Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? What became this band used to be called True Norse Aggression and then Asaguard, cause back in those days we played viking metal. Our drummer Simon also plays in Toxic Crypt and Eldprov.

What are your names? / Who plays what?

Vocals – Jakob Olofsson Turtola

Guitar, backing vocals – Stig Lagerfjärd

Guitar – Oskar Eriksson

Bass – Oscar Karlin

Drums – Simon Henell

Have you had other previous members? In the band we used to have Joakim Gundmalm Forsberg on drums and Mattias Fjällborg on bass.

Where are you from? Malmberget, Sweden

What year did the band form? 2011

What's your style of genre? Elaboration is always possible, but let´s keep it simple - melodic death metal.

What inspires you? Death and boredom.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We do everything ourselves. Not many gigs around here in the Norrbotten inland. We usually get asked to play on different places.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We are self endorsed right now but always looking out for new solutions.

What are your songs about? Many times misantropy and death.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Stig does that.

Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Stig: I usually sit at home with my guitar and my computer. Guitar pro is pretty amazing. I can listen to the songs many times over, fixing things, adding this, deleting this, before sending it to the guys.

Have you done any covers live? Yes, we have! Dissection, Slayer, Marduk, Motörhead. These are all great bands, worth covering. It´s all from the heavy stuff we like.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?

Most people we had in the audience at JTA, Gällivare, 2019. There was 200 people there and it was

a really nice, solid gig. Least people we had when we played at Haparanda´s youth center a couple of years back. Two people in the audience. It was round 3 of a regional music contest in Norrbotten. For some reason the other bands that were supposed to play didn´t show up and it was just us. Almost litteraly just us in the whole room! Very weird!

What ages are most of your concert attendants? The average age of our audience attendants is about 20-30 years old.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We usually vary the setlist pretty often cause we have reherarsed a lot of songs through the years.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? We play really often in Kiiruna (Yes, that´s the correct spelling för Norrbotten inlanders. ;) A lot of nice gigs and great memories from there.

What was your first gig like? The first gig was at youth center Stacken in Gällivare some years back. Not our greatest moment by any means. Our drummer destroyed his snare drum. As a whole, we have been better.

What was your latest gig? Our latest gig was in Karlstad. 7th of march.

Where have you played live this year? Besides the Karlstad gig we played the 6th of March at Fredagsmangel in Jakobsberg, Stockholm.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We started with beanies in about 2016 and then we moved on to patches. We have t-shirts and patches.

Where can people buy your merchandise? Directly from the band. Contact us on Facebook or Instagram!

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? We don´t see downloading as a real problem. Streaming has killed illegal downloading. It wouldn´t have made a difference either way. People buy albums to have them nowadays. Those that want the albums are gonna buy them anyway.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? Bands make less money from album sales. Touring becomes more important along with selling merchandise.

What do you think of my work? We like what you do and your support for the metal scene.

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? No pressure, but from now on we expect to sell out in Japan and Kautokeino. ;) Seriously, getting this publicity is great so we hope people take notice.

Do you have any role models or idols? Lots and lots in the metal genre. Among the influences are Dissection, Metallica, Megadeth, Motörhead and Iron Maiden.

Why do you think that they exist? When a boy meets a girl... Naah, okay! ;) The music has to be great and that is what we follow and we believe that is what other people follow too. Making new music can in many ways be seen as a tribute to those that paved the way before.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? It depends on the band. The classics are always the classics but a lot of exiting things are happening in the scene today. We draw much inspiration from the classical bands, but hearing new bands will change the direction and influence. And the music always changes as people change and new people enter the scene. It´s great to see the metal genre attracting new fans along with new musicians and rejuvenating itself.

What have been your biggest obstacles? Life. Distances. Sweden is a pretty long way away and it is a long, sparsley poplated country for the people in the north. Another obstacle is we need a new place for rehersals. We have to move soon as most of Malmberget is shutting down becuase of the iron ore mining industry. Where we will end up, who knows?

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Do it because you love the music! There is never a better reason than that. Also, don´t start a band as far away as in Gällivare! Or we really don´t know. Do you have any advice for us? :)

Do you have any new material? We actually have an album fully recorded set for release. We are very exited about that and once we´ve got the planning and logistics figured out you guys are gonna be able to get a hold of it. It has eight songs and will be called The Sick Man´s Farewell.

What are your web sites? Reaper´s Mark on Facebook and Instagram.

Do you have something to add? Nope, that´s it. Take care!