Albums of Purgatory interview Darkane's Christofer Malmstrom

Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, whats the band up to right now?

Christofer Malmstrom: Right now we´re anxiously waiting for the release of our new album "Expanding Senses". We are rehearsing for a show that we will do in our hometown in a few days. That will be the first time we try some of our new songs live.

AoP: How would you describe the Darkane sound?

CM: It´s very hard to describe. I would call it modern thrash/death with a futuristic sound.

AoP: How did the band begin in 98?

CM: Three of us (Me, Peter and Jörgen) had a band for seven years called Agretator. That band was very technical but couldn´t get a record deal, so we decided to do something new, so in early  1998 Peter and I founded Darkane and brought Jörgen with us.

AoP: How does the band differ from your previous band Agretator?

CM: Agretator was very technical and we tried to explore new musical styles over and over and in the end it was so technical that it wasn´t music anymore and the inspiration was gone. So we needed to quite and start all over again. Darkane is a little easier to listen to I hope.

AoP: Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

CM: If you mean my first gig ever, yes. It was in 1989 and Peter was also a member of that band called Zaninez. It was like 80´s heavy metal. It sounded very bad! I´ve got it on video and I laugh a lot when I see it. The crowd (existing of only friends and school pals) was enthusiastic though. When it was time for me do play a guitar solo I freaked out and just rubbed my hand over the guitar neck making strange noices.

Our first gig with Darkane was in Uppsala in Sweden in September 1998. That was very cool since we had only rehearsed with our vocalist Lawrence Mackrory for the first time earlier that day. But it turned out quite good anyway.


AoP: When vocalist Andreas Sydow joined Darkane in 99, what effect did that have on the band and how difficult was it to adjust to the change?

CM: We tried to make him sound like Lawrence and he tried it also (of course). But when we had recorded Insanity we realized that his voice wasn´t really built for those hight pitched screams, so on the new album we took it down a little and now he sounds much better I think.

AoP: What are your favourite Darkane tracks?

CM: Very hard to say! I like many of them. I would probably say that Convicted is the coolest song to play live. It feels very aggresive to play it!

AoP: What were your favourite Agretator tracks?

CM: I guess it was a song called "Dull reality" that you´ve probably never heard of! We had plans on re-recording that song when we recorded Expanding Senses, but we didn´t have time. Maybe next time.

AoP: What are your favourite all time songs?

CM: I don´t know if you mean by my own bands? I don´t know really. If we´re talking metal in general I would say Blessed are the sick by Morbid Angel, and Suicide machine by Death.

AoP: What would be your dream band line-up?

CM: I already play in it, but if I had to change I would say;

Gustaf Hielm (Meshuggah) on bass
Gene Hoglan (SYL, Death, Dark Angel etc.) on drums.
Devin Townsend (all his bands...) on vocals.

AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

CM: I don´t think much about it. I hope it will grow. Death/thrash seems to have been bigger, but it also looks like it appeals to more and more people nowadays.

AoP: Do you have any funny stories you can share with us about the band?

CM: Do I really? One I can think of right now is when Klas got so drunk at a party that he fell and hurt his head very bad. The ambulance had to get him and when the doctor wanted to shave his head to sew it, the other Darkane members said -NO! So he had to sew the hair into the wound and that looked quite bad. The next day he woke up at the hospital having no idea of where he was. Not exactly a funny story but that was what I could come up with right now...

AoP: and finally, what do you see in the future for Darkane?

CM: I don´t know. I wish that we can tour a lot and sell many records so that we can continue to do what we do.