Hi there, guys. Thanks for having me and hope the situation there, in Sweden, is under control.
Thanks for having us.
Yes everything under control here.
Could you please, introduce yourselves and what is you part on the band.
This is Rickard speaking, I play the guitar and handle the vocals.
"White Teeth Rebellion" will be released on the 7t August, via Metal institution Noble Demon. How did the negotiations between both parts go? How did the label find you? What can we expect from this collaboration on the future?
It was our manager Brigitte(of Hellfrog promotion) who initiated the contact with Patrick from Noble Demon Records. He was interested in releasing the album and we started talking and he made quite the impression on us so we felt pretty much from the start that this would be a good match.
So far Noble Demon has treated us way better than we ever could have wished for, so hopefully it’s the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.
This record is to die for and it's a dark, mean as fuck Rock / Metal album. Why did you describe this album like this? What elements and new sounds did you bring to it, that will blow away the fans?
Always hard to describe the music in just a sentence, but I think that one sums it up rather well. Both rock and metal have been done in so many ways by now, hard to find new, interesting angles. But still, the three of us has never been heard before, our way of interpreting our thoughts and influences is something new that hasn’t been done before. The rawness of these minds combined with great songs is something I feel needs to be out there so we can only hope others do too.
"Come together ...or not. Once you've caught the rabbit at the bottom of the hole, you will find there's no one else there. Time to face the music, step out of the comfort zone, get your shit together and sharpen your blades. To each his God damned own." Is this a way to say that, once you discover this album, you be amazed by it?
Well that’s one way to look at it hehe. But that text was actually more about the song “To each his own” in particular. The lyrics are about perfecting yourself, going the lengths in order to serve your purpose and then being rewarded for it.
Nine tracks, all very well written. How many tracks did you write and was the choice hard?
Thank you very much! For this album, we only wrote the nine songs that are on it. We wanted to enter the studio as soon as we had good material enough for a full length album to get things going. So it was very easy choosing tracks this time.
Was it difficult to write them? What criterion did you choose and were important for you, as individuals and musicians?
Some harder than others. The first three or four was pretty easy, we had just begun our journey since we parted ways with the old singer so we felt we could go completely different directions and that made for a lot of ideas at the time. After that we started looking at what the album would need, in regards to tempo, feel etc to make a great record. Most important to us when we write songs is that each new song is going places we want to go and hasn’t visited yet. Got so many pits we want to explore musically so at this point repeating ourselves seems very uninteresting.
If we melt Nick Cave, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Motorhead into a smokey molasses, they fold it into a harsh, gritty paste of Swedish darkness, melodic sensibilities, we can get a pure Black Metal album. What artist inspired you, on the Black Metal scene and other genres?
Me and Petter (him more than me though) listened mostly to Black Metal when we started getting really into music in our teens and it was mainly the Norwegian scene, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Mayhem with some Swedish influences like Dissection and Marduk and some others. Those has stuck with us and over the years we’ve picked up a few new great bands like Funeral Mist and Deathspell Omega.
Besides BM I’d say Rock is the main influence and once again we’re mainly into the classics like GnR, Wasp, Motley Crue etc. Also a lot of pop has come into the picture lately and will probably shine through more on the next album, done in our sinister ways of course hehe.
Jimmy Johansson, who was worked with fine artists (Crashdiet, Martyrdöd, Iron Lamb, Ill Bill, Vinnie Paz) of Superlinopuro Productions, worked once again with you. What ideas did he have once again to help you out? how is working with him?
We’ve worked with him on a bunch of videos by now and for each one it feels like we’re getting more in sync with each others ideas. Some sort of trust one might say. We’re totally confident that everything will look great once everything’s done and that’s a very good feeling going into a production.
For the “Antizeit” video he picked some of the locations and everybody was on board with everything once we started shooting so it was a very smooth ride.
Who is responible for the artwork of the cover? And the sound?
Petter (drums) made the artwork and did an excellent job. Managed to capture the mood of the music very well in my opinion, both the frostbitten kingdoms and the concrete jungle haha.
We recorded the album at BAM studios here in Stockholm with Andreas Bauman. He does a lot of live shows here in town and has recorded or been involved in one way or the other with lots of great bands over the years (Entombed, Dissection, Crashdiet, Candlemass..).
And last but not least, mastered by Hoffe Stannow at Cosmos Mastering. Always doing a fantastic job putting the finishing touches on our stuff.
The first single is the self titled track. Why did you choose it? What is the story behind the video shoot?
For the first single we wanted something to represent the album in a rather straight forward manner. And that song is both a bit higher paced than some of the others and has kind of an epic ending, which in total makes for a good first impression of what we sound like right now.
The idea for the video has been lingering in our minds for some time, and when it was time for this shoot we felt it was time to put it to use. The theme is struggling towards that greater good, crawling through the hardships to reach that sweet salvation.
“To Each His Own” is the next single. Why did you decide to make a lyric video for this one?
Our plan originally was to make the “Antizeit” video as the second single, but Jimmy(video producer) asked us if we had any song to do a lyric video for so we decided on “To each his own”. I’m not a huge fan of lyric videos actually but I must say that one turned out way better than it would have with our participation in it haha. The fires and coloring really elevated the song in a great way.
What diferences can we hear between the 5-track EP “Let Me Go”, your selftitled album and this one?
“Let me go” was our first recording so it’s as rough as it gets. Still proud as hell of that one, and I think it showed that there is a diamond that we’re hell bent on finding somewhere, someday down there in the grit. The selftitled album was obviously more refined than the earlier releases, though the recording process took way longer than it should have and I think we lost some of the earlier viciousness unfortunately. After that album we parted ways with the singer which had a huge effect on the sound and the dynamics as a band. Since then we kind of started over and “White teeth rebellion” is the result of a couple of years trying to write better songs and find our sound. A lot darker than the previous material, but still keeping that rock n roll foundation. In the end it’s about writing great songs and I think we’re getting closer and closer to that perfect one for each release so I couldn’t be more pleased..
Although you come from Sweden, Black Metal originated on Norway. Do you think that this genre as a huge impact on Norse countries?
It definitely has had a major impact on the Scandinavian countries. I think it has to do a lot (besides from being great fucking music) with the fact that it was easy for people in these regions to embrace it as somewhat their “own”. With focus on the nature, darkness and cold(both physical and mental) it had the right elements to attract a lot of people here.
Lots of shows on your country two trips to the UK-crowds and the first European tour. What do you remember from those tours? What countries did you visit in Europe and which ones did you like? What do remember of them?
Our first tour in the UK is one that brings back a lot of good memories. First time really “on the road”, in a country with great musical history and together with a band called Dirty Passion(who later on split up, but most guys have continued their musical career in other ways). Amazing dudes who took us under their wings and we had some great moments and shows on that run.
We’ve been to Germany, Belgium, Finland, Spain and The Czech Republic and so far I’d say the Czech Republic is where we’ve really found some sort of “home away from home”. All in all I think we’ve been there five times by now and aiming for more as soon as the touring starts moving again.
Every show has it’s feel, story and I could rant forever about certain events, but the best moments to me is when it strikes you that you’re out somewhere in the unknown doing what you’re meant to do. Beats all other feelings I’ve had so far.
The tour will start on Norway. Will you visit other countries, such as Portugal? What surprises will we get from you?
We’d love to visit Portugal in the future, home of the amazing Moonspell! Haha, unfortunately no plans yet to come down there, but I’m sure that in time we’ll find our way there. Got a show in Denmark September 11th and then a tour in Europe for February planned right now. With the current situation it’s a bit harder planning shows abroad, but we plan on doing lots of them as soon as things start coming back to “normal” and Portugal would be a destination we’d all love to go so just have a little patience and we’ll see you later..
We’re always trying to improve the live shows and working on making it the best possible experience one can get from a Vice-show. We’re not into too much theatrical stuff, but still trying to make each gig more than just going up there and playing the songs. Creating the harsh, sinister, dirty atmosphere we feel that we want to display.
Thanks so much, guys. Any words for fellows Metalheads, like myself?
Thank you for having us! Keep up the excellent work in keeping the scene alive and blooming and check out our social media pages to find the new album and grab some cool merch while you’re at it.
THE VICE are:
Rickard – Vocals & Guitars
Charlie – Bass
Petter – Drums
For More Info Visit:
https://www.facebook.com/TheViceOnline
