I had the chance to interview Johan Söderberg, guitarist of Viking Death Metal band AMON AMARTH before their concert in Linz/Austria. Mr. Söderberg was a real convenient conversational partner and so it turned out to be an informative as well as humorous small talk about the band’s past, present success stories and future conquering plans.

Leo: Congratulations for the new album With Oden On Our Side – it sounds more back to the roots! Was this planned or intentional?
Johan: We don’t think that the new album sounds like the old ones. People say that we sounded the same for all time, just the production changed, that’s the main difference between the albums I think. Except The Crusher album which was intentionally faster, all others have the same kind of style.

Leo: Which album do you prefer?
Johan: Oh, I like the new one best, before it was The Avenger.

Leo: When you compose songs, do you think of your fans, how they may react? Does this restrict your creativity?
Johan: We compose songs that come straight out from our hearts. After the song’s structure comes into form, you can think of other things like “This could be a good live song!”

Leo: What about playing live?
Johan: I like to play the new songs best, but I would not like to play the whole new album

Leo: Your musical genre is quite narrow – isn’t it unsatisfying for an artist to play same kind of Metal over all these years???
Johan: Hahaha, no I don’t think so!! You always can use different melodies and sounds.

Leo: Were you interested in Viking history before the band started?
Johan: Of course we were, Johann (the vocalist) read a lot about that.

Leo: What about school in Sweden – did you learn a lot about Viking history?
Johan: No, there is almost nothing about that, I don’t know, just about Christian heritage! In history, these two groups did not go together but nowadays it is no problem to live in a Christian country with other beliefs.

Leo: Did you ever experience difficulties with right extremist fans or were you ever accused of being right extremists because of the runes, symbols and lyrics?
Johan: I don’t see that connection, because from the beginning those symbols did not have any political meaning, just old letters! Many people don’t know the true meaning of the symbols and that’s stupid, if anyone accuses to be right extremist because of that. We never had problems with fans.

Leo: What were your first influences, the first LPs you bought?
Johan: I started listening to Metal when I was nine or ten years old, bands like Iron Maiden. I did not start to play Death Metal until I was in that band, but I always liked Death Metal when it started to come out. In that time there were only three or four bands you liked, not more.

Leo: Does the enormous number of bands hold the danger that creative bands get lost and only those with a strong record label have a real chance?
Johan: Maybe it is harder for people to find the good bands and to look through, but I think the good bands will always stand out.

Leo: Are you content with the development concerning the internet?
Johan: Yeah, I think so, it is a good marketing place and I like it, I use it almost every day.

Leo: What did your parents say when they realized you were addicted to Metal chaos???
Johan: It was actually my father who took me to the first concerts, he liked old bands like Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin and that kind of music and he brought me to the first Iron Maiden concert.

Leo: Did you have long hair when you were nine?
Johan: Yeah, I always had long hair, when I was thirteen or so, my parents cut my hair…but with fifteen it was long again, hehe! I did not have to go to the army, that time the army had a lot of cut downs, so they basically could not afford to take in all the kids; but usually everybody has to go to the army. This time you just had to say: “I don’t want to “and you got off.

Leo: Do you like vinyl or CDs better?
Johan: I like them both, the sound on the CDs is better, but I like the format vinyl. It is nicer to hold in hand. The new album With Oden On Our Side is really nice; it is extra heavy vinyl, red and 180 g. I guess you can buy it in all Metal stores. It is really nice. There are a lot of different packages of the new CD like a special edition for Media Markt with a beer opener, the limited edition and the standard edition and also the American version.

Leo: The beer opener is a good symbol for AMON AMARTH! Which beer do you like best?
Johan: I basically like ales, English ale, that’s my favorite beer; and medium dark beer.

Leo: What about mead?
Johan: Mead? It is good, but it is nothing I drink that often, I mostly drink wine actually, red wine at the most.

Leo: Do you like other musical genres apart from Metal?
Johan: Yeah, I like that industrial stuff like Rammstein, but I don’t really listen to many bands and other genres, so I basically like Metal music.

Leo: How long do have to rehearse for a tour?
Johan: Before we tour, we rehearse for one week every day, for a n album the process takes about one year – we start to write material, then we meet up in the rehearsal place, it is from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon every day; just play and come up with ideas and put together songs. I don’t really practice, I just try to find out new melodies and sounds, it is not to sit around and practice scales or something

Leo: How important is touring for you and the contact to your fans?
Johan: That’s the main reason we play in this band, playing in front of the fans! It is also the main income for the band.

Leo: Do you have to work from 9 to 5 or is it possible to earn enough money with metal music?
Johan: Now I make enough money since the Fate Of Norns album, which was the most successful for us. The new one is much better, it is already higher in the charts on position 21, the previous Fate Of Norns was 38 or something.

Leo: Is there the typical AMON AMARTH fan?
Johan: I don’t know really, I think it is very varied, old people and kids and those of the same age as we are. Anybody can listen to AMON AMARTH, haha! Anybody who likes Metal can listen to AMON AMARTH! It is more like ordinary Metal, not only Death Metal.

Leo: What’s the special thing about AMON AMARTH that makes the band different?
Johan: We are more traditional in song writing and style, not so technical in speed, catchy melodies and something people can relate to.

Leo: What do you say about symbolism in Viking Death Metal?
Johan: It is basically cool stuff that fits well to our music; it is a great source for story writing
And it does not get boring, because you can write about anything - you just put the Viking characters on the story, it can be about whatever.

Leo: Týr is also Viking Metal – why are they touring with you?
Johan: Týr is really more Folk Metal and it is really cool to have different kinds of music on the tour. I do not like to visit concerts to see bands that almost sound the same. Wintersun is really fast and more technical style.

Leo: At which places do you get inspired best? Do you like nature?
Johan: I come up with the most riffs at home. I have a home studio where I sit and play guitar, maybe I see a movie and get inspired by that: I like nature, especially the Alps. I have been skiing in Austria; I like to go through the Alps, that’s really beautiful, the snow and skiing! I also like to dive and swim in the ocean as well.

Leo: What do you think about the Death Metal genre in general? Are there only a few leaders and many followers with lacking creativity?
Johan: There is a lot of creativity, but all that new styles stuff is not that what I really like. I don’t think anything is good because it is new…strong melodies and catchy riffs is the best for a song.

Leo: Should a band use new influences?
Johan: Everybody should play the kind of music they want to listen to for themselves, at least that’s what we do! We don’t want to fit in some genre, we play what we like, and that’s it.

Leo: Would it be interesting to play with an orchestra?
Johan: No. it has been done for so many times.

Leo: Which bands do you desire to play with on stage?
Johan: One day I want to support Slayer or Rammstein, but maybe that would not suit so good with our music…and Iron Maiden!

Leo: Unfortunately I did not have the chance to watch the DVD yet. Why should I buy it?
Johan: I think it is a good capture of how we play live. If you have never been to an AMON AMARTH concert this is a good chance to watch.

Leo: Did you like Metalcamp in Slovenia?
Johan: It was really cool! We never played there before and it was an overwhelming reaction

Leo: The last ones are only theoretic: What must happen that you cut your hair or stop to playing metal like Matt Barlow of Iced Earth did?
Johan: Hahaha, I don’t know, when I am old enough and my hair starts to fall off I maybe shave to whole head? When the band does not attract any more people and there is no point to keep going?

Leo: Imagine you drank too much – what are you doing against headache or other problems the day after?
Johan: I never use headache pills - I just drink water and eat pizza for cure.

Leo: Thanks for your time to answer the questions - I am looking forward to the show!