(In December NCS contributor Zoltar introduced our full streaming premiere of the long-awaited debut album by Sweden’s Moondark, which was released in that same month by Pulverised Records. And now he follows that with an interview of Moondark‘s Johan Jansson.)
Remember what your mom always said back when you were a kid: good things always happen to those who said innit? She probably hadn’t Moondark in mind when she told you that but I’m sure you get the point as, indeed, those Swedes’ first proper album The Abysmal Womb is one titanic, heavy-as-fuck doom/death monster, with the emphasis on the DEATH part if you will.
And the fact it only took them almost thirty-two years (!) to complete it and that they somehow perdured over the years despite having recorded until then only one demo tape and played one single show is a testimony to how freakin’ good this is.
Sure, it does help that we’re dealing here with severe veterans, keeping in the mind that the youngest and last recruit of the bunch is nevertheless the quite seasoned 39-year-old vocalist and former Centinex and Demonical growler (now in October Tide) Alexander Högbom. Next to former Katatonia axeman Mattias Norrman, among others, is one Johan Jansson, a fine gentleman who’s had his fingers in many different pies since the late ’80s, from classic punk/hardcore Swedish stalwarts Asocial to death metal’s answer to Poison Idea, Dellamorte, or SweDeath galore Interment.
Jansson agreed to give us a quick lowdown on the pros and cons of putting out your debut album after a three decades plus coffee break, why swapping instruments can end up with weird results, and settling the score for good with their mates from Eternal Darkness.
First of all, what are your feelings after FINALLY releasing your debut album more than thirty-two years after your only other recording, especially when said demo achieved a cult status?
Well, it took it’s time to finalize this album indeed. If we had had time to rehearse more lately, it could have been out earlier. But with two members living in other cities and duties with our other bands, it would have been hard. Better late than never…
Let’s face it, apart from maybe some of Grave’s heaviest moments or, of course, Eternal Darkness, Moondark sounded like no-one else back in 1993. Did this happen by accident? Or did you on purpose decide to go against the grain so to speak?
We wanted to sound like Crypt of Kerberos and Eternal Darkness mainly, so you’re not wrong. Of course, there were some Bolt Thrower and Swedish Death Metal influences as well and for this new album it’s the same.
Funny enough, over the years, your style has been deemed as closer to your Finnish comrades, like Funebre. Would you agree?
I don’t know because I have barely listened to them unfortunately, but maybe people think so and that’s not bad.
Back in ’93, you were playing drums for the band. I believe this was your very first instrument, wasn’t it, even before guitars? Yet by the time Moondark happened, you had been mostly playing drums for crust/D-beat bands like Uncurbed, Asocial, or SGR, didn’t you?
No, my main instrument has always been guitar; I started to play when I was around fourteen years old. Drums came later when I was around 17 years old. I actually played drums a while in Beyond (pre-Interment) in 1988/89. Then we started Uncurbed in 1990 where I played drums for twenty years. I also played drums in Asocial and Parasit for some years. The reason that I played drums with early Moondark was that me and Kennet just switched instruments for fun. But when we started up again Kennet wanted to play his main instrument, drums, so I moved back to guitar.
Was initially Moondark ‘just’ a side-project of some sort?
Indeed. I was quite busy with Interment and Uncurbed at that time. Kennet also had a lot to do with both Uncanny and Interment, Mats with Fulmination, and so on.
Initially, Moondark was a very short-lived entity, active less than twelve months or something. How come things didn’t last back then? Was your sole demo the only thing you did back then or did you get to play some shows, at least locally?
As I said earlier, Moondark was just a project band and we only did that demo tape and one show in our hometown Avesta the same year; that was the plan.
In the early ’90s, I more or less recall people comparing Moondark and Eternal Darkness as if both bands were competing or something to be the creepiest doom/death band possible. Was this rumor true? This being said, you guys are due to play in Finland on the same bill next year aren’t you?
No that’s not true because Eternal Darkness started off in 1990, way before us. But it’s true we wanted to sound like them. And yes, finally we will play together soon, something we’ve been talking about for some years now. We will also play at the same festival here in Sweden just some weeks before Finland.
What urged you to get back together in 2014? What were your initial plans?
Well, we were asked to play at Kill Town Death Fest in Copenhagen the same year so we were really excited to reunite Moondark again. Then we also talked about doing our first album because I had a lot of riffs already but it took another ten years to finally complete and release it.
Did you try to convince your original growler and bass player Mats Berggren to be part of this reunion or was it out of question?
It was out of question since he hasn’t played music since Fulmination disbanded in 1994. He’s been living in Uppsala with his family since then and we’re still in touch though.
I believe three years passed in between you getting officially back together and Alexander Högbom from October Tide officially joining on vocals. Who handled vocals in between 2011 and 2014?
No-one because in between 2011 and 2014, I only started putting together riffs and handling our facebook page. We didn’t start rehearsing as a band before Alexander joined in 2014.
The line-up was completed in 2014 yet it took you a solid ten years (!) to get that album done. Why did it take you so long?
As I said in the first question, we’ve been busy with our other bands all the time so we have barely rehearsed and two members lives in other cities. The last songs for the album were completed in December 2023.
Are the eight tracks on the album brand-new material? Or is it leftovers from The Shadowpath demo you never, back then, had the chance to ever record until now?
Yes, all the eight tracks on the album are brand-new. We actually recorded nine but we had to put it aside due to time restriction on the vinyl format. The so-far unreleased ninth track is actually a leftover I found on an old rehearsal tape from 1993. I remember that we didn’t like it so much so we didn’t record it for the demo tape, but it’s actually a killer track! It’ll be available on a forthcoming split EP with Eternal Darkness who also recorded an old, unreleased rehearsal track from 1993 for the occasion.
Did you use special tuning to get an even heavier sound? Was there some kind an unwritten rule so to speak to not play ‘too fast’ or something?
Nah, we have almost the same tuning since 1993 and that’s in G, no drop on upper string. No, we just want to play simple, heavy Swedish doom/death metal with some dark and catchy melodies kind of.
It seems what truly mattered to you was to put the focus on sounding as bleak and miserable as possible, not pure aggression… What do you think?
Well, the Moondark concept is total darkness and apocalyptic Armageddon on earth. All lyrics and music since 1993 have been like that and so it will be…
The Abysmal Womb artwork is pretty obscure. I assume it was meant as a fitting reflection of the music innit? It says it was ‘conceptualized’ by yours truly, what does that mean exactly?
Yeah, that’s right. The artwork with the caves fits for the music and was our idea from the beginning. I found some cool photos on the net first and did some test covers but it was hard to find it in high resolution and find the photographer to ask for permission. But luckily our bass player Allan was on Mallorca this summer and found some cool caves there, so he took a lot of photos that we could use for the artwork. So it’s me and Allan who did the artwork ideas, then Alex from Heresie Studio did the final touches when he did all the layout for the album.
Is that going to be a one-off or can we finally consider Moondark as a fully-active entity, with more to come? Besides, let’s face it, none of us are getting any younger…
Well, I really hope so. Of course, we have duties with our other bands too but we will be doing some live shows in 2025 and hopefully we’ll be inspired enough to make another album in a near future.
On a sidenote, what’s happening with your other bands? The killer old-school juggernaut, with Fredrik Karlén from Merciless, seems kind of like officially ‘dormant’ but like many others, I’ve been desperately waiting for a sign of life from Interment… Oh, and although I kind of know the answer already, I once again have to ask you if there are any chances in hell to see Dellamorte ever doing something again? Or to see at fucking last the two Fleshrevels albums, killer D-beat you played drums for in the mid-’90s, being reissued???
Right now, we must take care of Interment and make a new album. It’s been almost ten years since the last one but time flies so fast nowadays. Dreadful Fate will do something new when it’s time. Then I have Parasit and Nekrodawn that also will do new stuff soon.
About Dellamorte… We were asked to play a local festival last year but we said no. We have of course talked about doing something new and shows through the years but it’s hard to get time nowadays unfortunately. We’ll see what happens…
You’ll be happy to know that the Fleshrevels albums are due to be reissued soon although I don’t have further details. And we’re planning to do an Uncurbed reunion gig next year too, fingers crossed.
ORDER:
https://store.pulverised.net/
https://pulverised.bandcamp.com/album/the-abysmal-womb
MOONDARK:
https://www.facebook.com/moondark666
https://www.instagram.com/moondarkofficial666