Interview with: Marcus from MISERATION

MISERATION started out as a project betwen Jani Stefanovic and Christian Alvestam. Jani missed making Death Metal after his old band SINS OF OMISSION was laid to rest (where he played drums). And so he wrote a bunch of songs and through some common friends he got introduced to Christian. They found they liked each other's work and so Jani asked Christian to sing on this Death Metal project he had in mind. Christian came up with the name MISERATION and they recorded Your Demons - Their Angels back in 2006 just the two of them. And then they found it being so much fun they wanted to form a real band out of this.

So they started searching after the missing members. Rolf Pilve that already played with Jani in ESSENCE OF SORROW was asked and accepted in early 2007. In March the very same year Jani was visiting a small festival in Halmstad where me and Johan Ylenstrand performed in our other band INEVITABLE END. He was impressed and asked both of us to join MISERATION, but without telling us that the other of us had been asked.

Then in 2008 we got the record deal with Lifeforce Records and the whole band met each other for the first time during the photo-session for Your Demons - Their Angels and in a car on a parking lot during rush hour we signed the contract.

Since it has not been released yet we have no idea what to expect from fans. But considering the feedback we've gotten for the two new songs on the Myspace page it seems like they are impressed.

At least all reviews I've seen for The Mirroring Shadow has been very positive. People seem to get what we want to do, so that's a good thing, isn't it?

There are no clean vocals on the new album, almost no background keyboards and the riffing is more technical and funnier. The overall tempo has been risen and it's more brutal. We try to keep some melodic parts though, mostly disguised in the rhythm guitars, to avoid the dangerously usual Death Metal trap of getting lost in complicate and brutal riffs allover.

I think it's in a way more complicated then the previous album but in another way I think it is more straightforward to.

All I know is that they where interested in signing us and gave us a good deal so there was no reason why we shouldn't sign with them.

Very satisfied. They are good and nice people and it meant a ot to us that we was allowed to record the new album and release it so soon after the first one. Also we have gotten a lot of good press connections and they helped us to get the Legacy Fest 2009 gig. So we are very satisfied and hope that the collaboration will continue as good as it has done up to date!

It's made by a guy called Par Olofsson that has made designs for SPAWN OF POSSESSION, IMMORTAL and PSYCROPTIC to name a few. It represents our darker direction.

It has been recorded and mixed and mastered by Plec at studio Panic Room. He has done an outstanding job, as he always does! And he has a nice little collection of pedals and amps which we've used.

It's brutal semi technical Death Metal. Not any melo-death but still some melodies in the riffs so the listener won't get lost in just brutal riffing. It goes fast and contains death grunts from hell. Hard hitting and skull crushing. Just as you want your Death Metal!

Man, honestly, we have listened to so much music over the years, and all of us are very experienced musicians that have gone through a lot of bands and musical styles through the years. I do not know if there is any band that we have been more inspired by than any other. I for my part have almost not heard any of those bands you are talking about. Although I've read about them and know what people are in there.. All of us like ENTOMBED a lot but I don't know if you can say that their music has inspired us in creating the MISERATION sound.

He fits like a glove. His vocals and in the future even songwriting is a major part of our sound. And the personnel chemistry betwen all of us is really good too!

Nothing is officially booked but we want to make some tours and I think we will. We would love to come to Greece, book us and we'll come. Actually, if any promoter reads this and wants to book us, do not hesitate to contact us. Primarily through Myspace but you can also drop an email to miseration(a)gmail.com

We are all busy musicians in other bands but it is not a side project. We simply have alot of bands. Some of us are even able to make a living out of playing. MISERATION is great fun and we believe in its potential.

Buy all our CDs and merchandise, come to all our shows and tell all your friends about us! And remember to always keep an eye on the road while you are driving.