Shortly before the international release date of their sixth full-length effort “Possessed 13”, Evilution was offered a tête-à-tête-över-thé-phöne with sticksman Janne Saarenpää from long-running Swedish deathrashers The Crown. Sadly, since this interview was conducted the otherwise so cohesive and resilient five-piece has chosen to put the crowning glory on ice. The opening words of the official statement read as follows:

‘Today, the 7th of March 2004, we, the dudes of The Crown, have decided to call it quits. I'm sure every member in the band can still come up with 10 reasons for continuing and 10 reasons for giving up, but after some heavy consideration we have decided to finally find out what life is like without playing in The Crown.’

In the light of this unfortunate turn of events, Evilution are pleased to present the following interview with the very companionable and talkative Mr. Saarenpää. Instigate the Revolution 666!

# Good evening, Janne! Here is quick one to start with: what are the members of The Crown truly possessed by?

“Possessed by keeping this band alive and keep creating the metal that we create. We’ve done it for 13 years, so we’ve been possessed by the band for 13 years.”

# What was the idea behind the three-part division of “Possessed 13”?

“Magnus [Olsfelt – bass] had an idea of making this movie concept for the album. There are not really any big thoughts to it as it was more just a cool thing to do. But at the same time, these small groups of songs work very well as three smaller albums.”

# Are there any notable differences between the songs that constitute these divisions?

“Well, not that much actually because there are fast and slow songs in every part. It was more just a cool thing. We are not that deep!”

# The album cover appears to be highly inspired by the emblematic poster artwork of 50s horror movies. Was that a direct inspirational source?

“Yeah, we love to deal with the dark topics of our life. We are movie freaks and we do love a good horror movie. The real cheap, underground low-budget horror movies are always pretty cool to watch because the girls don’t have that much clothes on and the cheese factor is pretty high. It was actually a surprise because Magnus didn’t tell us he was planning this. He started working with the local constructions and then he showed this to us when we were halfway through and asked us what we thought and we were of course blown away by it.”

# This album marks the reunion between the band and original vocalist Johan Lindstrand. Is there a big difference between the present-day band situation compared to how it was right before Johan’s departure in early 2001?

“Yes, very much. When he dropped the bomb on us and left the band he had reasons. He was very tired; we had been playing tours and had not been getting any money for those tours. And it’s very hard to play bills when you are out from your day job. So he was very tired when he left the band and of course he was sorry but he had to sort out his personal life to survive in terms of family matters and everything. Nowadays, things have sorted out perfectly and he is feeling very good, and he has been resting and trying to live that sort of normal life. And pretty quickly he came to the conclusion that he misses his guys! We’ve known each other for 13 years and everything. So he’s back and it’s cool that you can see he is a totally new guy and is hungry for some metal.”

# So that is perhaps the essential idea behind the ‘The Crown… is back’ caption?

“You know, it’s very typical for movies to have that kind of catch phrase, but of course we did have these extreme singer situations, which has also been blown up in the media. But when Johan is back he is an original member, and so the atmosphere is back in a totally new way. It’s also a return in that matter.”

# As far as I understand, this album in fact consists of old, rehashed riffs?

“When we had made riffs in the old days that never made it to the albums, the riffs still stayed in the songwriters’ heads. If you do not forget them, they must be good riffs. It’s become somewhat of a trademark for us to mix our old-school riffs, and the funny thing is that they are really old-school riffs because they were made 13 years ago.”

# Well, it works.

“Yeah, I guess we are doing a rather good job in making it work.”

 

Johan Lindstrand



# What influence did that have on the studio recordings?

“Nowadays, when we go into the studio we pretty much know of all the kinds of trouble we can get into. We are more well-prepared than ever.”

# But did it have any effect on the atmosphere in the studio to have these old-school impulses evoked from the past?

“The attitude is the same. Some people think that we have big differences between our albums, but the attitude and the atmosphere always remain.”

# Now, please pardon my insolence, but on the basis of what we have discussed already, “Possessed 13” pretty much affirms that The Crown is not a band that should be taken all too serious – which I consider to be a purely positive fact. Is it essential to have that kind of ironic or humorous perspective to it?

“Yeah, it’s pretty important because the thing is that when we are in the studio, rehearsing or playing live we are sober and so incredibly serious about the music. But at the same time we are really upset by the whole metal thing, and so it often comes to a cliché almost. So yeah, I think it’s very important to turn your face into a grin and just laugh and say: ‘What the fuck… Rock’n’roll and freedom!’”

# Are there any limits as to how far you can bring all the sarcasm and irony?

“I don’t think there are any limitations. It’s just about not doing it so you make it offensive to the music you’re playing. Everybody can do that, but it’s a very fine line.”

# Popularly, The Crown is classified as a death/thrash band – but which of the two genres would you personally accentuate?

“Well, death metal was the style that got us started. When I heard “Leprosy” by Death, I just wanted to do something like it. But death metal, then again, wouldn’t exist without thrash. We call ourselves a death metal band only because we started with death metal, but nowadays it’s very hard to label. You could just call it metal, but we – at least – call ourselves a death metal band.”

# I can definitely detect some parallels to the first two Death albums on “Possessed 13”.

“Yeah, a song like “Zombiefied” is built up from pretty old riffs, and the earliest riffs are back from the days when we were really into Death. We have these bands in common that we all like, like for instance Morbid Angel, Death, Deicide and all those bands. We all like those and at the same time each of us has a perverted musical taste.”

# Could you elaborate on the entire studio experience in connection with this album; who, what, when and how?

“We used Patric Sten who is like the left-hand of Fredrik Nordström. And the plan was to record it with Patric and Fredrik would mix it. And he is a drummer, actually, so I think we got the drums on pretty okay. When it came to the mixing, Fredrik thought that the rough sound Patric had set up was pretty much the way he liked it, so he made some very small adjustments and let us do it fully with Patric. The thing is that Fredrik doesn’t want to release anything from the studio that he doesn’t approve of. So he always calls us up and says: ‘I care, you guys. Don’t think anything different!’ And the guitar sound was also built from two different rigs. They doubled the guitars with different tops and cabinets, and the bass is finally there up front. Me and Magnus have always been fighting about the bass being heard because it is an instrument just as all the others.”

# Have you ever really come to terms with being forced to surrender the old moniker Crown Of Thorns?

“First when we had to change the band name, we were quite pissed. But nowadays... The Crown is such a simple and pretty neat name. Okay, perhaps it’s sometimes a bit surprising for people because The Crown does not sound like the name of a death metal band. But as the years went by, we thought we did it better and better. We are crowning our own style in some way.”

# What would you do if The Crown split up?

“That is the big question, actually. We have toured with many bands and seen how things work and realised that it is very unique that we still get along better than ever in the band. I would of course try to play in other bands if they would want me. But I am pretty much afraid of that because I would never find this kind of chemistry, and then it becomes pure work. And I am not sure I want to do that. At the same time, I’ve been playing the drums for 13 years each and every day. I would of course try in several bands until it worked.”

The Crown



# How was it to tour with God Dethroned as a session drummer during the 2001 No Mercy Festivals?

“A very good experience! We don’t do side projects in that sense, but it was very educating. It was such a challenge and I learned the songs in two weeks. I didn’t think I would be able to but it worked – so it was very fun.”

# Could you use the experience to expand and develop your drumming style in The Crown?

“Yeah, because I like Tony Laureano from Nile and he did the drums for one God Dethroned album. Sure, the fast bass drums – I’ve always wanted to improve my own bass drums. Of course I stole some ideas! [laughs]”

# What has been your greatest achievement throughout your musical career, with or without The Crown?

“Hmm, it also sounds like a cliché, but it would be this album. We really feel that we can’t make it any better both production-wise and as regards the song material and packaging. Everything! It’s so perfect. And the atmosphere in the band is back to perfect, so it would definitely be this album.”

# Is “Possessed 13” a turning point for The Crown in the sense that the sound of the band has been ultimately defined?

“It feels so, yeah. Because we are not going to try to surpass this album. This is the stuff we can do at its best. I think we will start to look at different ways of making music. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a change in the future.”

# All right, Janne, I think my repertoire of questions has pretty much been exhausted. Perhaps you could conclude by telling us what the band will be up to in the immediate future?

“Well, we have this week of phone interview. A lot of promotion and we are really happy about it. This is more than ever. We are looking at touring possibilities and so far we only have Finland booked for one week in the beginning of November. And then a two-week European tour beginning at the 14^th of November. That is all we have booked. There is a lot of other stuff going down, but as usual in the music business things fuck up often so there is no use mentioning it. Two tours planned so far, and we love to tour so we hope that there is going to be a lot more.”

-->> Conducted and written by Misereion.