First of all I'd like to thank you for this interview. Since this is your debut album lets' start with a short biographical note.

Alright, I (known from bands like Theory In Practice, Mutant, Scar Symmetry) formed the band with Kjell Andersson (Azotic Reign) in 2001 and we weren't that serious about the band at that point, it was more like a project that we did just for the fun of it. Niklas Rehn was added to the lineup after some months and he played bass back then, I played all the other instruments which resulted in a weird rehearsal environment! In 2003 we were gettting more serious about Altered Aeon and we felt that we had found a unique and cool sound which made us record a four track demo at the Black Lounge studio called "Light Creates Shadows" in February that year. Niklas switched from bass to rhythm guitar right before the recording and a guy called Per Nilsson (World Below, Scar Symmetry) recorded the solos on the demo. Per became a full member soon after the recording and we also recruited Tord Eriksson on bass. Tord, however, left the band when we were about to score a deal with the Greek label Black Lotus records in June 2003 so we replaced him with Anders Hedlund (Theory In Practice, Audioporn) and that's the lineup we've had since then. In February 2004 we entered the Black Lounge studio again to record our debut album "Dispiritism" and it was released in November last year. We're promoting the album right now!

"Dispiritism" has been on the stores for almost 4 months. What's the feedback you receive from the fans and the media? Are you satisfied?

The reviews have literally been pouring in and they've been great! It's cool to see that there's still a place for this kind of music and we're really honored to read the good things people have to say about the album.

Can you give us some details about the recording sessions? Where was "Dispiritism" recorded and how long did it take you?

Well, it was recorded at the Black lounge studio as I mentioned earlier and it took us about two months to record it. We had a couple of breaks during that time and when the album was recorded it was mastered at Athens Mastering in Greece. The recording itself went pretty smooth actually, both Kjell and I became fathers right before we entered the studio so the whole band was never there at the same time, we just went there one at a time and did our parts you know. It wasn't until the mixing that we all gathered in the studio and listened to the whole thing. But the recording was great, we had a blast and the result speaks for itself!

From what I see in front of me, the album was produced by Jonas Kjellgren, member of Carnal Forge and Centinex. Why did you choose him and how did you manage to come to an agreement?

Yeah, Jonas produced the "Dispiritism" album, he also produced our one and only demo "Light Creates Shadows". We chose him because he's cool to work with, his studio is relatively close to where we live and it has a nice atmosphere and everything. We decided to use his studio for the recording of our debut album and he was all for it, he was like "OK, let's do this thing!" and we were like "hell yeah!". That's pretty much how we came to an agreement, he he.

How would you describe your music? Personally speaking, I think a good description would be technical thrash/death metal, with inclination to Nevermore's sound. Do you agree?

Yeah, we do our best to create a sound that is unique for this band and I think we have a lot of elements in our music that really makes us stand out from other bands. We've labeled ourselves as a "technical thrash metal band" but we try to keep our minds open to anything that sounds good and we're obviously fond of the death metal genre as well as bands like Nevermore and all the old thrash legends. The technical side of the band comes from being influenced by fusion jazz and progressive music - especially all the progressive metal genres.

In general, which are your influences and your favorite bands?

Well, as I said it's more a case of being influenced by the metal scene and other strange styles of music as a whole rather than any particular band or bands. We're trying to grab the vibe of certain styles of music and work from there, it's really hard to name any bands that has influenced us. More or less every band has its good moments and that's what we try grab a hold of, all the good parts he he! Favorite bands vary from person to person in the band, just to brainstorm some fave-bands of Altered Aeon I can name Suffocation, Notre Dame, Kiss, Allan Holdsworth, Cynic, Dark Angel and a bunch of others.

Technical thrash is really one of my favorite genres and I predict you'll very soon become a vital part of it. Who is mostly responsible for his musical approach and the songwriting? Is there a typical process you follow during the songwriting?

Thanks! Yeah, I hope we'll be able to make a big impact on the scene. I actually write 99% of Altered Aeon's material and it's been that way since the beginning, the musical approach is something that has been evolving since the start in 2001 and I take the musical tastes of everyone in the band in regard when I write the music. I guess that's why it becomes such a blend of genres with a base in thrash metal. Anyway, the process is usually that I come up with some killer riffs when I sit down and play guitar (acoustic or electric, it varies) and when I have the basic structure of the song in my head I record drums for it on my digital porta studio. Then the rhythm parts get recorded, bass and so on. During this recording process I notice what's working and what's not and I usually change the song a little bit during the recording, re-record drums and all that. This is the way all the Altered Aeon songs are created. Then Kjell may come up with vocal lines or just sing along to the riff rhythm, you know, it depends. When that is done I usually write lyrics according to those vocal lines, sometimes I even write lyrics without having any vocal lines - I just follow the rhythm of the riff or whatever. It tends to work out fine.

I believe that more and more groups lately choose to combine melodic with brutal vocals and the audience responds positively to this blend. Why did you decide to follow the same direction?

We didn't really decide to follow that formula, I don't think we can be considered as a part of that movement. Bands that combine vocals like that usually has death metal vocals for the brutal parts while we don't really have death metal vocals at all and that changes the whole "formula", in my opinion. I think that Kjell is very influenced by the old thrash bands and that makes his approach to the vocals different compared to In Flames or any other hyped band you see out there that has both brutal and melodic vocals. I think it's important to keep that in mind when listening to the music, that we're part of the thrash metal movement rather than the melodic death metal or the nu-metal movement.

"Dispiritism" as far as I can tell comes from the word dispirit, right? A very depressing word, but I believe it perfectly expresses how modern people feel with all this destruction and pain we're experiencing. Was this in the back of your mind when you were searching for a title?

I wanted a title that connected with the songs "Dispirited Chambers" and "Resonance of Form in Transition", and since those songs deal with the subject of being at war with dispiritism I figured that "Dispiritism" would be a good title! I think that being dispirited is something that always threaten you unless you have methods to get yourself in a more constructive state of mind, and being dispirited is pretty much the same as being dead emotionally. Definitely something you want to avoid, right?

Can you give me a clue about the lyrics and the subjects you mostly like to deal with? What's your main source of inspiration?

The lyrics all deal with occult ideas of some kind or another and there's no main source of inspiration, it's really a case of taking bits and pieces here and there and making something new out of it. The criteria for making Altered Aeon lyrics out of some occult idea is that it must be inspiring, intelligent and bring a new light over the situation of being alive.

Is there a special edition available? I'm asking because I have in my hands a copy that contains 2 bonus tracks? Should we expect any other surprises, let's say, like a video clip?

There is actually a special edition out but the only thing that is different is the paper box surrounding the cd on that one. The bonus tracks have been included on every version of the album, promos and everything. I don't know why because we recorded the bonus tracks because we were told they were supposed to end up on the Japanese version… We haven't been given an explanation why the bonus tracks are included everywhere, it's really strange. Anyway, we haven't discussed recording a video or anything like that, if there's going to be anything extra to make the album more attractive then it's really up to the label to arrange something.

Why did you choose to cover a King Diamond song? Do you have any other covers ready, or do you plan to do some more?

Well, we were told that 2 bonus tracks were required for a Japanese version of the album and therefore Per wrote an instrumental track called "Cellular Disorganization" and we also recorded that King Diamond-song because we're fans of that band and we love that song. But I don't think we'll record any more covers, we won't be playing any covers live either. The future will most probably only contain fresh and lethal Altered Aeon songs written by ourselves! That cover was a one-off thing.

How did you come to an agreement with Black Lotus? Are you satisfied with your cooperation so far?

Black Lotus gave us the best deal on paper back in 2003 and we decided to sign for them based on the deal itself. I think that the cooperation has gone from "questionable" to "pretty cool" lately. Much because they have a pretty cool guy called Elias working for them and he's easy to communicate with and he's honest and everything. We're looking forward to see what they can come up with in terms of shows and stuff like that, we have hopes for the future.

Do you keep an eye on modern metal scene? Are there any bands you pick out?

I try to listen to new bands that people recommend to me and often I get disappointed, he he, but one band that really impressed me and that I've been listening to a lot lately is Necrophagist.

Have you played live after the release of "Dispiritism"? Are there any other tour dates set, yet?

Right now we only have a couple of shows in Sweden booked, they will take place in May. But Black Lotus recently hired an experienced liveshow-agent and he will hopefully set up some European dates for us and the other BLR-bands in the near future.

What are your future plans? Should we expect a new release soon?

I'm writing songs like crazy but we haven't really been rehearsing new stuff with the band because we're sort of concentrating on rehearsing the "Dispiritism"-stuff for the upcoming live shows. But we will start rehearsing the best songs I've written this summer and hopefully we'll enter the studio to record the second Altered Aeon-album by the end of the year.

Before closing this interview one last question. What's your vision for Altered Aeon and you as a musician?

The vision for Altered Aeon is to leave a mark on the metal scene, to make people realize the uniqueness and brilliance of the band and to spread the virus of our music. We want to take this as far as we can and we've witnessed the progress of the band with awe through the years. We didn't expect anything and here we are with an album behind us, great reviews and lots of stuff happening! For me as a musician I want to evolve and hopefully make a living out of music someday even though it is unfortunately a distant dream… First and foremost I want to have fun and follow the inner voice that tells me to keep doing this shit.

Thank you very much for this interview. Best wishes for you and the band. Would you like to add something?

Thank YOU for doing this interview and regards to all the readers out there. Remember to stop by www.alteredaeon.cjb.net for constant updates and info about the band!