Swedish multi-instrumentalist and legend Per Wiberg recently released his new solo album The Serpent’s Here via Despotz Records. Ghost Cult has teamed up with Per to release his new music video for the track “Blackguards Stand Silent!” Stay tuned for more from Per and Ghost Cult, including our exclusive interview next week!
Photo by Soile Siirtola
Buy Links:
https://despotz.bigcartel.com/artist/per-wiberg
https://perwiberg.bandcamp.com/album/the-serpent-s-here
Wiberg comments:
“‘Blackguards Stand Silent’ is an eight-minute journey that twists and turns through sonic landscapes and nightmarish lyrics. It’s more like a short movie than a regular pop song in its structure. It’s the centerpiece of the album representing a variety of moods from dissonant and avantgarde to melodic and psychedelic, via doom and gloom while finally ending up with a motorik beat in Krautrock heaven. There are so many musical influences in this song — I could name anything from Sabbath, Can, and Tangerine Dream to Stereolab, Loop, and modern era Scott Walker. It rocks and it’s quite the ride, enjoy!”
As an unrivaled musical alchemist, WIBERG’s work has illuminated an array of now-classic albums over the years performing with the likes of Opeth, Spiritual Beggars, and Candlemass, as well as Clutch/The Bakerton Group, Switchblade, and Kamchatka, among others, for over thirty years. However, it’s WIBERG’s solo conjurings that serve as the zenith of his musical voyages.
“The music has a strong familiar identity I’d say,” notes WIBERG, “It’s heavy in its tone but this time a little braver, uptempo, loose, and ‘rock’n’roll’ compared to the previous two albums. Overall, this is the most epic sounding of my stuff so far. Things are more defined. I worked hard with lyrics and vocal arrangements this time.”
On The Serpent’s Here, WIBERG is joined by drummer Tor Sjödén (Viagra Boys) who played drums on the previous EP, as well as bassist Mikael Tuominen (Kungens Män). Basic live tracks (drums, basses, grand piano) were recorded at Studio Gröndahl by David Castillo and, as with previous releases, the record was mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren at Blacklounge Studios.
“All songs are built from rough song sketches that I showed Tor and Mikael,” elaborates WIBERG of The Serpent’s Here’s writing process. “The idea was that they could improvise. All basic tracks were recorded live in an afternoon to give it that extra spontaneous energy, and then I’d layer keys, guitars, and vocals on top of what we recorded. Overall, there are more guitars this time as well as two basses on the majority of the tracks.”
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http://www.instagram.com/per_wiberg
http://perwiberg.bandcamp.com
http://despotz.se
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