It is newsworthy in itself when a band returns out of the blue from a 20-year hiatus. But it becomes even more interesting when it concerns In Aeternum, a band I have had a soft spot for for about a quarter of a century. They may not have the allure of Dissection, for example, but together with bands such as Lord Belial, Sacramentum, Gates Of Ishtar, Vinterland, Dawn, Necophobic, Naglfar, Unanimated, and countless others, In Aeternum was part of a movement that blended Black Metal with Death Metal (in varying proportions) in a melodiocentric way. In Aeternum may not always be on everyone’s lips, but ‘Forever Blasphemy’ (1999) and ‘The Pestilent Plague’ (2000) in particular are albums that I still enjoy listening to. Now the Swedes are back with a new album, featuring exactly the same line-up that recorded ‘Dawn Of A New Aeon’ way back in 2005. I discussed with guitarist/vocalist David “Impious” Larsson what exactly has happened over the pInast two decades and how it feels to be back at the forefront with a new album under their belt.
Hi David, I’m happy to welcome you to have a talk about In Aeternum, a band that I’ve been listening to from pretty much the very moment I started listening to Extreme Metal, somewhere at the end of the 90’s. For years I wondered what was up with the band, and I was not the only one. Once I saw a guy asking your drummer Perra Karlsson if there would ever be a new In Aeternum album. His response was “when David is finally done riding his motorbike”. So, my question is: have you finished riding?
That pretty much sums it up, at least to a certain degree. I was involved in the biker scene for 20 years and that took lots of time. I haven’t stopped riding but I’m now a solo rider with more time for music. Throughout the years we have tried to get going but always bumped in to trouble along the way. Now Perra is also riding a Harley Davidson on his spare time, whatever spare time he has left. Cool that you have been following the band for such a long time.
All joking aside, ‘…Of Death And Fire’ is your first album in over 20 years’ time. There were two EP’s, ‘Curse Of Devastation’ (2007) and ‘The Blasphemy Returns’ (2016) and a handful of shows, but that was basically it. Had the fire in you or all of you been gone? And perhaps more importantly, what caused it to flare up again? Why is now the best time for the return of In Aeternum?
The thing is, I had a bad motorcycle accident in the summer of 2016 that almost killed me. After that I was popping painkillers due to severe pain in my back and neck. So around the beginning of 2018 I couldn’t go on anymore. It got to hard playing guitar because of my back problems. So all activity stopped. Then in October 2024 I went to Nordfest festival and bumped in to Daniel our old guitar player. We started talking and said that, damn next year it will be 20 years since our last album, shouldn’t it be cool to make a new album to celebrate that. We agreed on doing some music to see where it would lead us. In February 2025 we had the first few songs written and started to record them as pre-production songs. Suddenly we had a whole album done. Once we had all the songs and had them recorded as pre-production we started to record them properly for the album. All three of us have been involved from day one, and we had the goal to make a great album. I think that’s what we managed to do.
For this return you have recruited In Aeternum veteran Daniel Sahlin on guitar, who was in the band in the first half of the 00’s. In the meantime he played with other bands, most notably a couple of years with Setherial, but also seem to have been a little quiet the past few years. What made him return to the fold?
A lust for death and chaos and to reconnect with old friends to put it simple. When we started talking it felt natural, it was like we just picked up where we left off many years ago. We have met at shows every now and then and talked a bit. This time it all felt right, so we had to act and do something about it. The new album is what came out of it. I’m sure we could never have made this back in the days. We have all grown and become better in so many ways. This is our testament to the world sort of.
Perra hasn’t exactly been sitting still, but if I understood it well, there wasn’t too much going on in the In Aeternum camp for the majority of time the past two decades. How were the first meetings when you guys decided to give it another go? Was the old chemistry still there? And, in general, how would you describe that specific chemistry to an outsider like me?
The chemistry was there from day one. We all were so deeply involved with every aspect of the songs and layout and such. It was very easy to work together. We have grown older and wiser and there are no egos or anything. If you have an idea we will try it out. If it works it works. This also is thanks to Daniel who has his own studio, that enabled us to work differently than in the past. Believe me when I say that we have had some serious laughs with certain stuff we have tried out.
So, it was all meant to go this way: straight for a new album. No feeling-out proces or whatever?
The goal was an album from day one if it would work out with the three of us again. It’s been 20 fucking years so it was about time we had it done. I’m very happy that it’s the same guys as it was 20 years ago. It proves that we still got it in us.
With so much time between albums, if we disregard the two EPs mentioned earlier for convenience, I can imagine that a lot has changed despite everything. For starters, you are all twenty years older and the world around you has changed: families and other commitments, and the metal scene has also changed. How has this influenced your view of Extreme Metal and In Aeternum in particular?
Not at all. There are loads of good bands out there and some crappy ones just like 20 years ago. We do have other commitments in life and music is not all that matters these days. But it’s a big part in our lives. On a personal level I think I have gotten more extreme in certain ways, not going to go deeper on that subject. For the band, we just write whatever we feel is sounding good to us. There are a few new things on the album as you might have noticed.
But now that all the hurdles have been cleared, there is ‘… Of Death And Fire’. I can imagine that it gives you a feeling that is a combination of triumph and even some sort of relief. How do you look back on this new album?
It feels like a debut album again after all these years. So we are really proud and this album is a favourite together with ‘Forever Blasphemy’. There are so many classic songs on this new album. Calling it a triumph is a very accurate description. We have proven that we are still extreme and can deliver quality music.
Elaborating on the previous two questions, if you compare ‘…Of Death And Fire’ with the previous four albums released between 1999 and 2005, what would you say are the main similarities and differences? And what makes it an unmistakable In Aeternum album for you?
The new album is very much inspired by our two first albums in my opinion. The biggest difference is that we have some really heavy songs on the new album. We have never written anything this heavy in the past, and it turned out great. The melodies certainly makes it an unmistakable IN AETERNUM album.
You have a history of doing cover songs (Kreator, Sabbat (UK), Sarcófago, Mercyful Fate to name a few). This time there is no cover included, but the last track of the album, ‘To Those Who Have Rode On’ with its acoustic start (played by Mira Sahlin) seems to be a bit of a too obvious nod to Bathory. Is that meant as a way to still continue the tradition without actually covering a song?
No, not at all. This is our Bathory tribute as well as a hymn to all those who are no longer with us. From the beginning we weren’t too sure if we could pull this song off. In the end it’s one of our favourites on the whole album. It’s a very personal song to all of us and means a lot. The cool part of it is that it sounds like Bathory around ‘Hammerheart’ and ‘Twilight Of The Gods’. Also Erik of Watain wrote the lyrics so we could close that circle as well. He wrote Seven Storms Of Doom on our latest album. This time he also contributed some guest vocals.
For the people who are around a little longer, I guess In Aeternum will mostly remembered as being part of the Swedish Melodic Black/Death Metal movement that was on the rise from the second half of the 90s to the first years of the 00s. Bands such as Sacramentum, Necrophobic, Lord Belial, Dawn and, of course, Dissection made that sound popular and brought it to the attention of a wider audience. Do you feel that you contributed to this, or that their popularity at the time contributed to the fame of In Aeternum? And what I’m even more curious about: do you still feel part of that scene, if you want to describe it that way, if you ever felt part of it at all?
Well back in those days I was friends with Dissection, Sacramentum and Lord Belial, we hung out in Gothenburg and even did shows together and raised hell in general. So we were a part of the movement for sure, but I still think all of us had our individual sound. Are we famous? I have no idea about that myself. We have been away for some time so I’m not sure that we feel that we are part of any scene right now. We are still of course very much in contact with old friends from different bands, so maybe that counts. But in the old days we were part of it for sure.
As a non-musician, I am always curious to know how a musician experiences and perceives his own music. Of course, as an experienced listener, I can hear the difference between Necrophobic, Dissection, Unanimated, Naglfar and In Aeternum, but what do you think makes In Aeternum different or recognisable compared to other bands in the same genre?
Probably the vast influences that we have and draw inspiration from. Also the vocals are a game changer for most bands, a vocalist with its own sound. We take inspiration from so many different bands, but also we get inspired by our own music after all these years. One things that also puts us on the map is Perra’s incredible drum patterns, I believe that you can hear that it’s him playing on a record. He’s got a very special style of drumming.
The last two albums (that were never put on vinyl by the way) were released by Agonia Records and the last two EP’s came out through Pulverized Records, this new album however sees the light via the Dutch label Soulseller Records. Can you tell a bit about the change from those two previous labels to your current one?
When we started doing music for the new album we didn’t have a contract yet. We figured we would record the album and see who was interested in releasing it. Agonia was out of question for different reasons and Pulverized couldn’t match the deal we got with Soulseller Records. So right now we are working closely with Soulseller on releasing the two first albums and hopefully we can do the same with the other two. Getting the other two albums out on vinyl would be great so that’s what we are working towards after all the other stuff that’s going on. So let’s see what the future brings to the table.
Speaking of previous releases (that were never pressed on vinyl), I have always been surprised that your first EP, ‘…And Darkness Came’ was never repressed and never appeared on wax. I personally love that EP! Is there a chance that this will change in the (near) future?
That would be a cool thing to do, plus add some bonus material to that one. I haven’t put much thought in to that to be honest. But I’m all for it if somebody wants to work on that. Would be cool to have all releases on vinyl, even the ‘No Salvation’ mcd should be out on vinyl, and the ‘Beast Of The Pentagram’ should be released on cd.
When you’re in a band for around 35 years, you experience a lot. I’ve always been amazed by the funny (or dramatic) incidents that have happened to you. The most iconic ones are, of course, the tour with Deicide that was cancelled on the day it was due to start in London and Mel Gibson’s near-lawsuit against you. How do you look back on these kinds of things? As it’s very trendy to do at the moment, isn’t it time for you to write your memoirs?
We have had our share of fucked up moments so who knows, maybe there should be a book at some point. But I guess we are not that well known to write one and get it to sell to the masses. I’m pretty sure though that we could fill it with loads of cool shit. When we played in the USA back in 2000 we got to play a festival in LA and some other places. At the festival we got to hang out with porn stars and wrestlers as well as all the other cool bands there. Venom was supposed to play and we were going on right before them, but with our luck Venom cancelled. That’s what happens to us among other fucked up things.
It’s inevitable, of course, but I’d love to hear from you that we won’t have to wait another twenty years for a new In Aeternum album. I haven’t found out exactly how old you are, but I do realise that Perra will be 72 in twenty years’ time… So, is In Aeternum back for more than just this one album?
I would be 70 in 20 years, so that’s not an option to wait that long. Daniel have already begun working on some stuff for the next album. We plan on doing another one, but for now we need to focus on this one first. So no you don’t have to wait another 20 years.
Thank you for your time David, it was a pleasure to have you on these pages. I just pre-ordered the album and looking forward to put it on my turn table and let the needle sink into this album’s grooves. The last words are yours…
Thank you for taking the time to interview us. Hope to see you out there somewhere in the crowd. Always remember, memento mori. Hail the metal of death…
