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If you’re into Power Metal, there is one band you cannot get around recently and that is BLOODBOUND. The Swedes just released their newest album Tales from the North in which they prove their irrefutable place in the top-tier of Power Metal bands. It was my pleasure to interview Tomas Olsson, who was later in the interview joined by Anders Broman, and ask about the album and what it felt like going back to their roots.
Huge thanks to lightinmirror.de for the amazing pictures!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: If you had to describe your music in three words, which would you choose?
Tomas Olsson: Only three.. that’s hard… First of all: „Melodic“, because that’s the basis for our music. And then „Power“ because we want it to be powerful and „Epic“.
SV: What would you say distinguishes you from other bands of your genre?
Tomas: I think we’re a good mix between the traditional Heavy Metal or Oldschool bands like IRON MAIDEN or JUDAS PRIEST. We tried to keep some of the elements of the music we grew up with, like ACCEPT or HELLOWEEN and put some new Symphonic stuff in it. There are a lot of Power Metal bands that sound the same way as us, but we’re closer to the Melodic Heavy Metal side of it. Our songs have a lot of diversity and are not only fast Power Metal songs, but you can trace some back to JUDAS PRIEST or IRON MAIDEN.
SV: You released a new album on July 7th called Tales from the North, what makes that album different from your previous releases?
Tomas: We wanted to try a new theme because in the past we were very much rooted in traditional Heavy Metal and we got more into Power Metal and did some stuff about dragons and had a more Fantasy kind of style. On Creatures of the Dark Realm we got away from the dragons and now we felt like doing something even more different theme-wise so that not all of our albums are about the same thing. It felt natural to explore the Nordic and Viking stuff because that’s where we’re from. The difference is that it’s a little bit faster too, it’s very much intended.
SV: Does it feel more natural then? You’re going back to your roots after all.
Tomas: In a way. It’s almost easier to write about the Nordic stuff and our Swedish heritage because you know it from your childhood and you know about the cultural environment. We have written about a lot of other things, but now it’s a new theme opening up. There are lots of new opportunities for us now.
SV: When you say that the topics are also rooted in your childhood, was there maybe something you learned about yourself while writing this album?
Tomas: Yes, absolutely! We knew a lot of myths and stories beforehand, but going into the writing process for this album we read a lot into the old stories and their gods of the pre-Christian age. When you read about it, you realize the connections between the gods and the religion. I’ve learned a lot about Nordic mythology while working on this album because you don’t learn that much about it in school nowadays!
SV: Now that you have released your new album, what is something you want to achieve with it?
Tomas: The main goal is to bring it to the fans and to have them get to know what we grew up on. It’s kind of supposed to get people interested in our cultural background.
SV: What do you have planned for the rest of the year that you are excited about?
Tomas: We have a few things that are not written in stone yet, but they want us to go back to Japan which we really want to do if possible. When we played in Japan, three years ago, it was just before Covid hit, and it’s a really cool place. Tokyo especially feels like a place where you could go to a thousand times and you still only scratch the surface.
SV: If you could wish for one thing for your future, what would it be?
Tomas: I think we’re on a steady path and we’re getting bigger and bigger each year and every album. We’re comfortable with that because we have families, we have kids and houses back home and we have so many offers that we could play all year around if we wanted to. You have to make it work with the families.
Anders: Since I joined, the largest argument we had was like a year ago because we only want to do the shows we like and I was like „But I like all of them! I want to do everything“ [we all laugh]. I love playing in small, obscure towns in Sweden in front of 20 people and I love playing in Germany in Front of tens of thousands.
SV: In essence, you were asked which shows you want to play and you said „Yes!“?
Anders: Exactly! I figured that I could find a way to combine that with my family and my day job.
Tomas: I think, we have found a good mix now. We get great offers and we can play festivals like Rockharz so that we can go to Japan or to the US or go on tour with bands like SABATON. Still, we’re able to keep a normal life though as well. Everything is exactly where we want it!
SV: If you could give your fans one message, what would it be?
Tomas: Continue to come and see us and the shows. We love our fans very much. Even here, we have people we have known for like 15 years.
Anders: They’re not just fans, they are family.
If that isn’t heartwarming and sweet, I don’t know what is! Make sure to check out their latest album Tales from the North and see if they have some live dates near you. It is 100% worth it! While we’re at it, we’re going to continue our interview marathon with another Heavy Metal band! See you then!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 