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Once upon a time a swedish band called GATES OF ISHTAR tortured
the underground scene with its powerful melodic Death Metal albums. But
the time has come and the band changed its name to DUSKFALL which actually
features Mikael Sandorf (ex-GATES OF ISHTAR) on vocals/guitars, Glenn Svensson
(KANE) on lead guitars and Tommi Konu (HELLMASKER) on bassguitar. I asked
Mikael to know more about their new Death Metal formation and plans for
the near future.
Anything about the band for those who haven't heard about DUSKFALL
before?
- Well what can I say, DUSKFALL was a project I had in mind when things started to get nasty with GATES OF ISHTAR, the only thing that fucked up
was that INVASION Records didn't want us to record "At Dusk And Forever"
under the name DUSKFALL, they wanted us to use GATES OF ISHTAR and as you
already know that's a fact now... The things was that we signed for 2 full-length
CD's with GATES OF ISHTAR, and Maja form INVASION was more into the money
of selling under the name GATES OF ISHTAR then giving us a break using
the name DUSKFALL...
Why you decided to stop GATES OF ISHTAR after three successfully
released albums? Is there any emphatic reason for it?
- Well as I said before, we had to deliver the last CD to INVASION
before the contract was done, but I wanted to leave INVASION and all the
trouble within GATES OF ISHTAR behind me but Maja didn't care about that,
this is why he released a third GATES OF ISHTAR CD, there were only supposed
to be 2 not 3! We couldn't do anything due to the contract for 2 Cd's...
Currently you are working on the new material which will be released
in the beginning of 1999. Explain us the difference between the music of
DUSKFALL and GATES OF ISHTAR? Are there any changes in your style?
- Well there will not be a striking difference between the bands, I
wrote all the music for "At Dusk And Forever" except for the
song "Forever Beach", wich was made by Göran (the studioguy)
and me, the new material will continue on the same path as before but with
some new approaches... The songs will be a bit more variating and the drumming
will be more technical again, we lost a lot of variety on "At Dusk
And Forever" but the new songs will be far more interesting!
Who is your producer at this time? I suppose that you chose Peter
Tägtgren instead of others, correct me if I'm wrong? What's your view
on Peter's bands HYPOCRISY, THE ABYSS and PAIN?
- I like the Cd's that Peter has produced, I don't know if we're going
to use him for our next release... We still need to check out the grounds
before we choose a studio to work in. I feel that we always have too little
time to mix the tracks and the final result of the production gets a bit
crappy, this time we're aiming for a great production and we will try to
choose a studio that can give us the time that we need, not a studio that
have like 20 bands waiting for you to get done so they can record... then
the rush is there and the result gets bad.
Say something about your lyric conception. Where do you get your
ideas and what is your source of inspiration?
- What can I say, the lyrics for "The Dawn Of Flames" and
"At Dusk..." were written in the studio and that is not the way
I want to work... This is a problem for me, I don't have the time to make
the music and the lyrics at the same time so in the future I'll use a friend
of mine from Canada. He has some great ideas and he uses the language in
a better way than me. I will write some of the lyrics but there will not
be the same rush this time. My lyrics are just personal views on different
subjects, I stand for what I write and they mean something to me, I think
that it's great if someone can relate to them but I don't feel that that's
necessary.
Have any labels contacted the band yet, or are you still at INVASION
Records furthermore?
- We have been in contact with Metal Blade and they seem very interested in our music, we haven't been all that busy in contacting labels and I
don't think that labels know that this band exists... We will not record
anything more on INVASION, they still owe us money and we'll probably never
see that money again.
It seems to me that the majority of Swedish bands satanists or nihilists. What's your view on it? Are you into any of these categories I mentioned
before?
- I personally think that religion is a bad excuse for a persons own
actions and beliefs... I believe in myself and my ability to make something
good out of my life. If I want something I will make it happen! I don't
pray for any god to help me...
What's your view on today's music scene? What do you think is the
strongest release of this year?
- There has been a major upswing for the powermetal genre this year
with bands like EDGUY and HAMMERFALL... I personally think that acts like
BLIND GUARDIAN and STRATOVARIUS makes that kind of music much better and
more interesting. The strongest release this year must be either THE HAUNTED
or SHADOW GALLERY...
How old was you when you bought your first instrument? And how long
had you been playing?
- I got my first guitar (acoustic) at the age of 15 but I played drums
at that time, I only started to play the guitar in a more efficient way
back in 95. Nowadays I play on a Kramer but I have plans on buying a Gibson
very soon...
What do you wish to do with DUSKFALL in the future?
- Just to keep the music alive, make interesting songs and go on tour.
We have a stronger line-up now than ever before, there are no arguments
within the band and that makes it easy to keep the band together and the
music developing.
I think that's all. Last words are yours.
- Thank you very much for your interest in the band, I hope that the
fans all over the world will accept this new project and like the new material.
There will be updates and news on our website at: www.theduskfall.com
for you guys that roam the net!!! | 
