Hello Olle! Can you tell us about the evolution of Last Legion‘s sound, from your earlier demos to your debut full-length album, “Metall, Blod & Aska”?
I think the evolution in sound can be divided into two parts. The most noticeable change in sound was probably between the second and third demo, partly due to the line-up change. I joined the band in 2016 and after that we released the “Krutdoft” demo which forged a slightly darker sound. The music was already written and I wrote the lyrics for one of the songs and the rest was already finished by Christian. My vocal style differs from the previous one so that is part of the change here. After this it went for more Blackened Thrash metal with the release of Division Skaraborg. We have kept the sound quite similar on the debut compared to that one.
How did you approach the themes of war and death on the new album, and what messages do you hope to convey through your music?
I personally think that this is a suiting subject for the musical style that we play; war, death, misery and some anti religious touches. It is just to take a look around in the world and see what is happening, one thing to add about this is that everything was written before the war in Ukraine, so it does not have anything to do with that.
Death has always been fascinating, we are all walking the path towards death, it is inevitable. Yet so many are very afraid of what’s to come and can sometimes prevent people from really live their lives. When the time comes we will see what is happening, before that we know nothing, so why worry so much?
War is also an interesting subject, how it has evolved throughout our history. Many parts of the lyrics is from a quite patriotic perspective, without being political. What do we do when war comes to our borders and how can we defend our country in the best way.
How did the collaboration with Grind to Death Records come about, and what has the experience been like working with them?
I contacted Jimmy who owns the label and he liked our previous material, so we decided to move forward and release our debut album. We are very happy with how everything has turned out and it is a pleasure working with GTD.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while recording and producing “Metall, Blod & Aska”, and how did you overcome them?
As we are recording and producing everything ourselves we can quite easily handle all obstacles that occur along the way. It can be a time consuming thing but no bigger challenges actually.
Can you talk about the re-written and sped-up tracks from your previous demos that are featured on the new album, and what inspired you to revisit those songs?
We had five songs ready when we contacted Grind To Death and we know that a full album is much better to release physically, due to cost and such things. So we decided to dust off some old tracks that we thought deserved a “second chance” because it is good songs but they needed some improvement and refreshing. Two of those songs are from the “Krutdoft” demo, the title track now renamed “Krutdoft 2.0” has the same lyrics but sit is now slightly faster. and “Hat & Automatvapen” was previously released as “With Hatred & Assualt Weapons”, the lyrics for that one is completely new. “Mänskligt Avfall” was first recorded before I joined the band, on the second demo, and was then named “Disposal of Human Garbage”, it also has completely re-written lyrics and a change of pace.
How does the creative process work within Last Legion, and how do you approach writing and arranging your music?
Christian writes the main part, goes to our rehearsal and plays it with the rest of us. Then it is arranged together, we record demos that we listen to and then improve them from there on.
What are some of the biggest influences on Last Legion’s sound, both musically and lyrically?
Musically it is quite different bands but one of the main inspirations for Christian is Dimebag. Lyrical inspiration comes from everyday life, what is happening in the world and of course it is unavoidable to be inspired by the music I listen to. For example the song “Dödens Falang” was written after one of the too many shootings that have appeared here in Sweden the recent years. I was in another town for vacation and took some morning walks on a certain path, one week later a person was murdered at a place I was walking by every day. The first line of lyrics in that song is “we wake up to shots that echoes” and the rest was then written to fit the “war theme” that we have.
How has the pandemic affected your work as a band, and how have you adapted to continue making music during this time?
I can’t say that it really has affected us, we have not played live and has been hiding in our homes for the most part. Christian can record music at home and I can record vocals at home so there really hasn’t been any problems due to this. Perhaps a little less rehearsing together.
What are some of your future goals and ambitions as a band, both in terms of musical growth and reaching new audiences?
We will see what the future holds, at the moment we are promoting the record as good as we can. Also taking some time to relax, it has been a lot of work (writing, recording, doing artwork, videos etc…). We hope that people enjoy what we have done, most people seem to like it which is great.
Can you tell us about any upcoming shows or tours that fans can look forward to in support of the new album?
As for now we have not played live and there are no actual plans of doing so. Personally I think that many of our songs would work great live so we will see what we can arrange in the future.
Thank you, see you later!
Thank you very much!
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