Nocturnal Rites Interview

In the past decade, the name Nocturnal Rites has become synonymous with superiority in the realm of heavy metal. In 1995, the group unleashed their debut record, In a Time of Blood and Fire and almost eleven years later, they continue to set the standard for high-quality melodic metal with their outstanding latest release, Grand Illusion, an album that finds the band sounding as domineeringly vital and aurally commanding as ever.

Bassist Nils Eriksson, born in Ume, Sweden, joined founding members Fredrik Mannberg and Tommy Eriksson in 1990 and has been pounding out deeply passionate melodic metal with the band ever since. In the years that have passed since the group's formative days, much has changed about the band's bearing, yet their resolve to create explosively entertaining music has never once wavered. In the making of their most recent platter of power, the brilliantly executed Grand Illusion, Nocturnal Rites was fortunate enough to be able to take the time to make an engaging sonic document of their own choosing. This lack of pressure categorically shines through in the final creation.

A modification in routine was also warmly welcomed by the group, having gotten into the habit of recording each of their past albums during the winter months. Eriksson enthusiastically states, "It was really fun this time around. We were a bit stressed when we did the New World Messiah album, at the end, but this decided it shouldn't happen again. We had a lot of time. We had time to take the recording back home and listen to them and redo them and everything. It was a fun recording, relaxed and it was really a good time recording in the summer, for the first time in our lives."

With a great many artists in the power metal scene latching on to restrictive formulas and patterned arrangements in their songwriting, Nocturnal Rites continues to be a trend maker as opposed to being a follower. Having changed the sonic pathway of the group was an palpable choice for the band of Swedes, maintaining a commitment to deliver a sound that is cutting-edge, yet delivering their devoted fans the type of impassioned, aggressive performance that they have come to love and expect. "It's natural when everyone else is doing what you've did a few years back, you start looking in new directions and try out different stuff. It's never fun to do what everyone else is doing. I don't think that we ever make conscious decisions when it comes to writing. We just sit down and start off every album writing session with a clean sheet and we just go nuts and write songs that we like at the moment. I think, just because of that, we have a different record every time. I don't think we have two records that sound the same. This time, I guess we're sort of fed up with the double bass drums and all of that from other albums. For some reason, this (album) took a bit more of a heavy direction. I don't know, I don't think it's more melodic, I think that the songs are pretty much the same. They're memorable and all, it's just that the balance between melody and aggression is a bit more obvious." said Eriksson.

Grand Illusion finds the band collaborating with special guests for the first time including Evergrey guitarist Hennrick Danhage, Hammerfall axe-wielder Stefan Elm-gren, and Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johannson. Eriksson was elated to work with the visiting musicians, indicating that having special appearances is something that the band had been well looking forward to. "It was an idea that we've had from the start. We've thought about this for a long time but we've never really come around to inviting people for other albums, although we thought about it. But this time, we had a lot of time on our hands. It isn't really hard these days to get guests on albums. With the Internet, you can bounce things back and forth. It was kind of easy, we just took some people that we knew from tours and other bands. They were all just really into doing it. I think it adds something; it makes it a bit more interesting. That was our big plan." the bassist remarked.

A particularly notable appearance is that of World Champion Cross Country skier Per Elofsson, with Eriksson alliterating "It's not really such a big deal because we went to school together when we were kids, we lived in the same area. We just felt that we'd be the first band to have a World Champion Cross Country skier on an album. Everyone knows that he's into metal, from interviews before and he is into playing a bit of guitar when he is not skiing, so he just came into the studio and did some licks and that was it.

Another significant contribution is provided by Kristoffer W. Olivius, vocalist of Naglfar, as the black metal growler steps in for the growling choruses of Cuts like a Knife. Eriksson speaks about this track with particular enthusiasm, saying "It's one of my favorite tracks from the album because it is so different. I always think that an album needs one of those different kinds of tracks. On the last album, we had Egyptica that was a bit different from all the other songs. Cuts like a knife is one of the weirdest songs we've written so far. We just came up with the main riff of the song and built on it and that was it. We wrote the song in one night. We had the idea from the start to have some growling vocals on it. Kristoffer from Naglfar was our first choice, he's from the area and he's obviously got a great voice. He just came into the studio and screamed his lungs out for a few hours."

Stunningly brilliant art graces the cover of Grand Illusion, giving the record a visual appeal that conveys the dominant thunder of the album's sounds perfectly. After coming up with a title, the band opted to allow the artist's imagination run rampant in creating the visual presence of the record. "Actually, we didn't have that much to do with this cover." Eriksson declared, "Every other album, we've sat down and made sketches and we've been really involved in titles and covers and everything to do with the album. This time, the cover was something that took a few punches from our side. We came up with a title and we sent it out to four different artists. We got back sketches and we just chose the one that we thought was coolest. It's got no dragons on it and that's good. It's a really nice cover and it looks good on shirts as well. As far as what it means, that's something that is sort of in Herman's mind, he's the guy that did it. I can see what he thought about. For us, Grand Illusion is a title reflecting that things are not really what they seem and a lot of things are just a cover for who we are like money and greed and all of that kind of crap. I think you have the mirror and the image goes on and on and on. I can see where he is going with it."

Having extensively toured for over a decade, the bassist remains upbeat about the music, emphasizing that the chief accomplishment of the group should be to enjoy themselves, first and foremost. "The main thing is to always have a lot of fun. We started out when I was really young. The first album came out ten years ago and back then, an album was a big deal. Not a lot of bands got to release an album then and it was a big deal for me. Goals change with what you accomplish. Going on my first tour was an amazing thing and I didn't really think about going further than that. From then on, we've just been going on tour and having a lot of fun. Drinking a lot of beer in pretty much every European country. We've been all over the world, to Japan and whatnot. The main thing is to always have a lot of fun, make music you like, drink beer and just have a good time."

The four-stringer is quite keyed up when asked about touring Japan, an honor that is bestowed upon but a fraction of heavy metal acts. "It's great." He says, "It's a really nice country. Everything is well organized there and the fans are great. It's just a really different country. When you are on tour in Europe, it really doesn't matter whether you are in Germany or Switzerland, it just kind of looks the same, if you wake up there or wake up in France. It's Europe, you know? But waking up in Japan, there's a difference. It was a great experience."

Since the release of the band'sNew World Messiah record in 2004, the band has kept their noses to the grindstone, staying as active as possible and working hard to take their music to the fans, while gearing up for the release of Grand Illusion. In talking about all of the activity surrounding the group, Eriksson sounds as hungry as ever, ready to bring the new album to the world and eager to forge ahead with future performances. "We wrote and recorded the album, we performed with a symphonic orchestra, we've toured in Europe, we have toured in Sweden, and we've done so many things. It's been non-stop work since last year. For more than a year we have been focusing on the band and writing songs and touring and it has been a lot of fun doing it. We've been on tour since September of '05. We've toured in Europe, a lot in Sweden, we're touring right now actually."

With the new album having an accessibility that will resonate with American rock radio audiences, the bassist is hopeful about plans for performances in the U.S., with an recently announced upcoming appearance at Chicago Powerfest 2006 on Friday, April 8th being the band's first-ever concert appearance on U.S. soil. "We're going to do some one off shows," said the artist, "I know there's an interest for us there in the States, but it has always been last minute and we have always had other things to do and it's never really clicked but hopefully we can get our asses over there to play. When asked if he believes the new record has the potential to make a major impact with fans in the States, Eriksson replies, "I think this record has the potential to cross over to that audience. Songs like Still Alive, its got that Soilwork rhythm to the verse but it is still really melodic and I think it can appeal to a lot of people, both fans of melodic metal and outside of it. We'll just wait and see what happens."