We started Ablaze My Sorrow during 1993, for a couple of weeks the band was named Mournful but we changed that prior to the recording of our first demo. We all knew each other since before and had been playing in other bands together before forming Ablaze My Sorrow. It was our original drummer Fredrik Wenzel that came up with the band name which means something like “make me mourn”.
2. It seems to me that your demo materials were closer to black metal, then to death. Even your very early pictures are supporting this. Do you have the same opinion? What bands inspired you back then. Will it be lie to say that Dissection made a huge impact on you?
Our first demo “For Beareavement we cried” was heavily influenced by the early works of Katatonia amongst others. When Fredrik left the band and Alex joined in 1994 our influences changed into something more in the line of At The Gates, Eucharist and Dissection. Bands that still to this date are our main influence.
3. Years 1994-1996, so the demo and debut period were already the days when the most famous Swedish death metal has been released and all the movement started by Merciless and Nihilist/Entombed was already gone at some point. How do you managed to find a place for your band with “If Emotions Still Burn”? What was the response for the album?
I don’t know how or if we ever found a place for our band. We did what we wanted to do and No Fashion Records sent us a deal which we signed. There have never been any plans or strategies with the band. We write songs, record them and release them. The response concerning “If Emotions Still Burn” was really good and it sold well. I don’t have the numbers but I remember a list with the best-selling albums at the time that was sent to us from House of Kicks (distributor) at the time.
4. “If Emotions Still Burn” consists of elements of death, black and even a little of gothic metal, it’s melodic and very unexceptional, a real jewel of Swedish Metal that deserves far more attention back in the days. Could you share some memories connected with its creation and cooperation with No Fashion Records? As you know opinions on the label remained very bad.
We were between 17 and 20 years old when we recorded the debut album in 1995. It was the first time ever in a “real” studio and we had no idea what we were supposed to do. It was during the summer and we had a great time.
Well, Necrolord was and still is one the absolutely best painters out there in my opinion. He was our first choice so nothing else was discussed. He has created some amazing covers and it’s an honor to have his artwork as a cover for our debut.
5. “The Plague” was a serious step forward and a step in a different sound and attempt to the compositions. Previous influences seemed to develop with an addition of thrash metal catchiness. The album seems less extreme when compared to the debut, more into stuff that we were able to find among albums of Finnish Sentenced or your colleagues from Cemetary. What influenced that changes and how you recall this material after all those years? It’s a great piece of melodic death metal.
I guess that “Slaughter of The Soul” might have something to do with this, it’s one hell of an album. As everyone else we are big fans of bands like Slayer, Kreator and Testament but I really think that At The Gates was a just as big part of this development. It’s interesting that you mention Sentenced, a band that since their debut has had a huge impact on Ablaze My Sorrow, even though it’s not always that easy to notice. I think that those influences are easier to hear on our more recent material. They are one of my absolute favorite bands, albums such as “Crimson”, “Down”, “Frozen” and “Amok” gets their fair share of listening every week.
6. I have asked about the art put on the cover of the debut, I must also ask about “The Plague” in this case. I don’t exactly like it to be honest and always wonder what was behind the concept of it. Could you uncover some facts?
I can’t remember that we did more than send him the lyrics for “Plague of mine” when it comes to that cover. We leave it at that.
7. Back in the 90s you were probably in contact with a lot of bands sharing letters, tapes, records and so on. Could you tell with which bands you had the best contact and stay in touch to this day? Do you still collect records?
Yes, there were lots of letters written and lots of demos bought and sold. At that time everything went slow and you had to wait for weeks to receive the music you wanted to get hold of. There were no youtube or spotify where you could pre-listen to bands before you bought it. This means I own tons of crappy demos and records, but it sure was exiting times. You were in contact with so many great bands and other people within the scene.
I remember a gig in our hometown Falkenberg, I think it was in 1992. The bands that played were Dissection, At The Gates, Eucharist and a local band called Afterlife. That gig made a huge impact and could be considered as a big part of the startup of Ablaze My Sorrow. A couple of years later we played a show in our hometown together with At The Gates, probably 1995/1996 somewhere or something like that.
9. There were two logos of the band, one created by Thoth from The Ancients Rebirth and the one you started to use with the debut. Who created the second one and why you have decided to change it?
We used the first logo until we released “If Emotions Still Burn”. We needed a more fitting logo for the cover art so Necrolord created the “new” one when he painted the album cover. We have used that one since then.
10. Finally, are there any plans considering the reissues of the old albums or demo materials? I think they deserve a second youth.
I really do agree with you here. Unfortunately, it’s not we who own the rights for those recordings. If someone wants to re-release they’ll have to make a deal with MNW.
11. This is the place when we can end. Thanks a lot for this short interview and an opportunity to talk about the old days of the band and your classic records!
All things come to an end. Thank you for the
support and cheers to everyone reading this. Hope to see you if we come to your
town.
Interview by: Przemysław Bukowski
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