No! It's not just another show actually, we are very much expecting to arrive. I've even been to Israel once, to a family wedding.

I've only been to Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem but yeah. They're so different from one another; Tel-Aviv is so liberal! Unfortunately we won't have so much time to for sight-seeing since we'll be finally returning back home to Sweden after almost three months of constant touring in the US.

It's something we chose to do. It's a lot of fun; very satisfying; and very difficult. Usually people tend to work 8 hours a day and five times a week. When we're on tour there's always all these things you have to do and barely any free time. So it's all around the clock. But we've got used to it I guess. We'll be leaving sometime the next few days and won't return home up until after the show in Israel.

First, the fact that more people know us and heard of us. Century Media's done a fantastic job promoting the album and for us it's great to have as many shows as we can. As long as bands are performing the label are usually happy. So it is quite a co-operation. Well I guess that's the main difference but we also get to meet a lot more people now and that's always fun.

No. And we would have never signed such a contract. We would never compromise our freedom of creation and it's fine with them even though it is such a big label. To be honest, they're not even that commercial. I mean, for such a strong business in the rock and metal industry. They really try to act like a platform for underground and all that.

Very different. On our 2nd album we still had our old drummer. He wanted to do different things and we had to separate. We're still good friends though, of course. I wrote most that album; about 90-95%. Back then, each of us was living in a different place in Sweden. That made writing and recording very difficult for us. After that it was basicly me, Jonathan, and Johannes. After a while we invited Jacobs to record with us (I've known him from since we were 7) and we immediately started to feel like a brand new band. Eventually everybody moved closer and we were all living in Stockholm too, so "The Children Of The Night" was pretty much written by all band members, and by the time we started recording we already felt like a well experienced group in terms of working together.

Sure! All the time. In fact, we've just returned from performing in Japan (with Watain and Sigh) so my gear's still packed. I write most music in my head anyway so whenever I pick up the guitar I just transform it into notes and riffs and all that. Music's always playing In my head (laughs).

A very different experience. SIGH were great but unfortunately I didn't get to hear too much of their show since we performed right after. Japan is very unique but at the same time westernized and familiar. People there are very friendly, the food's great, and the shows went really well. It's a bit weird witnessing a huge amount of fans crying and screaming… I don't really get that.. (laughing)

No and we don't care about the politics in the places we play. We're coming to play our music, perform our art. We're not a political band and the rules are determined by politicians, not even the people – to some extent. So we're not performing in any side of the conflict. We're completely in it for the music and the fans. Slovenian rock band Laibach performed in North-Korea recently and im pretty sure I support them over it.

I'd say we're using that medium as a general expression. It has something to do with the aesthetics, the atmosphere and the mood we want to achieve. On our first album, some lyrics are taken directly from famous horror movies like Nosferatu. Well both genres carries similar sentiments, ive always felt that. And I'm a big fan of horror movies, even the bad ones! So we just integrate the two into music. It's a personal passion of mine but it's obviously related to Tribulation. It's that feeling that immediately hits you as a listener or a watcher. And a truly fantastic way of expressing art.

It would be a lot cooler if it would happen 20 years ago. I didn't really grow up listening to some of the bands we've toured with recently. Other than Watain that is. And I'm yet to perform with some of my childhood heroes. But it is inspiring to see how some of those big bands perform live. For instance, Behemoth has a really grandiose performance, with lots of stage settings; while Cannibal Corpse keep the stage stripped to a bare minimum. And both those bands do so in ways that make their shows turn out tremendously fun and professional. So it just works. So it's a lot of fun watching such degrees of professionalism and of course, getting to meet great people.

Iron Maiden, Kiss… Kiss was definitely the first. From a very young age. Later on I got to know Morbid Angel and such.

I really liked it! It was the first Maiden release I kind of doubted at first spin, so I was a bit surprised by that. But a few listens later it totally stuck and I think it's excellent.

Well it's quite rare that I'd read prose, since I usually don't. But yeah I read a lot. Lately I've finished the Crusades trilogy by a Swedish author named Jan Guillo. It's about a Swedish guy in the middle ages who became a Templar knight. So.. It's about Israel I guess, haha! (laughing) But I usually read mostly non-fiction. About religions, Hinduism, Ayurveda and yoga. Stuff like that.

Come see us! It's going to be an excellent show; especially after 8 weeks of touring so we'll be in top form. It'll also be our first time performing with Marduk. I really liked their latest effort by the way.