Interview With Rikard Wermén of Deranged

Interview with Rikard Wermén of Deranged ~ By Noel Smart

 

SDM: What do you think of the current state of death metal, considering you are a veteran of the scene and have been there since the beginning? What’s your take on gravity blasting and triggers etc?

 

Rikard: I wouldn’t see myself as a veteran though. I Mean, it’s not like I was tape trading Repulsion rehearsals or anything back in 86 or whatever. I bought my first demotape in 89 or 90, before that it was only records but well… I Mean, both gravity blasts and triggering can be cool if it’s done well. I have said for a very long time, it’s not what you play, it’s how you play it, you know! I use trigger for my bass drum and it has helped out a lot during rehearsals. I can actually hear what the fuck I’am doing which wasn’t the case earlier. Anyone who’s a drummer knows that sometimes it can be pretty damn hard to hear yourself, as you have to compete with a wall of guitar and bass cabinets. Ha ha ha. 

 

SDM: How was the video for “Killing Spree” shot?

 

Rikard: It was actually shot at a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. The feeling of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was present. Ha ha ha. It was our first clip and probably one of the first, if not the first underground death metal video that got proper airplay. It was aired on MTV over here in Europe numerous times and lots of other music channels all across Europe as well. It was aired on some smaller channels over in the States as well, so that was needless to say pretty damn good for the band. Fine promotion. Besides that it was a normal shoot I guess… with lip-syncing and trying to look all mean and pissed off. We also shot a clip for a song off the High on blood CD, (eroti)Kill but unfortunately that never got as much airplay as Killing Spree. It was a much better video though but, well… Shit happens.

 

SDM: What happened to your other band “Enuresis”?

 

Rikard: Enuresis was pretty much just a one time project. It was me and Johan from Deranged, Bjarke Ahlstrand that are nowadays running Mighty Music over in Denmark and John from Detest. We wrote and recorded three or four tracks and recorded a rough (and not so good) rehearsal that was later released as a 7” single.

 

SDM: What happened with the band “Murder Corporation”?

 

Rikard: What I remember, it was a lot changes going on within the band. We had a new singer that wasn’t sounding like the old one at all. The new material we had written wasn’t really murder corporation-ish etc. etc. At the time it just felt like a good idea to split Murder Corp. and form a new band, and that was Killaman.

 

SDM: What can you tell us about the filming of the ultra-rare video “Chaos killed the world” by “Murder Corporation’?

 

Rikard: It was actually shot and edited by the bass player we had at the time, Dan Bengtsson, along with a friend of his. Not too much to say really. It was shot at a small TV station and once again, we were lip-syncing and trying to look all mean. Still, the actual clip turned out great having in mind that it didn’t cost a single penny, and this was years before one could edit shit home on your PC you know… it looks great.

 

SDM: Tell us about your last album “Redlight Murder Case”? Is it true that all the titles are from Italian Giallo films?

 

Rikard: Yeah, I thought it would be a cool idea to base the whole album and shit on old Giallo movies. How I wish that some of the movies were as good as the actual titles. Ha ha ha. I Mean, there are some killer Giallo flicks, no doubt about that, but there’s needless to say a lot of crap as well. Anyway, it’s a fucking awesome sub-genre and one can never go wrong with a killer that wears black gloves. Redlight was recorded about three years ago and it has it’s moments you know. I think we’re only doing one song from that album live though. 

 

SDM: Tell us about the new record out on Sevared Records “Cut, Carve, Rip, Serve”.

 

Rikard: We started recording it early February and it was out late May. I think some of the songs are the best we have done under the Deranged, no doubt about that. It’s more shit going on within the songs. I wouldn’t claim it to be “technical” or anything, it ain’t. It’s still pretty much straight forward and no remorse, the way Deranged has always been. Compared to earlier material, as said, it’s more shit happening. 10 tracks are on it and we re-recorded Flesh Rebel. A song that was originally on the self-titled Deranged album. Once again, we recorded, mixed and mastered the whole thing at Berno Studio. The same place as we have used since fucking 1994!

 

 

Rikard: The Obscene Extreme festival down in Czech Republic is fucking great. If you’re into brutal death metal, grindcore, crustcore, you should go there. One of the coolest festivals I’ve ever been to. No shit!

 

SDM: There were rumors of Deranged splitting up because you were going to leave. The rumor was that you have done all the work for the past 15 years and you are sick of dealing in the business aspects associated with the band. Is everything ok now with the band?

 

Rikard: I tell you how it is, I’ve got nothing to hide. Ha ha ha. The thing is that anyone who is familiar with the band knows that I pretty much did 99% or so of all correspondence, interviews and shit like that. It’s not a big secret and anyone in a band knows that shit for most of the time takes more work that the actual playing and rehearsing. And I had been doing that shit pretty much since day one and it came to a point where I simply didn’t want to do it any longer. With all fairness, it felt kinda lame to come to a rehearsel and say – from now on I just want to do this and that, you guys can do this shit, I think it’s boring you know! So I said how it was, I wanted to quit that band, but I could stay and do whatever gigs and shit we had booked in the case they couldn’t find a replacement. The difference would be that three of the guys would take care of the work I had been doing for years and years. It was cool with two of the guys but the fourth guy wanted to split up the band and that’s what happened! I would say like a good year later Thomas and Martin wanted to start up the band again and asked me, being an original member and all that shit, if it was ok with me, and sure as hell it was. Things didn’t work out that well with the line up they first had planned so they asked to come down and play just to start things up you know. As cliché as it sounds, it just felt great and fun and we just kept on going from there. Everything is very well with the band right now.

 

SDM: What influenced the new Deranged album “Cut Carve Rip Serve”. For the band as a whole unit and independently as a drummer?

 

Rikard: As a band, I don’t know really. I mean, there are four guys in the band and we all have rather different kinds of musical taste. As a matter of fact, there are only a very few bands all of us are really into all together. I would say that we only tried to do our very best to do a good and brutal death metal album, and it’s true what they say; one does get influenced by everything one will hear and see. As a drummer? Man… I have never considered myself being a very good drummer as in technical skills and so on. Ehm.. Anyone that has heard Deranged can probably agree on the fact that I’m not a very technical drummer. Ha ha ha. My strength would be more that I’m good on jamming. Not that I have very much use of that with Deranged. Ha ha ha. And if I’m allowed to say myself I´m rather good on remembering old songs we haven’t played for ages, plus I can play with all kinds of musicians – as long as they can do the same. Slipping away from the question a bit… It’s hard to say what I as a drummer gets influenced by. It can be fucking everything. Anything from something on a Pantera album to The Poilce you know. I’m just trying to play a solid beat the rest of the guys can rely on, you know.

 

SDM: Why does the new Deranged sound more "modern" and less Old-School than the usual, with more of a Brutal Death metal sound to it? Is Deranged changing its sound to fit more into the Brutal Death metal realm, as it continues to evolve and get even sicker than before?

 

Riakrd: Can be a lot of reasons. First and foremost, a better and tighter line-up. For the first time ever I would say, we actually had a guy (Thomas) that was writing the songs at home, trying different angles on the riffs and so on. Earlier, everything would be written in the rehearsal room which can be a very frustrating procedure. All of this probably makes the whole thing sound as there is a little more thought behind it and therefore more “modern”. I don’t know myself. I Mean, I do think that "Cut" is the best disc we have done, but it wasn’t our intention to make a modern album. Anyway, if it sounds more modern I only think that’s a plus anyway. I only see that as a positive thing that a band who has been around for 20 years as we have, can still progress and improve the sound without losing the main thought behind the band.

 

SDM: We know it was tracked in the same studio you always use, but did you approach writing the drums differently on “Cut Carve Rip Serve” than previous albums?

 

Rikard: A little I would say. Thomas would come to the rehearsal with a good bunch of riffs and have sort of opinions on what I would play from time to time and that’s killer. It helps out a lot to have someone to share and suggest ideas with. So yes, there was a small difference but as said earlier, I’m just trying to play a stable and brutal beat. Something rather constant that the rest of the band can lean back on.

  

SDM: How are Sevared Records treating “Deranged”?

 

Rikard: So far, so good! We left Regain and Sevared wanted to give us a chance, so we agreed. Anyone that knows Sevared knows that they are diehard fans of the whole brutal scene and it feels good to be working with someone that not only wants to do good for the band, but also that they are true fans of the band. 

 

SDM: How long did you have to prepare yourself for this recording?

 

Rikard: It’s kinda hard to say. I think we were working on the material for the disc under a period of a year, maybe longer. We were doing a couple of shows and smaller tours at the time as well, and well… it doesn’t matter if you do one show or one hundred shows, you still need to practice and try to nail the songs – to not fuck up the set to much. Ha ha ha. 

 

 

Rikard: This time around I actually used triggers for the bass drum. The first time ever I used that during a recording. On Obscenities and Redlight we triggered the bass drums afterwards during the mixing process and had like 75% bass drum and 25% trigger or so. Well, it is easier to play with triggers if you ask me, but you’ll hear every fucking single hit clear as the day, which is not always the case with just a regular bass drum (so you’ll have to nail it). Ha ha ha. Besides that, everything you hear on the CD is how it was done and played. I wasn’t using click tracks or anything and I don’t think there’s even any compression on the snare. I just tried to nail the songs as fast and good as I could. Same as usual. Ha ha ha. 

 

SDM: Your blast beat is very accurate! How do you keep up the stamina for playing such powerful and constant blast beats?

 

Rikard: Oh thanx! You know, Deranged was actually split up there for awhile. I would say we split up maybe three years ago or so and during the time from where we were split up ‘til the time we got together again I wasn’t really playing the drums that much. Maybe once a week at most, and then it wasn’t any fast stuff at all. I was jamming with a stoner-rock project, so it was more slow and groovy. So when we actually go together again with Deranged the faster drumming felt almost as starting from scratch. Earlier I would never practice on technique, I would only hit as hard as I could and would (needless to say) tire myself our very quick. Even though I have been playing the drums for many years, it’s only the last two years or so I have started to practice and try to find a technique while playing faster stuff, and it’s all about the smaller things really and just to practice, practice and practice.

 

SDM: Was any of the new Deranged influenced by a band such as Origin or John Longstreth's playing in general, which sounds similar in certain blast beat patterns?

 

Rikard: No, not really. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of Origin and the latest CD is without a doubt the best they’ve done. It’s fucking great. I was listening to it yesterday from start to end three or four times and John is an amazing drummer, probably one of the best dm drummers around today, but as for being specifically influenced by Origin for example, I have to say no. Or well, one does get influenced by everything you hear so… Ha ha ha.

Джин с запахом оливок, сказал Чиун.

Он был ужасно недоволен тем, "Классификация и характеристика затрат" что его мать ходила по городку, расспрашивая всех и каждого, где размещаются большие ракеты, нацеленные на Россию.

удивился Римо и только тут вспомнил, как ему досаждали москиты до обучения у Чиуна.

А потом, когда садовник застал его рядом с "Аудит расчетов с бюджетом и внебюджетными фондами" окровавленной кошкой, он и садовнику преподал урок.

Я признался, что передоверил ее подпольному комитету лагеря.

Его отправили в Вену после того, как он разослал из бригады по всем "И.Ф. Шер-основоположник балансовой теории" направлениям несколько дюжин подобных телеграмм.

Едва "договор потребительского кредита" он проговорил это, как Алекто, Тисифона и Мегера "ПШУ 6 кл История Средних веков" исчезли, словно их и "Капкан на $амца или Хорошие записки дрянной девчонки" не было.

Поэтому в то время и шло много споров о "Венчание в Париже" том, что же, собственно, "Дневники вампира Ярость" происходит.

У тебя просто психосоматическая "Требуется подруга жизни" реакция.

Не хочу сказать, что Атос нас подвел.

Один из "Жизнь шахматиста в системе. Воспоминания гроссмейстера" них, самый безобразный, подошел "Холодная весна в Провансе" к бутылке и что-то сказал.

Это в достаточной "Венеция" мере согласовывалось с моими намерениями, вселенская катастрофа будет отложена "Норвегия. Швеция. Дания. Отпуск за рулем" на неопределенный срок.