Interview (
source)
Impale are a powerful new band from Sweden, to date the band have released an excellent three track cd called "Keeper Of The Flame" that is well worth investigating. Lead singer and guitarist Anders Larsson begun to discover music at the age of eight, "At that time my older sister was really into bands like Europe and Guns ´n Roses." remembers Anders, "And at night when I was supposed to sleep I could hear her playing all kinds of different albums. So I started to listen to the albums, my favourite album at that time was "The final countdown" with Europe (it still is one of my big favorites)."
A couple of years later he started to study classical guitar "I did'nt´t find that very amusing at that time, but after a while Peter Henningsson (rhythm guitar) and Jonas Ydlinger (bass) also wanted to play, so we decided that we should start a band."
They called the band "LIBERTY DEVILS" "We soon discovered that the drummer sucked badly so we replaced him and changed the name to Impale. Now we started to get things rolling, we played covers of Iron Maiden, Europe and all kinds of other bands. We soon started to write our own material. In the spring of '97 we recorded our first demo called (Moonlight)".
That demo contained the songs "Moonlight", "Souls Wonder The World" and "Caught In A Nightmare".
"At that time we were really proud of the record, now three years later I can only laugh at it...! We rehearsed during the summer of 97 and in September we won the rock contest! We started recording "Illusions of the past" almost instantly, and that shows on the cd, the quality isn´t what it should be! Right after the CD was released the drummer decided to quit the band, and so he did, and Impale was put on ice for about a year. All of us in the band joined up with other bands, Me and Jonas joined with the black metal sounding Brimstone, and Peter joined up with a band called Legion."
""Our first CD "Illusions of the Past" contains 4 songs: Illusions of the Past, Silent Eyes, Tell Us and Fight for your right. This CD was recorded after we had won a local Band contest. The songs are a bit more 80´s then the ones on "Keeper of the flame". As I mentioned before we are not satisfied with the "Illusions" CD at all, but I will try to give you a good description of the songs:"
"Illusions of the past": This song is a midtempo song with lots of different riffs, and the guitars are based on complexed rhythm figures. The lyrics is about a man who is really afraid of dying.
"Silent Eyes" :In my eyes the best song on the cd, it starts off slow with keyboards and acoustic guitars. As the intro ends, the distorted guitars come crashing in, along with the vocals and the drums. The lyrics on this song is a tale about a man who is paranoid and thinks he is being followed by assassins.
"Tell Us": This song is a Iced Earth stylish power ballad, it starts with acoustic guitars and a melody played by the bass. When the chorus kicks off , distorted guitars and drums comes in. After the chorus there´s a bridge, who is really kinda Malmsteen sounding! The lyrics is inspired by the great author David Eddings by one of his magnificent tales: The Belgariad.
"Fight for your Right": The only really fast song on the CD. It starts with double bass drumming and a speedy guitar figure. The chorus is the only really catchy one on the CD. In the middle section of the song there´s a Deep Purple sounding bridge who is followed by a guitar solo. The songs outro is a fast Neoclassical lick very inspired by mr Malmsteen. The lyrics is basically a fight song for all rockers who are being kicked around and not respected.
Whilst in Brimstone the guys met current drummer Johan Strende." The three of us felt that Brimstone was not the place for us so we quit the band and put Impale back in business. We rehearsed as madman's during the summer of ´99, and in the fall we decided to record our latest EP "Keeper of the Flame". We had a great time !recording it and we are extremely satisfied with the result." he adds enthusiastically
Musically Anders is inspired by a variety of things "I write music best when I´m being really happy or really angry, you could say that I get inspired by emotions and feelings. I can also get very inspired by movies and also other music".
And what about the new songs Anders?
"Keeper of the Flame": This is our "kick ass hit" number one, this is the song we start our shows with and it´s the most explosive song we have ever written (But there are more to come). Mighty double bass drumming, fast and furious guitars, a catchy chorus: Is there anything more to ask for? No I dont think so! The lyrics is also here a fight song for Metalheads just like on "Fight for your Right".
"Remember": This is an aggressive mid tempo song, with lots of keyboards. This song is based on one guitar figure, its being used both in the intro and in the chorus. The lyrics on this song is about the cristian crusades.
"Mankind´s Call": Mankind´s Call is a swinging mid tempo rocker, with a very "sing along" friendly chorus. This song is kinda special, its the only song that there´s slapbass, Jonas plays some really difficult figures in the intro. The lyrics brings up the subject computers. The lyrics are being based on my fear of the "computerized" world, were people no longer talk and meet each other. The computer gets so intelligent that it controls your life.
"Our biggest goal right now is to sign a record deal, hopefully with a major label. Other aims is to record a full length album (but to do that you need a record contract). Other more down to earth aims is to make better songs and spread the word about Impale!
I think Impale has achieved a great deal of things, we have a recorded a great EP "Keeper of the Flame". We have put the word Impale in a bunch of people´s minds".
The band also play live "The gigs we have done so far has been held at small clubs. With not very high sound/light budget. We usually play a 45 minutes set, which include two cover songs, so far we have played Cherokee(Europe), Run To The Hills(Iron Maiden), Brothers of Metal(Manowar), L.O.V.E Machine(Wasp) and Future World(Helloween). We are often being told that we are a kick ass live band, and I think thats great, because no matter how good you are on CD you have to be just as great on stage! Our goals right now are with our live show and to buy some really good lights and also buy a "smoke machine", we have also just recently started developing our first "back drop". With a better budget I can promise you that we can measure with the best!"
