Tad Morose interview “Christer 'Krunt' Andersson)

Tad Morose is another fine example of a band that has offered a lot to the European power metal genre. Even if they don't admit it they sound more like a U.S. than a European band and they have released some albums that could be considered as classic for the genre. Their last album "Revenant" is one of their best works to date, but also one of the finest albums of 2014. So, this was a perfect chance for us, here in Rocking.gr, to talk with Christer 'Krunt' Andersson, the band's guitarist, who has a lot of interesting things to say about the band and why they were disappeared for the past decade...

First of all let me congratulate you for your new effort. It is an awesome comeback! How you feel about that?
Oh! Thank you very much! Well, it feels unbelievably nice to finally get this album out!

Your last effort was 10 years ago. Why it took you so long to have a new release?
The main reason is all the line-up changes we have gone through over the past ten years. But also life in general. Some of us got kids and houses nowadays which takes up our time too. We also got our own recording studios now which sometimes is a bad thing because you tend to always want to re-do everything. Ha ha ha. So I guess the actual recording of Revenant took us like 3 years! Ha ha ha.

You seem to stay true to a sound that you’ve already established. What would you answer to someone that would claim that you haven’t evolved music wise, over these years?
No need to re-invent the wheel. It works perfectly well as it is. He he he. So to speak. We just do whatever we feel like and if someone doesn't like what we are doing that´s fine. We would still be doing this any way.

What are the new music elements that the new album brings to the table in your opinion?
Hmmm, don´t know really, perhaps a bit more aggression and darkness? I guess all the shit we have gone through over the years gets into our music in a way.

What is the title 'Revenant' about? Is there a concept or a main theme behind the lyrics? Where do you draw inspiration from?
There is not special concept. We thought that 'Revenant' was a fitting title to this album, kind of: 'hey! We´re back from the dead to haunt you again' Ha ha ha. The lyrics are mainly about life, death and other morbid tales.

You’ve been away for quite a while, so many new listeners of heavy metal may not be that familiar with Tad Morose’s music. How would you describe him your sound and which song would you point out as the most characteristic one?
To me this is just heavy metal. Staight and honest. A lot of people seems to think that we sound more like American metal bands then European. Lots of guitars, loud drums, heavy bass, melodic vocals. So take a listen to the first song on "Revenant", "Beneath A Veil Of Crying Souls". I think that pretty much sums it all up.

Is there a song in "Revenant" that you would consider among the best you’ve ever composed? Which one would that be and why?
Hmm, though question... Always hard to judge your own music. But let's say "Abscense Of Light" then. That song took a long time to get done and it is very varied I think, lots of guitar harmonies and so on. A fun song to play on guitar.

Would Tad Morose be open to change their music style if your label insisted on changing it, so as to have a bigger commercial success?
No way. We do this the way we like it.

Which album from you back catalogue would you consider the most complete and why?
Of course that would be "Revenant". He he he. But you said back catalogue, so I guess I can´t pick that one then? Oh, well, then it has to be "Modus Vivendi". Yeah, I know, a boring and obvious answer. But it´s true. You get better at our instruments and at song writing and everything for every album you make.

Which bands would you choose to have the ideal tour along with you?
It would be nice to go on a tour with Morgana Lefay, Bloodbound and Gormathon. Four bands from Bollnäs, Sweden! That would be totally awesome! We´ve been on tour and played shows with those bands over the years and we do have fun. He he he. I don´t know who could manage to be a tour manager on a tour like that! Ha ha ha. It would be pretty wild I guess.

What do you think about the music industry nowadays and how does it affect the genre that you represent?
A lot of things has changed since we last put an album out. Since the album sales are down the budgets for bands recording albums are down, or totally gone, it makes things harder but with modern technology you can also do a lot of things by yourself and you also reach a lot more people a lot faster nowadays. I think this affects all kinds of music.
 
What kind of music do you listen to nowadays? Give us your favorite albums for 2013.
Well, I still listen to Heavy Metal. Always have, always will. Hmm, don´t think I picked up anything during 2013. The newest album at home is "Stalingrad" by Accept. Which I really like! Sorry.

What does the future hold for Tad Morose? Hopefully, we won’t have to wait that much for the new album, right?
Ha ha ha, no, it will not take that long! We are already working on new songs but depending on how busy we will be during next year I would guess that we probably will enter the studio again sometime late 2014 or early 2015. Wild guess though! He he he.

Please add anything you want. The last words are yours.
I hope you like our new album "Revenant"! When you listen to it, play it LOUD! Sounds better that way you know! Hopefully we get the chance to come to Greece to play live next year! In fact, we never played there before, so that would be totally awesome! Take care! Play Loud! Cheers!