Dream Evil – United In Battle For Metal

Sweden's Dream Evil is the real thing, heavy, melodic and… Evil. Although its band members are not always considered to be serious guys, they managed to re-write "The Book Of Heavy Metal" itself with their last release, and now they're back to take over the world with their fourth creation called, "United". We caught up with Bassist Peter Stalfors who shared with us some insights about Dream Evil's line-up changes, its new album, birds, and… The Eurovision Song Contest. Heavy Metal Indeed.

I'm sorry but I must start with a straightforward question. Why the hell did you choose to cover 2005 Eurovision winning song, "My Number One"?

Hi Ofir! It started out as an accident when Snowy sat down and wrote new material for the coming album. The guitar riff he just created sounded just like something he had heard before and it was the song "My Number One"… So it was decided just for fun to record the song and as it turned out so well it ended up on the release of United.

I have a mixed feeling about this song, as I thought its one of the best metal tunes of the year (before I knew its source), but on the other hand, I saw the original, and I'm disgusted. Do you have any advice for me?

Cut up a car in small pieces and eat it slowly, then swallow it down with some quicksilver… that should bring you back to being made of metal again *Laughs*

Ok, now that we got that "covered", let's speak about United. How are the press responses about it so far? Are you satisfied?

We've got a lot of great reviews and a lot of journalists we've spoken to tell us it's the best album so far. On the first week after it's release in Sweden we entered the album chart in Sweden at number 24, that's also the best position this far. So yes, we are very satisfied with the response.

2004's The Book of Heavy Metal is considered by many, one of the best Heavy Metal albums of the last couple of years, and Dream Evil's best to date. Was it hard for you guys to make a follow-up that will be equal or better than this? Were you stressed working on new material?

No, not really. We took our time writing the songs and as we all are song writers in the band we have no problems coming up with new material.

I understand the band had some line-up changes. How did it affect the band during this time? Did your previous band mates contribute somehow to the new album in the recording or song making?

Well, not really… As I said, Snowy made the version of "My Number One", but that's it. Me, Niklas and Fredrik wrote all but one song on United. Mark wrote one song as well in co-operation with Niklas, that song ("Pain Patrol") will be released as a bonus track for Japan.

Was the process of making the new album any different than previous times? Can you share some interesting stories from the studio?

No, it didn't differ anything from the process we used when we recorded DragonSlayer in 2001. I think we found a good way to work… Pretty boring though, since we never play together in the studio, all instruments are recorded separately at different times so entering the studio for a couple of days and record the bass for 18 songs are not like a fun party really. It's more fun to listen to the results after all recordings and mixing is done.

Can you tell us what is the meaning behind the album's name, United?

It feels like we finally are united in the band and that we share the same goals and the same perception of the world.

On the song "Higher On Fire" you can hear this "Ho, Ha" sample you used on "The Book Of Heavy Metal". Do you remember who did this voice or how did you create it?

I think it's Fredrik and Niklas who recorded their voices probably eight times each and combined it to sound like a huge choir.

You also have a song called "Blind Evil", and later a song called "Love Is Blind", can I understand from this that Love is Evil?

For some people it really is. "Love Is Blind" is all about that. "Blind Evil" is not about love, it's about watching your back when you walk alone in the dark.

Who is the "Doomlord" and why, when he speaks Swedish, he sounds not very… scary… or evil. Can you tell us about him and what he says?

*Laughs*… This song is a funny one… Ok, to explain this you really need to know a bit Swedish. You see, in Swedish the bird "Bull Finch" is called "Domherre" which if you separate the words and translate them directly into English will become Dom = Doom, Herre = Lord…. that is DoomLord. So the song is about a small bird. The voice is a well known Swedish comedian from the nearby area who reads from a bird book about the "Domherre"… Scary or what!?

Back to your evil song from the Eurovision, who did the magnificent guitar riff in the middle and did you know it could fit weddings (at least here in Israel)? I already recommend it to some people.

The solo part is actually played by Gus G. He's from Greece and that's not so far from Israel… at least musically. Or am I totally wrong??

You probably know how "metal" conquered the Eurovision this year. What do you think about the winning of Lordi and the rumors about bands such as Hammerfall or Europe taking part in the next contest? Do you think Dream Evil can contribute to such competition?

I guess that's only rumors… That doesn't sound like it would be a reality to see either Europe or Hammerfall in the Eurovision Song Contest. I can't see Dream Evil performing in the ESC ever, even if it's super duper promotion for the band. Just look at Lordi, they went from nobodies to rock stars over one night…

How was making the video-clip for "Fire! Battle! In Metal!"? You guys looked very evil, but other than that, it was hard to understand the concept behind it, can you help us with that?

You got the concept… Dark, Evil and Heavy… That's about it. I think it turned out really cool. We will record another video in a short while for the song "Blind Evil" and that will contain some live material and a bit more of a "story" in it.

Earlier you spoke about Japanese album edition with a few bonus track, and I wanted to ask you, as a metal brother, if you think that's fair that Japanese get many bonus tracks and the rest of the world is left wondering what these songs sound like?

I know, that's quite strange… But the reason is this… Japan always release the album a couple of months after it's been released in the rest of the world. Japan also imports the album before they release it, so to be able to sell the Japanese version of the album it has to be a bit different from the rest of the world. So the song order is different and they always also get a couple of bonus tracks to attract buyers… Japan is a country where they like fast songs, so the bonus songs have always been fast songs. This time it is a semi fast song called "Pain Patrol" and a more ozzy-like song called "Lady Of Pleasure".

Speaking of Japan, you've been there and in many places all over the world. What was your best and worst concert to date and where?

The best concert was in Tokyo in June 2003, which was really a great show… The worst was in Tokyo in February 2005. So it's been both super and not so good… But touring Japan has always been a lot of fun.

Do you have any Tour plans for next year and is there a chance to catch Dream Evil in one of the European festivals in the summer?

We're working up a schedule for shows next year as we speak so I have nothing solid to tell you about that at the moment. All tour dates are showed at our web site as soon they are confirmed.

You already been with many bands on stage, and I want to ask, If you will be called some day to assemble a metal army, what bands will you chose to take with you for battle, and why? (Even from those you haven't performed with, yet)

That's a new question… A metal army you say…. I would probably assemble the ones which I like the most myself and who has inspired me since the beginning of the 80's and who has the most experience: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon etc'.

Well thank you for answering my questions. If you have any last words for your brothers in arms, here in Israel, please let them know.

I usually say "Beware of the Doomlord" but now when you all know what it's really about that won't work… So I will have to say something serious like, check out the limited edition of United, this version of the album contains a 3" CD with 5 bonus songs which some of them are my personal Favorites… Let's Heavy Metal!!!