Fans of sophisticated death metal are in for a pleasant surprise with Retromorphosis' debut album, so I asked guitarist Jonas Bryssling to talk in detail about their new work. Now read on and absorb the essence of our conversation!!!
Hello Jonas! First of all, let's talk about the new band name, why did you choose Retromorphosis and not continue under the name Spawn of Possession? I mean, musically you play almost the same style and 4/5 of the members are from there. By the way, when was Retromorphosis actually formed?
Hello, Spawn of Possession was way more technical and was heavily inspired by classical music and US death metal. We talked about making a fourth album, but that never happened due to having kids and all that. And I was kind of tired of the whole thing to be honest, and it felt complete as it was with those 3 albums.
Retromorphosis on the other hand is less technical and more varied, it's mainly death metal with atmosphere, feels fun to write again and I have a lot of ideas about how to continue from "Psalmus".
Yeah, the style probably sounds a little bit like SoP, can't do much about my writing style, and then add all the previous SoP members that joined that also contribute heavily to that sound, but there's a lot of riffs in Retromorphosis that I never would have used in SoP. It's a different mindset, more free perhaps. I think I started Retro in 2020 or maybe late 2019. First I thought about just posting demo songs on YouTube and leaving it at that. But then I changed my mind since I wanted to have vocals on it. Dennis joined, so that led it to be treated more like a serious project, and soon KC, Erlend, and Christian joined and we had a full line-up!
Your debut album is called "Psalmus Mortis" and consists of 8 songs. When and where did you record it? Who was responsible for the mixing and mastering? Please also tell us how long it took you to prepare and complete the material for "Psalmus Mortis".
We recorded the guitars and vocals at Pama Studios in Sweden, with Magnus Sedenberg as a producer, it's the same guy and studio we recorded all SoP albums in. The drums were recorded in Sharkbite Studios in the USA, Erlend, and Christian recorded their stuff at home. Magnus mixed and mastered the album, and I think he did a great job as usual.
I had a bunch of songs written already, and some bits and pieces that I wrote after disbanding SoP. I picked 3 or 4 of those and based the whole album around that style. The other tracks that I didn't choose sounded too much like Morgoth or some old Swedish death metal. No point of using that since it has already been done.
I completed almost everything within the first months of the pandemic since I had to stay home from work, so the process was really fast and smooth. The album got way too long though, so we had to cut out two songs and two ambient instrumental tracks since the label didn't want to release a double vinyl.
Can you talk a little bit about the lyrical content of "Psalmus Mortis" and how the cover relates to it? By the way, who did the cover artwork?
Each song is a horror story, the man on the cover just escaped death and retells the stories he has seen while being caught there.
Most of the stories are metaphors for personal matters, but the listener can make up their own mind what it's all about. The artwork was done by Arif Septian (aka Poisondust).
Season of Mist will take care of your debut album and release it on vinyl and CD. How did you get in touch with them and what kind of contract did you sign with them?
At first, I tried to get us signed to various underground labels, it didn't work out since none of them could afford the studio cost. One day I chatted with Ragnar from Ophidian I, and he put me in contact with the boss of SoM, I sent the whole demo to him and we got signed.
How did drummer KC Howard get involved in the band? Will the distance not affect the live shows and tours supporting the new material? Anyway, are you planning a release party around the official release date of the album, which is set for February 21, 2025?
Dennis met KC on the Cali Death Podcast and they started talking after that, so we asked him and he said sure.
Yeah, it's always a little bit complicated when everybody lives in different places, I guess we have to do like what we did with SoP, everybody has to meet up in some country where we can rehearse and prepare. It's kind of gnarly but what else can you do. No tours planned at this moment though.
On the release day I will be online on some technical death metal forum on Reddit and answer question.
Three songs have already been premiered online, namely "Vanished", "The Tree" and "Retromorphosis". Personally, I hear more melodies and creepier parts, while the song structures are easier to digest. How would you describe Retromorphosis' musical approach to readers?
Yes, since it's more focused on atmosphere everything doesn't have to be intense at all times, so melodies become more prominent. It's written with the original vibe of death metal, which seems timeless, a little bit rough, and pretty dark, with some aggression, and melancholy. But the style of arrangements is pretty much the same as SoP, because that's the style that works best for me.
By the way, do you compose all the riffs/songs on your own and the final arrangements come later, with ideas from the other members, or is it a team effort from the beginning?
On this album, I wrote and arranged everything myself, since there was no band when I wrote it haha.
Next time I will probably send them whole songs or parts of songs, and we can discuss it together and see if some good ideas can come out of that.
I'm always interested in new ideas and it can give you ideas to write things you didn't think of at all.
What tune do you actually play in? What kind of equipment (amps, cabinets, pedals, etc.) did you use in the studio, is it very different from what you use in the rehearsal room or live? By the way, do you still have a rehearsal room? If so, how many times a week do you rehearse there?
I play in A these days, I recorded with my 7-string Ibanez Universe using an ENGL amp. No, we have no rehearsal, I just play at home, same with the other guys.
I probably practice/play 3 days a week maybe, an hour or two or so. I should practice more, but right now it's hard with the time. When things calm down I will play way more.
I know it's probably inappropriate to ask, but will you be performing songs from the Spawn of Possession back catalogue live?
Yeah, we would probably throw in some SoP song if we play live. Not sure how to solve it with the tuning, either bring 2 guitars or just relearn a song or two in the new tuning.
Your music is quite technical and sophisticated. This begs the question, what kind of music do you listen to and which bands/albums have influenced you?
These days I listen mostly to death metal, bands like: Drawn and Quartered, Krypts, Teitanblood, Church of Disgust, Corpsessed, Grave Ritual, Purtenance, Sorcery, and Funebrarum to name a few, and I listen to classical, ambient, and soundtracks as well, like: Brian Eno, John Cage, Messiaen, Shostakovich, Debussy, JS Bach, von Koch, Maros, and many others. And thrash, and black metal. Too much too list, and everything goes in periods.
Well, Jonas, that's all I wanted to ask. Finally, please send your regards to the Ukrainian nerds of technical death metal brutality.
Keep grinding! Thanks for being interested, and check out "Psalmus Mortis" when it's released.
