Joel: We are fine thank you! I for one am trying to do it the King Diamond way: No presents for christmas.
As I can see, band is around since 2013. It may sound repeating but in order to close the informational gap, could give us your short bio?
Anders: OK. Joel (vocals), Oskar (bass) and I (drums) used to play together in Coldworker. We did our final gig at Obscene Extreme 2013. We were supposed to just have “a break”, but it was apparent that we were only fooling ourselves. So we quit at OEF. During the following summer we had a talk about starting something new and I wanted to play slow and heavy music because I wanted to play something completely different after 20+ years of blasting. Not much happened and when I begun talking to a few people who could be potential guitarplayers one of them wanted to play grind instead. So change of plans, and the first incarnation of what would be Axis of Despair begun as the three of us plus a guitarplayer. We wrote and rehearsed 6-7 songs or something for a couple of months and then the guitarplayer decided to quit the band. After searching for a new guitarist for a while we got in touch with Kristofer who didn’t live in our town but visited often and we gave it a try, and we’ve continued ever since. The rehearsals haven’t been as often and regular, which is why it took quite some time before we did our first recording, but we aren’t in any rush.
You have already presented us with short previews and studio photos and now we have your first EP here. My congratulations, guys! Did you get any response from grind freaks? How did the listeners accepted this one?
Joel: The feedback we have gotten this far is very positive. But I'd really like to do some gigs to see how the songs are received in a live environment, that's the real test I think.
There were two EP's planned, right? What went wrong? Is it a factory's or label fault?
Anders: Don’t worry, the second EP is coming early 2016, most likely in February. The original thought was to have the yet to be released “Mankind Crawls” as our debut record and then have “Time and Again” released a month or so later. A good idea but apparently impossible since there are long waiting lists at the pressing plants these days, and since the two released were pressed by different plants in different countries, “Mankind Crawls” got delayed and “Time and Again” got finished much faster than planned. So the planned second release became the first and the other way around. Not a huge thing, but still a bit annoying. There was a plan with the order, especially as the titles form the beginning of a sentence to be continued on future releases. Well, never mind…
More boredom here:) I know you guys are experienced ones and used to have bands. Please tell us where the all members are playing/played. What were your first steps in music world?
Joel: I started my first death metal band in 1997 which released two demos and then called it quits. After that I've been in Coldworker and am currently also in Overtorture. Kristofer is in Livet som insats and had a band called Infanticide among other stuff. Oskar does the bass for Volturyon, played in death metallers Relentless and is a street busker with his accordion. Anders has played in a local outfit called Nasum but I don't think he's done much besides that.
Since the recording is finished, so how about the live performances? Do you have any plans for debut gig?
Anders: There have been some talks about a show in Stockholm that has yet not happened. The debut gig will happen eventually. Right now I would love to get some solid rehearsal routines and start to practise the new material that is just waiting to be played…
What about applying to OEF? Have you thought about it? I think it's will be a good promotion punch for Axis Of Despair...
Anders: Sure, that might happen.
I like how you pulled the whole thing: sat in the studio, provided people with news, made a website, previews and finally a bandcamp page. This is all right, did you prepared all things from the beginning seriously or is it a wisdom obtained within years?
Anders: That’s a more or less normal way to provide information, but I guess that you like that we were open about the whole process. Well, that’s pretty easy these days with the whole social media machine, and I personally think it’s quite fun to get behind the scenes and take part of the process, read liner notes and stuff like that. Also since we are pretty new in the scene and not an active live band yet I think it’s extra important to communicate with the potential “fans” in everyway possible.
Kristofer, you play bass and guitar in four bands (hopefully I didn't mistake)))), is it difficult to compose so many riffs? How do you manage all these tunes?
Anders: Yes, Kristofer, how DO you manage to compose three riffs for Axis of Despair...?
Kristofer: Haha unfortunately I haven't had so much time to compose music for AoD. One song this far. But hopefully more in the future!
Okay this one is sad: we all witness how the planet degenerates into dystopia: refugees, explosions, hunger and many more. How fast do you think would we revert to a stone age?
Anders: Let’s not get depressed… Yes, times are rough and the shit that has been “normal life” in some parts of the world is getting closer and closer. I’m thinking about the recent terrorist attack in Paris. Death and destruction comes closer to home… But the “stone age” is quite far away. Never the less things are getting worse at an alarming speed and that worries me.
Time to screw around:) What is the silliest job you have ever done in your life?
Joel: I only do serious jobs but I dreamt I was a dolphin wrangler once.
Let me guess, does your youngest member brings you beer or you bring beverage from the store equally?)
Anders: Kristofer is the youngest and I must disappointingly say that he’s not paying his respect to the elders by bringing beer. Perhapse that could be sorted in 2016?
What is the most groundshaking swedish alcohol drink?
Anders: It’s called “Ficklampa med lok”. You do NOT want to drink that…
You are in gas station toilet, after you finished your "business" there is no paper in WC, what you are going to do?)
Joel: I would probably just use the booklet of the latest Morbid Angel cd.
That's it dudes! Hope it was not boring, thank you so much for the interview! Cheers ans beers!
Anders: Thanks for the support! Keep your eyes open for the second Axis of Despair EP and then patiently await the third release, which most likely will be in a larger format... Follow the band on Facebook, Youtube , Instagram and axisofdespair.com
