Sweden is still a hotbed for talented bands and musicians. Enter Stockholm-based Colossus, a band that likes to keep the middle ground between prog and sludge metal. Their debut album, entitled Wake, is rather impressive. Ghost Cult caught up with Niklas Eriksson, the band’s guitarist/vocalist and mouthpiece.
Hi there and thank you for doing this interview. I’m very impressed with Wake. Are you guys happy the way it came out?
Hey hey, thank you very much for the support and kind words, and thanks for having us. We’re very happy with the album, it has been in the making for almost two years, so it’s a blast to finally have it out. It’s sounding and looking killer and the reception have been astonishing so far. I can’t wait for it to be available in stores for the fans to be able to check out.
Before we go on about the album can you tell something on the history of Colossus so far?
Me and drummer Thomas Norstedt got together to jam and fool around in his rehearsal-space when our last band went belly up somewhere around the end of 2009. We both have a history of playing in a number of heavy band since our teens and wanted to do something new. I had this elaborate concept under the name of Colossus which I wanted to explore so we started this project, just the two of us with very humble ambitions. We ended up recording a demo pretty quickly and landed a few gig which gained very positive feedback and led to the Spiritual Myiasis EP in 2011. This release really got things going and we have been growing since. A couple of bassist later we’ve landed the perfect 4 string masher – Peter Berg, and couldn’t be happier. For the first time, we truly are a united, well-oiled machine, ready to take on the world. (Still, big thanks to all our past bassist, they all deserve their name in the Colossus-saga in their own way. Cheers)
On Wake I hear influences from progressive (Tool), sludge/doom (Melvins/Mastodon) and post metal (Neurosis/Isis/Pelican). What do you find so inspiring about those bands?
Yeah, those are bands that keeps getting mentioned alongside us and I think there is a good reason for it. They are all bands that have a very unique and clear identity and a very uncompromising approach to making music. They all seem intent on reinventing themselves for every album, evolving and solidifying their sound while still keeping it genuine and interesting. And they all kick serious ass and have attributed something to our sound. I love almost every release from all of those bands for different reasons, but in general, we all have very broad influences and pick our inspirations from a vast pool covering all genres and ages.
How did the writing and recording process go? What did you guys set out to accomplish?
As far as writing, I’m constantly composing and kranking out riff and sketching lyrics on my free time. So basically I bring a few half fleshed-out songs to the rehearsal room and me and Thomas jam on those for a while, playing around with rhythms and arrangements. I usually have a very clear vision of where I want to go with a song, but together over time we elaborate on it and they mold and transform. Especially with this album we have been juggling all songs simultaneously to make them all fit the overall feel and dramatic arch that spans the album. Every note, drum stroke, word and detail on this album have been carefully planned and chosen. We’ve left nothing to chance
Recording it was extremely hectic and stressful, but in the end very cathartic. Our bassist had to cancel on us one week before we entered the studio because of health reasons, so I was left to record all instruments except drums and all vocals myself, and we had booked like 10 days. Jakob Herrmann at Top Floor Studio did a great job and worked with us for like 12+ hours a day for ten days engineering the album, and Thomas did a remarkable job with the drums. It was a stressful experience but in the end I think we captured perfectly the Colossus sound, and we couldn’t be happier. Pontus Norgren also did an amazing job mixing it, a true master of sound.
How did you guys managed to get L.G Petrov of Entombed fame aboard to record guest vocals on ‘Pillars Of Perennity’?
Well Stockholm is quite small, we have some common friends and we just sent a request. He had heard us and liked the song so was up for it. He came in to the studio and just killed it. I think it really made the track stand out and we’re really stoked having him on board. One of the best voices in metal and a living legend, plus a great guy. Skål!
You guys already did of shows within the Stockholm club circuit. Are there any plans to play abroad as well? If so, where are you guys going to play?
Yeah already in May we’re touring Europe as a support act for The Resistance, which will be awesome. We’ll play a couple of gigs in Germany, France, Austria among other. We’re stoked to get out and play with this amazing band and meet all European fans. Keep checking our website or facebook page and we’ll continually add dates.
With the recent surge of interest in vinyl releases in mind are there plans to release Wake on vinyl?
Yeah, I definitely want to have it out on a beautiful gatefold with colored vinyl, but nothing is really set just yet. Hopefully soon enough, I’ll keep you up to date. The CD-release will look awesome though, with artwork from some friends of ours, the amazing art-collective Volstein.
Recently the band landed a deal with Sound Pollution/Suburban? How are things going so far and are your own hopes and expectations what this will yield for Colossus?
Yeah, actually Perennity Records is releasing it and Sound Pollution is distributing it worldwide while Suburban is our distributor for Benelux. But I’m having high hopes for the set up. Perennity is a young and hungry label with tons of potential, and Sound Pollution is a classic metal institution with tons of experience in this field. I think this will give us perfect opportunity to spread out and do all cool things we have planned for the band.
In this day and age it’s even harder for metal bands to make a living out of their creative fruits. How do you deal with this very bleak prospect yourself?
Yeah, it’s a weird situation. I think the entertainment industry have always been a bit unproportionately distributed, but right now the artist are really taking a huge blow. Unfortunately, I think this is the new paradigm, you cannot work against technology and I predict this model will continue to spread to other areas and we will all be forced to seriously look over this economic evolution and its implications.
Specifically what this means to us? Yeah, to make a decent living under these conditions is not an easy task, which never should be the focus in the first place of course. If you’re doing this to get rich, you’re in the wrong business. We all keep day jobs at the moment, and put in most of our spare time and money into this. It is what we all passionately love and the only thing we are really good at, I couldn’t imagine a life without expressing myself through music. So we’ll keep at it until we can’t lift our instruments any more even if we’re living on dust. That being said though, I hope to, and predict, we will start receiving some monetary reward for our efforts soon enough, which would continue to finance the band. And to make a decent living off it; well, we all love a good challenge.
Finally, this year has blessed us with many great releases. Which albums caught your attention and why do you find them so captivating?
True, there have been a number of really amazing albums coming out. One that really strikes me is the new Inter Arma – Sky Burial, which really knocked me off my feet. Really well-composed droning, blackened sludge with lots of native american themes. They mix up intense or drawn out chaos with meditative, earthy acoustic guitars and sounds. I found that one to be a surprisingly captivating and multidimensional release. The new Intronaut was also great. Cult of Luna, Tomahawk, Nails and Grouper all released albums that I’ve been coming back to this year. I’m looking forward to The Resistance who will release their debut Scars pretty soon. I’m really anxious to hear that one. The EP was awesome and they whip up an awesome energy live. Also, dare we hope for the much whispered about new Tool album this year?
Raymond Westland