An interview I’ve conducted with Joakim Rudemyr, vocalist and guitarist of Swedish death metal band, Desolator, where he talked about the band’s new album Sermon Of Apathy and the reasons releasing a new album after 7 years, the collaboration with Nile’s Karl Sanders and others.
There are about 7 years between the debut release Unearthly Monument and the new album Sermon Of Apathy. Why took you so long to release a new album since 2013?
Everyone in Desolator is also active in other bands, in some cases several other bands, and we have day jobs and families as well. Music is a big part of our lives, but it’s still a bit of a puzzle to get everything working as smoothly as possible! We did of course release the EP Spawn of Misanthropy, in the meantime, so when you take that into account, the gap doesn’t seem as huge.
And when did you actually begin writing the new album?
I think we had a few of the songs more or less done already back in 2016, just after the EP release. I actually remember rehearsing Methods of Self-Deception back in 2016/2017, so it’s been around for a while, in one form or another!
In the end, here you are with a new release. What is the musical direction you went through Sermon Of Apathy?
Sermon of Apathy feels like a logical continuation of the Spawn of Misanthropy EP, only on a much grander scale. We really tried to push these songs to their limits, and I feel it shows! We all enjoy different kinds of music beyond death metal, and although it definitely is a death metal album, I think you can definitely hear that as well.
7th track “The Great Law Of The Dead“ is featuring on guitars Nile`s Karl Sanders. How was to have him as guest?
A dream come true! I’ve been a huge Nile fan ever since I heard Annihilation of the Wicked back in 2005 (damn, 15 years already!), and to actually have Karl featured on the album is mindblowing. The amount of work he put into the solo, and just being an all-around great guy to work with to top it off, was very humbling; a true professional!
And Oliver Palmquist (Phidion) as guest vocalist on same track…
We’ve been friends with the guys in Phidion for a long time, and shared the stage with them multiple times as well. I feel they’re a really underrated band. Definitely check out their latest album The Throes of Scourge; thrashy death metal done right!
What’s your favorite thing about this album? Anything in particular?
Oh, we’re super happy with the album overall! Some of our best performances to date on every instrument, and every song has something that makes it stand out from the crowd.
What are you doing to promote the new album during the pandemic? We cannot talk about shows much, as are being cancelled or not possible yet…
At the moment, we’re just trying to be as active as possible on social media, getting the word out there pretty much. As for shows, who knows what the future will look like? We’d love to be back on the stage again though!
Other plans in mind, maybe releasing a video?
We actually started filming for a video just a few days ago, so it’s definitely coming. It’s a bit difficult planning these things in the current pandemic climate, but it’s moving along nicely for the time being.
You guys are active with other bands aswell: Valkyrja, Soliloquium, Isole, Ashes Of Life, to name a few. How do you share your time between Desolator and the other bands. What news can you give us about the other bands (new albums, plans).
Both Valkyrja (Victor) and Wolfcross (Jonas) actually played shows pretty recently, so I guess black metal is alive and well! Soliloquium (Stefan & Jonas) released a new album earlier this year, and from what I’ve heard there is already new material in progress. My own band, Within the Fall, is releasing something new on October 23rd, so stay tuned for that!
Thank you for your time guys. Hope to see you soon on the road. Cheers!
Thank you very much, skål from Sweden!
https://www.facebook.com/DesolatorSwe/
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