How are you doing, because it has been a while? In 2018 you released the previous album ‘Long Night’s Journey Into Day’…
It apparently didn’t seem like that, but we have been busy. After that we did a Blu-ray (‘Alive In Color’ – 2020 – Vera), which was a major production and at the beginning of covid-19, we started working on this new record. We actually wrote enough – we thought we were going to have enough material for two albums – and then at some point we said: as an artist, we have to have a high level of quality and it would take too long, so we stopped, but that is why we have a bunch of bonus material. So the writing process probably took a little bit longer and then, frankly, we were working with a different producer. He is very good, but he overbooked himself and he literally sat on his desk for eight months. Finally we said: look, we love you, but we cannot do this. So the album should have been out probably a few months ago, but we are where we are. Happily we got what we got and we take it from here.

This is the second album you have made with Tom S. Englund as singer. Did it change something?
No, not really. We did the same basic process which is he tracks the majority of his vocals at his studio in Gothenburg, but I think my writing probably reflects a little bit more his abilities of range to feel comfortable and I think he is a little bit more used to my writing. So I think there is a bit of growth there. I think we can still continue to move in that direction as we become more comfortable with each other. Part of why Tom wants to do this, is it pushes him out of his comfort zone. The way I write melodies is different from how he writes and we wanted it to be that way, because we don’t want to sound like Evergrey, because we are a heavy metal band with him singing. So it is always going to sound a little bit like Evergrey, but by creating my melodies that does create some distinction, it also makes him sing in a way that isn’t that natural to him and which he enjoys, because he grows as a vocalist, but I think when we continue to work together, it will become a bit more natural for him.

Can you tell a bit more about that growing of the first songs during the pandemic? Did you write on your own, totally isolated or something like that?
I think we were all kind of isolated, but that is usually how I write. The difference there is Vikram, our keyboardist, he is an incredibly gifted composer and arranger himself. There were some songs that I more or less finished completely, there were other songs that I had sections and that I asked him to contribute or melt them together or come up with alternatives and there were some songs that are based on his ideas, where I contributed melodies and snippets or maybe some guitar parts here and there, but the bones of the songs – one that I can remember is the bone of ‘The Emotional Depiction Of Light’ – which came from an idea that he sent and I think it is a little bit different for us in a good way. So I was pleased with Vikram being more involved in the song writing process.

That’s nice. The song is indeed a bit more easy listening and less hectic let’s say…
I agree although I probably made it too hectic towards the end with a lot of different vocal lines which is why we let Vikram do an alternative mix. The beginning of the song and even in the middle reminds me of what Anathema would do, this very simple haunting melody. I love that sort of song writing. You need to be able to breathe (chuckles).

How are you doing by the way, because you have been severely ill some years ago? Are you doing well?
Thank you for asking. Yeah I am now… I wasn’t supposed to be here, so I am doing well. I had a type of cancer that most people think is not curable, but I went to a very aggressive doctor and I went through a very aggressive treatment and so far it looks like he has been right. I was given three to five years to live back in 2008 and there is no trace of the disease right now although it is strange. I am going to a doctor in Los Angeles regularly and he really can’t explain. The doctor who treated me is now retired but he said I am cured, so hopefully he is right. That is why I realize that every day is a gift.

How did you face the pandemic, weren’t you extra careful?
Yeah there have been some changes to my physiologic. My back is broken at several places, I am a little shorter than I used to be, I have lost some muscles mass that will never be back because it was eaten away by the treatment I got in Arizona, I got some current pain from gastro, your gut gets destroyed by the chemo, but I got adjusted to this life now, because the alternative is not being here, so I’ll take it.

The title track kicks off the album and this is an instant attack of energy I would say… how do you see that?
There is a kind of cliché with a lot of progressive bands, that they should start with a kind of 9 seconds tone or special effects or sound effects, really slow before it starts. I never wanted to be accused of being a whimpy prog band or someone who lacks energy. So our albums tend to start with one of the more aggressive songs and that’s always been one facet of us: we have an aggressive side, we have a kind of melodic prog metal side and then we have this kind of prog rock extensive longer form song side. All three of these are represented, plus Vikram’s little journey we took with him on ‘The Emotional Depiction Of Light’, so it is a varied album. We definitely started with the most aggressive track, just a sort of get people’s attention and kick them in the teeth right from the start.

A contemplation about ‘Remember The Dawn’. Are you a morning person?
(laughs) Haha that’s a very good question. There are days when I am, there are days when I like to get up early, my day job is very demanding, so I am working a lot. There are some times, particularly when I have been celebrating with friends, when I feel like not getting up quite as early as I need to. So I am not necessary a morning person, but I am a person who – metaphorically that song of course is about the ups and downs of life and remembering to keep perspective and every time there is sadness, there will eventually be joy and every time you think you are on top of the world, don’t think it will last forever, because life does throw challenges at you. So that song is about perspective that ultimately turns into optimism I think.

Do you follow the news or do you live inside your own little world?
I do follow the news and there is a theme… we had a song on the last record ‘Long Nights Journey Into Day’ called ‘The Echo Chamber’ which is about how people react to the news and how the ability to have a civil disagreement – at least in America – has becoming very, very rare and people become very entranced in their opinions, they surround themselves with people that agree with them and then they are starting demonizing people that disagree with them. That dynamic – which I do see, because I do follow the news – has gotten even more extreme. I removed myself from some of the social media, because it became so toxic there and that is… there is a bonus track on this new record which is called ‘The Pearl Clutchers’ which is about people that are incredibly rude and do demonize others and then when it is thrown back into their face, they pretend to be shocked by how awful this person is, it is pushing back against this normalization of being uncivil. We need to be able to have principle disagreements without deciding that anybody who doesn’t agree with them is evil.

In that respect the dialogue is gone…
Yeah it is a terrible thing.

Another song that I wanted to mention is ‘Seven Minutes To Sunset’… It speaks to the imagination, because recently we had a conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and the moon here in Europe right after sunset…
I can tell you what it is about, but that might spoil it. It depends… if you want to know… one person said it is the length of time that it takes sunlight to reach the earth from the sun, which I thought is pretty cool. That is not what the song is about, but it is an interesting fact, so some of the people don’t want to spoil it, but I will tell you if you really want to know what the song is about.

Yes, I really want to know…
So there are metaphors… the song is a metaphor for the daily grind of going to work in a stressed environment. Seven minutes from sunset refers to: it takes me seven minutes to drive from my house to the large street nearby – which is Sunset Boulevard – and during these seven minutes, I don’t have cell phone connection, because I am in a canyon and it is peaceful. And then as soon as I hit Sunset shit hits the fan as we say here. You land into the world crisis… when you are driving to your work every day, you are dealing with people who are upset with the economy and things like that, it is stressful. That’s sort of a parallel: you are going into battle and you get wounded, you lick your wounds, go to bed and get up the next morning and do it all over again. That is what the song is about.

You are still in the rat race…
I am in the rat race, that’s for sure. That’s the only way I can afford to keep making music (laughs).

So it is a hobby for you…
Well, I wouldn’t say. It is more than a hobby. It is not my first source of making a living, because you cannot really make a living of it in our genre at our size, but it is more serious than a hobby obviously. We take it very seriously and want to continue making great music and I am lucky that I am surrounded by phenomenal musicians, all of them. Tom couldn’t survive of Redemption, not either from Evergrey. That is maybe the prize we pay for making music, we play this type of music and we love our fans, even though there are not as many as we need to be doing this full time.

Is there still a descent scene for progressive metal and rock in the US?
There are bands that are popular and sometimes I am surprised by how they are able to draw people, but I don’t know if you have heard about the band Marillion, they can only tour in the US if they do a Kickstart campaign. They manage to get people out, but it is expensive to do that. There is a scene, but I would say that it is probably much bigger in Europe than it is here.

Although, I have to say that ProgPower in the US manages to have more famous bands than ProgPower EU…
Well, ProgPower in the US is a shining light and an exception on everything I just said. That is a very, very special event and we love being part of that family and the guy behind it all, Dan Harvest and his crew of many, many people who make it work every year. They are fantastic people, really passionate about providing a platform for bands like us and others, to reach an audience that otherwise would not be possible. So we love them for that.