ALTER EGO BAND SONGS PLUS
ALTER EGO BAND SONGS PROFESSIONAL

And that’s what I like about it – we hooked up whoever it was on the track and did things spontaneously.ĭead Rhetoric: What was the game plan when it came to the diverse approach to the record – which incorporates some more industrial/mechanical and modern influences in songs like “The Voice” or dramatic material such as “Out of the Hollow” and the ten-minute plus closer “Le Venimeux”? Whoever played on any song was just like I picked up the phone and asked them – it was very spontaneous.

Out of necessity I got the help from some fantastic guys who did a great job because I can’t play solos like those guys. I didn’t really have… I didn’t want an album where I would have to go out and promote it with all these special guests. I play a lot of the guitars myself, whenever I felt that a song needed a solo I would send a text to some friend to see if they were available to do something. I have four different guys to play the drums, and I got a really good friend Nalle Påhlsson who plays in Therion to play bass on the whole album.

I needed drummers to play the real drums, and I needed a really good, solid bass player. Levén: Well, I didn’t really… I wasn’t interested in really having any guests at all, since I played everything myself for the demos. I got in touch with Napalm and they liked the songs, so finally it happened so I’m really happy.ĭead Rhetoric: What were some of the biggest challenges in the project? How did you decide what you were willing to handle for the workload and what special guests you wanted to add to enhance and flesh out the material?

We split up one year ago, and everything happened really fast. When I was in Candlemass I felt like I didn’t really want to interfere with being in a band like that and releasing an album that is quite different from Candlemass like this. It took a while for me to get the confidence to really release something. If I’m going to release a solo album, I want to be really, really happy with it, you know? I don’t just want to do it just to be able to say I did a solo album. I guess it was a situation where I wasn’t really inspired with what I had – and I didn’t really know what direction to take as well. Mats Levén: I’ve been in the works of doing a solo album for so many years.

ALTER EGO BAND SONGS PROFESSIONAL

We also talked about his past, his time with Yngwie, Therion, and Candlemass – plus how he balances out his professional singing and family time.ĭead Rhetoric: Tell us about the genesis of Skyblood – and why now was the right time to develop this solo project after all your previous work in the hard rock/metal landscape? Wishing to get caught up to speed on the record, I reached out to Mats’ via Skype. Everything from progressive material to industrial/modern style elements factor in depending on the atmosphere or mood of the track – but Mats’ unmistakable delivery and professionalism rings through. It’s a record that will challenge the listener, a diverse selection of songs that aren’t going to necessarily fit one specific genre. Now though he’s released his first solo outing in Skyblood – handling the songwriting, recording, production, and performances outside of special guest contributions here and there all himself. He’s done work that is well known for those who love power metal, doom metal, gothic metal, and symphonic metal throughout the past twenty-plus years – names like Yngwie Malmsteen, At Vance, Therion, and Candlemass coming to the forefront, beyond session/guest appearances across countless projects and acts. Vocalist Mats Levén has been fortunate to establish himself since the 1990’s for his stellar voice in a multitude of projects or bands across the hard rock/metal spectrum.

Alter ego band songs