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Impious: Twisted Minds, Blood and Beer Can Rockets

And another metal band from Sweden, this time from the city with the droll name Trollhättan. What makes them so special is the fact that their record, which was released in January, is a concept album. This is furthermore emphasised by an accompanying comic book. Guitarist and main songwriter Valle Adzic reveals what`s behind the concept and how the comic came about.

Your new album ”Holy Murder Masquerade” was released in January. How are the reactions so far? How did you come up with the album title?
The response has been really great so far. So we`re happy! The album is a concept album, and the title reflects the story of the concept.

Song titles on the album include “Bound To Bleed”, “Slaughtertown Report” and “Bloodcraft” What`s behind those gory lyrics?
It`s really hard to just pick a song out of the story and tell what it`s about. But I can tell you what the whole story is about. The story is about this guy, Trent, who is a true servant of God. At least according to his own sick mind. For some reason he wants to erase his whole bloodline because he feels that it`s evil. And every time he`s about to kill a victim, he puts on a mask that symbolizes the face of Christ. In this way he steps into his “servant of God” role. He`s soon to complete his work and the listener/reader gets to follow him as he arrives at his final destination. There are a lot of deaths, violence, blood, etc, etc.. It`s a brutal and bloody story indeed.

How do you write songs in general? What do you want to get across with your music?
I guess I am the main member when it comes to writing. On the last two albums I wrote all music. But that doesn`t mean that the other guys don`t have ideas. The process usually begins with me sitting at home and recording demo versions of new songs. When I have a couple to present, I burn them on a CD-R and give each member a copy. Then when we start rehearsing everybody comes with ideas and opinions. Sometimes we change quite a bit, and sometimes we change nothing.

I read that there`s also a booklet with comics telling the story of the songs on the album. How important is that visual side of the music for you? Are you personally involved with the artwork?
Yeah, we did the booklet in 28 pages and made it like a mini comic book. We hired Italian horror comic artist Andrea Cavaletto and he did the illustrations. The lyrics are fitted into all those speech balloons and stuff. I think it`s important that you offer something different to the buyer, and this thing turned out pretty damn cool. The listener can follow the story musically, lyrically and visually. It`s never been done before. Yes, we were very involved with the art thing. We gave the artist very detailed descriptions for each song.

As a band you`re around for quite some time now. But how did it all start? How did you meet and what was the reason to want to start a band? What were/are your influences back then and now?
We`ve been around for 13 years now. It all started when I put out an add in a local record store. Martin (vocals and back then also played guitar) called me up and we simply started jamming and writing songs. The reason we wanted to start a band was because we were/are huge fans of metal. And what is a better way to get involved than to start a band? We started looking for members and Impious was born. Our influences back then we`re bands like Deicide, Morbid Angel, Slayer, Testament, Entombed and so on. Today we`re kind of influenced by our own twisted minds… hehe.

“Holy Murder Masquerade” is now your fifth full-length album. How do you see your development as a band, musically/creatively over the years?
We`ve grown tremendously as a band the last few years. Especially when it comes to song writing and arranging songs. Also we have grown as persons and we have a lot of fun in this band. That`s what we care most about, to have fun.

You also have a myspace page. Are you maintaining the site yourselves? Do you use myspace or the internet as a medium to spread the word about your music or upcoming gigs? Do you read the comments and messages?
Our drummer is handling the myspace page, and our vocalist does the regular homepage. We have these pages only for providing info to our fans and to spread our name. We try to answer questions and messages as much as we can.

I`ve never been to one of your concerts so how`s your show like? What can people expect?
Playing live shows is what we do best. The shows are packed with energy. Like a furious tank of doom, but shooting out beer cans instead of deadly missiles. That`s IMPIOUS!

What`s the weirdest place you`ve ever played? Any touring plans in support of your new album?
I don`t really know what the weirdest place was. But one of the weirdest shows was in Osaka, Japan. Our equipment was lost during flight transfers and we had to play with rented equipment, and that equipment was not at all similar to our own. So that was damn weird.
We will definitely tour Europe and Japan, and we`ll also make a short visit in the US. But nothing is confirmed yet so unfortunately I can`t give you any dates.

Take care and have fun! Hope to see you on tour! Cheers!!!

Photos: Metalblade

Kathleen Gransalke

Editor for Reviews - translations, reports, photos - - - Favorite genres? - Punk, Rock, Death Metal, Mathcore - - - Favorite bands? - Coheed & Cambria, Black Dahlia Murder, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon