Bjorn Strid is someone who likes to keep himself busy when it comes to creating music. Aside from his ‘day job’ with Swedish metallers Soilwork, he has found himself loaning his voice to multiple side projects and guest appearances over the years.
He shared some of them he has done. “Disarmonia Mundi – That’s just a guest thing. So whenever they put out an album together, they ask me if I’m available and I do it. That’s always a lot of fun. They’re friends of mine.”
Disarmonia Mundi
“The only other band that I really have, like a real band, that’s The Night Flight Orchestra. I don’t need any more. It’s classic rock and that’s one side of me, and there’s the metal side of me and that’s Soilwork. I think that’s perfect.”
“There’s Terror 2000 as well. We haven’t done a record since 2006. So it’s been a while. I’m happy where I am right now. I don’t need any other bands. I do guest vocals here and there. That’s fine but as far as starting new projects I don’t feel like it right now.”
Terror 2000
He elaborated on The Night Flight Orchestra, his 70s rock/AOR rock band featuring fellow Soilwork guitarist David Andersson, Arch Enemy bassist Sharlee D’Angelo, Von Benzo keyboardist Richard Larsson, Mean Streak drummer Jonas Källsbäck and congas/percussion/guitarist Sebastian Forslund.
The Night Flight Orchestra
“It’s really our vacation band. We have been doing shows. We did Sweden Rock which is a huge festival as well. Our fan base is really growing as well and it’s a totally different musical expression obviously. It’s really cool and it’s whenever we have time. It’s hard to sync sometimes because Sharlee D’Angelo with Arch Enemy. They’re on tour a lot. It’s hard finding the time but then again we don’t want to feel any pressure with that band. It should be all about fun entering the studio and jamming out and doing as many shows as we can.”
“If anyone wants to check out The Night Flight Orchestra, it’s called Skyline Whispers. It came out in June. Like I sad, it’s a totally different thing. Try to be objective. It’s nowhere near any kind of metal. It’s late 70s- early 80s Dad rock, if you want to call it that.”
Soilwork has released their brand new album The Living Infinite to wide acclaim. The ambitious double-album is also a concept driven story that was several years in the making. Most notably, the album is a throwback to their earlier, more aggressive era melodic death metal pioneers built their reputation upon. It is also said to be the most collaborative album the band has ever made. Ghost Cult caught up with drummer Dirk Verbeuren in New York, at the start of their new tour to get all the details on the new album.