since I have done that in the past, and it cost more then it is worth. And one more practical thing that I have learned is that I'm a total asshole when my blood sugar gets to low. So I always have some chocolate or something with me, so if I feel that my blood sugar is getting low and I'm getting a bad mood. I just eat that, and we are back to business. P.R. -Initially the front man (vocalist) was in fact a girl and only later a male voice came. You have worked with at least two female vocals. Do you like to create a different atmosphere with “angelical shouts”?
W.L. -Yes, I'm all for dynamics in music, and have both of those voices, I think the music becomes way more dynamic, and interesting. I hope that we can use more female vocals in our upcoming releases, but we shall see what happens. I'm not that big of a fan of the opera metal style, mainly because I think those bands are way to over polished and over produced. I'm a big fan or the Norwegian band Funeral, and on some of their albums they have a female vocalist. And a in my mind good production, not to sleek.
P.R. -The cover song “Transilvanian Hunger” is one of those covers that aren't easy to forget and Paulina plays an important role in this. Why did you want to do an acoustic cover of such a heavy song with Paulina and were you listening to Kansas “Dust in the Wind” while doing it?
W.L. -Hehe, it all started with our bass player Francisco telling me that I should do an acoustic version of a metal song as a bonus song for our Ep. And after some thinking I remembered that I already had figured out the main riff of Transilvanian Hunger as a acoustic piece. And actually yes I was listening to dust in the wind. A few years ago I was working as a guitar teacher and a few of my students requested dust in the wind. And when I was learning it, I played it wrong, using the chords in wrong order. And voilá, we had transilvanian hunger. A perfect mistake!! The original idea was to just make it into a one minute interlude, but I liked it some much when I was recording it that I decided to do the entire song, or almost anyway, I actually think I forgot one loop of the intro or something like that. And then of course Paulina did the vocals and we had magic. I can't tell you how much I like her vocals on that song. I think she really made that song shine.
P.R. - Your music stands out in the metal scene for being so innovative and mantaing the roots of Swedish music. After being well received by the critics is it difficult to maintain or even “raise the game”?
W.L. -Oh you are trying to charm my pants off!! Thank you very much for those kind words, I just want to keep on doing my deadly doom. I think the new stuff we have is the best we have ever done, but I would think most people creating something thinks that way. The hardest part is to not create the same song over and over. Since I have some ways I really enjoy creating riffs, scales and ideas. Basically my way of creating riffs and song, and as you say we have a bit of our own sound and to maintain that sound and also create something new, that is for me the biggest problem.
P.R. - I know that you realy like Bob Dylan, you are a true fan of country especially Dylan and you have been in a lot of his concerts! Has Dylan influenced you in some way?
W.L. -Oh yes, my relationship with Bob Dylan has been called perverted on more the one occasion. In a way I think it has effected me, not so much in writing riffs and so on, but maybe more in trying to get a certain sound or mood of the songs. But the main influence by Bob Dylan is that I want to write topical songs, I want the songs to say something, lyrically. Since I have the possibility to get my ideas out, I want to voice my ideas. Now day most of the lyrics is written by our singer Niclas, but I often give him what idea I want to convey with the song. And then he writes something around my idea.
P.R. - As a Swedish man and as a musician it is natural that you are influenced by the “dark” environment of Sweden to create melancholic yet powerful soundscapes. What's the best place and time to create sound?
W.L. -Most of my music is written on acoustic guitar while I am watching documentaries or movies. Since then I don't over think things to much, if I decide to sit down and actually try to write something, I think it often comes out sounding forced or stale. I also enjoy creating music when I am a bit tired, since then I don't over think it and just let it flow. Most of my music is created in front of my computer while sitting in a red chair.
P.R. - Besides the guitar you also play drums! As a composer when you are writing do you imagine how do you want the drums to fill the music?
W.L. -Well lets not get carried away, I know how to play drums, yes, but I'm now drummer. Yes, I always create demos with a drum machine, creating the basic patterns that Vedran can use as a blue print. I actually don't enjoy playing to a click track, I think it is way easier to play to a drum machine, it's a bit odd since it is basically the same thing. But if I'm only playing to a click I think my playing often feels stressed.
Sometimes Vedran has commented that my drum programing doesn't make sense, so he has to create something totally new to make it listenable. And also sometime I just leave parts blank when I cant think of anything and Vedran gets to go nuts.
P.R. - What do you think of your growth? It is notorious that you evolved a lot since “System of Nature”, your installment as musicians matured quite a lot! Which can be the main reason of that evolution?
W.L. -I guess as with everything you do, if you just keep at it, eventually you get better at it. And one day, I hope that will happened to me muhahaha. Now I have a bit of a more focused idea of what I want to do, or to say I know exactly what I want to do now days. On the first album I was trying different ideas and trying to find my own voice. And I'm still proud of that album and I like it, but there are things that I would have done differently today. But I think that is one of the beautiful things with making music, it is sort of a snapshot in time, where you were as a musician and as a person in general. P.R. - I can say we are good friends and as such i know well that you are focused in a new work. Wanna talk about it? W.L. - For you I'll talk about everything, darling. Yes! We have recorded two new songs, Exiting Reality prt 1 and prt 2 for a single with the same name. And I will unveil them to you right now. This is actually the time that I have shown them to anyone outside the band, so lucky you!!! This single will be released by Abyss Records in the summer as a 7 inch single.
Guitars and bass was recorded at: Funky Cat studios. Drums were recorded at: Armageddon studio. Vocals were recorded at: Natas sinep. The single was mixed and mastered by Cristian Rodríguez Lunecke at 15Hz Studio.
Cover art done by Maggot master.
W.L. -I think this is our best work to date, but hey, what am I supposed to say. I mean I really think so, if I ever feel that what I'm producing is not up to snuff, it will not be released.
N.R. - You were on holiday in Portugal ... At my house :), what did you think of our country, for those who don't know what would you advise to visit? W.L. - Your house, oh no my good sir, this is my house now!! No but seriously thanks a lot for letting me stay at your house and treating me so good.I must say that I'm having a very good time, Portugal is extremely beautiful. And everyone has treated me fine, sure, as I have a lot of hair and a massive beard some people have been a bit suspicious, but a smile and a "Olá" has solved most problems. But fuck what is up with your dogs, they are always barking at me.
I found people very nice and calm, and for me that is fantastic. I'm Swedish and we are a very quiet people, we don't like when people are loud, generally speaking of course. We have our share of loud idiots as well, but I prefer when people are quiet.
I have to say that I really enjoyed walking around in Sintra, that was like walking straight into a fairytale. Bu I have enjoyed all the cities I have visited so far. But as you know I would like to buy a holiday home in your home town (Porto) , and I guess that says a lot about how I feel about this city. P.R - will thanks for everything you taught me, I learned a lot about Sweden and your customs not only that but I also had a great time with you around my friend. Putting friendship aside I absolutely love your music and wish you the best luck. I hope I can see you some day here in Portugal not only as a friend but also as a musician in a concert. Any last words Kompis?
W.L. -Thank you very much my "amigo de foda-se," for letting me staying here and also for embracing me into your heart and family. I hope that one day I can put on one hell of a show for you.
