DIABOLICAL – Interview with Sverker Widgren (guitar & vocals)

Once upon time there was Swedish King – Karol Gustaw X, who wanted to enslave our country. For 5 years the king wandered and returned with nothing… Today we have DIABOLICAL. I think certainly it would take them less time to achieved what he failed. The dudes produce a piece of good music. I bet for cutting my right hand they will stay under our thatches for a long time…

Hey! You arose from the depths of 1996 Anno Satanae and since then you create immortal works in your own way. And here comes the question: how many albums did you actually create? I read once that five, other times that six… I’m stupid, considering the “The Gallery of Bleeding Art”, which appears on spotify twice. I don’t know what’s going on anymore?!

We released five official “full-length” albums; “Synergy” (2001) “A Thousand Deaths” (2002), “The Gallery of Bleeding Art” (2007), “Neogenesis” (2013) and “Eclipse” (2019). The reason there is confusion is that “Ars Vitae” (2011) was packaged and sold at “full-length price” (it was a long record, I think 70 minutes or so) but it only had a few “new” songs on it. The rest of the material on “Ars Vitae” consisted of a live concert and our first EP, that was sold out since many years. So, the new album “Eclipse” is our fifth “real” full-length album.

You couldn’t get more quotation marks?… But thanks for the comprehensive answer… You are the only permanent member and also the progenitor of DIABOLICAL, Sverker Widgren. Is it such a difficult character or is it also a dictator? I am asking because you are the only one since the beginning, and will probably be until the end of band’s era. And by the way, I always wondered how time can be reconciled for 3 bands, because there is also the function of the guitarist of CENTINEX, and vocals in DEMONICAL.

Correct, I am the only founding member left. But Carl has been in the band for 18 years, I think… And for the rest of the guys we actually had a rather stable lineup for almost a decade from “Ars Vitae” to “Eclipse”. So, I feel that we didn’t change members more than other bands generally do. It was mainly in the first decade, 1996-2006, that there were a lot of changes, which is natural when you are younger. The foundation with me and Carl remained intact for such a long time that I hardly remember what it was like before.

I don’t think of myself as a dictator. We try to work as a family and always encouraged everyone to take part as much as possible in everything, doesnt matter if it’s song writing, art, graphics or practical things. I think of DIABOLICAL as an organic band, not a solo project with hired musicians. Sometimes you have to take a step back and agree to decisions that you would not have chosen to do yourself. That’s what keep things interesting over time.

Regarding the other bands you mentioned, it was never a problem, because with those guys I didn’t rehearse on a regular basis. For example with CENTINEX we just met the weekend before an album recording and rehearsed the whole record during 2-3 days. So it always worked out fine. But some years ago I felt that the bands started to conflict a little bit with my work as a producer at Wing Studios, so I had to make some priorities and DIABOLICAL is my only band since then. But we are still friends and I support them.

You started your adventure as a MISANTHROPIC ORCHESTRA. And here again the question arises. Why did you the name change to DIABOLICAL? This can be explained in two ways. First of all, different music or secondly not so catchy name for the band?

This happened a very long time ago, I think in 1996? So, I don’t remember exactly how I reasoned, but I probably thought that “Misanthropic Orchestra” was a very black metal sounding/describing name, and I didn’t want the band name to be too “limited” into a certain description.

For my taste, I would oscillate in a different direction… Soon you will invade my country, even it will be Deluge (may it will be more successful than Charles Gustav X). I think, you will start from four cities in January (some of the concerts are patronated by the Metal Center, that I am a member). Later in April, two more cities… Do you feel any pressure before the unknown?

I always felt very welcome in Poland, to be honest. We played in your country many times and I always look forward to come back. Hopefully this won’t be the last times.

So, will not these be your first concerts in Poland… And you know Polish metal music fans? Each band from abroad claimed that there are no such freaks (as Poles) under the stage all over the world.

For some reason, it took many years until we finally played in Poland for the first time in 2012 or 2013. But since then we have done many concerts in your country, in 2014, 2016 and in 2019. It has been great every time, actually. Carl actually speaks Polish (or at least I think so, I can’t really evaluate his skills since I only know one single word in your language…).

Let me guess Polish word “k … a” (like English „F….k)… On the new disc you play so majestic, massively with a slight note of nostalgia (as for something unattainable, as for something that has gone away and will not return)… In some sense, I have such a strange association to PARADAISE LOST, although this is only temporary… For me, you play a piece of fucking death metal, well-ordered, even balanced. I will say that fucking playing on strings does not make everyone musicians. Not everyone can build an atmosphere, but you did it.

Thanks for the kind words. Of course I think it is important to build some kind of atmosphere around the music. Even better if it comes natural. In Death Metal, the atmosphere is very key.

A grief hugs my ass that I don’t have “Eclipse” in my collection. Now I understand, you stick to the roots of the fjords… Have you never been tempted to cross the Atlantic musically and go in that direction?

I don’t really think of music geographically that way. But I think I understand what you mean. Our music will probably always be closer to “fjord” than to “beach” if you know what I mean…

And for that I respect you, bro! I am from here and my music is from here!… In some way, you are following the path trodden by old TIAMAT. I don’t know if what I say offends you. Or maybe do you take it as a gift from the gods (however we understand this concept), after all you have some delicate accents. Unless I’m listening to a different artist and a different album? Hahaha…

Not offended at all, they were great! I used to listen to them in the early 90s, great work! But I don’t see a lot of similarities with DIABOLICAL.

Don’t you think that these culinary flavors in the form of choirs are selling the spirit of the true image of death metal soup? I even find it hard to say. Although I liked the album from the first auscultation.

Hmm. Sorry, I don’t fully understand the question to be honest. But regarding the choir we use, they are obviously play an important role one “Eclipse” just like they did on “Neogenesis”. It is always very interesting and rewarding to have the choir in the studio and hear the music develop. This is something that has been a part of our sound for many years now and will continue to be.

Your concerts are much more awesome than what you present on the studio albums. And at this point the question arises. Why did you choose this form of communication? Wasn’t it better to go to black metal? In Poland, this genre is experiencing a renaissance.

We try to write and play music that are genuine and honest, and not worry about what other bands do or what happens to be popular at the moment. Many trends came and left during our existence, but we paid very little attention.

I write above about the concert material “Ars Vitae”, because I have pessimistic approach to virtuosos… And the concert versions have this ancient dirt, an unattainable atmosphere, this particle of matter that you possess. All in all, it’s different on a stage and in a studio. Were you not tempted to repeat such concert dirt with more songs?

I personally love live albums, when I was young I probably listened more to live albums and bootlegs than actual albums (of some artists, I should add). The live material on “Ars Vitae” was recorded more than 10 years ago. Maybe in the future we’ll do another official live recording, but there are no real plans at this point.

You mention bootlegs… I have one in my collection, where the author wrote, on which side he stood and at which loudspeaker… They say, that you play technical death, death / black, death / thrash and lots of other metal shards. And how do you define what you create?

Those are mainly references from our early years. Since a pretty long time I would just describe our music as blackened death metal.

Six years have passed since “Neogenesis” and “The Gallery of Bleeding Art” saw the light of a day. Later another 6 years and we have “Eclipse”. If I think correctly, you focused on concerts during the break. Alternatively, you wanted everything to be thought out, even polished. There is a third option that you took a long vacation?

There were many reasons to the gap between “The Gallery…” and “Neogenesis”, but a big one was probably that we reconstructed the band around that time. Also, we put out “Ars Vitae” in that gap. The reason we had a gap between “Neogenesis” and “Eclipse” was mainly because we spent alot of energy touring, and also that the production of “Eclipse” consumed alot of time. We also released the mini-album “Umbra” in that gap. We never really had any real “vacation” from the band.

You know that our king was your king and although we are a small country, then Stockholm belonged to us… Several dozen of people conquered your capital.

There has been a lot of back-and-forth between different royalties around the baltic sea the last 500-600 years. I don’t know much about Polish history, but I obviously read a bit on the Swedish royal families. They conquered a lot and achieved nothing. Their influence is insignificant as far as I’m concerned.

However, your influence for music is significant, hehehe… Well, we are almost at the end … In my country there are quite a few fans of DIABOLICAL who consider you like a master in their profession. Is this encouraging for you?

Of course it is humbling to know that there are people that listen to your work and follow your activities. We are very fortunate to be in this position.

Thanks for the opportunity to this interview. I hope that at least to a small extent I brought your band closer to readers. Stay Brutal and eat vitamins.

Big thanks for taking time to do this! We truly appreciate it. I hope to see you at some of the shows in Poland during February, when we play in Gdansk, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Biesko-Biala and Warsaw. Metal of Death!