Some bands seem to achieve success and widespread acclaim almost effortlessly, while others are less fortunate. To be fair, most successful bands—and how you define success is, of course, open to interpretation—have worked hard to get where they are. However, there are also bands that face setbacks or suffer the consequences of poor choices. In my opinion, Suicidal Winds has always fit into the second category. Sure, they have plenty of fans all over the world and their discography is quite extensive, but the band still seems unable to catch a break. Recently, ‘In The Fire 666’ was released on my own label, but before that, there was an eleven-year hiatus. Unconsciously, the train got stuck and the band also had to deal with the death of bassist Fredrik Andersson. One thing is certain, Suicidal Winds definitely has a story to tell. Speaking here is guitarist and co-founder Peter Haglund.
Hi Peter, be welcomed. I think it was about time we had this conversation, there’s a lot to talk about. Suicidal Winds has been around for over three decades, but has been extremely silent for the last 10 years, since the release of your last full-length album ‘Chthonian Sun’. We will talk about the death of Fredrik Andersson later, but even before that tragedy event the band was surprisingly quiet. What happened?
Hi Felix, thank you! It’s correct the last 7-8 years has been almost without any activity. And before that it was only sporadically. We rehearsed only when we had some gig or there were some recording planned. You know when we were more active and more hungry we rehearsed two times a week. I think it was a combination of laziness, families, work, and lack of commitment. But we always had in mind that we must be more active and start rehearsing again.
Looking back at the time the album was ‘Chthonian Sun’, basically the last active period of the band, it can be concluded that this album too came seven years after its predecessor, ‘Chaos Rising’. In between there was a split 7” with Throneum and a contribution to a Sodom tribute LP. Even though not a whole lot came out, from the sidelines that period seems somewhat turbulent, partly because of the many labels you worked with. How would you describe that period?
That period was a lot better than the last ten years, but it was also much line-up problems, laziness also there, and children for some of us. And a lot of drinking. We changed guitarists when Emil quit the band, and he was replaced with Andreas that played guitar on the first two albums. And then he quit again after the recording of Chtonian Sun. So it was a bit messy, and we lost much of the spirit of the band with all trouble. And yeah, it was a lot of different labels. Actually the only smooth period was the one with No Colours Records that I think did a very good job for us. So we regret big time the time we had with the rip-off label Agonia Records, that promised us things that never came to reality.
So now let’s talk about Fredrik for a moment. He has been part of the band since 2002, so it is understandable that his death not only left a big gap in the band, but also with you as remaining bandmembers. Can you tell something about how important he was to the band and to the chemistry among you?
He joined the band after Andreas and Martin’s departure from the band after our second album ”Victims in Blood”. We were friends and me and Mathias were already playing with him in our Death Metal-band Axis Powers. So he took over the bass and Mathias only did the vocals. At the same time Emil joined on guitar and Thomas on drums. He was actually a very big part of the band since he joined us. Actually he was the driving force when it come to rehearsing and writing new songs. I promise you he never missed a rehearsal. We also were hanging out very much beside the band with drinking beers, go to festivals and other stuff friends do. But he had some drinking issues, and health problems, I can’t deny that. So probably his hard living and bad luck took him to the other side. We miss him very much and it still feels unbelievable that he’s gone. He was actually a fantastic person that everyone liked. R.I.P.
Suicidal Winds has been put on hold for some time after Fredrik’s passing, but there is explicitly no talk of breaking up the band. Basically, for many people, the most pressing question: can you update us on the current status of the band?
Remaining members are the ones that started the band; me on guitar and Mathias on guitar/vocals. We have been talking about recording some old songs that we did in the beginning of the ’90s. Some of them never recorded. Our first drummer Martin have agreed to do the drums. And our former guitarist Emil will take care of the bass. I’m not sure when this will happen. Let’s give us some time, but it’s many tracks. I think it will be great with a true old-school raw feeling.
Sometime before Fredrik’s passing you have recorded a new album that was basically ready and good to go. It has been ready for years, yet without artwork. It is a project we have been working on together. As you’re all reading this, the album has finally seen the light of day. Happy?
Yes, it’s released now on your label WolfKult Religion as a digipack-cd with a vinyl version scheduled later. You did an amazing artwork for the album! Thanks a lot, and I really think the cover is awesome with that fire. So everyone order it from true underground-label WolfKult Religion. I’m very happy it was finally released.
As a whole, Suicidal Winds has been rather consistent in its musical course, still I’m curious about how you look at this new album. It has something to do with the concept of “fire”, to close circle started with ‘Crush Us With Fire’ from 2003, the first album Fredrik appeared on. Can you give us some details and tell us a bit about its creation and how it compares to previous work on a musical level?
I think it’s a bit more deep, and more musical development from previous releases. You can hear influences from bands like Bathory, Violent Force, Slayer, Sarcófago, Necrodeath and even some Iron Maiden-vibe on some part. You can also find touches in the vein of Poison (Germany) and like always Mortuary Drape. But of course it sounds like Suicidal Winds with it’s personal orientation. The lyrics are typical black metal lyrics, but they don’t have any common purpose. They are all made indivdually. It’s only the titles on the two releases that have the fire-connection between Fredriks first and last release.
Recently you also have released a split 7” EP with Protector, a band that is rather close to Suicidal Winds in more than one way. It does both mark the return of the band on the front after an absence of 10 years and the last recordings done by Fredrik. Putting aside the delay until it finally came out, how do you feel about this specific release both musically and on a more emotional level?
I think the result was fantastic, more than we could expect. It was a long wait, but finally it was released. Thank you again for the work you did. The layout were magnificent. Emotionally speaking, the new album was of course deeply moving, thinking of Fredrik, and musically it was back-to-the-roots songs that I appreciate very much. Short songs and primitive sound that sounded way better than I remembered them.
A bit of retrospection then. If you look back at the 30 years the band has been around, what would you say are the moments or things you are most proud of? Are there any specific memories that you cherish? Any mistakes you might have preferred not to make?
The biggest memories are from our gigs abroad. I remember this trip we had to Finland and we played in Turku. Mathias and Andreas were drunk as hell, but still this Finnish audience thought the gig was amazing. Probably they were just as wasted as them. Haha! Also our mini-tour with Bestial Mockery was memorable. Messy and many people watching. The deal with Agonia Records we regret the most. I think I am most proud over our big commitment we had in the band the early days and our full-length debut ’Winds Of Death’.
Although Suicidal Winds might not have been very active in the second half of its three decades spanning career, there is quite some music to look back at. Do you have any personal favorites? I am very curious to hear what’s the album or recording that you hold most dear and why…
My personal favorite is probably ”Victims in blood” which have a very nice sound and great songs. I think it was a very enjoyable follow-up to our debut ”Winds of death”. I also appreciate recordings like ”Misanthropic Anger”, split 7” with Bestial Mockery, ”Crush Us With Fire”, and of course the latest split 7” with Protector!
It is not much of a secret that I am personally very fond of vinyl records in general and 7” EP’s more specifically. A good amount of your music has been released on this format, yet, not everything. I bet this has mostly to do with the labels you have worked with at the time, but is there still something that you would love to see reissued on vinyl, or any other format?
I also have a very big interest in vinyl records, and I have around 5000 titles. So this has always been our demand that we want it to be released on vinyl. The only studio full-length album that isn’t released on LP is ”Wrath Of God”. And I’m still very pissed off beacause Agonia Records promised us it would be released on LP. So fuck them!!! So that’s the one I would really love too see on vinyl. But also the split-CD with Gravewurm would be lovely to see on vinyl. And it also would be awesome to see our full-length albums on cassette!
Picking up a bit on the previous question as well as on other topics we already touched upon. In your rather long career you have worked with a good amount of labels, amongst them are both renowned labels like Pulverized Records and Agonia Records and some more underground focused labels such as To The Death and No Colours Records. Sometimes even switching labels after one album. Looking back at all these collaborations, how do you feel about that? Any specifically good or bad experiences, or things you have learned from?
No Colours Records was the first one we had, and I think the co-operation worked very well. We had good communication and not much to complain about. Then we changed to Agonia Records. We thought it was the correct step to move forward to a little bigger label. But as I said earlier it was a terrible experience. We had big hopes, but it was crushed. He promised a lot of things but it was all bullshit!! So we changed label again to Pulverized Records. Not bad at all, but it was a time when nobody bought records. So after a full-length and a live-album we parted ways. Latest released album was ”Chtonian Sun”. Small label, and not much promotion, but I’m glad it was released on vinyl. And he is a good guy, Cronis has been involved in the underground for ages. We have learned to not have high hopes and be careful who you trust.
Something that I always like to talk about with bands that are around for such a long time is how they experienced the whole process of getting older, going from being the new kids on the block to the old and seasoned veterans. If you look back the 90’s, when the band was just starting out and recorded its first albums and compare it to your current personal world specifically and the global metal scene more generally, how would you describe your experience in that transition? What do you consider is the biggest difference between back then and now?
When we started the band it was only music that was important. We had already been deeply involved in the underground scene with tape trading and the fanzine me and Mathias did, Immortal Mag. So it was the band that was the main priority, but later that changed automatically with jobs, families. I miss these old days, when you sent letters and running to the mailbox and hoped to get a new demo-tape. Nowadays it’s so many bands and so easy to get hold of new music. It was more true back then. It has become too big like everything else in this world. Still I’m glad the underground still seems to be going strong and I really adore everyone doing their best to keep it up.
Continuing on this bit of nostalgia. Suicidal Winds’ roots go as deep as to 1992, that means you have seen many people, bands, labels, trends etc. come and go. Do you have the idea you have left a mark in the metal scene, be it on the international scene or more on the national level? Over the past, say, 15 years there has been a renewed interest in Swedish Extreme Metal of all sorts, do you think you have earned your stripes and also getting something of that pie?
I think we must have left some mark on mainly the international extreme metal scene. We have had labels from all different countries. But I don’t think we as band have got much attention because we are from Sweden, even if we are in this book ”Swedish Death Metal” by Daniel Ekeroth, and also the encyclopedia of Janne Stark. Actually I’m not very updated what is trendy nowadays. I still almost only listen to the old bands and records.
We have already talked about the current state of the band, but the freshly released split 7” EP with Protector and it selling out quickly shows there is still some demand for Suicidal Winds. I can imagine that this triggers something in you as a band and a person. Was this something you needed and will there be more news shortly?
I think that indeed triggered me personally and us as a band to continue, even if the last years have been tough. I really hope there will be some more news from the band in the nearest future.
Alright Peter, let’s round things off for now. Thanks a lot for taking the time to update us about what’s going on in the Suicidal Winds camp. I’ll gladly leave the last and closing words to you…
Thanks a lot Felix, for this in-depth interview. It was many tricky questions. I did my best to answer them. Keep up the spirit for the underground-scene! And watch out for coming Suicidal Winds-releases.
