Wan is a black metal band from Sweden formed around 2009 by Isengrim and Tsjud. Three album released till now, the last one being out this year under the name of Wan Way To Hell, out via Carnal records. About Wan, the albums and other stuffs, here is interview I had with Isengrim, founder of the band, who accepted to answer my interview.
Greetings Isengrim and thank you accepting my interview! How are things going on?
Greetings Carla! Things are just fine here, recovering from the week at work and the drunken adventures from last night together with Tsjud as usual, a few beers will certainly get me right back on track!
As readers to know, tell a short history when have you founded Wan.
It was back in 2009 when me, Tsjud and former guitarist Aganaroth felt that we wanted to contribute to the metal scene in form of some old school filth. We got together one weekend, got piss drunk and recorded some tracks for what was to become “Wolves of the North”, all recorded in my livingroom, and it has just rolled on since that.
You debuted in 2010 with ‘’Wolves of the North’’, three years later was out your second album ‘’Enjoy The Filth’’ and this year you have released the third full-length, ‘’Wan Way To Hell’’, pretty nice using wan instead of one, hehe, but now tell me about this album, how the recordings went so far?
Well, the band name is pronounced the same way, so why the hell not? The recordings were just as usual, recorded live, except for the vocals and bass. All recorded in a drunken/hangover state as it should be.
What can you tell me about the lyrical theme of it? Are your lyrics about satanism or occultism?
The lyrical theme are not about satanism or occultism at all as some seem to think, it´s all about anti christianity and our proud northern pagan heritage. And it covers our views on the shitpile that is religion.
Were some reviews already about the new album?
Yes we have had a few reviews on it, so far it´s been good words about it, but of course there are always some that don´t get the thing we are all about. But we don´t do our thing for the reviewers, we do it for our selfs and our fans!
You are active since some time but maybe not a lot of metalheads know about Wan, how are you seen on the Swedish metalscene for example?
Well, we are probably not known by a lot of people, but we are underground bastards you know, and we are terrible on marketing ourselfs, we´ll rather get drunk and have fun instead. How we are seen on the metal scene I don´t have a clue about, but from what I´ve heard, people like our shit and what we are all about.
How was your first show ever with Wan, where was it and how was the crowd response back then?
Oh…our very first gig… It was almost never done. We were booked to play a gig in a small town called Köping back in 2013 I think. We had a party the day before and went out to the pub. Some asshole started a fight with our drummer. It ended up with me and Aganaroth beating the shit out of the dude and getting arrested. Luckily we got released from jail about 2 hours before soundcheck, so we managed to get there on time anyway. The response was pretty good considering that we were a totally unknown band at the time.
But are you planning more shows in the future? I wait to see you one day also performing!
We are always planning for more shows! We are best experienced live to be honest. Our next show will be in Stockholm on May 6 together with our brothers in Turbocharged and Desolation. We are available to play anywhere, anytime, book us and we will probably come!
When Wan was formed, you were the bass player and in the present you switched to guitars, right?
Yes that is correct. I am a guitarplayer from the start, but when we formed the band someone had to play bass, and I gladly took that upon myself. But Aganaroth decided to leave the band some time ago so it was only natural for me to pick up the guitar again. Now we are struggling to find a new bassplayer though.
When it comes about inspiration and influences, can you name a few metal bands or albums that you consider to be also Wan’s influence?
There are some bands that constantly influences us, Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Darkthrone, Saxon and so on. Nothing beats the stuff that came in the 80´s and early 90´s. And we try to pay tribute to that era.
You, Isengrim, are active in Terminal Void, togheter with Tsjud (Wan’s vocalist) aswell, this time a doom metal project, tell me some details about the albums, future plans of TV.
Yes, me and Tsjud have a side project called Terminal Void, that´s stuff we do when we have time off from Wan. We just released our debut EP called “When life and death don´t differ”. And we also made a video for one of the tracks, available for viewing on Youtube. Future plans so far is to do a full lenght album, when and how is not planned yet. We try to keep our focus on Wan.
But more of, you have been the guitar player in Gra where you are feautering in the EP, ‘’Necrology of the Witch’’, what were the reasons you left Gra?
Yes I was a part of Grà for a few years, it was a blast! The main reasons to why I left was simply because I felt that I wasn´t the right guy for the band and that I wanted to focus more on Wan.
Is there something else would you like to mention about Wan?
We have some big plans for our upcoming 10 year anniversary in 2019, so follow us on Facebook for more news on that matter. Otherwise, we try to get as many gigs as possible, get drunk whenever we can and raise some hell!
Cheers and thank you again for this interview Isengrim! Hails!
Cheers Carla and thanks for your interest in Wan! Keep the underground living and raise the horns up high! See you on the road or at the pub bastards!
https://www.facebook.com/TheUnholyWAN/
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